Canonical Announce First RISC-V Laptop Running Ubuntu

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Jun 14, 2024,
updated Jun 15, 2024

Quoting: Canonical Announce First RISC-V Laptop Running Ubuntu - OMG! Ubuntu —

How well will Ubuntu run well on this octa-core RISC-V laptop?

The SoC used in the DC-ROMA RISC-V Laptop II sounds powerful on paper but keep in mind it is designed for single-board, industrial usage, and edge computing rather than driving a content-heavy desktop Linux experience.

Single-core performance is reported to be around 1.3x the performance of an ARM Cortex-A55.

This DC-ROMA RISC-V laptop II appears to be a rebranded SpacemiT K1 Muse Book, which launched in China earlier this year for $300. The chassis, ports, and SoC are identical, though the Muse Book has 32GB eMMC storage yet no eMMC is mentioned for this.

Read on

Three More:

• DC-ROMA Laptop II packs an octa-core RISC-V processor, 16GB of RAM and Ubuntu Linux - Liliputing

  The DC-ROMA was the first first laptop to ship with a RISC-V processor. It first launched in very limited quantities in late 2022, and became more widely available the following year. But with a 1.5 GHz StarFive JH7110 quad-core processor and shipped with support for OpenKylin or Debian Linux operating systems.

  Now the makers of the laptop are preparing to launch the DC-ROMA RISC-V Laptop II with a higher-performance 2 GHz SpacemiT RISC-V K1 octa-core processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and Ubuntu Linux.

• World's first RISC-V laptop preloaded with Ubuntu

  DeepComputing has announced a successor to its Roma laptop, which was the first notebook of its kind to use a RISC-V-compatible processor.

  Called DC-Roma RISC-V Laptop II, the device is claimed to be the first RV-based laptop in the world to run Ubuntu out of the box. It's not the first RISC-V laptop to use Linux in general as the original Roma came with Alibaba's own Linux-based OS, OpenAnolis. However, given that Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux distributions, it's certainly a milestone for the upcoming instruction set architecture (ISA).

  "As RISC-V is becoming a competitive ISA in multiple markets, porting Ubuntu to RISC-V to become the reference OS for early adopters was a natural choice," Ubuntu developer Canonical said in a statement.

• DeepComputing Unveils the RISC-V-Powered DC-ROMA II Laptop, Partners with Canonical on Ubuntu Port - Hackster.io

  DeepComputing, which launched one of the first commercial notebook computers to feature a RISC-V processor, has announced its latest machine — a notebook built around the SpacemiT SoC K1 running an official port of Ubuntu Linux, courtesy of a partnership with Canonical.

  "The launch of the DC-ROMA II represents a major leap forward for the open source community," claims Canonical's Gordan Markuš. "RISC-V laptops will empower everyone, from seasoned developers to novice users, to develop, experiment and innovate for the RISC-V architecture."

Original:

• World’s first RISC-V Laptop gets a massive upgrade and equips with Ubuntu

  The DC-ROMA RISC-V Laptop II is the world’s first RISC-V laptop pre-installed and powered by Ubuntu, which is one of the most popular Linux distributions in the world, providing developers with an outstanding mix of usability and reliability, as well as a rich ecosystem with security and support.

Notebookcheck:

• DC-Roma Laptop II with 8-core RISC-V processor launching soon with Ubuntu 23.10 support

  Initially launched two years ago by DeepComputing, the first ever RISC-V laptop dubbed Roma that runs on Open Kylin or Debian Linux is now receiving a hardware refresh. The new version soon launching as the DC-Roma RISC-V Laptop II will also get extended Linux support with the direct involvement of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu.

  The second gen Roma laptops are among the first devices to integrate the new SpacemiT’s SoC K1 8-core RISC-V processor that can boost to 2 GHz and is paired with up to 16 GB LPDDR4X plus up to 1 TB SSD storage. With its 2 TOPs@INT AI Fusion Computing Engine and improved 256-bit Vector Engine, the K1 processor essentially doubles the performance of the 4-core model powering the first gen laptops.

Techspot:

• DeepComputing built the first RISC-V laptop designed to run Ubuntu Linux | TechSpot

  Hong Kong manufacturer DeepComputing introduced a laptop built around the RISC-V ISA. The DC-Roma RISC-V Laptop II expands the hardware capabilities offered by the previous generation and is touted as the world's first RISC-V laptop capable of running the Ubuntu Linux operating system.

  The DC-Roma RISC-V Laptop II system uses the K1 SoC developed by Chinese company SpacemiT, while the previous "Roma" model used a JH7110 SoC created by StarFive. The K1 architecture includes eight 64-bit RISC-V CPU cores running at up to 2 GHz, good enough to deliver "enhanced performance" and energy efficiency.

  The new RISC-V laptop specs include up to 16 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, a 1 TB SSD, a 1080p display, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. Total battery life is estimated to be 8 hours, and its 8-pin interface for add-in cards is designed to provide developers with an easier way to compile and test their code.