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v1.8.0-rc2 - SSH over USB, boot logo, kernel packages

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@github-actions github-actions released this 26 Jul 19:40
v1.8.0-rc2
5e699bf

Release candidate. Validated on real SmartPi One hardware (boot, SSH, DietPi conversion), not yet production-proven.

New

SSH over USB (OTG port)

The OTG port now runs as a USB network gadget. A single cable between the SmartPi and a computer both powers the board and provides SSH access, with no Ethernet or WiFi.

  • Board address: 172.22.1.1 (set 172.22.1.2/24 on the computer side)
  • This RC uses the RNDIS protocol: works on Linux and Windows, not on macOS. The switch to NCM (macOS-compatible) is already merged for the next release.

Customizable boot logo

U-Boot displays boot.bmp from the FAT boot partition at power-on. Replace or delete the file from any computer to change or disable it.

  • Not working in this RC: U-Boot was missing 24-bit BMP decoding support. Fixed for the next release.

Kernel packages for DKMS

Each release now ships the exact .deb packages matching the images — linux-image, linux-headers, linux-dtb, linux-u-boot — for both kernel branches (current 6.18 and legacy 6.12).

To build DKMS modules on the device, install the headers from this release. The ones on apt.armbian.com are generic builds that do not match this custom kernel:

wget https://github.com/Yumi-Lab/SmartPi-armbian/releases/download/v1.8.0-rc2/linux-headers-current-sunxi_26.08.0_armhf__6.18.40-S221f-D398d-Pfbd9-C38b8-H1ee3-HK01ba-V014b-B2c8c-R448a.deb
sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-current-sunxi_*.deb

Boot partition readable everywhere

The FAT boot partition is now tagged as standard FAT32, so it mounts on macOS and Windows for editing configuration before first boot.

Fixed

  • Build chain repaired. U-Boot patches stopped being applied when Armbian moved to U-Boot 2026.07 with a versioned patch directory, so earlier images shipped with neither the custom defconfig nor the SmartPi One device tree.
  • SmartPi One device tree actually applied for the first time: /proc/device-tree/model now reads YUMi SmartPi One. The previous patch could never apply (wrong config symbol, incorrect hunk line counts).
  • Debian 11 (bullseye): rng-tools failed to install in CI because an empty COLUMNS variable was forwarded into the build container.
  • Ubuntu 22.04 desktop removed. Armbian's desktop package set requires pipewire-libcamera, gstreamer1.0-libcamera and glmark2-x11, none of which exist on Ubuntu 22.04 armhf. The server variant is unaffected.

Images

Distribution Server Desktop
Debian 11 (bullseye) yes —
Debian 12 (bookworm) yes yes
Debian 13 (trixie) yes yes
Ubuntu 22.04 (jammy) yes —
Ubuntu 24.04 (noble) yes yes

All images include a 1368 MHz CPU overclock, a custom U-Boot (DRAM 576 MHz, ZQ calibration, ODT), the YUMi SmartPi One device tree, and automatic SmartPad screen rotation (runtime detection of the 800x480 panel plus a touchscreen).

DietPi variant

A DietPi image derived from the Debian 13 server build is available in DietPi-SmartPi: about 293 MB compressed, roughly 87 MB RAM at idle.

First boot

Log in as root with password 1234; a password change is required on first login. To verify the board:

cat /proc/device-tree/model                                 # YUMi SmartPi One
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq   # 1368000
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