Rockchip-based devices have gone unnoticed but power a wide variety of products, from tablets and single-board computers to edge devices for artificial intelligence and media players. If you have used a Pine64 board, Radxa Rock, or certain Android TV boxes, you may have already interacted with a Rockchip SoC without realizing it.
Although many developers know the Raspberry Pi, the Linux ecosystem on Rockchip offers powerful hardware, robust multimedia capabilities, and good Linux support for both hobbyists and professionals.
In this article, we explain how to start programming on Rockchip devices with Linux, what development tools are available, and practical tips for working efficiently in this environment.
Advantages of choosing Rockchip devices
High performance thanks to ARM big.LITTLE configurations and capable GPUs, ideal for demanding multimedia applications. AI and multimedia capabilities with NPU for inference acceleration and support for 4K and 8K video decoding and encoding. Flexible inputs and outputs such as PCIe, USB 3.0, MIPI DSI CSI, HDMI, and Gigabit Ethernet. Good Linux support with many boards using mainline kernels and open-source drivers, making these devices a solid choice for embedded projects.
Preparing the development environment
To program a Rockchip device, you will need a Rockchip SBC board, for example, Radxa Rock 5 or Pine64 Quartz64, a Linux image such as Debian, Ubuntu, or a Yocto-based build, serial console access via a USB-to-UART adapter to debug boot processes, and a cross-compilation toolchain if you prefer to compile from a more powerful PC instead of directly on the board.
Flashing the operating system is usually done with the rkdeveloptool utility for booting and flashing via USB, with dd for SD cards or eMMC on Linux, or with manufacturer-specific utilities.
Programming options
Native development by installing compilers and SDKs directly on the board, for example, updating packages and installing build-essential, git, and cmake for lightweight projects or scripts. Cross-compilation using aarch64 toolchains on an x86 PC to compile ARM64 binaries much faster. Use of systems such as Yocto or Buildroot to create custom Linux images that include your application and leverage Rockchip BSPs to integrate board support.
Working with peripherals
Rockchip boards expose a multitude of interfaces for hardware: GPIO accessible from sys/class/gpio or via libgpiod, I2C and SPI buses for sensors and displays, MIPI CSI and DSI interfaces for cameras and displays, and USB OTG to create USB gadgets or debug via USB. A simple practical example is controlling an LED via GPIO by exporting the pin in sys/class/gpio, configuring it as output, and writing the corresponding value to the value file.
AI and multimedia
On boards with NPU such as those based on RK3588, the RKNN Toolkit can be used to run accelerated inference and convert models from TensorFlow Lite, ONNX, or PyTorch. For multimedia, tools such as GStreamer and FFmpeg leverage the hardware decoding present in Rockchip SoCs, allowing high-resolution video playback and processing efficiently.
Debugging and optimization
Use dmesg and journalctl to review kernel logs, htop or top to monitor CPU and memory, perf and strace to profile performance, and the serial console to debug low-level boot issues. Keeping frequent metrics and profiles helps identify bottlenecks in CPU, GPU, or NPU-intensive applications.
Tips for success
Use the mainline kernel whenever possible to improve portability and long-term support. Keep toolchains and kernel sources synchronized with the board vendor. Consider Docker to build and package applications in reproducible environments. Back up the system image before experimenting with risky changes.
Q2BSTUDIO and how we can help
At Q2BSTUDIO, we are a custom software and application development company specialized in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and cloud solutions. We offer custom software and custom applications for embedded and server projects, AWS and Azure cloud service integration, business intelligence service implementation, and AI solutions for companies. We design custom AI agents and develop dashboards with Power BI to transform data into decisions, as well as cybersecurity solutions to protect infrastructures and applications.
If your project needs expertise in custom applications, custom software, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, AWS and Azure cloud services, business intelligence services, AI for companies, AI agents, or Power BI, at Q2BSTUDIO we have teams that cover all those areas and can help from the prototype on Rockchip boards to production deployment in the cloud.
Conclusion
Rockchip devices are a powerful and economical option in the world of ARM SBCs, with great potential for multimedia and artificial intelligence projects. The learning curve is comparable to other platforms like the Raspberry Pi, but with more power and flexibility. With the right tools and best practices and the support of expert teams like Q2BSTUDIO, you can develop robust and scalable solutions, from embedded prototypes to cloud deployments with business intelligence services and Power BI.
