Radxa Cubie A7A single board computer

Radxa Cubie A7A Single Board Computer Running Linux: Introduction to the Series

Radxa OS

First, you’ll want to update the system. While Radxa OS is a Debian-based distro, you need to use Radxa’s own Rsetup utility to update the system. It’s a very simple process. At the terminal, issue the command rsetup

From the menu, select System

Rsetup

Choose System Update

Rsetup

Choose Yes to update the system.

Rsetup

The image below shows that 19 new packages are going to be installed and 30 packages updated.

Rsetup

Once the packages are installed, the kernel modules are rebuilt (as there’s also a minor kernel upgrade).

Rsetup

We’re now advised to reboot the system.

Rsetup

Radxa OS automatically boots into X.

Here’s an image of the desktop.

Cubie A7A desktop
Click image for full size

The machine is running Debian 11 with KDE Plasma 5.20.5. KDE reports that the graphics processor is PowerVR B-Series BXM-4-64.

I hope that a Debian 12 image is made available. I find that with Debian 11 and X, the graphics is sub-optimal. The mouse cursor flickers when moving, and I’m unable to get a refresh rate higher than 60 Hz (I tried a variety of different monitors). Maybe my board has a video fault as the display feels flickery even at 60 Hz refresh rate.

A 3GB swap file has been allocated.

top

I’ll want to remotely login to the machine. openssh-server is already installed on the system, but the service needs enabling.

enable ssh

Next page: Page 3 – Interrogation of the system

Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Introduction
Page 2 – Radxa OS
Page 3 – Interrogation of the system


Complete list of articles in this series:

Radxa Cubie A7A
IntroductionIntroduction to the series and interrogation of the Cubie A7A
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