Mixtile Blade 3 (hereinafter referred to as Blade 3) comes with Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop pre-installed. Sometimes, you may want to upgrade/downgrade it to another version or install a different operating system. This tutorial describes how to install an operating system to Blade 3 on the platforms below:
- Linux distribution
- マックオス
- ウィンドウズ
The installation process varies depending on the platform you use. You can follow the platform-specific installation guide to install an OS.
準備
To install an OS, you’ll need to:
- Have a computer.
- Have a cable to connect your computer to Blade 3.
- Download the target OS image you need and unzip it. Here are some of the available images:
- Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop
- Ubuntu 22.04 Server
- Debian 11 (username:
mixtile
, password:mixtile
; root password:ルート
) - Third-party raw images (for example, images on Monka – mixtile-blade3 そして Joshua-Riek/ubuntu-rockchip)
Important: Before you start, make sure you have backed up all important data.
Installing the OS on different platforms
Installing an OS on a Linux distribution
If you are using a Linux distribution, such as Debian and Ubuntu, follow the instructions below:
-
Download and unzip upgrade_tool_v2.22_for_linux.
-
Move
upgrade_tool
への/usr/local/bin
and make it executable:cd upgrade_tool_v2.22_for_linux sudo mv upgrade_tool /usr/local/bin sudo chown root:root /usr/local/bin/upgrade_tool sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/upgrade_tool
-
Enter a boot mode as needed:
-
ローダーモード (recommended for regular updates):
-
Power on Blade 3 and connect it to your computer:
- Connect the near-corner USB-C port of Blade 3 to a PD (Power Delivery) adapter using a compatible cable, then plug the adapter into a wall outlet.
- Connect one end of the USB-C cable to Blade 3’s near-HDMI USB-C port and the other to your computer.
-
Wait about 30 seconds for Blade 3 to be running, then enter Blade 3’s terminal (e.g., through a monitor, SSH or adb) to reboot it in loader mode:
reboot loader
-
-
MaskRom mode (for bootloader failure):
-
If you can enter the terminal of Blade 3 (e.g., through a monitor, SSH or adb), run:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M count=32
Warning: This command removes all files from your device. Make sure you have backed up all important data.
-
If you cannot enter the terminal of Blade 3:
-
Open the Blade 3 shell and turn position 4 of the SPST dip switch to ON.
-
Power on Blade 3 and connect it to your computer:
- Connect the near-corner USB-C port of Blade 3 to a PD (Power Delivery) adapter using a compatible cable, then plug the adapter into a wall outlet.
- Connect one end of the USB-C cable to Blade 3’s near-HDMI USB-C port and the other to your computer.
-
-
Note: If the connection fails, try using other cables.
-
-
Verify if Blade 3 is connected to the computer:
ugprade_tool ld
If a message similar to the one below is displayed, your Blade 3 has been connected to the computer successfully:
-
(Optional) Download MiniLoaderAll.bin and flash it to Blade 3 (replace
MiniLoaderAll.bin
with its actual path). This step is only required for installing a raw image in the MaskRom mode.upgrade_tool db MiniLoaderAll.bin
-
Install the image (replace
update.img
with the actual path of your target image file). The installation command varies depending on the image type (rockchip
またはraw
) you use. You can find the image type from the image’s filename.- Rockchip image:
sudo upgrade_tool uf update.img
- Raw image:
sudo upgrade_tool wl 0 update.img
It may take several minutes for the installation to complete. If
Upgrade firmware ok
(RockChip images) orWrite LBA from file (100%)
(Raw images) is displayed, the installation is done. -
(Optional) If you have turned position 4 of the SPST dip switch to ON, turn it off.
-
Restart Blade 3 (see Booting up the OS).
Installing an OS on macOS
-
Download and unzip upgrade_tool_v2.13_for_mac.
-
Go to
upgrade_tool_v2.13_for_mac
and makeupgrade_tool
executable.cd upgrade_tool_v2.13_for_mac sudo chmod u+x upgrade_tool
If you are prompted that the developer can’t be verified, go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
-
Enter a boot mode as needed:
-
ローダーモード (recommended for regular updates):
-
Power on Blade 3 and connect it to your computer:
- Connect the near-corner USB-C port of Blade 3 to a PD (Power Delivery) adapter using a compatible cable, then plug the adapter into a wall outlet.
- Connect one end of the USB-C cable to Blade 3’s near-HDMI USB-C port and the other to your computer.
-
Wait about 30 seconds for Blade 3 to be running, then enter Blade 3’s terminal (e.g., through a monitor, SSH or adb) to reboot it in loader mode:
reboot loader
-
-
MaskRom mode (for bootloader failure):
-
If you can enter the terminal of Blade 3 (e.g., through a monitor, SSH or adb), run:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M count=32
Warning: This command removes all files from your device. Make sure you have backed up all important data.
