Morrolinux: The Rocky Road to Open Hardware – ARMSoM and Rockchip

True open hardware—where every component, from processors to firmware, is fully open and freely accessible—remains an elusive goal.

Recently, I tested two ARMSoM (Banana Pi) Single Board Computers (SBCs) powered by Rockchip System-on-Chip (SoC) processors. These boards promise AI acceleration, IoT connectivity, and embedded Linux support. But do they really represent progress toward more open computing?

In this article, I explore what these boards offer, why open hardware is still a work in progress, and which challenges we still need to overcome.

What’s on the Bench? The Hardware at a Glance

The two boards I tested both rely on Rockchip SoCs:

• ARMSoM Sige5 – Features a Rockchip RK3576 SoC, a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), dual Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, and an M.2 slot for expandable storage.
• ARMSoM P2Pro – A hybrid between an SBC and a microcontroller, this board is designed for IoT, automation, and industrial applications, featuring Power over Ethernet (PoE) and ultra-low power consumption.

Both offer impressive capabilities, but the real question is: how open are they?

Rockchip and the Open Hardware Dilemma

Rockchip has become one of the more well-known SoC manufacturers in the Linux community. Compared to many competitors, they at least provide Linux drivers. But here’s the catch:

• These drivers originate from older, vendor-specific forks of the Linux kernel.
• They aren’t designed for direct inclusion in mainline Linux. The process of adapting them for mainline Linux is left to volunteers who must rewrite major portions of the code.

This means that getting long-term, properly supported Linux functionality on these chips is an uphill battle. Community-driven projects, often supported by organizations like Collabora, work hard to integrate Rockchip’s drivers, but the process is slow, difficult, and inconsistent.

The Long Road to Open Hardware

This isn’t just a Rockchip issue: it’s a symptom of a larger problem in the industry. ARM-based SBCs and other embedded devices face massive roadblocks to becoming truly open, including:

• Opaque supply chains: Many essential components, such as bootloaders and firmware, remain proprietary.
• Short vendor support cycles: Manufacturers often prioritize rapid product turnover over sustainable software development.
• A lack of truly open SoCs: While projects like RISC-V are promising, they’re still in the early stages of challenging the status quo.

While Rockchip is more open than some competitors, the industry as a whole still has a long way to go before open hardware becomes a reality.

Testing the ARMSoM Sige5: AI Acceleration, But at a Cost

The Sige5’s AI capabilities were a key selling point, thanks to its dedicated NPU, which promises up to six Trillions of Operations Per Second (TOPS) of processing power. But as is often the case, the reality didn’t quite match the marketing.

What works:

• AI inference speeds are solid when running pre-optimized models such as MobileNet, ResNet, and YOLOv5.
• The NPU is power-efficient, consuming far less energy than running the same tasks on a CPU or GPU.

What doesn’t:

• The board lacks mainline Linux support, meaning you’re stuck with vendor-maintained Debian or Android images.
• Flashing new firmware requires proprietary tools, some of which are available only for Windows and present themselves in Chinese by default.
• The ecosystem is fragmented, making it difficult to integrate the board with broader AI development workflows.

The potential is there, but without better software integration, real-world usability remains limited.

Testing the ARMSoM P2Pro: Capable, but Caught in Between

The P2Pro is an intriguing blend of SBC and microcontroller, with specs aimed at IoT and automation. With Power over Ethernet (PoE), WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.0, it’s clear the board is built for industrial integration and connected environments. But despite its efficient power profile, the limited 512MB of RAM makes it struggle with full Linux workloads.
It also lacks support for a real-time operating system (RTOS), which would make it a more compelling choice in embedded development. Without strong software support or a defined development ecosystem, the P2Pro currently sits in an awkward middle ground: neither a robust SBC nor a streamlined microcontroller platform. Still, with better documentation and mainline support, the P2Pro could carve out a niche in edge computing and smart automation.

The Bigger Picture: Open Hardware Still Faces Major Challenges

The struggles with Rockchip and ARMSoM highlight a much larger issue. While open-source software has made enormous progress, hardware freedom is still far behind. Some of the biggest challenges include:

• Closed-source firmware and drivers: Many essential components remain locked away from the community.
• Short vendor support cycles: Devices quickly become obsolete without proper long-term support.
• High development costs: Open hardware alternatives are expensive to develop and struggle to gain traction.

Where Are the Open Hardware Alternatives?

Efforts like RISC-V and Libre-SOC aim to shake up the industry, but they are still in the early stages. The reality is:

• Most “open hardware” is only partially open.
• Community-driven projects lack the funding to compete with major manufacturers.
• Industry-led initiatives, like the Open Compute Project, often face resistance from entrenched players.

For now, Rockchip remains one of the better options; but that isn’t saying much in an industry still dominated by proprietary designs.

What’s Next?

To make real progress toward open hardware, the industry needs:

• More investment in open chip architectures like RISC-V
• Community-driven support for mainlining drivers
• Increased pressure on manufacturers to release open firmware

Until then, the journey to open hardware remains an uphill battle (but we’ll keep pushing forward).

Want to learn more? Watch my full review (in Italian) on Morrolinux’s YouTube channel.