Release Announcement: Debian 12 with Linux 6.1 for the RK3399 & RK356X Series

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We are pleased to announce the official release of Debian 12 (Bookworm) with Linux kernel 6.1 for RK3399 and RK356X series single-board computers. This major system upgrade brings significant improvements in performance, compatibility, and user experience.

Supported Products:

  • ROCK 4 Series: ROCK 4A, 4A+, 4B, 4B+, 4C+, 4SE

  • ZERO Series: ZERO 3W, ZERO 3E

  • ROCK 3 Series: ROCK 3C

Key Enhancements:

  1. Graphics Upgrade: Full implementation of open-source GPU drivers for enhanced graphics compatibility and stability

  2. Multimedia Enhancement: Hardware-accelerated media playback through the task-mpv-rkmpppackage, enabling efficient HD video decoding

  3. Performance Optimization: DDR dynamic frequency scaling support (specifically for RK3399 platforms previously on kernel 4.19)

Download Links:

Important Notes:

  • For ROCK 4 series, official release versions are prefixed with ‘r’ (e.g., R4, R5)

  • For ZERO 3 series, the recommended image is radxa-zero3_bookworm_kde_b1with 6.1 kernel

  • Adaptation for additional models in the series is currently in progress

This release represents our ongoing commitment to providing optimized software support for Radxa’s single-board computer portfolio, offering improved system responsiveness and access to the latest Debian 12 features.

Based on the provided documentation, these images have been officially fully tested and represent the stable release versions for each supported product.

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Nice :+1:

Just a few questions:

  1. What’s the official way to build this kernel on my own? BSP still forwards to old 5.1 branch for Rock 4B+. Some pages say that you now use different system for kernel building.
  2. Does DSI stack work now correctly on Rock 4B+ (especially for RPi 7” LCD or Waveshare LCDs) or it is still in the same state “docs say it works but nobody cares that it does not work” ?
  3. Can we expect also CLI (i.e. image without KDE) support?
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I also would like to have CLI image at first place so I can decide on my own what GUI I may need,

Also Trixie is the current Debian release, bookworm is 3 year old previous one, any plans for upgrade?
Same for 6.1 kernel, it’s about 4 years old LTS, now with extended support till end of 2027, any plans for rockchip to bump kernel? It’s just already late,

What about other RK356X, or RK3568 boards? Like ROCK 3A and 3B?

Thanks for all Your work, for sure I’ll give them a try. Any comparison to Armbian generated images?