Now you can run Ubuntu on a VisionFive single-board PC with a RISC-V processor

StarFive’s VisionFive single-board computers are compact PCs powered by RISC-V processors. Aimed at developers, the first model launched last year with a dual-core processor, while a second-gen version with a quad-core chip and other upgrades is expected to be announced August 23, 2022.

Aimed at developers that want to get their feet wet working with RISC-V architecture, when the board first launched late last year it supported Fedora Linux, Yocto, Buildroot, FreeRTOS, and Zephyr. Now you can also run Ubuntu on VisionFive boards.

Canonical has released an image of Ubuntu Server 22.04.1 that’s compatible with VisionFive boards, making them the latest RISC-V single-board PC to be supported by the popular GNU/Linux distribution (Others include the Allwinner Nezha and SiFive HiFive Unmatched boards).

You can find downloads for all of the official RISC-V builds of Ubuntu at the Ubuntu download site. There are some known issues though: the default xfce4 desktop environment runs slowly unless you employ a workaround described in an Ubuntu forum post, and there are issues with shutting down the computer.

The VisionFive V1 board measures 3.9″ x 2.8″ and features a StarFive JH700 processor with two 1.5 GHz SiFive U74 RISC-V CPU cores plus 8GB of LPDDR RAM, a microSD card storage, and HDMI 1.4, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, and audio ports, plus a USB Type-C port for power and a 40-pin GPIO connector.

It supports WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 and also has MIPI-DSI and MIPI-CSI connectors for displays and cameras.

The new VisionFive V2 is expected to have a StarFive JH7110 quad-core processor, 3D graphics support, an HDMI 2.0 port, and support for PCIe 2.0 x2. It’s not exactly going to be a speed demon, but it should be a significant step up over the original.

via Canonical and StarFive

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6 replies on “Now you can run Ubuntu on a VisionFive single-board PC with a RISC-V processor”

lexluthermiester says:
08/22/2022 at 3:33 PM
Mint can’t be far behind then…
mymerrill says:
08/19/2022 at 12:14 AM
I appreciate the information and advice you have shared.
Bo says:
08/17/2022 at 7:14 PM
Just FYI for people who want to get it quickly and order domestically (North America): We have a quantity of the VisionFive in stock at ameriDroid: https://ameridroid.com/products/visionfive-starfive
mark says:
08/17/2022 at 5:03 PM
I think there’s going to be a lot of exciting announcements at the upcoming RISC-V summit.
1. w24et2 says:
  08/18/2022 at 11:50 AM
  it would be strange if Linux would not work on such hardware
  1. Kangal says:
    08/19/2022 at 5:06 AM
    Would be nice if there was a FULLY open-source system with the software (OS, API, GUI) and hardware (CPU, GPU, Mobo).
    Even if it uses twice the power, runs half as fast, and costs equal, as the best proprietary solution. It would still be worthwhile and a neat solution.
    The best proprietary on the market strangely seems to be the current: Apple Watch 7 (WS7), iPhone 13 Max (A15), iPad Pro (M1), MacBook Pro (M1X), Mac Pro (M1U), and then step up to a Custom HEDT PC (i9-12900k, rtx-3090ti).