@monka MonkaBlyat very best version of Armbian with drivers ready and Optimised for Action
This is my armbian experience dedicated for gaming and as I love the webapps this is the system I prefer to use as it is always updated so here it goes I am using MonkaBlyat’s Afterburner Armbian Image which is modded to work well with the Mali GPU and takes the best advantages on most Rock 5B resources:
Armbian for Rock 5B with AmazingFate Drivers RPardini Kernel by MonkaBlyat
https://monka.systemonachip.net/rock5b/Armbian_23.08.420-monka_rock-5b_jammy_legacy_5.10.160_gnome-desktop-AFM-1.5.img.xz
Mainline Test option Armbian for Rock 5B by MonkaBlyat
https://monka.systemonachip.net/rock5b/edge/Armbian_23.09.420-panthor_Rock-5b_jammy_mesa_6.5.0-rc2-gaming.img.xz
Armbian for Rock 5A with AmazingFate Drivers RPardini Kernel by MonkaBlyat
https://monka.systemonachip.net/rock5a/Armbian_23.08.420-monka_rock-5a_jammy_legacy_5.10.160_gnome-desktop-AFM-1.5.img.xz
user: rock , password : armbian - Other sources or user: root , password : 1234
Notes:
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if downloading with wget use condition –no-check-certificate to avoid the download to fail or use an app like jdownloader.
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After starting the system you most likely have to open your disk storage and perform a disk resize
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MonkaBlyat uses x11 so you will notice that the system fails to deliver its brilliant performance at launch so make sure you switch gnome to wayland.
For this guide I took the liberty of using nala as a main option for this board:
Do your operations with nala instead of apt:
(It’s faster - It’s modern - It’s graphically easier - Has better debug)
sudo apt update && sudo apt install nala -y && sudo nala upgrade -y
The Armory - Project Afterburner
#To install:
sudo wget https://projectafterburner.github.io/apt/rpi/projectafterburner-rpi.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/projectafterburner-rpi.list
wget -O- https://projectafterburner.github.io/apt/rpi/rpi.gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/projectafterburner-rpi-archive-keyring.gpg
sudo apt update
#To remove:
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/projectafterburner-rpi.list
sudo rm /usr/share/keyrings/projectafterburner-rpi-archive-keyring.gpg
Project Afterburner Mod Land here: https://afterburner.mod.land/download 
Chrome optimizations flags
sudo gedit /etc/chromium-browser/default
malirun chromium-browser (terminal boster for an extra kick - optional)
#Set Chromium ozone to Wayland only if you intend to use Gnome Wayland
--ozone-platform=wayland
--enable-zero-copy
#Set user agents specifically so it works on Netflix with widevine
--user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux aarch64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/110.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" --accept-lang=en-US
#Fixes Chromium browser pixelation bug on wayland
--use-gl=angle
For the fan heatsink to work: (Armbian - might not be required in further armbian updates.)
git clone https://github.com/lukaszsobala/fan-control-rock5b
cd fan-control-rock5b
make package
sudo dpkg -i fan-control*.deb
sudo systemctl enable fan-control
systemctl start fan-control
#Rock 5A
sudo su
echo step_wise > /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/policy
exit
sudo reboot
The fix for some Bluetooth Modules (A8, AX210, etc.):
sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
then add these lines somewhere (at the bottom of the file is fine):
blacklist pgdrv
blacklist btusb
blacklist btrtl
blacklist btbcm
#blacklist btintel
Then press Ctrl+X, then Y.
sudo apt install bluez or bluetooth – not needed to install since latest armbian version
systemctl status bluetooth CTRL+ C
systemctl start bluetooth
Then reboot .
For AX210 Wifi and BT to Work - You will need ethernet to do this.
#wifi
sudo wget -P /lib/firmware https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/plain/iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0-59.ucode
sudo mv /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0.pnvm /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0.pnvm.bak
#bt
sudo wget -P /lib/firmware/intel https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/plain/intel/ibt-0041-0041.sfi
sudo wget -P /lib/firmware/intel https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/plain/intel/ibt-0041-0041.ddc
Max out the 5B performance (Optional) - That’s if you want some real performance at the cost of being hot and power-hungry.
echo performance | sudo tee /sys/bus/cpu/devices/cpu[046]/cpufreq/scaling_governor /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor
Once you’re done with your benchmarks, you may want to go back:
echo ondemand | sudo tee /sys/bus/cpu/devices/cpu[046]/cpufreq/scaling_governor
echo dmc_ondemand | sudo tee /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor
echo simple_ondemand | sudo tee /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor
Or if you want a shortcut for performance / ondemand and powersave do nano .bash_aliases and add these instructions - save it Ctrl X, Yes, restart and after just type the governor you desire Terminal: performance to trigger it.
alias performance="echo performance | sudo tee /sys/bus/cpu/devices/cpu[046]/cpufreq/scaling_governor /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor"
alias ondemand="echo ondemand | sudo tee /sys/bus/cpu/devices/cpu[046]/cpufreq/scaling_governor && echo dmc_ondemand | sudo tee /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor && echo simple_ondemand | sudo tee /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor"
alias powersave="echo powersave | sudo tee /sys/bus/cpu/devices/cpu[046]/cpufreq/scaling_governor /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor"
** Try some benchmarks - on Ubuntu Wayland to guarantee you are all set.**
PAN_MESA_DEBUG=gofaster glmark2
Expected results: 1st Line - 1669fps - Score: 1249fps - you are good.
PAN_MESA_DEBUG=gofaster glmark2-es2-wayland
Expected results: 1st Line - 3527fps - Score: 4067fps - you are sorted.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/mali glmark2-es2-wayland
Expected results: 1st Line - 4229fps - Score: 3933fps - what a legend.
