Zero 3W mainline U-Boot + OpenBSD / FreeBSD

Sure! (I wrote this guide from my memories, I have no access to my laptop right now, sorry.)

To build the mainline U-boot and to create an SD-card with OpenBSD + U-boot, follow these steps:

export BL31=/path/to/rk3568_bl31_v1.44.elf
export ROCKCHIP_TPL=/path/to/rk3566_ddr_1056MHz_v1.21.bin
  • then attempt to build U-boot:
make radxa-zero-3-rk3566_defconfig
make CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-

It will result a u-boot-rockchip.bin file in your u-boot root folder.

  • then simply grab the installer image: https://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/arm64/install76.img

  • and write it to your SD-card. For example on OpenBSD host you will use a similar command:
    # dd if=install76.img of=/dev/rsdXc bs=1m
    But on linux host you probably want use something like:
    # dd if=install76.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1m
    (the m in the bs parameter can be lowercase or upper case depending on your host operating system)

  • then write the U-boot aswell tothe SD-card:
    On OpenBSD host:
    # dd if=u-boot-rockchip.bin of=/dev/sdXc seek=64
    Or on Linux:
    # dd if=u-boot-rockchip.bin of=/dev/sdX seek=64

Then insert the DS-card into your device, conenct your USB-serial adapter to the correct GPIO pins (consult the documentation) and open a serial monitor with the correct serial port, 1500000 baud, 8N1, then power up the board. It shoult spit tons on text on the console, then it will boot the OpenBSD loader automatically.

Hope it helps.