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Install an operating system

1. Equipment Preparation​

  • Luckfox-Aura
  • USB Type-A to Type-C data cable
  • 5V/3A Type-C power adapter (to prevent insufficient power, the RV1126B must be powered on with the adapter)
  • 100M/1000M Ethernet cable and router
  • USB wireless/wired mouse/keyboard
  • Serial to USB module
[TIP]

The default baud rate for RV1126B is 1500000. Some USB to serial chips may not support this baud rate, and different series of the same chip may also have variations. Therefore, be sure to confirm support before purchasing. It is recommended to use CH343, FT232, or CP2102 serial modules, while PL2303 and CH340 serial modules are not recommended.

2. Driver Installation​

  1. Download the RK DriverAssitant(click here to download).
  2. Open the RK Driver Assistant to install the USB driver. There is no need to connect during this process. After the installation is complete, restart the computer.
    Screenshot of the driver installation process.

3. Image Download​

Luckfox-Aura supports system images based on Buildroot and Debian 13.Users can download the appropriate image file according to their needs. The image naming convention is as follows:(Board Model) - (Operating System) - (Storage Medium) - (Update Date)

  • Board Model: Luckfox-Aura

  • Operating System: Debian 13, Buildroot

  • Storage Medium: eMMC, MicroSD

VersionDescriptionDownload
Debian12Image for eMMC and TF cardImage Google Cloud Download Link
BuilldrootImage for eMMC and TF cardImage Google Cloud Download Link

4. Enter Upgrade Mode​

Loader mode and MaskRom mode are two common device upgrade modes used for loading firmware or boot programs.

  • Loader mode loads via a software-level boot program, typically used for firmware upgrades.
  • MaskRom mode is a hardware-level boot mode that operates by directly loading firmware, usually used for factory programming or device recovery.

4.1 Loader Mode​

If you need to flash the system, the development board must be switched to LOADER mode or MASKROM mode. It is recommended to use LOADER mode first. The method to switch to LOADER mode is as follows:

  • Manual switching: Press and hold the RESET button, then press and hold the RECOVERY button. Release the RESET button. When the device is recognized as being in LOADER mode, release the RECOVERY button.
    KVM

4.2 MaskRom Mode​

If the device cannot enter Loader mode, you can then try to forcibly enter MaskRom mode.

  1. Connect the USB data cable and open the Rockchip flashing tool RKDevTool.
  2. Disconnect the Aura power supply and short-circuit the two pads on the development board.
    KVM
  3. Reconnect the power supply, and you should see the prompt Found One MASKROM Device.

5. Image Flashing (Windows Environment)​

5.1 Image Flashing (eMMC/Flash)​

The SocToolKit software supports two flashing modes for eMMC or Flash:

  • One-click full image flashing: This mode uses a pre-packaged full system image containing all required partitions. It is suitable for rapid deployment and enables quick system setup.

  • Selective partition flashing: This allows updating specific system modules, offering a flexible flashing solution for users with advanced customization needs.

  1. Download and extract the SocToolKit flashing tool（ Click here to download ）。
  2. Launch the software（Right-click and run as administrator），then select RV1106。
    xxx
  3. Flash the image.
[Tip]
  1. These two flashing modes are independent of each other. In actual operation, simply choose one based on your needs.
  2. If the development board is already successfully connected via ADB, you can directly run the command reboot loader to quickly enter flashing mode without pressing any physical buttons.
  • Device connection and partition-based image flashing.
    ① Hold down the BOOT button while connecting the device to the computer. Once the Rockchip flashing tool shows a MaskRom device (the device number may vary), you can release the BOOT button.
    ② Click Search Path to select the firmware directory, check all the partitions you want to flash, and then click the Download button to start flashing.
    xxx
  • Device connection and one-click full image flashing.
    ① Hold down the BOOT button while connecting the device to the computer. Once the Rockchip flashing tool shows a MaskRom device (the device number may vary), release the BOOT button.
    ② Click Firmware to select the firmware directory, then click the Upgrade button to start flashing.
    xxx

5.2 Image Flashing (MicroSD)​

[Tip]
  1. The MicroSD card flashing feature of balenaEtcher only supports one-click image flashing.
  2. Please ensure that the TF card is of reliable quality. It is recommended to use a Class 10 or higher TF card to ensure sufficient read/write speed and stability. We have verified that TF cards from SanDisk and SmartQuickly work properly. Due to the wide variety of brands and models on the market, it is not possible to test them all, so the above brands are recommended.
  1. Download the TF card formatting tool SD Card Formatter, unzip and install with one click.( Click here to download ).
  2. Select the correct TF card drive letter and click "Format". Make sure to remove any other TF cards to avoid accidental data loss.
    xxx
  3. Download and extract the balenaEtcher flashing tool (Click here to download).
  4. Flashing steps.
    ① Open the balenaEtcher flashing tool and select the image fileFlash from file.

    ② Select the image file sd_update.img and click Open.

    ③ Ignore the partition table warning and choose Continue.

    ④ Insert the SD card into the card reader and connect it to the computer. At this point, the SD card capacity will be displayed under USB storage.

