Radxa OS Boot Configuration

Radxa OS ships with three default partitions:

Partition	Default Mount Point	Description
config	/config	Stores system- or device-related configuration
EFI	/boot/efi	Stores the bootloader, boot configuration, kernel image, initrd, device tree, etc.
rootfs	/	Root filesystem

You can use lsblk to inspect the partitions and mount points:

The following example assumes booting from a microSD card:

root@radxa-dragon-q6a:~# lsblk
NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
mmcblk0     179:0    0  29.7G  0 disk
├─mmcblk0p1 179:1    0    16M  0 part /config
├─mmcblk0p2 179:2    0     1G  0 part /boot/efi
└─mmcblk0p3 179:3    0  28.7G  0 part /

tip

If you boot from another medium such as an eMMC module, a UFS module, or an NVMe SSD, the corresponding device names will be mmcblk0 (eMMC module), sda (some UFS bridge forms), or nvme0n1 (NVMe SSD). Replace mmcblk0 in the commands below with the device name reported by lsblk.

Boot Configuration Files

Radxa OS boot configuration files are located at:

/boot/efi/loader/entries/

Each installed kernel usually maps to one .conf file. The file name varies with the kernel version, for example:

/boot/efi/loader/entries/RadxaOS-7.0.11-3-qcom.conf

Example contents:

# cat /boot/efi/loader/entries/RadxaOS-7.0.11-3-qcom.conf
# Boot Loader Specification type#1 entry
# File created by /usr/lib/kernel/install.d/90-loaderentry.install (systemd 259.5-0ubuntu3)
title      Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
version    7.0.11-3-qcom
sort-key   ubuntu
options   root=UUID=711cd5de-9e25-4615-bfe2-0b369aa10dc0 console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 clk_ignore_unused quiet splash loglevel=4 rw earlycon consoleblank=0 console=tty1 coherent_pool=2M irqchip.gicv3_pseudo_nmi=0 cgroup_enable=cpuset cgroup_memory=1 cgroup_enable=memory swapaccount=1 kasan=off plymouth.enable=0
linux      /RadxaOS/7.0.11-3-qcom/linux
initrd     /RadxaOS/7.0.11-3-qcom/initrd.img-7.0.11-3-qcom

Main configuration fields:

Field	Description
title	Name shown in the boot menu
version	Kernel version
options	Kernel command-line parameters passed to the Linux kernel
linux	Path to the kernel image
initrd	Path to the initrd image
devicetree	Path to the Device Tree blob
devicetree-overlay	Path to the Device Tree overlay blob

Device Tree Usage Rules

Radxa OS follows these rules for the Device Tree:

• By default, the boot configuration does not include a devicetree parameter; the system uses the Device Tree provided by BIOS/UEFI.
• After a kernel update, the system may regenerate the boot configuration and explicitly set devicetree to the Device Tree shipped with the kernel package.
• After enabling a Device Tree Overlay via rsetup, the system updates the boot configuration with the corresponding devicetree-overlay parameter.

Modifying Kernel Boot Parameters

The following example adds the pcie_aspm=off parameter.

1. Switch to the root user

   sudo -i

2. Edit the kernel command line

   Open /etc/kernel/cmdline:

   nano /etc/kernel/cmdline

   Append the new parameter at the end of the line:

   pcie_aspm=off

   Modified example:

   root=UUID=711cd5de-9e25-4615-bfe2-0b369aa10dc0 console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 clk_ignore_unused quiet splash loglevel=4 rw earlycon consoleblank=0 console=tty1 coherent_pool=2M irqchip.gicv3_pseudo_nmi=0 cgroup_enable=cpuset cgroup_memory=1 cgroup_enable=memory swapaccount=1 kasan=off plymouth.enable=0 pcie_aspm=off

   Notes:

   • All parameters in /etc/kernel/cmdline must stay on a single line.
   • Separate parameters with spaces.
   • Do not delete required parameters such as root=UUID=....

3. Regenerate the boot configuration for the current kernel

   kernel-install add "$(uname -r)" "/boot/vmlinuz-$(uname -r)"

4. Verify the generated configuration

   Locate the entry for the current kernel:

   grep -l "^version[[:space:]]*$(uname -r)$" /boot/efi/loader/entries/*.conf

   Or inspect the options line of every entry:

   grep '^options' /boot/efi/loader/entries/*.conf

   Make sure the corresponding options line includes pcie_aspm=off:

   # cat /boot/efi/loader/entries/RadxaOS-7.0.11-3-qcom.conf
   # Boot Loader Specification type#1 entry
   # File created by /usr/lib/kernel/install.d/90-loaderentry.install (systemd 259.5-0ubuntu3)
   title      Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
   version    7.0.11-3-qcom
   sort-key   ubuntu
   options    root=UUID=711cd5de-9e25-4615-bfe2-0b369aa10dc0 console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 clk_ignore_unused quiet splash loglevel=4 rw earlycon consoleblank=0 console=tty1 coherent_pool=2M irqchip.gicv3_pseudo_nmi=0 cgroup_enable=cpuset cgroup_memory=1 cgroup_enable=memory swapaccount=1 kasan=off plymouth.enable=0 pcie_aspm=off
   linux      /RadxaOS/7.0.11-3-qcom/linux
   initrd     /RadxaOS/7.0.11-3-qcom/initrd.img-7.0.11-3-qcom
   devicetree /RadxaOS/7.0.11-3-qcom/qcs6490-radxa-dragon-q6a.dtb

5. Reboot and verify

   reboot

   After boot, confirm the active kernel command line:

   cat /proc/cmdline

   Or check the kernel log:

   dmesg | grep 'Kernel command line'

   Expected output should include:

   pcie_aspm=off

   If the boot configuration already contains the parameter but it does not take effect after reboot, confirm that the system is actually booting the entry you just updated.

Setting the Boot Menu Timeout

The boot menu configuration file is:

/boot/efi/loader/loader.conf

Default example — timeout 3 waits 3 seconds before booting the default entry:

timeout 3
#console-mode keep

Changing the Wait Time

For example, set the wait time to 5 seconds:

timeout 5

Skipping the Boot Menu Wait

If you want to boot the default entry immediately, set the timeout explicitly:

timeout 0

Commenting out timeout also speeds up booting:

#timeout 3