The Libre company, found at 'https://libre.computer/', has made a new Single Board Computer (SBC) that has a model number of 'AML-S905D3-CC' and is called 'Solitude'.
The Solitude is a new board that has support for a Linux OS.
Solitude Specifications
The board’s specs are:
Solitude Software
The file names will include 'aml-s905x' in it. And the base website is at 'https://libre.computer/products/aml-s905d3-cc/'. From here, you can go to the various distros. For the main distros, you can go to:
These seem to work fine for the ones I tested. There is an issue with the security keys when updating the software from the Libre repository. To fix this, you need to download the keys from the Libre website by performing the following two commands to get the keys installed:
NOTE: If you boot from a USB flash drive, or with nothing, you can press 'Escape' to get to a menu. If the screen looks garbled, you need to use a monitor with a higher resolution. I started with a monitor that had a resolution of 1366x768, and it would not work. I attached it to my 4K TV, and it worked fine.
Now, when you perform an update from the repositories, 'sudo apt update', there should not be an error about the keys. Keep an eye on the website, since there could be an update for the keys at a later time, and they may have to be updated on your SBC.
Be aware that it listed the Ubuntu version as 'preinstalled'. This means that you can extract the image to an SD card and boot from it. The other images need to be extracted to a flash drive and then installed on the SD card from the SBC.
Lights
There are three lights on the Solitude board. Sometimes, it is best to monitor the lights to know what is going on with the board.
The three lights are:
Once the system finds an SD Card or flash drive, the green LED should come on. If the green LED does not come on after a minute, then you have an issue with the flashed image or a faulty storage device that you are booting from. Re-flash the image, or use a better boot device.
U-Boot Prompt
When you boot the Libre Solitude, there is a momentary option to press the 'Escape' key for a menu prompt. Figure 1 shows the prompt. There are ten options available from the U-Boot prompt.
FIGURE 1
The U-Boot prompt is a bootloader that plays on the name 'Das U-Boot', from the movie 'Das Boot'. It is a Universal Boot Loader to let you choose the method of booting the SBC. Let's look at the ten options and go over one of them in more detail.
The 'Boot' option will boot from the first available bootable device in the boot order:
'Select Boot' will give you a list of bootable devices and let you choose which one to boot from in the list.
The third option, 'UEFI Config', will let you add a configuration option to boot a device as a UEFI device instead of BIOS. It will ask for the location of the UEFI boot files, which you can search to find. You also have the option to ‘Add’, ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ an entry.
For the fourth option, there is 'EtherealOS'. Basically, this is a downloadable boot system from the Internet that lets you then download images for specific Operating Systems that are then placed on the device of your choice. I'll get more into this soon.
'USB eMMC Mode' is a way to set the SBC into a mode that allows it to be a storage device to flash the eMMC.
The 'USB DFU Mode' is another method to enter the SBC into a programmable state to be flashed from a USB connection.
For the 'Firmware Update', you need a connection to the Internet. The system downloads the firmware and places it onto the system. If you have issues, then you may need to download the image and place it on a boot device and boot from the device.
The eighth option is 'Console'. This is a 'terminal' for the U'-Boot system. If you type 'version', it lists the current version of U-Boot. Use the command 'help' to get a listing of commands you can use.
For the last two options, 'Reboot' and 'Shutdown', these are self-explanatory.
EtherealOS
To use this option from U-Boot, you need to be connected to the Internet and also have a storage device connected to the Solitude board. Either a USB flash drive or an SD Card. The process overwrites the storage device, so it can be empty.
Once selected, it downloads a basic OS, the EtherealOS, which lets you have a basic ASCII menu from which you can make choices to select an image to download and place on a selected storage device.
The EtherealOS is just under 100 MB in size. Depending on your Internet connection, this can determine how long the download can be. Once done, you’re shown a menu of the options available for download:
The system downloads the image, extracts it to the target device and, when it is done, you will prompted to press 's' for a shutdown or 'r' for a reboot.
