04/12/2023

Renegade, KDE Plasma, SSH, XRDP

Writing about Renegade, KDE Plasma, SSH, XRDP for educational and informational purposes only. however, do not hesitate to use this information on your own risk as we make no warranty of any kind.

I’m reviewing the Renegade from Libre computer, not only that, I will list the specifications then we will talk about the setup, SSH, installing KDE Plasma, and how to remote desktop into it.

Let's start with the specifications:

• Libre Computer Board ROC-RK3328-CC (Renegade)
• Quad 64-bit 1.4GHz ARM Cortex-A53 Processors
• 2GB of High Bandwidth DDR4 RAM
• 4K Ultra HD ARM Mali-450 GPU
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 2 USB and 1 USB3
• No WIFI or Bluetooth but can be added by USB

Setup:

1. Download the Raspberry Pi Imager from this link
2. Download the image from Libre Computer's site here
3. Get a good quality MicroSD Card (This thing is really sensitive to the MicroSD Card Quality).
4. After the image is completed, plug it into HDMI screen and complete the setup.
5. Create Username and Password during the setup and Add WIFI via USB.

Installing KDE Plasma

Open the terminal and let's ensure all is up to date by typing the following code:

Now let's install KDE Plasma with the following code:

During the installation you need to confirm the display, select “lightdm” when asked for the display manager for KDE plasma desktop

When that is completed, use the following command to select KDE plasma desktop:

Select the plasm option "/usr/bin/startplasma-x11" and confirm.

SSH and Firewall Configuration

Now let's SSH into it, install and allow port 22 via firewall using the following code:

Update your system:

Install UFW:

Open port 22 for incoming traffic:

Check the status if needed:

Enable or disable if needed:

Get your IP hostname -I

SSH into it using PuTTY or using the following code in bash

Login with your username and password

SSH Troubleshooting

The most common problem you may encounter when using SSH is a connection refusal. To address this, you can check the status of OpenSSH using the following code:

If you need to install OpenSSH, you can do so using the following command:

To start the service, use the following command:

Remote desktop XRDP

KDE Plasma on a Raspberry Pi or Other SBC

While I experimented with KDE Plasma on this board, I found it needs more resources than this board has to offer. Although it worked, it was a bit slow, so I cannot recommend it for long-term use, especially not for remote desktop use.

If you want to try it for your Raspberry Pi or other SBC, I recommend checking out this post on Ask Ubuntu.

Troubleshooting for Remote desktop XRDP

If you're using remote desktop to access your board, you may encounter a black screen issue. This can happen because of the way KDE and some operating systems handle user logins. Specifically, some systems only allow a user to be logged in from one device at a time.

To avoid this issue, make sure to log out of the board before attempting to access it remotely. This should prevent any conflicts and ensure that you're able to access the system successfully.

Conclusion

Overall, I've had a great experience with the ROC-RK3328-CC (Renegade) and I think it makes a solid alternative to the Raspberry Pi, especially since it's available for just $40. As we all know, it can be challenging to get a Raspberry Pi at MSRP these days.

The performance of the Renegade is impressive, especially when running Raspbian 11 Desktop or Lite. However, I found that KDE Plasma was too heavy for this board.

One thing that worked well for me was accessing the GPIO pins, which was easy to do without any issues. There's a wiring library that you need to install, which you can find on the Libre Computer website.