Bought a VF2 board some time ago. Trying to get it to work, with the intention to use this computer as a daily driver (sort of?). But… no luck so far.
Chose the VF2 because of the excellent software support & documentation. Nothing but praise there! Most of the small SBC market is a crapshoot in this respect.
But I can’t get it to work. First thought: “16MB of onboard flash should be enough to initialize HDMI output & put something on screen - anything”. Nope!
Downloaded the 202510 Debian image (~1.4GB). But right now I only have a spare 4GB SD card to work with. Just writing that image anyway produced no screen output on my VF2.
I read that perhaps (or probably) the VF2 firmware would need an update to boot these newer images. Downloaded the VF2 software release v6.0.0 with “sdcard.img” (~540MB) in it. That was the only SD card image so far which actually produced screen output over HDMI. And an USB keyboard was detected, ok. But… it did not take any keyboard input. So, couldn’t start a flashing utility & update firmware.
I do not (yet own one of those USB<->serial dongles. So the UART route is out. Which left SSH login: I do not have a wired home network at my disposal. Due to my nomadic lifestyle I use public WiFi networks, or WiFi at aqaintance’s homes, sometimes their PC/laptop, etc. Where I am now there’s no RJ45 cable in sight.
So… I’m kinda at a loss on how to get started here. Does my VF2 indeed require a firmware update before it can boot a recent-ish Debian image? For each image I wrote to an SD card, I tried booting with all possible combinations of boot switch settings. My board is the rev1.3B (8 GB RAM) in factory state. I don’t even know what firmware is in there (PgUp/PgDwn didn’t work after booting that sdcard.img above).
I did get a Raspberry Pi (2) to work - somewhat (non-GUI). So direct UART-UART from that machine could be an option. But I’m still busy figuring things out on that RPi.
Any help / tips / ideas would be greatly appreciated here.
https://debian.starfivetech.com/ Here are all historical versions of VF2, you can try each old version to see if any can boot and display via HDMI.
If an old image version can boot into the Debian system, then follow the VisionFive 2 Debian User Guide Page Contents to upgrade uboot spl.
Connect the jumper wires between the USB-to-Serial converter ..
See my 1st post. Don’t have such a USB-to-serial dongle.
There may be situations where you accidentally empty the flash or if the flash is damaged on your board.
Ehm.. this board is a non-used one. It’s been sitting in storage for a good while, and I haven’t used it. Nor attempted a firmware update. So.. flash contents corrupted or chip damaged? That would seem very weird for a board in factory state.
Here are all historical versions of VF2, you can try each old version to see if any can boot and display via HDMI.
Download 10+ images in turn, 2..3GB+ a piece, write each to an SD card, in the hope that one of them will boot & allow me to proceed? That’s a no go (again see my 1st post). Not to mention a dumb method.
Like said: board is 8 GB version, rev 1.3B. I can provide a serial # if needed. Isn’t there a record of firmware versions used on that revision board, for that serial # or purchase period? And if so: an SD card image that is:
a) Known (guaranteed) to boot on VF2 board with any of those firmware versions.
b) Produce screen output over HDMI
c) Take keyboard input
That are not difficult requirements for a board in factory state, right?
For the record: I’m forgiving here because it was advertised & sold as a developer board. If this were a consumer product I’d be returning it as broken / non-functional. And for example, for a brand-new SBC one shouldn’t need an USB-to-serial dongle just to get started.
Unfortunately this is kind of the state of risc-v boards: Nor for everyone, but only for risc-v enthusiasts. Sometimes it can be painful to work with. I’d highly recommend getting a serial→USB adapter. Without one, it’s very hard to tell what exactly went wrong, so that’s kind of a must have.
own one of those USB<->serial dongles. So the UART route is out. Which left SSH login: I do not have a wired home network at my disposal. Due to my nomadic lifestyle I use public WiFi networks, or WiFi at aqaintance’s homes, sometimes their PC/laptop, etc. Where I am now there’s no RJ45 cable in sight.