-
If you cannot enter the terminal of Blade 3:
-
Open the Blade 3 shell and turn position 4 of the SPST dip switch to ON.
-
Power on Blade 3 and connect it to your computer:
- Connect the near-corner USB-C port of Blade 3 to a PD (Power Delivery) adapter using a compatible cable, then plug the adapter into a wall outlet.
- Connect one end of the USB-C cable to Blade 3’s near-HDMI USB-C port and the other to your computer.
-
-
Note: If the connection fails, try using other cables.
-
-
Verify if Blade 3 is connected to the computer:
./upgrade_tool ld
If a message similar to the one below is displayed, Blade 3 has been connected to the computer successfully:
-
(Optional) Download MiniLoaderAll.bin and flash it to Blade 3 (replace
MiniLoaderAll.bin
with its actual path). This step is only required for installing a raw image in the MaskRom mode../upgrade_tool db MiniLoaderAll.bin
-
Install the image (replace
update.img
with the actual path of your target image file). The installation command varies depending on the image type (rockchip
またはraw
), which can be found in the image’s filename.- Rockchip image:
./upgrade_tool uf update.img
- Raw image:
./upgrade_tool wl 0 update.img
It may take several minutes for the installation to complete. If
Upgrade firmware ok
(RockChip images) orWrite LBA from file (100%)
(Raw images) is displayed, the installation is done. -
(Optional) If you have turned position 4 of the SPST dip switch to ON, turn it off.
-
Restart Blade 3 (see Booting up the OS).
Installing an OS on Windows
Unlike macOS and Linux distributions, Windows has an intuitive UI for you to install an OS:
-
Download and unzip DriverAssistant_v5.12, and click DriverInstall.exe to install the driver.
Note: If you have installed an older driver version, uninstall it first before installing the latest one.
-
Download and unzip RKDevTool_v3.19_for_windows. Run RKDevTool as administrator.
-
Enter a boot mode as needed:
-
ローダーモード (recommended for regular updates):
-
Power on Blade 3 and connect it to your computer as follows:
- Connect the near-corner USB-C port of Blade 3 to a PD (Power Delivery) adapter using a compatible cable, then plug the adapter into a wall outlet.
- Connect one end of the USB-C cable to Blade 3’s near-HDMI USB-C port and the other to your computer.
-
Wait about 30 seconds for Blade 3 to be running. Then, choose the ファームウェアのアップグレード tab and click スイッチ.
You can now see Blade 3 is recognized as a Loader device as follows:
-
-
MaskRom mode (for bootloader failure):
-
If you can enter the terminal of Blade 3 (e.g., through a monitor, SSH or adb), run:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M count=32
Warning: This command removes all files from your device. Make sure you have backed up all important data.
-
If you cannot enter the terminal of Blade 3:
-
Open the Blade 3 shell and turn position 4 of the SPST dip switch to ON.
-
Power on Blade 3 and connect it to your computer:
- Connect the near-corner USB-C port of Blade 3 to a PD (Power Delivery) adapter using a compatible cable, then plug the adapter into a wall outlet.
- Connect one end of the USB-C cable to Blade 3’s near-HDMI USB-C port and the other to your computer.
-
-
Note: If the connection fails, try using other cables.
-
-
Install the OS. The installation process varies depending on the image type (
rockchip
またはraw
), which can be found in the image’s filename.-
RockChip image:
-
In the ファームウェアのアップグレード tab, click ファームウェア. Then choose the image file in the dialog box displayed.
-
クリック アップグレード to start installing the image:
The installation may take several minutes to complete. If you see the message below, the installation is done.
-
-
Raw image:
-
ダウンロード MiniLoaderAll.bin.
-
In the 画像をダウンロード tab, right-click any item and choose Clear Items to clear unnecessary items.
-
Click the blank cell of ローダー on the right. In the dialog box displayed, select the
MiniLoaderAll.bin
ファイル。 -
Right-click an item, choose アイテムを追加, and set its 名称 への
イメージ
. -
Click the blank cell of the
イメージ
item, select the raw image in the displayed dialog box, and then set ストレージ へのEMMC
for this item. -
Select the two items ローダー そして イメージ, click Write by Address, and click 走る to start installing the image.
The installation may take several minutes to complete. If you see the message below, the installation is done.
-
-
-
Restart Blade 3 (see Booting up the OS).
Booting up the OS
Important: If you have turned position 4 of the SPST dip switch to ON, make sure you have turned it off before booting up the OS. Otherwise, it will keep entering the MaskRom mode.
Once the installation is complete, boot up the new system as follows:
- Power on Blade 3 by connecting the near-corner USB-C port to a PD (Power Delivery) adapter using a compatible cable, then plug the adapter into a wall outlet.
- (Optional) Connect Blade 3 to the Internet via an Ethernet cable.
- (Optional) Connect Blade 3 to a monitor via an HDMI cable.
If your Blade 3 is connected to a monitor, you should see the OS interface (take Ubuntu as an example):