Armbian Leaflet #2 - We have surpassed 1000 Discord Members & some important news!

Announcement and News
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Our Discord community has surpassed 1000 Discord members, which is beyond our expectations, and we are incredibly grateful for everyone who has participated and helped improve our community experience!

We are excited to announce that our continuous integration system is slowly getting back into action. We have nailed down the critical bugs and sorted out versioning. Our beta.armbian.com repository is now back with kernel semi-automated updates. We are also working on building framework documentation, and before we put it to the final destination, docs.armbian.com , we invite you to get involved in fast bootstrapping.

If you’d like to get involved in armbian, meet us at 6 PM CET every Wednesday for weekly developer meetings!

We have also enabled Github sponsorships, so you can easily sponsor the project. This is a great way of supporting us and the future of armbian.

We were also busy planning for Armbian 23.05 release, and besides finding various agreements on tasks, the primary goal of the meeting was to clean the list of supported boards.

Also, we have enabled Google login on our forums, which became a hit overnight!

Lastly, you are always welcome to join us at our general meetings every Friday, which take place at 11 PM CET every Friday!

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Dear clockworkpi Community,

We are excited to share some updates on the progress of our project with you.

Our crowdfunding campaign is just three days from completion, and we have already started negotiating with one of our hardware suppliers for a possible partnership. Join now if you haven’t yet!

We have added build configs for Mekotronics R58 and expanded our community-supported targets to include Risc-V Vision Five two boards, Star64, MangoPi, and Beagle V. Additionally, we have made 50+ bug fixes across all segments this week.

We have also made some improvements to our download images wizard with several new features:

  • We have added a date range filter to the board selection process, making it easier to find boards based on the year they were released.
  • We have added an architecture filter to the head, defaulting to aarch64, with direct links to architectures on our website and forums.
  • We have created a new group called “Community Support” and moved CSC there, allowing for easier filtering and indexing.
  • We have added and enabled all RISC-V boards and a few others, although they are currently only available as nightly builds from Git until they are more stable.

We look forward to continuing our progress together and appreciate your continued support of our project.

Best regards,

The Armbian Team

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Dear ClockWorkPi Community,

We have some exciting updates to share with you!

Firstly, we are thrilled to announce that we have successfully raised 5000 EUR for upgrading our CI servers. We want to express our sincere gratitude to all of you who participated in this fundraiser and for your continued support. Despite this success, our project remains underfinanced, and we rely on your support to keep Armbian going.

We also have some technical updates to share. FriendlyElec has sent us a sample of the NanoPi R6C, another RK3588S board that’s worth checking out. It has an M.2 slot and one less NIC than the R6S variant, and Armbian is available for both. More info at Nanopi R6S / R6C – Armbian

We have successfully ported the latest ZFS to Armbian Jammy and Armbian Bullseye. This means that users of these operating systems can now take advantage of the latest features and improvements in ZFS. Additionally, we have released our package dependency autotest framework at repository management. This framework will help ensure the reliability and stability of our packages, making it easier for you to use and enjoy Armbian.

As always, we appreciate your continued support and feedback. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact us.

Best regards,

The Armbian Team

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Hello ClockWorkPi Community!

We hope this newsletter finds you well. As we approach the 1st of May, let’s remind you that it is code freeze day. This means that we will prioritize resolving bugs over new feature development. More info at Model - Armbian Documentation

We are excited to announce our partnership with Khadas, which will help us improve the support quality of their boards!

We are calling out for help on testing. How can you help? Build an image or download daily builds, test them, and report any problems on our forum. We are looking at base functionality only, so that any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

As you know, many boards are not supported because no one is monitoring their state. Therefore, we encourage anyone interested to step up and act as a board maintainer—more info at Board Maintainers Procedures and Guidelines - Armbian Documentation

We also have some good news to share. We have fixed the no-boot troubles with Orange Pi Zero 2 and Olimex Teres.

