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This document introduces how to install Android image to Rock 3a.

Rock 3a can boot from microSD card or eMMC, so install os on microSD card or eMMC based on your choose.

Install the operating system

Preparation​

  • 1x microSD card (capacity >=8GB)
  • 1x microSD card reader
  • 5V power adapter (recommended [Radxa Power PD30W] (/accessories/pd-30w))

Image Download​

Please go to Resource Download Summary to download the corresponding image file.

Install the system​

We recommend using the open-source image flashing tool Etcher, developed by our partner Balena. Etcher has a user-friendly interface and powerful features, with support for Windows, Linux, and macOS systems. Next, we'll show you how to use Etcher to write an image to an SD card.

  1. Download Etcher and install it.

Please download balenaEtcher-Setup-1.18.11.exe After the download is complete, there is no need to perform any additional actions. After downloading, you can double click it to open it without any additional operation.

  1. Open Etcher

    rock3a

  2. Open Etcher and click Flash from file to select the image to write to.

    rock3a

  3. Click Select target to select the device, please select carefully.

    rock3a

  4. Click Flash! Start writing and wait for the write progress bar to complete.

    rock3a

  5. When writing the image successfully, Etcher will display Flash Complete!.

    rock3a

**If there is an error in flashing, please try again. **

  1. Starting the system
After successfully burning the microSD card according to the above steps,
insert the microSD card into the MicroSD slot of (as shown
below), power on the system with the  power adapter, and
then the system will start booting and HDMI will display the desktop.
tip

Recommended official 30W adapter Radxa PD 30W adapter.

sd slot
  1. Logging in to the system

After the system has started, log in using the radxa account with the password radxa.

Start the system​

  • After successfully burning the microSD card as described above, insert the microSD card into the microSD slot of the Radxa ROCK 3A.
  • The power supply interface of Radxa ROCK 3A is USB 2.0 OTG Type C port, please use Type-C cable to connect the power supply port and the adapter.
tip

Radxa ROCK 3A supports QC 3.0/2.0 adapter, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A. Radxa recommends using the Radxa Power PD30W.

Frequently Asked Questions​

Reference​