ROCK Pi S >  Getting started

This guide is designed for ROCK Pi S enthusiast. The purpose is to learn about the ROCK Pi S board as well as how to prepare and set up for basic use. We will introduce the board information as much as possible.

What you need

Necessary

  • ROCK Pi S main board
  • One of the Storage media below:
    • μSD card, larger than 8GB.
  • USB type C to type A cable
    • For both power and USB communication(adb/fastboot) with HOST PC.
  • PC/Laptop which has USB ports
    • The ROCK Pi S can be powered from the PC/Laptop USB ports directly

Optional

  • Power adapter
    • If you want to power ROCK Pi S standalone, you can use 5V/1A or 5V/2A power adapter with USB C ports. You can also use the USB PD/QC power adapter without worrying damage the board because the PD/QC adapter will detect ROCK Pi S only supports 5V so the adapter will output 5V.
  • μSD Card Reader
    • For flashing the image into μSD Card.
  • USB to TTL serial cable
    • For serial console, low level troubleshooting, development etc.
  • Ethernet cable
    • ROCK Pi S supports Internet access via WIFI or Ethernet.
    • An Ethernet cable is used to connect your ROCK Pi S to a local network and the Internet.

Close look of ROCK Pi S

  • ROCK Pi S front view

Rockpi s top 1200px.jpeg

  • ROCK Pi S front with an angle view

Rockpi s angel 1200px.jpeg

  • ROCK Pi S back view

Rockpi s back 1200px.jpeg

Features

Model ROCK Pi S
Processor SoC RK3308
Quad Cortex-A35 ARM 64bits processor
frequency up to 1.3GHz
Memory 256MB or 512MB DDR3
Storage MicroSD(TF), optional on board 1/2/4/8Gb NAND flash
Wireless 802.11 b/g/n wifi
Bluetooth 4.0(rtl8723DS)
external antenna
USB USB2.0 Type-A HOST x1
USB3.0 Type-C OTG x1
Key maskrom x1
reset x1
Ethernet 100MB ethernet, optional PoE(additional HAT requried)
IO 26-pin expansion header
I2C x4
PWM x3
SPI x2
UART x3
I2S0 x1
5V DC power in x2
3.3V DC power in x2
Others ---
Power USB Type-C DC 5V
Size 1.7inch square


Starting the board for the first time

ROCK Pi S can be started with μSD Card.

1. Prepare the image

  • When start system with μSD Card

Insert the μSD Card into μSD Card Reader, which connects to host computer.

2. Write Image to uSD card

  • Download the flash tool, etcher, from Downloads. Choose the right version for your host operation system. Here we operate on host Ubuntu 16.04.
  • After unpacking the package, we run the tool by executing the command 
$ ./etcher-etcher-electron-1.4.5-x86_64.AppImage

If you get an error message: "No polkit authentication agent found" you can try and start it with sudo, but do know that this is running the tool as root.

  • In the etcher window, click Select image.

Linux etcher select image.png

  • In the etcher window, click Select Drive.

Linux etcher select driver.png

  • In the etcher window, click Flash.

Linux etcher select flash button.png

  • In the etcher window, once it shows us Flash Complete! It is done and can be put into the ROCK Pi S.

Linux etcher show complete.png

3. Boot the board

  • Now insert the uSD card to the board.
  • Use a USB C to USB A cable, connect the board to your PC
  • ROCK Pi S will boot, the green power led is on, and after a while, the blue led start blinking
  • (Optional)Use a USB to TTL serial cable to make a connection between your PC and ROCK Pi S. See Serial Console

4. Access from the Host PC/Laptop

Option 1: USB access(adb)

By default, the ROCK Pi S Linux image enables adbd services, which is a debug bridge from Android now ported on Linux. With one USB A to C cable you can power and access the board, very handy.

To use adb, you need to install adb tool on the PC/Laptop. Check instructions for Windows and Linux.

After you have adb installed successfully, run the following command on console to login the shell of ROCK Pi S: 

   adb shell

Check Using adb.

Option 2: Serial console

Check Serial Console

Option 3: SSH

SSH server is enabled on port 22 of ROCK Pi S default image.

Please use angryip to find your board IP address.

To access ROCK Pi S by SSH, try 

   ping rockpis.local
   ssh rock@rockpis.local

or if your router/network doesn't support Local Domain, you need to check your network/router administrator page and look for the ROCK Pi S ip address. 

   ping ip-of-device
   ssh rock@ip-of-device

Note: You can also get the IP of ROCK Pi S from option 1 or option 2 if you can not access network administrator page.

5.Network state

  • Look at network configure: 
  $ sudo ifconfig
  • Test network: 
  $ ping -c 5 www.google.com

6.WIFI Connection

Check WIFI Connection.

7.Bluetooth

Check Bluetooth.

8.Buttons

ROCK Pi S has reset key and maskrom key:

Keys.jpeg

  • Reset key:

Press and release this key to reset ROCK Pi S.

  • Maskrom key:

ROCK Pi S supports boot on SD NAND flash. By default, SD NAND starts before TF card. Press the maskrom key to ignore the SD NAND flash when ROCK Pi S is powered on.

9.LED

ROCK Pi S has Power LED and User LED.

  • Power LED

Power LED is green, which can be configured by sysfs.

The related directory is /sys/class/leds/rockpis:green:power

It is always on when ROCK Pi S is given power by default,

  • User LED

User LED is blue, which can be configured by sysfs.

The related directory is /sys/class/leds/rockpis:blue:user

By default, its blink status shows the running kernel.

10.GPIO

ROCK Pi S has two 26-pin expansion headers. Each pin is distinguished by color, more information click here

Development for GPIO ROCK Pi S support libmraa GPIO library, click here to get more information.

11.Using OTG

ROCK Pi S has an USB type-C OTG connector, which you can use to write(or read) data by PC to (or from) ROCK Pi S, more help click here

Next Step

Troubleshooting

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