Keep in mind that when booting from a flash drive, which may be slow, there can be delays in loading the GUI, so be patient. SD Cards run faster than flash drives.
If you choose the menu option 'libre-computer', these are the same images as those I listed at the beginning of the article. You may want to keep the image on your system's disk as a backup, then download it directly. If you do not need to keep a backup of the image, then use EtherealOS to download and extract the image.
Conclusion
The Libre Solitude is a very nice board to work with. I very much like the U-Boot prompt that is always present for an easy way to manage the Operating System. EtherealOS is also very nice for getting the image you want to boot. Having it extract the image and place the image on the desired device is a good way to save you some time from doing this all manually.
Once the system loaded the boot image, I had no issues running the Linux distro I chose. The Solitude is a solid board. Try it for your home lab needs, such as a NAS or even setting it up as Pi-Hole, or whatever your need may be.
The Solitude is a new board that has support for a Linux OS.
Solitude Specifications
The board’s specs are:
- CPU: Amlogic S905D3 SoC
- 4 ARM Cortex-A55 @ 2.016GHz
- GPU: Mali-G31 MP2
- 2 E Cores
- NPU: 1+1 Cores
- DRAM: 4GB LPDDR4 (2GB available for volume orders)
- USB Type-C Power and 2.0 Data (Dual Role)
- 4 USB Type-A 3.0 (Hub)
- HDMI 2.0
- CVBS with analog stereo audio 3.5mm jack
- Gigabit Ethernet
- PoE Connector
- 40-Pin GPIO Connector
- IR Receiver Sensor
- DSI 4-Lane on 22-Pin Connector
- CSI 2-Lane on 22-Pin Connector
- 16MB SPI NOR
- eMMC 5.x Slim Connector
- MicroSD card slot with UHS SDR104
- Form factor similar to Raspberry Pi® 2/3 Model B/B+ with USB Type-C in place of Micro-usb
- Quad 64-bit Efficient ARM Cores with Crypto Extensions
- Dual Core 3D GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2 / Vulkan 1.1 / OpenCL 2.0
- 1.2 TOPS AI Accelerator for General Purpose, Neuro, and Tensor Processing
- HDMI 2.0 with 4K HDR support
- Amlogic Video Engine (AVE10)
- H.265
- H.264
- VP9
- 2GB/4GB LPDDR4
- Gigabit Ethernet
- 4 x USB 3.0 Type-A ports via Hub
- Multi-Protocol IR Receiver with System Wake Support
- PoE Header
- USB 2.0 Header via Hub
- 40-pin Pi-compatible color-coded GPIO header
- 3-Pin UART Header
- Debian 11, 12
- Fedora 39+ (out of the box)
- Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 23.04
- OpenSUSE
- Raspbian 10, 11, 12
- Android 7, 8, 9
- Armbian
- Also, a UEFI BIOS
Solitude Software
The file names will include 'aml-s905x' in it. And the base website is at 'https://libre.computer/products/aml-s905d3-cc/'. From here, you can go to the various distros. For the main distros, you can go to:
- Debian - https://distro.libre.computer/ci/debian/
- Raspbian - https://distro.libre.computer/ci/raspbian/
- Ubuntu - https://distro.libre.computer/ci/ubuntu/
These seem to work fine for the ones I tested. There is an issue with the security keys when updating the software from the Libre repository. To fix this, you need to download the keys from the Libre website by performing the following two commands to get the keys installed:
Code:
wget https://deb.libre.computer/repo/pool/main/libr/libretech-keyring/libretech-keyring_2024.05.19_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i libretech-keyring_2024.05.19_all.debNOTE: If you boot from a USB flash drive, or with nothing, you can press 'Escape' to get to a menu. If the screen looks garbled, you need to use a monitor with a higher resolution. I started with a monitor that had a resolution of 1366x768, and it would not work. I attached it to my 4K TV, and it worked fine.
Now, when you perform an update from the repositories, 'sudo apt update', there should not be an error about the keys. Keep an eye on the website, since there could be an update for the keys at a later time, and they may have to be updated on your SBC.
