Unveiling the Secrets: 4 Things You Didn’t Know About The FxBlox Lite+

Bare bones FxBlox Lite+ SBC by Functionland

In the world of Single Board Computers (SBCs), the FxBlox stands out as a versatile and powerful device. While users are familiar with its standard functionalities, there are some lesser-known features that can enhance your FxBlox experience. Let’s delve into the depths of FxBlox mysteries and uncover four things you might not be aware of.

Clock Speed Control

Did you know that the RK3588’s clock speed isn’t able to reach its highest rated speed, out of the box? Take control of your FxBlox’s performance by adjusting the clock speed through the armbian-config menu.

1. Make sure your system is up to date: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
2. Type: sudo armbian-config
3. Enter password
4. Navigate to “System -> Hardware”
5. Click on the “opp-oc-24ghz” option
6. Press enter/Click OK
7. Reboot device to enable the upgraded settings

Now, we don’t know how CPU performance is going to affect earning potential in the FULA testnet, but this is a safe and easy upgrade you can do to your system. With this safe overclocking, you can squeeze out a little more performance out of your hardware when using it for other things.

Factory Reset Wisdom

Performing a factory reset on FxBlox by flashing the board with a stock FxBlox image is a common practice. What might surprise you is that this reset doesn’t impact any user-installed hard drives. Your data remains intact, providing a seamless way to refresh the system without compromising your additional storage.

This has already proven to be especially handy. We’ve been able to create media servers, emulate retro game consoles, self-host “Google Workspace”, and more on our nvme drive and pick back up where we left off.

We wrote a guide on how to factory reset the Blox, if interested check it out here.

How to Factory ResetFxBlox RK1

This feature will also be useful when FxBlox upgrades are needed. The upgrades only affect the EMMC storage, so all of the FULA data we are hosting is safe on the NVMe.

Unleashing GPU Power

FxBlox users might not be aware that GPU drivers are not pre-installed by default. To tap into the full potential of the GPU, a few commands are needed. Follow the provided commands to install GPU drivers and elevate your user experience.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:liujianfeng1994/panfork-mesa
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:liujianfeng1994/rockchip-multimedia
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
sudo apt install mali-g610-firmware rockchip-multimedia-config
reboot

This will take the load off your CPU when using your device when gaming, watching movies, youtube, rendering, and all your other visually intensive applications. After installing, I noticed the usage of my CPU dropped when I pulled up htop. Additionally, rendering capabilities got well over 10x improvement when running glmark2-wayland. CPU (software rendering) score 98, GPU (panfrost) score 1399.

Score of 89 in glmark2-wayland. Using software (CPU) rendering (LLVM Pipe)

Score of 1399 in glmark2-wayland. Using Mali G610 (Panfork) drivers.

Browser Battle: Firefox vs. Chromium

While FxBlox offers both Firefox and Chromium browsers as compatible options, there’s a notable difference in performance. Chromium emerges as the preferred choice with overall superior functionality. Specifically, it runs faster than Firefox and it doesn’t cap you at 720p when playing YouTube videos.

With the addition of the GPU drivers, you can experience smoother scrolling, smoother animations, and true 4K video playback that the device promises.

To get started with Chromium, make sure you have the Panfork/Panfrost drivers installed first. Now install with:

sudo apt install chromium-browser chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra libv4l-rkmpp

Now you can start browsing youtube and other content. But if you want to verify its working. You can open up Chromium and type:

chrome://gpu

To verify if hardware acceleration is enabled.

Conclusion

Unlocking these hidden features adds a new layer to your FxBlox exploration, providing a richer and more tailored user experience. Whether it’s optimizing GPU performance, choosing the right browser, or tweaking clock speeds, these insights empower you to make the most of your FxBlox adventure.

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