Your approach (and success) with Ubuntu seems in line with Radxa using Ubuntu packages for Debian desktop: a hit or miss situation.
I should have added that I am using an arm64 build.
[New Custom Debian ARM64 Build 4.4.154.c83 is finally here!] - New Custom Debian ARM64 Build 4.4.154.c83 is finally here!
I will try Ubuntu Server along with guidelines that include Mate desktop:
[[Guide] Install Gstreamer, FFmpeg and mpv (with youtube-dl)] - [Guide] Install Gstreamer, FFmpeg and mpv (with youtube-dl)
By the way, what does the g_ether module enable?