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| Name | Modified | Size | Downloads / Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent folder | |||
| partitions.txt | 2026-07-14 | 1.6 kB | |
| rockchip_android.dts | 2026-07-12 | 148.1 kB | |
| wifi.txt | 2026-07-12 | 2.5 kB | |
| panellogs.txt | 2026-07-12 | 3.1 kB | |
| i2cdevices.txt | 2026-07-12 | 1.4 kB | |
| dmesg.txt | 2026-07-12 | 107.9 kB | |
| Totals: 6 Items | 264.6 kB | 6 | |
This is a project to provide a Linux Desktop Environment for the Higole F8R ruggedised RK3566 8" tablet. The F8R by default comes with Android on a Rockchip-Linux 4.19.232 BSP kernel. As of July 2026 it is possible to boot a standard Linux userland on top of the 4.19.232 BSP kernel. An image is provided in the bsp files section which will boot on an SDcard into Debian Trixie. Once installed onto the internal eMMC it works well with LXQT for example. Demo video here https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_pYalrtMb4M Working:- Touchscreen using the open source Goodix GT9xx driver with no special firmware needed. Display using Panel Simple driver with init strings needed in the DTB. WiFi using the RTL8723BS driver. Battery charging & status using a bug fixed version of RK817 Audio using RK817. USB-C port. USD-A port. Not working:- Bluetooth is unknown. Cameras. GPU graphics acceleration. Linux mainline fans will be disappointed at the use of 4.19.232 BSP, but I feel that the possibility of mainlining this device to be quite good, given the lack of vendor firmware needed for the touchscreen and the use of RTL8723BS WiFi. What is open source:- The whole of userspace was installed using debootstrap. The kernel source is available here:- https://github.com/dieselnutjob/rockchip-linux-kernel/tree/develop-4.19-rk817-fix What is not open source:- uboot SPL/bootloader These are direct copies of the Android image that the tablet came with. The DTS is a decompilation of the DTB that was supplied with Android, modified to disable the HDMI output. Use of the image:- Burn the image directly to a Micro SD card, remove the battery and insert into the slot and boot the tablet. The image will boot Linux with username root and password 1234. You will need a USB keyboard to initially interact with Linux. It should be possible to connect to a WiFi AP using nmcli commands. The image will not modify the factory image installed on the eMMC. To install on the eMMC is recommended first to boot a 128Gb micro SD card and create a new partition. Use dd to backup the Android image from the eMMC ( /dev/mmcblk2 ) to the partition on the SD card and backup the image somewhere safe. To install Linux onto the eMMC ( which will destroy the Android installation ) dd the entirety of /dev/mmcblk0 ( the micro SD card ) to /dev/mmcblk2 (the internal eMMC drive ). After this it will be necessary to mount /dev/mmcblk2p2 and modify extlinux/extlinux.conf from root=/dev/mmcblk0p3 to root=/dev/mmcblk2p3. Note that I have no relationship with Higole. I purchased a Higole F8R on Alibaba direct from Higole in March 2025. I can provide no guarantee that another F8R will have the same specification as mine. I accept no responsibility for any damage that may be caused to any device due to use of the resources of this project.