Rockchip Device Tree

Pinctrl, GPIO, regulators, PCIe/PHY modes and overlays on Rockchip platforms.

Almost every Rockchip bring-up task is a device-tree task: routing pins with pinctrl, powering peripherals with regulators, choosing combo-PHY modes (PCIe vs SATA vs USB3), describing camera graphs and panels. Getting fluent with rk3xxx.dtsi and the Rockchip pinctrl macros saves days.

Key points

Rockchip pins are named GPIOx_Yz; in DTS use <&gpioX RK_PYz flags> and RK_FUNC_GPIO for pinctrl.
Linux GPIO number = bank × 32 + (letter index × 8) + pin, e.g. GPIO3_B5 = 3×32 + 1×8 + 5 = 109.
Use overlays (.dtbo) for optional hardware so one base DTB serves every product variant.
Decompile the running tree with dtc -I fs /proc/device-tree to see what the kernel actually got.

References

Device Tree guides

LinuxIntermediate

Build the Rockchip Linux Kernel (Vendor BSP and Mainline)

Cross-compile a Rockchip kernel on an x86 host, install the Image, DTB and modules, and know when to choose the vendor BSP or mainline.

8 min read · RK3588, RK3588S, RK3576

LinuxBeginner

Configure GPIO on Rockchip: Pin Numbering, Device Tree and libgpiod

Convert GPIO3_B5-style names to Linux line numbers, drive pins with libgpiod, and describe them properly in the device tree with pinctrl and overlays.

7 min read · RK3588, RK3588S, RK3576

Hardware DebuggingAdvanced

RK3588 PCIe Not Detecting NVMe: A Step-by-Step Debug Checklist

NVMe missing from lsblk? Work through software, device tree, power/reset and signal integrity in the right order to find why the PCIe link isn't training.

9 min read · RK3588, RK3588S, RK3568

Hardware DebuggingAdvanced

Rockchip Ethernet PHY Debugging: RGMII Delays, MDIO and Link Problems

No link, link but no traffic, or heavy packet loss on a Rockchip GMAC? Diagnose PHY detection, RGMII timing, clocks and reset in a systematic order.

8 min read · RK3588, RK3588S, RK3576

Hardware DebuggingIntermediate

Rockchip USB Device Not Detected: Host, OTG, VBUS and PHY Checklist

A USB port that shows nothing in lsusb usually has a role, power or PHY problem. Here is the order to check them on Rockchip SoCs.

6 min read · RK3588, RK3588S, RK3576

Spotted an error or have something to add? Suggest an improvement.

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