Sipeed Lichee Pi 4A RISC-V SBC review and Debian demo. This is the first RISC-V computer I've tested that's provided a usable desktop computing experience right out of the box. End-user RISC-V is starting to arrive! :)
You can learn more about the Lichee Pi 4A on its web page here:
https://sipeed.com/licheepi4a
And the board has excellent documentation here:
https://wiki.sipeed.com/licheepi4a.html
Note that the hardware I used in this video was purchased from AliExpress:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005532736080.html
I have reviewed four previous RISC-V SBCs, including the StarFive VisionFive 2, which also (after some messing around) provides a good desktop experience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykKnc86UtXg
I also have an 2023 update on RISC-V developments here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJVSZEX6d9M
And my general introduction to RISC-V is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps0JFsyX2fU
For additional ExplainingComputers videos and other content, you learn about becoming a channel member here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbiGcwDWZjz05njNPrJU7jA/join
More videos on computing and related topics can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/@explainingcomputers
You may also like my ExplainingTheFuture channel at: http://www.youtube.com/@explainingthefuture
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Unboxing
03:33 Specifications
07:26 First Boot
10:37 Debian Demo
18:10 Another Milestone
#RISC-V #LicheePi #Debian #explainingcomputers
I really am a fan of your faible for underducks! Or underdogs? Anyway, RISC-V - always amazing!
@AllanSpohn Says:
just clip fuckin eh
@vpchelko Says:
the main problem is price - I buy N150 based mini-PC for 87$ - and this is ready to use device with 16gb ram and 500gb m2 SSD, and it able to playback 4k60hz video on youtube! I use it as cheap and awesome TV box, because of built in smart TV sux!!!
The concept is cheap - this is that everything is ready for work - the body is assembled - the power supply in stock - the most difficult obstacle - this must be set the OS - this is the price for the device with the characteristics that I described should be in the limit of +/- 10% - I do not consider in principle - this is a cheap and multi -functional PC and more for such a thing I will not pay -
MAX cheap is 100$ and everything should work
There must be a case
And everything is installed in it - RAM, SSD disc minimum at least 500GB, Kuler is natural, WiFai, Blutus!
The power supply is included!
I see you are not too lazy to take the sets "do it yourself" - but this should give an additional discount on the goods!
@mohanv88 Says:
Thank you,, so inspiring...
@WafflesOnLinux Says:
risc v international gave me one of these to do some dev work on. i swapped out sipeed's image for stock revyOS which supports kernel 6.6 and it's been a nice board to work with.
@jamiegossett Says:
they should have put a m.2 m-key for nvme which would make it much better.
@PaulFeakins Says:
It says at the end about subscribing to your other channel but there haven't been any videos on there for about 2 years. Seeing as it's all kicking off in AI these days, perhaps now is the time!
@ElectronicFanArm Says:
Awesome I liked your topic! Could we use it to create custom operating system from scratch? Would it be full open source?
@reznikovpaul6217 Says:
Chinese spy electronics🤫
@Antti_Nannimus Says:
The Register has an article entitled "Faulty instructions in Alibaba's T-Head C910 RISC-V CPUs blow away all security", that specifically includes this Lichee Pi 4A SBC (which apparently uses the vulnerable RISC-V chip) in its affected computer warnings. If this report is true, it is probably a BFD regarding this computer's (and certain specific other's) potential vulnerability. It is NOT, however, a vulnerability in the general RISC-V architecture, but rather in the extensions implemented by this chip vendor.
@armisis Says:
hmmm, wonder why chromium works for you but not on either of my lichee devices...
@armisis Says:
Just got my Sipeed Lichee Book 4A RISCV Linux Debian14 Inch Laptop today, gets a little laggy playing youtube so far and chromium crashes.
@diegocamachotorres5089 Says:
What about ECC memory (Unbuffered) in these device? It is possible to use or maybe in a future version? so we can star dreaming about error correction, personal servers, or just personal trusty computing but open source. Some one tell the mainboard developers about this idea, Thanks!!
@briankleinschmidt3664 Says:
Hearing your jingle always brings me joy. Hearing it with the distortion was pretty cool. - Like a heavy metal remix. Great show. Thanks.
@solifugus Says:
I have one of these and love it. The only downside is no 2D graphics acceleration. So, desktop performance is not visibly good but actual performance under the hood really is exceptional. I was interested in the RISC-V architecture but even more so the parallel compute extensions for audio and AI.
