== Copying Ubuntu onto the SD-card ==

Download the Ubuntu preinstalled server image and flash it on your sdcard using:

{{{
xzcat ubuntu-22.04.2-preinstalled-server-riscv64+visionfive.img.xz | sudo dd bs=1M conv=fsync of=/dev/sdX
}}}

You will have to replace ''/dev/sdX'' by the actual device name of your SD card.
Please, be especially cautious not to overwrite the wrong drive as this cannot be undone.

== First boot ==

Insert the SD card and power on the board.

Don't be impatient when not seeing  any HDMI output from the kernel for a few minutes. This is due to the board performance. Early boot output is only available on the serial console which runs at 115200 baud.

For accessing the serial console you can use ''picocom'':

{{{picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0}}}

When booting the first time wait until you see an output line confirming that cloud-init has finished. Cloud init is responsible for generating the SSH keys and setting the default password. Cloud init itself will also need a few minutes. The line to wait for will look similar to
{{{
[  150.053340] cloud-init[1274]: Cloud-init v. 23.1.1-0ubuntu2 finished at Mon, 03 Apr 2023 11:14:35 +0000. Datasource DataSourceNoCloud [seed=/var/lib/cloud/seed/nocloud-net][dsmode=net].  Up 150.00 seconds
}}}

Now you can login with user ''ubuntu'' and the default password ''ubuntu'' and will be asked to choose a new password.

== Wireless LAN ==

To use the wireless LAN you have to configure netplan. Find below a simple example of a Netplan configuration file that must be stored in /etc/netplan directory with the extension *.yaml:

{{{
network:
  version: 2
  renderer: networkd
  wifis:
    wlan0:
      dhcp4: yes
      dhcp6: yes
      access-points:
        "YOUR_SSID":
          password: "YOUR_PASSWORD"
}}}


Either reboot or execute the following commands to apply the configuration:

{{{
sudo netplan apply
sudo systemctl restart systemd-networkd.service
}}}

== Bluetooth ==

The firmware required to use Bluetooth on the StarFive VisionFive board currently is only available in a ppa:

Add the RISC-V PPA:

{{{
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-risc-v-team/release
}}}

Install the required packages:

{{{
sudo apt install linux-firmware-starfive brcm-patchram-plus-starfive
}}}