Be aware that it listed the Ubuntu version as 'preinstalled'. This means that you can extract the image to an SD card and boot from it. The other images need to be extracted to a flash drive and then installed on the SD card from the SBC.
Lights
There are three lights on the Solitude board. Sometimes, it is best to monitor the lights to know what is going on with the board.
The three lights are:
- Red - power
- Blue - This also comes on with the red LED
- Green - Shows that the system found a bootloader and it is being loaded
Once the system finds an SD Card or flash drive, the green LED should come on. If the green LED does not come on after a minute, then you have an issue with the flashed image or a faulty storage device that you are booting from. Re-flash the image, or use a better boot device.
U-Boot Prompt
When you boot the Libre Solitude, there is a momentary option to press the 'Escape' key for a menu prompt. Figure 1 shows the prompt. There are ten options available from the U-Boot prompt.
FIGURE 1
The U-Boot prompt is a bootloader that plays on the name 'Das U-Boot', from the movie 'Das Boot'. It is a Universal Boot Loader to let you choose the method of booting the SBC. Let's look at the ten options and go over one of them in more detail.
The 'Boot' option will boot from the first available bootable device in the boot order:
- eMMC
- SD Card
- USB Devices
'Select Boot' will give you a list of bootable devices and let you choose which one to boot from in the list.
The third option, 'UEFI Config', will let you add a configuration option to boot a device as a UEFI device instead of BIOS. It will ask for the location of the UEFI boot files, which you can search to find. You also have the option to ‘Add’, ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ an entry.
For the fourth option, there is 'EtherealOS'. Basically, this is a downloadable boot system from the Internet that lets you then download images for specific Operating Systems that are then placed on the device of your choice. I'll get more into this soon.
'USB eMMC Mode' is a way to set the SBC into a mode that allows it to be a storage device to flash the eMMC.
The 'USB DFU Mode' is another method to enter the SBC into a programmable state to be flashed from a USB connection.
For the 'Firmware Update', you need a connection to the Internet. The system downloads the firmware and places it onto the system. If you have issues, then you may need to download the image and place it on a boot device and boot from the device.
The eighth option is 'Console'. This is a 'terminal' for the U'-Boot system. If you type 'version', it lists the current version of U-Boot. Use the command 'help' to get a listing of commands you can use.
For the last two options, 'Reboot' and 'Shutdown', these are self-explanatory.
EtherealOS
To use this option from U-Boot, you need to be connected to the Internet and also have a storage device connected to the Solitude board. Either a USB flash drive or an SD Card. The process overwrites the storage device, so it can be empty.
Once selected, it downloads a basic OS, the EtherealOS, which lets you have a basic ASCII menu from which you can make choices to select an image to download and place on a selected storage device.
The EtherealOS is just under 100 MB in size. Depending on your Internet connection, this can determine how long the download can be. Once done, you’re shown a menu of the options available for download:
- debian-live
- debian
- fedora-live
- fedora
- libre-computer
- opensuse
- ubuntu-live
- url
The system downloads the image, extracts it to the target device and, when it is done, you will prompted to press 's' for a shutdown or 'r' for a reboot.
Keep in mind that when booting from a flash drive, which may be slow, there can be delays in loading the GUI, so be patient. SD Cards run faster than flash drives.
If you choose the menu option 'libre-computer', these are the same images as those I listed at the beginning of the article. You may want to keep the image on your system's disk as a backup, then download it directly. If you do not need to keep a backup of the image, then use EtherealOS to download and extract the image.
Conclusion
The Libre Solitude is a very nice board to work with. I very much like the U-Boot prompt that is always present for an easy way to manage the Operating System. EtherealOS is also very nice for getting the image you want to boot. Having it extract the image and place the image on the desired device is a good way to save you some time from doing this all manually.
Once the system loaded the boot image, I had no issues running the Linux distro I chose. The Solitude is a solid board. Try it for your home lab needs, such as a NAS or even setting it up as Pi-Hole, or whatever your need may be.