Try chromium with malirun chromium-browser on terminal for some extra performance (malirun works with other apps too).
Play Geforce Now via Chromium Browser well optimised on this little Rock 5B!
Play Boosteroid too!
Diablo 4 on boosteroid ? Hell Yeah Boy!
Steam Installation Guide
Install Malior-Droid for the Android fun with Scrypy Container
sudo nala install docker docker.io adb -y
sudo mkdir /dev/binderfs
sudo mount -t binder binder /dev/binderfs
wget -O - https://github.com/ChisBread/malior/raw/main/install.sh > /tmp/malior-install.sh && bash /tmp/malior-install.sh && rm /tmp/malior-install.sh
malior update
malior install malior-droid
malior-droid update
Install scrpy version 2.0 that is needed for audio forwarding from the android docker container
sudo nala install ffmpeg libsdl2-2.0-0 adb wget gcc git pkg-config meson ninja-build libsdl2-dev libavcodec-dev libavdevice-dev libavformat-dev libavutil-dev libswresample-dev libusb-1.0-0 libusb-1.0-0-dev -y
git clone https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy
cd scrcpy
./install_release.sh
Start the Android Emulator on Terminal:
#malior-droid start / stop / restart
malior-droid start
adb connect localhost:5555
scrcpy -s localhost:5555
malior-droid resize 720x1280
#malior-droid resize 1920x1080
Change it to english this way. Just drag and drop your .apk file into the android window it will auto install it.
App to map the gamepad controller sudo nala install antimicro
To become certified with access to the play store you have to:
1 - Install a device ID apk to get this Device ID and register it on your google account.
2 - Register it here: https://www.google.com/android/uncertified/
3 - Give it a day till google approval happens. (Hours minutes or maybe 1 day not in our control).
Credits to @bread and @monka for this.
Sources: https://github.com/ChisBread/malior/
@NicoD Has also a gaming script that works for all rockchip single boards:
_ __ _ ____ ______ _
/ | / /(_)_____ ____ / __ \ / ____/____ _ ____ ___ (_)____ ____ _
/ |/ // // ___// __ \ / / / / / / __ / __ `// __ `__ \ / // __ \ / __ `/
/ /| // // /__ / /_/ // /_/ / / /_/ // /_/ // / / / / // // / / // /_/ /
/_/ |_//_/ \___/ \____//_____/ \____/ \__,_//_/ /_/ /_//_//_/ /_/ \__, /
__ _ _____ _ __/____/
/ / (_)____ __ __ _ __ / ___/ _____ _____ (_)____ / /_
/ / / // __ \ / / / /| |/_/ \__ \ / ___// ___// // __ \ / __/
/ /___ / // / / // /_/ /_> < ___/ // /__ / / / // /_/ // /_
/_____//_//_/ /_/ \__,_//_/|_| /____/ \___//_/ /_// .___/ \__/
/_/
git clone https://github.com/NicoD-SBC/armbian-gaming.git
cd armbian-gaming
/bin/bash ./armbian-gaming.sh
#Install box64/box86 and steam and malior-droid.
More useful stuff on Linux:
#--OBS--
sudo nala install obs-studio obs-gstreamer obs-plugins xdg-desktop-portal pipewire qtwayland5 librga2 gstreamer1.0-rockchip1 -y
#RESTART here and then run OBS with:
MESA_GL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=3.3 MESA_GLSL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=330 obs
#--this is the way it works on armbian not sure if needs changed for FydeOS
#for a better desktop experience dont use nala on ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop
sudo nala install htop -y
sudo nala install neofetch -y
sudo nala install bpytop -y
sudo nala install snapd -y
sudo nala install emojione -y
sudo nala install kodi -y
sudo nala install inkscape -y
sudo nala install flatpak gnome-software-plugin-flatpak squashfs-tools && sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
sudo nala install gnome-software gnome-packagekit -y
# or all at once and correctly
sudo nala update && sudo nala install htop bpytop neofetch snapd flatpak xcb obs-studio obs-gstreamer obs-plugins xdg-desktop-portal pipewire qtwayland5 wpasupplicant librga2 gstreamer1.0-rockchip1 gnome-software-plugin-flatpak squashfs-tools gnome-software gnome-packagekit kodi inkscape -y && sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo && sudo nala upgrade -y && sudo nala autoremove
sudo reboot
exit
Eta Prime made us a video about this specific image! EnJoy!
Im not an linux expert… compiling kernels makes me a lot of confusion so I have a lot to learn yet… but I like to share my experience hoping it helps you the same way it helped me.
Also very important… : Grab a proper power supply like Samsung 45W TA845 Super Fast Charger (works perfect) connected with Emmc, Micro SD, A8 module, 1TB Nvme, K7 keyChron BT Keyboard and a cheap BT mouse with a scorpion logo via usb dongle it all works with also a JBL Flip 5 BT speaker perfectly fine between images and so long… If there’s an usb type C power brick that I can say YES it works it’s this one.
SP1 to boot Rock5b running Armbian from NVMe SSD
http://www.fieldday.io/armbian-rock5b/
This post is made possible thanks to a few members who helped me a lot on Discord so I want to thank them and off course many others did help too (but I can’t find all their names here). Discord for a more direct approach: Radxa Discord
Credits goes to MonkaBlyat who is an Armbian user mostly active on Discord channels and made all this possible and also a group of talented users: @GinKage @bread @igorp @rippanda12 @amazingfate @monka @student @NicoD
Another guide to install steam step by step on rock 5B here:
Im open to suggestions and improvements and more additional stuff we can add to this system and improve our experience.
