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A December 2022 blog post documented an attempt to bring up the $8 Ox64, a three-core RISC-V board intended to run Linux. The author got serial output after working around several programming and software problems, but the post did not confirm a successful Linux boot; Ethernet, Wi-Fi and SD-card support were reported as unavailable at the time.
A December 2022 hands-on report on the $8 Ox64 described attempts to prepare the small RISC-V computer to run Linux, but stopped short of confirming a Linux boot. The author reported getting serial output from the board after several programming workarounds, while warning that Ethernet, Wi-Fi and SD-card support were not working at the time.
The report describes the Ox64 as a board built around a BL808 RISC-V chip with three different cores. Its low price and Linux-capable design drew attention, but the author cautioned that the board was not ready to behave like a plug-and-play computer. Getting software onto it required using the board’s UART TX/RX pins, rather than programming it over USB in the manner of familiar development boards.
The author encountered multiple obstacles. Bouffalo Lab’s Dev Cube flashing tool reportedly crashed when launched under Ubuntu’s Wayland session, and a USB-to-serial adapter based on the CH340G failed to complete the handshake. A workaround used an RP2040-based Adafruit KB2040 as a serial bridge, with its GPIO pins wired to the Ox64’s UART pins and the devices’ grounds connected.
Even then, Dev Cube did not flash the board successfully. The author instead used bflb-mcu-tool, modifying its UART interface code to remove DTR and RTS handling. After flashing a low-level BL808 binary to the M0 core, the board returned initialization messages over the serial connection. That showed communication and a first firmware step were working; it did not establish that Linux had started.
A Low-Cost Board With Real Setup Costs
The report matters because the advertised $8 price did not capture the practical costs of getting started: a compatible serial interface, wiring, software setup and time spent debugging. For hobbyists, those details help distinguish a promising experimental board from a ready-to-use Linux computer. The author’s account also gives other developers a record of specific obstacles and a workaround that produced serial output.
The distinction between a Linux-capable chip and a functioning Linux system is central. A successful low-level flash and serial response are early bring-up milestones, not proof of a usable operating system. With networking and SD-card support reported unavailable, the board’s usefulness at that point depended on further software and hardware support.
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What the First Flash Actually Did
The post framed the Ox64 as a small board that looked like a microcontroller but was meant to support a more capable, Unix-like software environment. Its author emphasized that it had multiple RISC-V cores, including cores with different roles, rather than being limited to a minimal Linux kernel without memory management. These are the report’s description of the board’s capabilities, not evidence that a complete Linux setup was already working.
The reported sequence was preliminary: connect through UART, flash a low-load binary to the M0 core, and check whether the board responded. The resulting messages included memory initialization and a report that the E907 core had started. The author said more work remained, including flashing software to the D0 core and then loading the operating system. The post pointed readers to a later “Part 2,” but the supplied source does not include that follow-up’s results.
““Caveat Emptor!””
— The author of the December 2022 blog report
Linux Boot Still Unconfirmed
The supplied report does not show the Ox64 running Linux. The author explicitly said that additional firmware needed to be flashed to other cores before loading the operating system, and described the serial output as an initial step. It is also unclear from this material whether the referenced Part 2 completed that process.
The reported peripheral limitations apply to the author’s experience at the time of writing in December 2022. The source does not establish whether later firmware, hardware revisions or community work resolved them, nor does it provide independent testing of the board’s capabilities.
Further Firmware Work Was Needed
At the end of the report, the author planned to continue by flashing software to the D0 core and then attempting to load the operating system. The post’s update points to a Part 2, but its findings are not included in the supplied source. Without that follow-up or newer documentation, the next confirmed milestone—and the present state of Linux and peripheral support—remain unknown.
Key Questions
Did the author get Linux running on the Ox64?
Not in the supplied report. The author obtained serial output after flashing a low-level binary, then said more firmware and an operating-system flash were still needed.
Why was setting up the $8 board difficult?
The report describes UART-only programming, a flashing utility that crashed under the author’s Wayland setup, a USB-to-serial adapter handshake failure, and the need to modify another flashing tool.
What workaround produced serial output?
The author used an RP2040-based KB2040 as a serial bridge, then used a modified version of bflb-mcu-tool to flash a low-level BL808 binary.
Which features were unavailable at the time?
The author said Ethernet, Wi-Fi and SD-card support were not working when the post was written in December 2022. The source does not establish their later status.
Source: thelittleengineerthatcould.blogspot.com
