This week in Armbian development saw significant updates across multiple areas, with a strong focus on bootloader enhancements and kernel upgrades. U-Boot was bumped to v2026.01-rc2 for several devices, introducing BTRFS support and improved boot management. Kernel updates included the advancement of the mainline kernel to v6.18-rc6 and the upgrade of Allwinner CURRENT kernels. Desktop usability saw improvements with fixes to shortcuts, app group management, and the addition of a default user icon. New hardware support was added for boards like AM62L EVM and expanded features for devices such as the youyeetoo-r1 and sunxi64. Additional changes included power management refinements, patch cleanups, and the introduction of new CLI tools, reflecting ongoing efforts to enhance stability and user experience.
- Allow Helios64 to do separate /boot partition only if root placed on fs than unbootable on device. by @iav in armbian/build#8946
- cm3588-nas: u-boot: bump to v2026.01-rc2, enable BTRFS support. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8953
- Discord x86: add external sources. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#8975
- Feat/bootscript templating. by @djurny in armbian/build#8935
- Fix desktop shortcut for Armbian config. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/configng#701
- Fixing updating Git submodule. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#8962
- Improve Desktop AppGroups & Add Default User Icon. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#8964
- jsoninfo: introduce
inventory-artifactscli. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8910 - khadas-vim3l: u-boot: bump to v2026.01-rc2, enable BTRFS and more. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8954
- lib / main-config.sh: enable APA extension for questing and resolute builds. by @leggewie in armbian/build#8969
- mainline-kernel: bump 6.18 to v6.18-rc6. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8956
- Move gxlimg to board level and some clean. by @retro98boy in armbian/build#8948
- nanopct6(-lts): u-boot: bump to v2026.01-rc2. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8951
- nanopi-r6c: u-boot: bump to v2026.01-rc2; enable BTRFS support. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8955
- odroidhc4: u-boot: bump to v2026.01-rc2. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8952
- Powere management - make it conditional, enable on UEFI targets, else disabled. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#8961
- radxa-rock-4d: Move to standard support. by @HeyMeco in armbian/build#8981
- rock-5b: u-boot: edge: bump to v2026.01-rc2; use mainline ATF; bootorder; fancy u-boot. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8949
- Rock5B+: Udev rule for Radxa Display 8HD. by @HeyMeco in armbian/build#8972
- Rock5B-Plus and Rock5T: Use upstream u-boot. by @HeyMeco in armbian/build#8918
- rockchip-edge: cleanup and rewrite patches. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#8911
- rockchip: cleanup and rewrite patches for
current. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#8912 - sm8250 current: Add support to load QUP SE Firmware via Linux subsystem. by @retro98boy in armbian/build#8942
- sunxi64: Enable KVM virtualization support for current kernel. by @chbgdn in armbian/build#8974
- Sync support status to match with /download. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#8976
- ti: configs: boards: Add AM62L EVM (tmds62levm) board support. by @jonaswood01 in armbian/build#8960
- ti: k3: Fix boot, change branch names, add upstream edge. by @jonaswood01 in armbian/build#8926
- u-boot: prepare v2026.01 patch directory. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8950
- uefi: x86: current (6.12) and edge (6.18): add Apple T2 patches. by @rpardini in armbian/build#8879
- Upgrade Allwinner CURRENT kernels to latest. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#8878
- youyeetoo-r1: enable OUT1/OUT2 switches for es8323 headphone output on vendor kernel. by @SuperKali in armbian/build#8963
Stay up to date with the latest Armbian news, development highlights, and tips — delivered straight to your inbox.