Hello Everyone,
I have recently managed to get my hande on a VF2. I however severly lack experiance with RISC V and SBCs in general. Most of my experiance is with Arduino coding. I cannot find the proper information as to how to start the VF2 into debian from an sd card. I am using windows, should I use ubuntu to set it up instead, is it easier? Any help anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
It depends on the firmware version.
You can try to start with the 202306 release and write it too your micro SD card.
It’s easier on Ubuntu (or any other Linux distro), as you will be able to make the root partition larger and copy the script to download the additional packages.
You can do it afterwards, but it’s not without some challenges.
This is the thread to start with.
Download the image from here: https://debian.starfivetech.com/
Once you have written the image, you can try to boot. If it doesn’t boot after a couple of minutes, you can shut down and try again by changing the switches.
https://rvspace.org/en/project/VisionFive2_Debian_Wiki_202306_Release
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Thanks for the advice. I attemted to install the 202306 Debian image with balena etcher and was just wondering if there were massive missed steps or anything that balena etcher could’ve done wrong. You talk about downloading additional packages. And I am now wondering if thats a crucial step that I missed?
Thank you again for the help 
- Download a ubuntu iso and write into a USB Disk.
- Boot from USB Disk and use liveCD mode.
- Write SD image with dd. (only this step is cmd line .)
- Use gparted resize pation. (do not follow starfive’s manual .)
- VF2 Board switch to SD boot mode.
- Boot VF2 with SDcard.
Thank you. I have gotten the latest release running. It just has absolutely nothing on it. Did I download the wrong version? I only have access to settings, terminal, extensions, and input method. I am not sure what to do to even a get a browser on it.
Please read Debian user’s manual to learn how to use the Linux Distribution.
Thanks
I now have many more programs thanks to both of you, do you know if there is a way to install GNOME system monitor? I have tried using the usual process for debian systems but it doesn’t do it.
@JackOfAllTrades sudo apt install gnome-system-monitor
If you are looking for system monitor in the status bar, it won’t work, because of packages that are held back for compatibility reasons.
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/120/system-monitor/
In the future, please tell us what you did (try to be precise) and if you encountered any errors. Now I’m guessing to answer your question.
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Thank you, i forgot to come back and mention that i worked it out.
I had to run sudo apt --fix-broken install and then use sudo apt-get install gnome-system-monitor to install the system monitor.
P.S. I found your youtube channel and it has been a big help in the setup process. I also subscribed, you make good content that explains stuff well keep it up!
And thank you for the help!
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