Rock Pi 4C NVME booting!

#1

I just wanted to verify something about the 4C. After loading the correct Debian OS (for the 4C) on SD boot media I ran the update and upgrade commands in the LX Terminal.

I noticed the blue light on the board was blinking before the update so on a hunch I installed the Acer NVME SSD 128GB I purchased from Allnet.

After the update and upgrade I noticed what looked like the SPI bootloader code updating. To my surprise I’m now able to boot from and run on the NVME SSD only!

So my question is whether I’m correct in the assumption that the SPI chip did indeed get the bootloader installed as a result of the update and upgrade?

Thanks!

Thanks

#2

When you said “I ran the update and upgrade commands”… do you simply mean sudo apt-get update, sudo apt-get upgrade?

If so, I think it takes more than that. I just got a brand new 4C and have also loaded Debian onto both an eMMC and an NVME SSD and after doing apt-get update /upgrade it doesn’t even attempt to boot from the NVME without the eMMC.

-Jim

#3

The Debian image is for GPT partitions and it boot only if the partition is MBR. After some changes the Debian version of the image makes some errors writing a GPT not correctly created and at the second boot it fails!!! Make this SBC run on NVME is too hard because the company abandoned this way. There is a bad support!!!

#4

Manjaro stay tuned on NVME boot. But at the first kernel update the NVME boot goes away for never be back. So the best thing to do on try to run this board with the NVME drives is … to buy a normal pc! I am abandoning it.

#5

Is the serious NVME boot problem unique to the 4C, or is the same issue also a problem for the 4B?

#6

I don’t know. The only thing I thought is to sto buying chinese clones. In my future only Rasp*** original. The Radxa ingeneers don’t follow the community: they only make a linux image and then they abandon. Chinese clones of the most famous SBC are made for developers and for programmers, they abandon the projects too early. At the end I use this SBC with the microSD and not with my NVME drive. So never in the future! Orange, Pine, Rock, Banana … buah!!! Sometime we have to follow the main mark.

#7

There was somewhat recent mention of a revised 4B+ in the works, and for now at least it seems that the 4C is not going to have a 4C+ revision. Perhaps the coming 4B+ will address the issue you have exposed with booting from the NVME. ???

Moderators: Any updates on the 4B+ introduction date and feature set?

#8

Hey Larry, Chinese don’t know what means flagship model. They leave as is too mutch products … They sell the M.2 port extension and they leave it not working.

#9

I’m still holding out hope for the coming 4B+ being a very nice SBC.