Lastly, we are happy to announce the preparation of a new giveaway campaign. Expecting to start from the 1st of May, we will be donating two Banana Pi boards. More info about the giveaway will become visible at Official giveaways - Armbian Community Forums

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

Best regards,

The Armbian Team

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Hi ClockWorkPi,

We are already in May!

As we approach the code freeze, we begin the bug-hunting phase, with all our efforts focused on one final check. Our primary focus is on the boards that vendors assist us with, labelled as platinum support. We apply the same level of service to “supported” boards, but we carry the biggest burden of board maintenance. If we still have time, at the end of the process, we will also evaluate the status of boards that are still in development and those that we have officially deemed as unsupported.

We are continuing with the development and testing of our CI! It has been completely rewritten to significantly improve the release process.

During May, we will be focusing on code stabilization and finalizing of board support. We anticipate official support for Khadas Edge 2 and Bananapi CM4/M2S to be available before the end of the month.

We expect to release Armbian 23.05 in the last week of the month. We appreciate your help with testing and encourage you to apply for maintainership of boards. All boards that have a known and active maintainer can receive official status. Together, we can provide a good software experience!

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

Best regards,
The Armbian Team

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Greetings ClockWorkPi community,

Here are some fresh updates and announcements for this week.

We are approaching the release of Armbian 23.05, codenamed “Suni”. As we finalize this release, we kindly request your assistance in testing it on devices that we were unable to cover. Your feedback will help us ensure the stability and reliability of the release Armbian 23.05 (Suni) Testings - Armbian Project Administration - Armbian Community Forums

In an effort to improve user experience, we have recently redesigned the participation page, Participate – Armbian on our website. The new page provides basic guidance on how to get involved with the project and showcases open bugs and tasks for the current and upcoming releases. While we are making adjustments for the 23.05 release, we have also started working on 23.08, which is gradually accumulating more tasks. We encourage you to contribute to these tasks and help us address the community’s needs. Our Armbian maintainer group is relatively small, and your support is vital in fulfilling the users’ requests.

We are happy to introduce a new board that has joined the Armbian family, the Radxa E25. However, please note that this board is currently in the testing phase. If you own this hardware, we welcome your participation to test it and report any issues you encounter. More info on the Radxa E25 at Radxa E25 – Armbian

We have partnered with SinoVoip, one of Armbian’s Platinum Partners, to bring you an exciting opportunity! They are generously giving away a Banana Pi CM4 with a carrier board. Participate in the raffle for a chance to win this powerful device at Bananapi CM4 + Carrier Board - Community giveaways - Armbian Community Forums

Lastly, we are excited to announce that we are actively working on making i3 an officially supported desktop environment within Armbian. You can follow the progress of this topic on the Armbian GitHub repository at Improve i3-wm support by BeanGreen247 · Pull Request #5188 · armbian/build · GitHub

Thank you for your support and dedication to the Armbian project. Together, we are shaping the future of open-source ARM development!

Best regards,

The Armbian Team

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Dear ClockWorkPi community,

We are pleased to announce the official support for the Bigtreetech CB1 board on Armbian! The Bigtreetech CB1, developed by the respected Bigtreetech company, one of the most popular 3D printer brands among global creators, is a remarkable addition to our lineup. We are delighted to them as a Platinum partner, and we believe this collaboration will bring great value to our community.

In other news, we want to address the state of our Allwinner support. Realizing the need for a fresh approach and a dedicated focus on Allwinner-specific problems, we have been actively searching for someone who can take on this responsibility. We are fortunate to have found Julia Longtin, who has graciously agreed to step up. Julia brings a wealth of technical knowledge and experience in team leadership to the table. We are confident that her involvement will help us overcome the decline in support for Allwinner devices and work towards making them perform even better. Julia’s initial goal is to enhance automated testing for major Allwinner chips, including A20, H3, and H6. To achieve this, we will be adding several SD card emulators to improve our automated testing gears. As time permits, we will expand this level of automated testing capabilities to cover other chips as well. For day-to-day updates and discussions, you can find Julia on IRC #armbian or #armbian-allwinner with the username “juri_.”

