[continued from previous message]
> > Next, let's talk u-boot vs UEFI. U-boot requires a lot more than UEFI, as
has been mentioned previously. However, there is a lot more information
hidden
in that statement than you might think. For example, you can't just move the
dtb file to the
right location. The "dtb" extension stands for DeviceTree Binary, and is
directly tied to the kernel version being run. Simply moving the binary into
the right location will cause a version mis-match and cause the hardware to
not boot properly. Also,
with the version of U-boot the DC ROMA II uses, the entire boot stack is
stored on the storage medium (be it SD card or NVMe). This is opposed to
UEFI,
where you just have flash on the motherboard that is smart enough to reach
out
to the storage to find
your bootloader to get the process started. If you look in the installer ISO
for Debian, in /boot/dtbs I believe, it lists all the compatible chips, and
SpacemiT is not in there. Until it is, the Debian ISO will not work, and
given
the pace of the
SpacemiT crew, I'd hesitantly say expect that to be added in Forky.
> >
> >
> > To reiterate, simply using Debian Trixie on this device at this point in
time *will*. *not*. *work*. The standard Debian kernel does not support the
hardware yet, and the SpacemiT kernel you will likely have to rebuild from
scratch to get the modules
you need for accessibility purposes running, which in my experience is
*very*
hit or miss getting it to boot afterwards.€€
> >
> >
> > I own this laptop, and as a person who is lucky enough to not need any
accessibility settings, it is frankly a nightmare to use in it's current
state. Simply running system updates is not an option, and I've had to
completely reinstall the operating
system on mine several times because I forgot. I've tried off-and-on since I
bought it at least a year ago, and it's currently gathering dust next to my
other K1/M1 system while I wait for the upstreaming effort to finish. Even
after the CPU gets
upstreamed, owners of this laptop will probably need to use DeepComputing's
custom ISO while Imagination Technologies (the GPU vendor) gets their act
together and finally merges their changes to mesa into upstream.€€
> >
> >
> > I would highly recommend reading through the issues in the DC ROMA II
Github page (see here: https://github.com/DC-DeepComputing/DC-RO
A_Gen2_LAPTOP_K1_RV-L2A€€), just to get a sense for the state of the device
as
a whole. It's clunky, it's not ready,
and it's largely been forgotten by DeepComputing as far as I can tell while
they figure out their Framework Mainboard endeavour. The JH7110 SOC is kinda
the only good RISC-V chip to recommend right now for anything outside the
absolute most niche cases,
because it's been almost entirely upstreamed, and therefore is supported by
the Debian installer natively. RISC-V is a really cool technology, and I
love
it a lot, but the hardware ecosystem right now is about the same as the
Raspberry Pi 2 was when it
came out, and I mean that both from a software support standpoint and from a
hardware performance perspective.
> >
> >
> > To be perfectly frank, if I could talk to my past self, I would say to
not
buy this laptop and save myself the migraines. In a few years, it will be
better, but the hardware barely runs on the hardware manufacturer blessed
distro images. The fact
that anyone tried to cram this chip in a laptop is a testament to the
arrogance of man, because a laptop appeals to normal people, and this laptop
is at best a marketing stunt to drum up good PR for RISC-V on the whole.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
On Thu, 11 Sept 2025 at 18:01, Kirk Reiser wrote:
> > >
Hello folks: Thank you for the responses.
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€The laptop did infact come with ubuntu-24.04 installed, except it
was
> > >
€€a greatly reduced package, they say because it wasn't expected
that a
> > >
€€lot of people would login. It was kind of bogus in my mind.
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€I upgraded the OS to their most recent version of 24.04.3 except
it
> > >
€€craps out when trying to upgrade to their idea of the latest
kernel
> > >
€€6.14.0. The distro as shipped has kernel 6.6.36 except with many
> > >
€€kernel modules missing. The upgrade of the kernel dies while
trying
to
> > >
€€copy the dtb files from a nonexistant spacemit directory in
/boot. I
> > >
€€have tried many things to attempt to spoof the new kernel from
copying
> > >
€€over the installed dtbs to a new 6.14.0 directory with no joy.
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€Oh, and yes, it is using u-boot.
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€Unfortunately Some of the kernel modules which are missing are the
> > >
€€speakup modules which I must have to provide speech in text
console
> > >
€€mode. That has also made it much more difficult because it means I
> > >
€€have to have a sighted person here to help me
install/break/reinstall
> > >
€€various packages.
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€Upon examining the two debian images I tried to boot I realized
that
> > >
€€the netinst is grub based so wouldn't boot. The dvd however does
> > >
€€appear to be u-boot based so I am still at a loss for the reason
it
> > >
€€won't boot.
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€I don't really understand the booting mechanism of u-boot, even
after
> > >
€€reading what I've been able to find.
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€Anyway, the spacemit is an 8-core SOC called K1X I believe. The
> > >
€€processor is a M1-8571. Here is the cpu line from dmesg on the
system:
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€spacemit-socinfo soc:socinfo@0: Spacemit: CPU[M1-8571] REV[C]
DRO[127] Detected
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€So thank you and if you have any other recommendations I would
> > >
€€appreciate them.
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€€€€€ Kirk
> > >
> > >
> > > €€
> > >
€€On Thu, 11 Sep 2025, Greg Sterling wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > >
€€> Hello!
> > >
€€>
> > >
€€> My boss thought I might be able to get you contact with the
devboards community for help.€€ If you€€€re interested, you might be able to
get some help by sending an email to devboard-community@riscv.org.€€ There
are
a lot of helpful people
out there who may have experienced similar problems and may be able to offer
some help or suggestions.
> > >
€€>
> > >
€€> Thanks and have a great day!
> > >
€€>
> > >
€€> Greg Sterling (RISC-V International)
> > >
€€> Phone: +1 603 321 7320
> > >
€€> E-mail: greg@riscv.org
> > >
€€>
> > >
€€>> On Sep 10, 2025, at 8:04€€€PM, Jeff Scheel
wrote:
> > >
€€>>
> > >
€€>> You might want to try and connect with Kirk with the DevBoard
community to see€€ if someone can help here...
> > >
€€>>
> > >
€€>> --
> > >
€€>> Jeff Scheel (he/him/his)
> > >
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