Frustrated with my R6S: How do I get a custom image working?

[helennobles]

Hello,
I followed the instructions on the FriendlyElec Wiki trying to get either Fedora IoT or AlmaLinux installed on my NanoPi R6S, but I am not having much luck. Everything seems to install, that is the flasher goes through the process of installing the identified image, but after removing the SD card and rebooting, nothing happens after the FriendlyElec splash screen. Has anyone gotten a Fedora/RHEL adjacent distro working on a NanoPi? I very much prefer them and have them on all of my machines that are not MacOS; my RPi is running AlmaLinux 9.3 and everything else is Fedora 39 of some

[rvalvekar]

Hi,
I was able to install a custom image, with my own configuration on the EMMC. And it was booting.
Unfortunately, it bricked my board and i am now not able to access the EMMC anymore.
So make sure you get the image and its properties correct. Also try using the elfasher tool, which will install the custom OS from SD Card. if you have not tried it.

[immanueljohnston]

Hello,
I followed the instructions on the FriendlyElec Wiki trying to get either Fedora IoT or AlmaLinux installed on my NanoPi R6S, but I am not having much luck. Everything seems to install, that is the flasher goes through the process of installing the identified image, but after removing the SD card and rebooting, nothing happens after the FriendlyElec splash screen. Has anyone gotten a Fedora/RHEL adjacent distro working on a NanoPi? I very much prefer them and have them on all of my machines that are not MacOS; my RPi is running AlmaLinux 9.3 and everything else is Fedora 39 of some

Hey there!

Yes, many people have been able to easily install Fedora or RHEL-based distributions on NanoPi boards. Check the NanoPi R6S's kernel version and configuration files (like /boot/config.txt) to make sure they are right. Make sure you've also chosen the right start mode, like U-start or UEFI.

[AllanPfeffer]

you need to check the log via the serial port, make sure the bootloader is correct, replace or edit the correct DTB file for the hardware, and make sure the kernel supports the RK3588S SoC

[ArmbianForSBCs]

Should work OOB from our build framework - simple and easy.
https://github.com/armbian/build

[chrs80]

The board is RK3588S-based, and unlike the Raspberry Pi, which has extensive community support, slither Fedora and RHEL derivatives do not officially support RK3588(S) boards (yet).

[hakih]

Did you try connecting the NanoPi R6S to an HDMI monitor after boot to see if there’s any visual output or error messages?

[mathisa2]

Sometimes, using a different SD card or even reformatting it can make a difference. Have you tried connecting to the serial console during boot to see if there are any error messages?

[Thomasfr]

I ran into a similar situation when trying Fedora IoT on a Rockchip board. The problem is usually not the image but the bootloader or device tree. The NanoPi R6S uses the RK3588S, so it needs the right dtb. I advise extracting the bootlog file via UART to see if the kernel is loaded, which will help determine the exact problem. Granny Game