We would like to congratulate roel, the winner of our previous giveaway, which featured the BananaPi CM4 Carrier Board. Your participation and enthusiasm are greatly appreciated. As one giveaway ends, another begins! We are excited to kick off our latest giveaway, featuring the BananaPi M2S. Head over to our forum to participate and stand a chance to win this fantastic device.

Thank you for being a part of the Armbian community. With your continued support and the contributions of passionate individuals, we are confident in our ability to improve the situation and provide better support for Allwinner devices!

Best regards,

The Armbian Team

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Dear Clockworkpi community,

Here are the latest updates!

Device Support, Enhancements, and Progress

We’re excited to announce the addition of support for several new devices, including Khadas VIM1S, VIM4, TI AM26, and Licheepi 4a. To enhance user experience, all Khadas images are now available in their “oowow” format, streamlining the installation process.

Bananapi M5 and M2PRO users can look forward to numerous fixes that enhance stability and performance. Updates for the Thinkpad X13s have transformed it into a highly usable device. Additionally, thermal support for Opi4 has been fixed, eliminating issues with high-load operation.

Our latest release introduces overlays for the Amlogic family of devices, enhancing their functionality. We’re pleased to share that the cryptoroot build functionality has been successfully resolved, contributing to a smoother overall experience.

The development of mainline-based images for Rockchip RK3588 boards, including Rock5 and Nanopi T6, is making excellent progress. Our build runners are already up and running on these machines, ensuring the quality of the upcoming release.

We’re in the final stages of preparing a stable packages update that will significantly enhance your Armbian experience. Stay tuned for its release within the upcoming major update by the end of the month.

Wallpaper Contest

We’ve initiated a wallpaper contest, and the submissions are already pouring in. It’s exciting to see the creative contributions from the community!

How to Participate

Join us in testing nightly builds and providing valuable feedback. If you encounter any issues or have suggestions, please open tickets on our Participation Page.

Thank you for your continuous support, and stay tuned for more exciting updates!

Best regards,

The Armbian Team

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The Armbian Wallpaper competition end date is coming closer and closer each day! Just 9 more days until the competition is finished, so what are you waiting for? Go ahead and submit your wallpaper, and maybe win one of our amazing prizes! You can find more information here: Armbian Desktop Wallpaper Contest - Announcements - Armbian Community Forums

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Dear ClockWorkPi Community,

We’re excited to bring you the latest Armbian updates.

Infrastructure Improvements

In the previous month, we dedicated our efforts to enhancing our Content Delivery Network (CDN). This involved upgrading redirector and the main rsync server to ensure faster and more reliable access to Armbian resources.

This month, we’re shifting our focus towards improving development and maintenance management, both internally and externally. We are also in the process of refining our support policies to better serve the Armbian community.

Wallpaper Competition

We’re thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of our recent wallpaper competition. We received a great response from talented artists in the community who shared their creations with us. Thanks to all the contributors for their time and effort. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Bananapi for their collaboration and generous award contributions. The winning submissions will soon be added to our wallpaper pack.

New Supported Devices

We continue to expand our support for various hardware platforms. This month, we’ve released new images tailored for the Lenovo X13s, Khadas VIM1S, and Khadas VIM4. These additions ensure that more users can benefit from Armbian’s capabilities on their preferred devices.

Upcoming Point Release

We are approaching an exciting milestone with the next point release. Our goal is to transition to Kernel version 6.6, which is a strong candidate for the next Long-Term Support (LTS) kernel. We’re also extending our build framework to include support for Ubuntu Mantic, providing more choices for users. Additionally, we’ve unlocked desktop environments from using LightDM, and we’ve introduced GDM3 for the Gnome desktop.

It’s worth noting that the older Odroid XU4 has received an upgrade to the latest LTS kernel (v6.1) provided by the vendor, although it’s not yet mainline.

