Ubuntu 24.04 developer images are now available for the newly released OrangePi RV2 RISC-V single-board computer (SBC). This marks a significant step in Canonical’s commitment to supporting the emerging open-source architecture. Last year, Ubuntu was introduced on devices like the RISC-V tablet and laptop from DeepComputing, and Ubuntu Server 25.04 also launched recently, featuring support for various RISC-V single-board computers.
Canonical emphasizes the importance of their role in fostering the success of RISC-V as an open standard. The availability of Ubuntu on the OrangePi RV2 showcases ongoing collaboration between Canonical and the RISC-V community, which they believe will significantly assist developers in building, prototyping, and deploying advanced applications using RISC-V technology.
Overview of OrangePi RV2
The OrangePi RV2 is a budget-friendly SBC powered by the KY-X1 octa-core SoC (system-on-chip), featuring RVA22 and vector extensions. It includes a 2 TOPS AI accelerator and is offered in configurations with 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of LPDDR4X memory.
Onboard, the board has two M.2 M-Key slots for storage options, in addition to a microSD card slot. Furthermore, the OrangePi RV2 supports eMMC storage ranging from 16GB to 128GB. The board comes with two Gigabit LAN ports, five USB ports, HDMI out, GPIO, onboard Wi-Fi 5.0, and Bluetooth 5.0 BLE. A USB-C power adapter powers the board.
Getting Ubuntu for the OrangePi RV2
Those who own the OrangePi RV2 can download the Ubuntu 24.04 desktop and server images from a designated Google Drive folder. Users can flash their preferred image onto an SD card using tools such as the Raspberry Pi Imager and boot the SBC from it. To explore RISC-V architecture, the OrangePi RV2 is available for purchase on platforms like Amazon and AliExpress.
While Ubuntu 24.04 is a long-term support (LTS) release, it’s important to note that these images may not come with the standard five-year support guarantee, despite the packages in the repositories being supported.
For more details, you can check out the official Canonical blog announcement.