    ⑤ Click Flash to create the SD card.

    ⑥ When Flash Completed is displayed, the image has been flashed successfully.

6. Image Flashing (Ubuntu22.04 X86-64)​

[Note]
  1. Currently supported only on Ubuntu 22.04 x86_64. Other platforms or architectures are not compatible at this time.
  2. upgrade_tool is a closed-source command-line flashing utility provided by Rockchip, supporting only SPI NAND Flash and eMMC as target storage media.

6.1 Entering Flash Mode on the Development Board​

Press and hold the BOOT button while connecting the board to the host PC to enter flash mode.
After running the lsusb command, you can compare the device recognition results between flash mode and normal operating mode, as shown below:

  • Board in flash mode:
    xxx
  • Board successfully booted into the system:
    xxx
[Note]

If the virtual machine cannot recognize the board, it is usually caused by one of the following reasons:

  1. Faulty USB cable: If replugging the cable causes no response and no system or VMware popup appears, the cable is likely damaged or has a poor connection. Try replacing the USB cable and reconnecting the board.
  2. Device not assigned in VMware popup: When plugging in the board, VMware will prompt you to choose whether to connect the device to the “Host” or “Virtual Machine.”
    If no selection is made before the popup disappears and VMware’s auto-connect policy is not properly configured, the device remains unassigned, meaning it is neither controlled by the host nor mounted to the VM.
    In this case, replug the device to reassign control.

6.2 Flashing Standalone Image (Without SDK)​

  1. Download, extract, and install upgrade_tool ：

    sudo unzip upgrade_tool_v2.17.zip
    cd upgrade_tool_v2.17_for_linux/
    sudo cp upgrade_tool /usr/local/bin
    sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/upgrade_tool

  2. Verify installation success:

    ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo upgrade_tool -v
    Upgrade Tool v2.17

  3. Run the tool to flash the firmware:

    luckfox@luckfox:~$ sudo upgrade_tool uf update.img 
    Loading firmware...
    Support Type:1106   FW Ver:0.0.00   FW Time:2023-11-16 16:24:18
    Loader ver:1.01 Loader Time:2023-11-16 16:22:58
    Start to upgrade firmware...
    Download Boot Start
    Download Boot Success
    Wait For Maskrom Start
    Wait For Maskrom Success
    Test Device Start
    Test Device Success
    Check Chip Start
    Check Chip Success
    Get FlashInfo Start
    Get FlashInfo Success
    Prepare IDB Start
    Prepare IDB Success
    Download IDB Start
    Download IDB Success
    Download Firmware Start
    Download Image... (100%)
    Download Firmware Success
    Upgrade firmware ok.

  4. Result preview:
    KVM

6.3 Flashing the Image via SDK Script​

[Note]

The output/image directory must contain the update.img file, which is automatically generated when compiling the SDK. If you have not compiled the SDK yet, manually create the output/image directory and place the downloaded firmware inside it, renaming the file to update.img.

  1. Ensure the board is in flash mode before proceeding.
  2. Run the flashing script with administrator privileges:
    $ sudo ./rkflash.sh update
     [sudo] password for ubuntu: 
     Using /home/ubuntu/Luckfox/ubuntu-bluetooth/luckfox-pico/tools/linux/Linux_Upgrade_Tool/config.ini
     Loading firmware...
     Support Type:1106   FW Ver:0.0.00   FW Time:2024-09-27 14:22:59
     Loader ver:1.01 Loader Time:2024-09-27 14:17:09
     Start to upgrade firmware...
     Download Boot Start
     Download Boot Success
     Wait For Maskrom Start
     Wait For Maskrom Success
     Test Device Start
     Test Device Success
     Check Chip Start
     Check Chip Success
     Get FlashInfo Start
     Get FlashInfo Success
     Prepare IDB Start
     Prepare IDB Success
     Download IDB Start
     Download IDB Success
     Download Firmware Start
     Download Image... (100%)
     Download Firmware Success
     Upgrade firmware ok
  3. Result preview:
    KVM

7. Image Flashing (macOS Environment)​

The upgrade_tool is available not only for Linux but also supports the macOS platform.

  1. Download and extract the appropriate version of the Upgrade Tool flashing utility according to your Mac’s processor architecture.

    OS VersionUpgrade Tool VersionDownload
    MacOS 12.7upgrade_tool_v2.25_for_mac.zipDownload
    MacOS 26.1upgrade_tool_v2.44_for_mac.zipDownload

  2. Press and hold the BOOT button while connecting the device to the host computer to put the board into flashing mode.

  3. Run the tool to flash the firmware:

    [Note]

    The following command is only an example. Please modify the image file name and path according to the actual image file you are using.

    cd upgrade_tool_v2.44_mac
    sudo ./upgrade_tool uf Luckfox-xxx-xxx.img

  4. The result is shown below.

8. Erase All​

  1. Click Search Path to select the firmware storage directory, and check Download.bin.
  2. Switch to Advanced Feature, click Download.bin to start flashing. Once the download is complete, click Erase to perform the erase operation.
    xxx
    xxx