Hello Photonicat developers,
I am currently running:
rk3576-photonicat2-mainline-debian13-full-20251016.img.gz
The system is already installed and working, so I would prefer an in-place update if it is supported, rather than reflashing the whole eMMC.
I noticed several new images in:
https://dl.photonicat.com/images/photonicat2/debian-mainline/
But I am confused by the file sizes and dates:
rk3576-photonicat2-mainline-debian13-full-20260509.img.gz is only about 281 MiB
rk3576-photonicat2-mainline-debian13-full-20260511.img.gz is about 863 MiB
rk3576-photonicat2-mainline-debian13-minimal-20260511.img.gz is about 906 MiB
the full-20260511 image appears to have a timestamp of 1970-01-01
latest_image.txt still points to an older image
SHA256SUMS does not seem to contain checksums for the 202605xx images
Could you please clarify:
Are the 20260509 / 20260511 files official release images, test builds, or incomplete uploads?
Is full-20260511.img.gz expected to be smaller than the minimal image?
Is full-20260509.img.gz valid, or should it be ignored?
Is there a supported upgrade path from full-20251016 without reflashing?
If in-place upgrade is possible, should we use only apt full-upgrade, or do we also need to manually update kernel / DTB / boot files?
Is there a changelog for the 202605xx builds?
My goal is to safely update the installed system without risking an unbootable device.
P.S. This GREAT device is not going to be used just as a simple modem/router. In our setup it is becoming an infrastructure management node, so stability and maintainability are very important. We would like to understand whether regular updates will be available for the installed system, or whether the expected maintenance model is to reflash a new image from scratch from time to time. Rebuilding the whole system every few months would be operationally inconvenient and risky for our use case.
Thank you.
One more question about maintenance.
We plan to use Photonicat2 not just as a modem/router, but as an infrastructure management node.
So I would like to understand the normal update model:
Can an installed Debian system be updated safely with apt update && apt full-upgrade, or should every new release be installed by reflashing the full image?
Also, how are Photonicat-specific parts updated, such as kernel, DTB/device tree, bootloader, boot scripts, Wi-Fi/LTE/modem drivers and firmware?
For us this is important, because reflashing and rebuilding the whole system every few months would be risky and inconvenient.
What is the recommended way to maintain an already installed Photonicat2 Debian system long-term?
Hello,
We are still in progress of uploading new images of this month. Don't use them until finished.
For maintenance, it is safe to use official updates form Debian/Ubuntu, except you have to use the kernel we provided. We may provide the kernel debs later for updating without reflash the device.
Thank you for the clarification.
Just to confirm the long-term maintenance model:
- Will Photonicat2 Debian mainline get a supported in-place upgrade path for device-specific components, without reflashing the full eMMC image?
I mean kernel, kernel modules, DTB/device tree, boot scripts, bootloader if needed, Wi-Fi/AIC8800 drivers and firmware.
- Will each official image be mapped to exact reproducible sources/packages?
For example: image version → git commit/tag → kernel .deb → DTB → boot scripts → driver packages.
This is important because for infrastructure use we need to know whether Debian mainline can be maintained safely over time, or whether every major Photonicat-specific update will require full reflashing.
Hellow,
For each kernel update, we will provide 4 debs for a kernel release:
linux-headers-6.18.33_6.18.33-2_arm64.deb
linux-image-6.18.33-dbg_6.18.33-2_arm64.deb
linux-image-6.18.33_6.18.33-2_arm64.deb
linux-libc-dev_6.18.33-2_arm64.deb
Kernel image, kernel modules and DTB will be packed in linux-image-*.deb .
These debs can also be reproduced by https://github.com/photonicat/rockchip_rk3576_linux_mainline .
