Compile Linux firmware Download the SDK Please contact sales@t-firefly.com to get SDK download link and read the readme file Notice: 1. SDK use cross-compilation, so use SDK in x86_64 PC, do not download SDK to the device 2. We suggest to use Ubuntu20.04 (real PC or docker) to build, other OS may cause building failure 3. Do not place or decompress the SDK archive in Virtual Machine share folder or non-english folder 4. Please use the regular user to get/compile the SDK, use root privilege may cause building failure SDK Introduction SDK Structure $ tree -L 1 . ├── app ├── buildroot # buildroot ├── build.sh -> device/rockchip/common/scripts/build.sh # building script ├── device # building system, includes building configs ├── docs # development documents ├── external # some components ├── kernel # linux kernel ├── Makefile -> device/rockchip/common/Makefile ├── prebuilt_rootfs # used to place pre-built rootfs ├── prebuilts # used to place cross-build toolchain ├── rkbin ├── rkflash.sh -> device/rockchip/common/scripts/rkflash.sh ├── tools # some tools └── u-boot # uboot About Configurations There are many config files (xxxx_defconfig) under "device/rockchip/rk3576/", these files control the building system. And their names will be like: __-__defconfig vendor: vendor of the product chip: soc the product used model: product model, means this config file is for that specific product. extra: some extra features, could be empty OS: the operating system that will be running in product About config file contents, take firefly_rk3576_aio- 3576jd4_debian_defconfig as an example: #include "firefly.config" # includes firefly.config PREBUILT_ROOTFS_IMG="prebuilt_rootfs/rk3576_debian_rootfs.img" # set the prebuilt rootfs to be used RK_PARAMETER="parameter-ubuntu-fit.txt" # set the partition parameter RK_KERNEL_DTS_NAME="rk3576-firefly-aio-3576jd4" # set the dts to be used during kernel compilation RK_PRODUCT_MODEL="AIO-3576JD4" # product name/model UBOOT_DEBUG_BAUDRATE="115200" # set debug serial baudrate as 115200 And firefly.config mainly has: RK_KERNEL_CFG_FRAGMENTS="firefly-linux.config firefly-docker.config" # set the config fragments to be used during kernel compilation RK_UBOOT_CFG_FRAGMENTS="firefly-linux" # set the config fragments to be used during uboot compilation USE_EXTBOOT=y # use exlinux style boot.img Partitions Parameter file records the firmware partitions, for example "device/rockchip/rk3576/parameter-xxxxxx-fit.txt" FIRMWARE_VER: 1.0 MACHINE_MODEL: RK357 MACHINE_ID: 007 MANUFACTURER: RK3576 MAGIC: 0x5041524B ATAG: 0x00200800 MACHINE: 0xffffffff CHECK_MASK: 0x80 PWR_HLD: 0,0,A,0,1 TYPE: GPT GROW_ALIGN: 0 CMDLINE: mtdparts=:0x00004000@0x00004000(uboot),0x00002000@0x00008000(misc),0x00040000@0x0000a000(boot:bootable),0x00040000@0x0004a000(recovery),0x00010000@0x0008a000(backup),0x00c00000@0x0009a000(rootfs),-@0x00c9a000(userdata:grow) uuid:rootfs=614e0000-0000-4b53-8000-1d28000054a9 uuid:boot=7A3F0000-0000-446A-8000-702F000062736 CMDLINE is what we need to focus on, in "0x00040000@0x0000a000(boot:bootable)", 0x0000a000 is the start position of boot, and 0x00040000 is the size of boot partition. Start position + Partition size = Start position of the next partition. All partitions follow the same rule. And the unit of these hex numbers is "block", each block is 512 Byte, which means boot partition size 0x00040000 is 262144 block = 262144 x 512 / 1024 / 1024 = 128 MiB Build Ubuntu Firmware Preparations Run these two commands to install necessary tools sudo apt update sudo apt install repo git ssh make gcc libssl-dev liblz4-tool \ expect g++ patchelf chrpath gawk texinfo chrpath diffstat binfmt-support \ qemu-user-static live-build bison flex fakeroot cmake gcc-multilib g++-multilib \ unzip device-tree-compiler ncurses-dev p7zip-full Download rootfs here Ubuntu rootfs , in general, choose the filesystem with latest date. After download, decompress and move the rootfs image to SDK/prebuilt_rootfs/, then create a symbolic link. # Decompress 7z x Ubuntu22.04-xxxx.7z mkdir ./SDK/prebuilt_rootfs/ mv Ubuntu22.04-xxxx.img ./SDK/prebuilt_rootfs/ cd ./SDK/prebuilt_rootfs/ ln -sf Ubuntu22.04-xxxx.img rk3576_ubuntu_rootfs.img cd .. Configurations Run "./build.sh lunch" to list all available configs, enter a number to select. Please choose one with "ubuntu" keyword: ./build.sh lunch ############### Rockchip Linux SDK ############### Manifest: rk3576_linux_release_20250520_v1.0.1f.xml Log colors: message notice warning error fatal Log saved at /home2/liuth/project/linux/rk3576/output/sessions/2025-08-06_15-27-20 Pick a defconfig: 1. rockchip_defconfig 2. firefly_rk3576_aio-3576c_buildroot_defconfig 3. firefly_rk3576_aio-3576c_debian_defconfig 4. firefly_rk3576_aio-3576c_ubuntu_defconfig 5. firefly_rk3576_aio-3576jd4_buildroot_defconfig 6. firefly_rk3576_aio-3576jd4_debian_defconfig 7. firefly_rk3576_aio-3576jd4_ubuntu_defconfig ...... ...... 24. firefly_rk3576_roc-rk3576-pc_buildroot_defconfig 25. firefly_rk3576_roc-rk3576-pc_debian_defconfig 26. firefly_rk3576_roc-rk3576-pc_ubuntu_defconfig 27. rockchip_rk3576_evb1_v10_defconfig 28. rockchip_rk3576_industry_evb_v10_defconfig 29. rockchip_rk3576_iotest_v10_defconfig 30. rockchip_rk3576_ipc_evb1_v10_defconfig 31. rockchip_rk3576_multi_ipc_evb1_v10_defconfig 32. rockchip_rk3576_test1_v10_defconfig 33. rockchip_rk3576_test2_v10_defconfig 34. rockchip_rk3576_vehicle_evb_v10_defconfig 35. rockchip_rk3576_vehicle_evb_v20_mos_defconfig Which would you like? [1]: Compilation Full Compilation Run ./build.sh all The output firmware will be "output/update/update.img" Partial Compilation After a full compilation, if you modified kernel or uboot, you can do partial compilation to save time. Only build u-boot, will generate u-boot/uboot.img ./build.sh uboot Only build kernel, will generate kernel/extboot.img ./build.sh extboot Pack all parts to update.img ./build.sh updateimg Compile Yocto firmware Compile Select image The Yocto project provides some images that can be used without layers. The following table lists currently supported build images and associated recipes. Build image The process of building with the bitbake command needs to ensure that the network connection is normal. If it is a customer in inland China, you need to ensure that it can ping the external network Enter the directory and execute the following commands in sequence # Install the required environment packages # sudo apt install zstd source oe-init-build-env # add layer bitbake-layers add-layer ../../meta-openembedded/meta-oe bitbake-layers add-layer ../../meta-openembedded/meta-python bitbake-layers add-layer ../../meta-openembedded/meta-networking bitbake-layers add-layer ../../meta-openembedded/meta-multimedia bitbake-layers add-layer ../../meta-openembedded/meta-gnome bitbake-layers add-layer ../../meta-openembedded/meta-xfce bitbake-layers add-layer ../../meta-clang bitbake-layers add-layer ../../meta-browser/meta-chromium bitbake-layers add-layer ../../meta-rockchip Choose one of the commands to compile the complete core-image recipes. The following is an x11 based core-image. MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake core-image-minimal MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake core-image-minimal-xfce MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake core-image-x11 MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake core-image-sato The following is a core-image based on wayland. You need to modify DISPLAY_PLATFORM to wayland in "/path/to/yocto/meta- rockchip/conf/machine/include/display.conf". Modify as follows: DISPLAY_PLATFORM ?= "wayland" # DISPLAY_PLATFORM ?