@ByteMeCompletely Says:
What CPU architecture will be the first implemented in graphene? 6502, z80, risc-v?
@ByteMeCompletely Says:
Let me know when it can run Linux Mint. 8o)
@noobynoob138 Says:
Shan't be too hopeful, but RISC-V might become major competition for ARM and X86.
@Mbro-dq2do Says:
Or until Stanley the knife and Mr Scissors get into a fist fight
@Mbro-dq2do Says:
Ya Knoiw.... Shit doesnt get real until Mr Scissors comes in naked with a cocktail in his hand. LOL
@H0td0g_H0nz0 Says:
i have a very special interest in these risc systems, or should i say two. can they handle drawing tablets like the cintiq 24 or one of these cheaper ones from asia. and can they handle audiodata produced with daw software like ableton, renoise or so with quite a few plugins runnin.
@hiddenni Says:
can i use RISC OS instead of Debian with this?
@christopherneufelt8971 Says:
Ha Ha Ha! They placed in the SBC everything except a Coffee Machine!
@MarceloReis1 Says:
It looks like the chip embargo to China is going really well... for China.
@Mario1vsSonic1 Says:
This is so exciting! Sure, I can go on and complain about the proprietary parts, since I highly doubt the wifi or wifi firmware is open. But this is a huge step in the right direction!
@hemanthkumar5438 Says:
No v-sync
@gdutfulkbhh7537 Says:
What a ridiculous name for a computer. A hard pass from me, just for that.
@senteixTrader Says:
Can you make a video about the Lichee cluster that has 7 of those board and use it for AI programs like stable diffusion
@sorphin Says:
@ExplainingComputers Another cracker, Chris. Any plans to look at the Milk-V Duo?
@LabiaLicker Says:
Thanks to sanctions on American fabs. China is going RISC-V WIN WIN
@xuyi_wang Says:
cool
@MsPaulathomas Says:
I have a specific use case for tthis kind of hardware: running an instrusionn detection system! This hardware is particularly applicable because it have two ethernet ports which means I can have it in between my modem and router runnnig snort!
@rursus8354 Says:
This "PC" is not what it looks like. It is a small pluggable single-card computer designed for clusters, Laptops and other stuff. I'm most interested in the cluster concept of plugging seven computers on a larger board. This has the potential of becoming "wearable super computers", which are suitable for your private home AI.
@plankalkulcompiler9468 Says:
I revisited this video now to tell you check out Milk-V Duo that runs Linux while having a similar form factor to Rpi Pico.
@bitwise32 Says:
hi christopher. i want you to come work for me. I want to offer you a job at my company as the CTO. it's a full time job and you will work for free.
@ByteMeCompletely Says:
I just created a NAS with a Raspberry Pi 4B and an external USB HDD. Can you do that with RISC-V?
@bunnatang2081 Says:
what is Risc-v good for aside from less power consumption (a few watts less than RP5) ?
@brissance Says:
i understood nothing what is it ?
@darthinvader1937 Says:
ofc the ISA is open source, but what about the firmware? I've seen alibaba open source the hardware, so if firmware's also open source, then we've got something huge in our hands
@sergevereecke680 Says:
It's like looking to those good old BBC educational programs from the eighties which explained things so clearly .🙂
@kevgermany Says:
This I would consider.
So how did it have an internet connection on first boot? Did you plug in a lan cable?
@panthros7395 Says:
It is great to see RISC make a comeback. I used to help customers with Windows NT on RISC. The challenge then was the Backoffice apps were just faster on Intel, too much overhead on RISC. But I used to write software as well so it was less of a penalty if you could compile it on RISC. There was a time when Microsoft supported more than Intel such as Alpha, MIPS and Power PC. Those were the days lol! Today, thank you Linux!
@DougRansom1 Says:
The various fruity or doggy RISC-V boards look great with the 4TOP NPUs. Can you do a video on running Frigate on one of these?
@tedchandran Says:
Jai Hinduja. US politicians are likely to vote to ban RISC-V due to its open source.
@piecaruso97 Says:
i swear this is the most exited i have ever seen you since you started doing youtube
@williamBryan-k2e Says:
when he talks about the tempature sensors but makes the comment of not sure where that is - not pvt on top of pi screen. pvt can be looked up ( I did ) and it means presure, votage, temperature. Article states the soc manufacturers usually put pvt sensors in to monitor ( presure, temp, voltage ) in the soc. so assume 2 sensors in the soc chip.
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