Hi Guys,
I'm quite stuck and would really appreciate your help. I'm a uni student trying to update a
Metis Compute Board (RK3588 SBC) from Voyager SDK 1.2.5 to SDK 1.7 or newer (to use axmonitor
and run LLMs), but I can't figure out the correct/safe update path for my board and
I don't want to risk a wrong flash (this is for my university internship).
Goal: run Voyager SDK 1.7. In the 1.7 container, axdevice fails with:
"kernel driver 0.07.14 not compatible with 1.4.18 supported by this SDK"
I’ve read the user manual an found this;
Here's what I found on the device. At the SDK-1.2.5 level everything works: axdevice
(in the 1.2.5 container) reports board_type=sbc, fwver='v1.2.5' and the AIPU healthy
(mvm=0-3:100%). The running kernel is 6.1.84-rockchip-standard, built back in February
2025 (uname -r), and the current Metis driver reports version 0.07.14
(/sys/class/metis/version). Looking at the installed packages (dpkg -l), the driver
comes from kernel-module-metis-6.1.84-rockchip-standard and kernel-module-axelera,
both at version "git-r0" -- i.e. a git/development build rather than a numbered
release. The OS identifies itself as "Voyager Linux 1.0" (/etc/os-release).
What makes me think the BSP is quite old is the storage layout: the root filesystem
sits on a single partition (/dev/mmcblk0p3, ext4), with no A/B slots
(/proc/partitions, mount). There is no Mender at all (/etc/mender is empty and I can't
find any artifact_info), and the bootloader is from 2024 (/proc/cmdline shows
root=PARTUUID=..., androidboot.fwver=...,uboot-12/07/2024). So it really looks like an
early, pre-release image with a single-partition scheme, not the A/B layout the newer
BSPs seem to use.
From the BSP repo (.../bsp/aisbc/): drivers for SDK 1.6/1.7/1.8 are built for kernel
6.1.148 (folders 1.2.x, 1.3.x); a 6.1.84 driver exists only in folder 1.1.0.
My understanding (please correct me):
- My board seems to be on a pre-release BSP (driver git-r0, single partition, no
Mender), older than 1.1.0.
- So the in-place upgrade in the user guide section 3.5 ("from v1.2.x to v1.3.1") likely does
NOT apply (I'm not on v1.2.x, and I don't have the A/B partition scheme it assumes).
- A full BSP flash (section 3.3) to a 1.3.x image, then installing the v1.7.0 driver, seems
to be the way -- but I want to confirm before wiping the board.
My questions:
1) Given this exact state, what is the correct and SAFE procedure to reach a working
SDK 1.7 (axmonitor + LLM)?
2) Is a full BSP flash (section 3.3) to voyager-image-weston-antelao-3588-1.3.1(or 1.3.3) the
right path? Any special note for a pre-release / single-partition board?
3) Is there any option that preserves my data/config, or should I plan a full backup
and reconfiguration (network/proxy/SSH) after the flash?
I've been blocked on this for a while -- any guidance is hugely appreciated. Thank you!
