Install Ubuntu on the Sipeed LicheeRV Dock

The LicheeRV board can be used in different configurations. We currently only supply an image for the LicheeRV with Dock.

Using the pre-installed server image

  1. Download one of the supported images:

  2. Flash the pre-installed server image to a microSD card (see Flash images to a microSD card)

  3. Insert the microSD card into the board

  4. Connect to the serial UART console (see Connect to a UART console)

  5. Power on the board

  6. Wait for an output line confirming that cloud-init has finished running; this service is responsible for generating SSH keys, and creating the default user:

    [  291.932176] cloud-init[1282]: Cloud-init v. 22.3.4-0ubuntu1 finished at Thu, 20 Oct 2022 08:25:11 +0000. Datasource DataSourceNoCloud [seed=/var/lib/cloud/seed/nocloud-net][dsmode=net].  Up 291.79 seconds

  7. Login with the user ubuntu and the default password ubuntu; you will be asked to choose a new password

WiFi Configuration

Install Drivers

This step is only required for kernel versions earlier than 6.7. It is not required for Ubuntu 24.04.

  1. To enable WiFi, the DKMS package licheerv-rtl8723ds-dkms is needed on lower kernel releases. If your LicheeRV is connected to the network via a USB Ethernet adapter, that is easy:

    sudo apt update
sudo apt install licheerv-rtl8723ds-dkms

  2. If your LicheeRV is not connected to the network, you must download the relevant licheerv-rtl8723ds-dkms_*.deb file from the licheerv-rtl8723ds-dkms Launchpad page and write it to the SD card.

  3. Once you have booted the device the package can be installed with

    sudo dpkg -i licheerv-rtl8723ds-dkms_*.deb

    The installation process requires building a kernel module and takes at least an hour.

Configure Netplan

  1. Configure Netplan to connect to your local network. Below is an example configuration:

    network:
    version: 2
    renderer: networkd
    wifis:
        wlan0:
            dhcp4: yes
            dhcp6: yes
            access-points:
                "YOUR_SSID":
                    password: "YOUR_PASSWORD"

    Store this configuration under a file matching the pattern /etc/netplan/filename.yaml, for example /etc/netplan/wifi-config.yaml. This file must be owned by, and only accessible to, the root user:

    sudo chown root:root /etc/netplan/wifi-config.yaml
sudo chmod 600 /etc/netplan/wifi-config.yaml

  2. Either reboot or execute the following commands to load the kernel module and apply the configuration:

    sudo modprobe 8723ds
sudo netplan apply
sudo systemctl restart systemd-networkd.service

    You should now be connected to your wireless network.

Cloud-init seed

Sample files for a cloud-init seed are present on the FAT partition labeled “CIDATA”. See Configure your board for headless use for more information.

Limitations

  • Microphone does not work

  • The following kernel modules are used for reading from the SD card:

    • mmc-block

    • sunxi-mmc

    They must either be built into the kernel or must be included in the initial RAM disk via /etc/initramfs-tools/modules or via a file in /usr/share/initramfs-tools/modules.d/.