[Guide] FydeOS & openFyde - Rock 5B - the best option 🍺

There is a kernel issue fydeOS are on holidays its bank holidays on china next week they will be back sorting that issue. It works but … has its turbos…

How to enable PWM fan on Radxa Rock 5B - FydeOS
Check this out

I think I will install fydeOS soon (my pre-ordered Rock 5B was left unused for quite a while), but I want to know a few things ahead if possible…

  1. how may I install a custom DTB? I want to do something like what’s described here: split PCIe lane on the m.2 slot, so I need a custom DTB
  2. will it work with DSI monitor out of box? touchscreen?
  3. how it works, good or bad, with multiple monitor support? like DSI touchscreen + USB-C DP alt or HDMI?

Thanks in advance

I use it purely on one 16" 2.5K monitor.

Think of OpenFyde as a Chromebook if you do you will know what does and doesnt work.
PCI lanes multiple monitors and unknown devices that might require extra kernel work might be a challenge.

  1. DSI monitor you will have to test it yourself most likely it does on those oficial by radxa there was a member here that got his working by activating his model on overlays that openfyde provides.

  2. I read on github that openfyde doesnt works when on multiple monitors on orange pi 5 I think (its a bug and with this recent version might be corrected) so in short you will have to try.

Overall imo both openfyde and fydeOS works well with all included and it does a good chromium fork to what ChromeOS is allowing you to enjoy that environment.

But if you want to play with things that are not yet installed you will most likely have to request fyde to implement them. My suggestion check openfyde github overlays for issues and read about some to get an idea and dont be afraid to try it out.

New Update! It comes with OTA enabled for automatic updates widevine support and a new updated version of Android ArcHeroNG

Is there no Open Gapps for openFyde, unlike FydeOS? FydeOS seems to still use a relatively old version of Android, and trying to get Zwift to work on openFyde, it gets so far and then quits/crashes? I don’t know how to diagnose further…

Yes no gapps on openFyde but anything else works by just .apk installing it.

FydeOS can have gApps widevine everything else runs on android 9 for a more stable option costs 9.99 per year and gives u 3 months trial or something.

OpenFyde is more ‘advanced’ runs android 11 they added possibility for widevine (which I wasnt expecting) but…
As you probably noticed… this latest version seems to carry a lot of issues. I have reported a few… Hours are wrong, Arc Hero is glitchy as hell, Linux is very very slow, the Chromium Browser doesnt let you change network conditions which is required for netflix to work under the new widevine feature.

I mean… the previous version was more stable but this one can receive updates so Im also… divided to… wait on those updates… or going back to the previous version.

Ah, I made progress with FydeOS and getting Zwift running, so that’s good. But I tried the instructions for enabling fan control, and no dice. I found the file was now under /usr instead; I tried editing that directly, and also tried copying into /etc/init, but neither got the fan working.

The fan should start once the temperatures reaches I think 56C check then with btop or if u cant install it… try bpytop or that app already installed in the system ‘cog’.

So basically run some heavy taks multiple windows if it goes over 56C AND doesnt spins then the process to follow is https://fydeos.io/docs/knowledge-base/recipes/enable-pwm-fan-on-rock-5b/

Tell me if it worked if not (join discord I’ll be there) there was another alternative but I tought they had merge it to work so I ended up removing but the process is there on the link.

I have made a complete revision on this guide to keep it in more places for ‘safety backup’ xD
Nevertheless the best follow up ‘or’ updated will be here: https://community.fydeos.io/t/topic/24891/1

Thanks, just come back from busy life here and there :slight_smile:

I found the “enable dtb overlay” tutorial for fydeos, so I think I will be good to go once I tested things are running okay. My 5" LCD is one made for Pi (tested to “show something” on my Pi4B, with a STM32 MCU for DSI), so I am not sure if I could find the “correct” dtb to enable DSI. Not familiar with the ARM world, sigh.

So far I only tried openfyde from older 32G sdcard, and it is quite slow (U1), so maybe I should try it out with a newer 128G scard (U3) later. With openfyde using around 8GB for system storage already (from what I saw in “try out mode”), maybe a M10 16GB (m.2 x2, dirt cheap at US$2 or so) won’t be a good choice for installing openfyde to, as it has 13.4GiB only, which is good for running linux host normally

I only tried r114-r1, and I hope I can try out the android and linux containers later; I used ChromeOS before, though I am very interested in its ability to run both Android and Linux inside container (my chromebit “planned” to support Android, but never do). With my family infested seriously by the fruit company already, buying android devices just for running some specific apks do not make sense, and some apps do NOT work on my android devices anyway because of RASP (in my case it is screen overlay detection), so I hope openfyde can solve my problem… finger crossed :slight_smile:

Does Kodi run on Fyde?
I have always thought that for many Kodi & a Browser in that 80/20 rule covers most needs and its such a shame it seems getting a browser running in kodi was or is such a pain, but kodi on a browser is just as good… ?

Or just flash it to your emmc… thats what I did and worked really well. Obviously the 16gbs of ram matters. I like the system Im happy so far.

Never tried … you can run stremio which for me is better than kodi. But depends on what you intend to do… Its just a matter of exploring it.

well, I have 16GB LPDDR4 version of Rock 5B :slight_smile:

I really think it is the sdcard that’s slowing everything down (i.e. Chrome browser for now), but I am just trying out at the moment, so not a big concern, just that I need more time to figure out how to make the two things works… maybe eventually I would need to learn how to create my own dtb, sigh. I really hope Radxa devices can work out of box with Pi accessories, but I am wrong I guess (I do have the convert cable)

My overall impression with openfyde is not bad at all. I tried official ubuntu and android 12 TV builds, but I would say openfyde may be the best choice for me: a “supported” OS that can run linux and android at the same time, though I wonder why I must login via google or fyde account? there is no “local account” possible?

Right Answer: So google and china can spy your shit.
Wrong Answer: Thats how chromiumOS pretty much works. It ‘always’ requires an google api account.
If you think you can just use the guest/local account you can its at the bottom of your login screen however u will lose android and probably linux in the process.

Tbh… who gives a f. Just login and use it. Theres is always problems with fyde android sub system as it is not oficially made by google they kept those for chromeOS and wont offer it on ChromiumOS… I wished google reverted this bs… however fyde made an anbox version that works but… sometimes it drags… Linux is fine… but keep in mind that it always has some level of sandboxing due to kernel and other impose LXC limitations as it is its a linux made based on LXD containers which respects the main gentoOS of which it was built the system.

Overall Chrome/iumOS is a nice operative system for most webapp and confortable navigation I like it.
Also read about the LaCros (lets u watch netflix without hassle) and Now.gg running Aptoide (which can count as an plan B solution if fyde android app doesnt work your way).

Every company try to spy nowadays, I guess
As I have to choose, I choose Google… at least I think they still need to honor GDPR “somehow”, but China

BTW, I assume openfyde will not install across two internal storage, right? then I assume I would need a “boot disk” that’s at least 32GB in size…

And talking about container… do you know of anyone who tried to run docker or k3s or k8s on ChromiumOS? just curious; but if it works, that may open a door for more “evil” :stuck_out_tongue:

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FydeOS even moved their servers to UK just to show they are not commited into spying anyone.
You can run docker I know you can but I dont know much about it I havent dont anything that requires docker lately… Try it and let me know how it goes…also if you find tutorials teaching how to do stuff on chromeOS the same should apply on openFyde.

Do you think you could make an ChromiumOS port on arm64?

I have never liked the streaming model just point at a file store and have a client like Kodi has always been my preference.

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