Burn UNIHIKER OS image by command line

Unihiker's CPU is made by Rockchip, so we can use Rockchip's tool and execute commands to burn the system image.

File Preparation

To burn the OS for Unihiker, you need to prepare three files:

  1. The img file of Unihiker's OS image.
  2. The loader boot bin file of Unihiker.
  3. rkdeveloptool file suitable for your platform.
  • file 1 can be downloaded from the official Unihiker documentation, which is universally compatible with all platforms: Download
  • file 2 and 3 will be provided in the following article.

bin&rkdeveloptool

Here are the pre-compiled file packages of .bin and rkdeveloptool for download.

  • Ubuntu (AMD64):
    Tested Platform: i9-12900 + Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
    Download Link:Download
    MD5: 844413f0581c0b4ba906f540d4115807

  • Debian (arm64):
    Tested Platform: Unihiker
    Download Link:Download
    MD5: 6ab4abfe40dd037e0079142f71c06cd4

  • MacOS (x86):
    Tested Platform: MacBook Pro(intel)
    Download Link:Download
    MD5: 11d5058e85fad1b2a2194c0ff699a649

  • MacOS (arm64):
    Tested Platform: Mac mini(M1)
    Download Link:Download
    MD5: 6d10d7ddd0f233030c67c99a676585ad

  • Windows:
    Tested Platform: i3-12100 + Win11 64bit
    Download Link:Download
    MD5: 24d9ab6b5608b43e39eb130563f5b9d8

If there is no platform suitable for you, you can compile rkdeveloptool for your platform from the following repository and extract the .bin file from the above packages.

Repository Link: https://github.com/rockchip-linux/rkdeveloptool

Enter flashing mode

  • Disconnect the UNIHIKER board from the power source (the memory card also needs to be removed)

  • Press and hold the Home button on the board , and connect the board to your computer via USB cable. Then the board will enter the firmware flashing mode and display a white screen. The software should recognize the board as a new device.

  • Release the Home button now.

Burning

Linux Platform

Reminder: After downloading the file, verify the MD5 value to ensure the downloaded file is complete.

First, perform the following preparations in the file manager or command line:

  1. Extract the downloaded rkdeveloptool file to obtain the burner_linux_amd64 or burner_linux_arm64 folder, which contains the files burner.sh,rk3308...bin, and rkdeveloptool.
  2. Place the downloaded Unihiker system image file (.img file) into the burner_mac folder.

Then, perform these operations in the terminal:


# Grant executable permission
 #amd64
sudo chmod -R 777 burner_linux_amd64
cd burner_linux_amd64
 #arm64
 #sudo chmod -R 777 burner_linux_arm64
 #cd burner_linux_arm64
#List the identified devices. If it is empty, it means that the board has not entered the flashing mode.
rkdeveloptool ld
# Execute the script to burn the image. Wait for the progress to reach 100%, the board will restart automatically twice during this period. Please do not do anything. After about 1 minute, the image burning is completed when the language selection screen appears on the screen.
sudo bash burner.sh

MacOS Platform

Reminder: After downloading the file, verify the MD5 value to ensure the downloaded file is complete.

First, perform the following preparations in the file manager:

  1. Extract the downloaded rkdeveloptool file to obtain the burner_mac folder, which contains the files burner.sh,rk3308...bin, and rkdeveloptool.
  2. Place the downloaded Unihiker system image file (.img file) into the burner_mac folder.

Then, perform these operations in the terminal:

# First, navigate to the parent directory of the burner_mac folder using the 'cd' command.
# Grant executable permission
sudo chmod -R 777 burner_mac
cd burner_mac
#List the identified devices. If it is empty, it means that the board has not entered the flashing mode.
#When executing the following command, if it is intercepted by the system, please open "Security & Privacy" and choose to allow the request for "rkdeveloptool".
./rkdeveloptool ld
# Execute the script to burn the image. Wait for the progress to reach 100%, the board will restart automatically twice during this period. Please do not do anything. After about 1 minute, the image burning is completed when the language selection screen appears on the screen.
./burner.sh

Windows Platform

Reminder: After downloading the file, verify the MD5 value to ensure the downloaded file is complete.

First, perform the following preparations in the file manager:

  1. Extract the downloaded rkdeveloptool file to obtain the burner_win folder, which contains the files flash.bat, rk3308...bin, and rkdeveloptool.exe
  2. Place the downloaded Unihiker system image file (.img file) into the burner_win folder.

Then, perform these operations in the terminal:

# First, navigate to the parent directory of the burner_win folder using the 'cd' command.
cd burner_win
#List the identified devices. If it is empty, it means that the board has not entered the flashing mode.
rkdeveloptool.exe ld
#bruner the OS  image, and make sure to replace the file name with the actual name of the img file.
flash.bat unihiker_v0.3.5.md5.9acbf38210ef954d5e9a0c1389830732.img

Initial Setup

After the system is burned, UNIHIKER will automatically restart several times to install the system until the language selection interface appears on the screen, indicating that the system initialization is complete.
Then, you can use the buttons to select the language, and after burning the system, you will need to recalibrate the touchscreen.
For detailed instructions, click here: https://www.unihiker.com/wiki/burner