These developments are made possible by the collective effort and dedication of the Armbian community. We’re grateful for your continued support and enthusiasm for open-source software.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates and enhancements in the world of Armbian.

Thank you for being a part of our journey!

The Armbian team

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Dear ClockWorkPi Community,

It’s been an eventful two weeks since our last point release of 2023. Despite facing some challenges, we’ve been hard at work ensuring the continued excellence of Armbian.

Point Release Recap

Unfortunately, we encountered unexpected issues since our release. A batch of images was accidentally deleted, requiring a complete restart of the generation process. Additionally, our main rsync server experienced IPv6 connectivity issues, resulting in delays in mirror synchronization for several days. However, we’ve successfully generated our first set of images, now available by checking out the builds script to v23.11.

Enhanced Support Policies

To streamline our support framework, we’ve refined our support policies, categorizing hardware into three tiers: Standard Support, Staging Support, and Community Maintained. To align with these changes and minimize confusion, adjustments have been made to our forums. We remain in Best effort, primarily focusing on areas under “Standard Support”

Continuous Integration Rebuilds

Moving forward, both Standard and Staging hardware will undergo full CI rebuilds, ensuring the availability of the latest Debian and Ubuntu derived images with automated testing. Community maintained images will be compiled weekly and exclusively hosted on GitHub at GitHub - armbian/community: Armbian Community rolling release.

Platform Enhancements

Facebook connector

In addition to these developments, we’ve resolved the Facebook connector issue on our forums to facilitate access without requiring additional registration.

OFTC IRC

We’ve officially registered the #armbian channel on the OFTC IRC network. This addition has been seamlessly integrated as a communication bridge, ensuring messages relay to Libera and Discord platforms. Based on the usage and engagement in this channel, we’re considering the addition of more channels, such as those dedicated to SoC discussions or off-topic conversations, to further enrich our community interactions.

Community Engagement

We are dedicated to continually improving our forums and greatly value your feedback. Furthermore, we’re actively seeking additional moderators whose role will involve keeping forum conversations polite and discussions in their categories.

Thank you for being part of the Armbian community!

Best regards,
The Armbian Team

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Dear ClockWorkPi Community,

We are excited to announce that our new release is approaching quickly, with an estimated release date of May 25th. Our team is working actively on the final touches, focusing on stability and fine-tuning advanced features such as 3D and video acceleration. We’re utilizing the best available methods, as there are multiple options to consider.

We are adjusting our build targets to include stable, rolling and application-specific builds.

  • Stable Releases: For those who prefer a more reliable and tested environment.
  • Rolling Releases: For the latest updates and experimental features.
  • Applications: Optimized builds for specific applications.

We will continue to support Jammy (old stable Ubuntu) while gradually introducing Noble as the latter has numerous bugs from upstream user space applications.

Official Partnership with Radxa:

We are thrilled to announce a new official partnership with Radxa. This collaboration will enhance support for their newly released RK3588 boards, bringing more robust and reliable options to our users.

Community Engagement and Giveaways:

One of our current giveaways is nearing its end, but don’t worry – a new one is here! Stay tuned for more exciting opportunities.

Focus Areas:

As we approach the release date, we ask for your help, especially in the areas of desktop acceleration and desktop environments. While we have covered base OS system features well, your contributions and feedback are invaluable.

Community Poll Results:

We recently conducted a poll to understand our community’s involvement in open-source projects. Here are the results:

  • I’m an active contributor: 28.6%
  • Contributed occasionally: 31.7%
  • Not yet, but I’d like to: 28.6%
  • No, why?: 11.1%

These results are based on 63 votes and show a vibrant and engaged community, with a significant number of active and occasional contributors. For those who haven’t contributed yet but would like to, we encourage you to get involved. Your participation can make a significant difference!

Thank you for your continued support and contributions. Together, we can make Armbian even better!

Best regards,

The Armbian Team