= "x11" After completing the above modifications, execute the command to compile core-image-weston MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake core-image-weston Note: If you need to change the compiled core-image recipes after you have already compiled core-image once, you need to clean up the currently compiled core-image and then compile a new core-image. For example: the currently compiled one is core-image-minimal. You need to change it to core-image-sato. MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake core-image-minimal -c clean MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake core-image-sato If you want to compile some recipes separately, you can refer to the following: # kernel MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake linux-rockchip # u-boot MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake u-boot-rockchip # rkmpp MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake rockchip-mpp # rockchip-librga MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake rockchip-librga # See more compilation objects MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake -s Adjust compilation speed Modify the BB_NUMBER_THREADS and PARALLEL_MAKE variables in the file "/path/to/yocto/meta-rockchip/conf/machine/firefly-rk3576.conf". If the number of threads is set too large, the machine may run out of memory and cause compilation failure. Please set the compilation speed according to the configuration of the compilation machine. BB_NUMBER_THREADS = "4" PARALLEL_MAKE = "-j 4" BB_NUMBER_THREADS: The maximum number of threads BitBake simultaneously executes. BB_NUMBER_PARSE_THREADS: The number of threads BitBake uses during parsing. PARALLEL_MAKE: Extra options passed to the make command during the do_compile task in order to specify parallel compilation on the local build host. PARALLEL_MAKEINST: Extra options passed to the make command during the do_install task in order to specify parallel installation on the local build host. More bitbake options Fundamentally, BitBake is a generic task execution engine that allows shell and Python tasks to be run efficiently and in parallel while working within complex inter-task dependency constraints. One of BitBake’s main users, OpenEmbedded, takes this core and builds embedded Linux software stacks using a task-oriented approach.For more detailed usage, please check 《bitbake-user-manual》 。 MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake # e.g MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake u-boot-rockchip -c clean MACHINE=roc-rk3576-pc-ext bitbake u-boot-rockchip Partition firmware upgrade The compiled firmware is located in the directory "/build/tmp/deploy/images//" $ sudo upgrade_tool di -boot boot.img $ sudo upgrade_tool di -uboot uboot.img $ sudo upgrade_tool di -misc misc.img $ sudo upgrade_tool di -recovery recovery.img Partition burning is suitable for debugging stage. For firmware verification, please use the unified firmware burning below. Rootfs does not support separate burning. You need to pack the complete firmware before burning. Unified firmware upgrade The compiled firmware is located in the directory "/build/tmp/deploy/images//", the files to be downloaded are .wic and update.img, and after entering the loader mode, execute the following commands : $ sudo upgrade_tool wl 0 .wic $ sudo upgrade_tool uf update.img The default login account of the firmware is: root, password: firefly. The firmware contains a common user account named firefly, and the password is firefly. Note: If you are developing on a Windows PC, you can use RKdevtool to directly burn update.img, no need to burn .wic . However, please note that update.img is a link file, so you must select the actual file that the link file points to. Related overview The Yocto Project is an open source collaborative project focused on embedded Linux® operating system development that provides a flexible toolset and development environment that allows embedded device developers worldwide to share technologies, software stacks, configurations and tools for creating these customizations Best Practices for Linux Imaging Collaboration. For more information about the Yocto Project, please refer to the official Yocto Project website: www.yoctoproject.org/ . The Yocto Project home page has the Yocto Project Reference Manual and the Yocto Project Overview and other related documents describe in detail how to build the system. Introduction to Yocto Project Release layer