RV1126B-P SDK Docker Build Environment

Reproducible Docker build environment for the Rockchip RV1126B-P Linux SDK.

Architecture: Build tools in Docker, SDK mounted from host

Compatible with: SDK v1.1.0

Change Log

RV1126BP-63: Added afptool-rs v1.2.0 for Rockchip RKFW/RKAF firmware inspection and unpacking (required for RV1126B chip code 0x46).
RV1126BP-2: Added full host workspace mount support via HOST_RV1126BP_PATH (mounted at /workspace-host) and documented usage in this guide.

Features

✅ Based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (GCC 13.x - avoids libffi build errors)
✅ All build dependencies pre-installed
✅ Python 2.7.18 (required by SDK build system)
✅ lz4 v1.9.4 (compression utility)
✅ afptool-rs v1.2.0 (unpack/inspect Rockchip RKFW + RKAF firmware images)
✅ tmux terminal multiplexer (persistent build sessions with scrollback)
✅ Runs as root (bypasses fakeroot semaphore issues in Docker)
✅ Privileged mode enabled (full host kernel access)
✅ SDK mounted from host (editable, persistent)

Requirements

Docker Engine 20.10+
Docker Compose 2.0+ (plugin or standalone)
50GB+ free disk space (20GB SDK + 30GB build outputs)
8GB+ RAM recommended (16GB ideal)

Host OS compatibility

Host OS	Support	Notes
Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04	✅ Recommended	Native Linux — best performance, no caveats
Mac (Docker Desktop)	⚠️ Works with caveats	Volume mounts are significantly slower; root-owned `binary/` files written into the Mac-mounted volume may fail to clean up — use `docker exec` to `rm -rf` from inside the container
Windows (Docker Desktop + WSL2)	⚠️ Works with caveats	Keep repos inside the WSL2 filesystem (e.g. `~/...`), not under `/mnt/c/...` — Windows-mounted volumes have severe performance and ownership issues with root-owned chroot files

Recommendation: Use a native Ubuntu Linux host. The build creates root-owned chroot directories, mounts binfmt_misc, and runs privileged containers — all of which work seamlessly on Linux and add complexity on Mac/Windows.

Quick Start

Step 0: Get the SDK

Clone the SDK repository (requires access to private repository):

# Clone to your preferred location
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/Fanconn-RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK.git

# Or clone specific release (recommended, smaller/faster)
git clone --depth 1 --branch v1.1.0 https://github.com/Fanconn-RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK.git

Note: The SDK repository is ~16GB with Git LFS files. Ensure you have sufficient disk space and a stable internet connection.

Step 1: Clone the Docker Environment

git clone https://github.com/Fanconn-RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-Dev-Docker.git
cd RV1126B-P-Dev-Docker

Step 2: Build the Docker Image

# Build with default tag (v1.2.0)
docker compose build

# Or specify custom version tag
IMAGE_TAG=v1.2.0 docker compose build

Build time: ~5-10 minutes (downloads and compiles Python 2.7.18 and lz4)

Step 3: Run Container with SDK Mounted

# Default (if SDK is in ../RV1126B-P-SDK)
docker compose run --rm rv1126b-builder

# Or specify custom SDK path
SDK_PATH=/path/to/RV1126B-P-SDK docker compose run --rm rv1126b-builder

# Or specify the host workspace path to mount at /workspace-host in the container
HOST_RV1126BP_PATH=.. docker compose run --rm rv1126b-builder

Note: Container runs as root to bypass fakeroot semaphore issues. After build completes, you may need to fix file permissions (see Troubleshooting section).

The container now exposes:

/workspace → SDK root (default: ../RV1126B-P-SDK)
/workspace-host → full host workspace tree (default: ..)

This lets you build the SDK from /workspace while also accessing repositories like the camera pipeline from /workspace-host/RV1126B-P-Camera-Pipeline.

Step 4: Build the Firmware (Inside Container)

# Start a tmux session for persistent build
tmux new -s build

# Inside tmux:
cd rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0
./build.sh lunch
# Select option 9: rockchip_rv1126bp_evb1_v10_defconfig
./build.sh

# Detach from tmux: Ctrl+B, then d
# Reattach later: tmux attach -t build
# Scroll build log: Ctrl+B, then [ (arrow keys to scroll, q to exit)

Build time: ~30-60 minutes depending on CPU cores

Step 5: Verify Build Success

Check build completion:

# On host machine (in another terminal)
grep -E "succeeded|OK|Ready" ~/RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/output/sessions/latest/build.log | tail -5

# Should show:
# Running mk-updateimg.sh - build_updateimg succeeded.
# Running mk-firmware.sh - build_firmware succeeded.
# Running 99-all.sh - build_all succeeded.

Verify generated firmware:

# Check firmware image exists
ls -lh ~/RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/output/update/Image/update.img

# Should show: update.img (~673MB)

# List all generated partition images
ls -lh ~/RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/output/firmware/

# Should include:
# - MiniLoaderAll.bin (441KB)   - SPL bootloader
# - uboot.img (4.0MB)            - U-Boot
# - boot.img (39MB)              - Linux kernel + DTB
# - rootfs.img (560MB)           - Root filesystem
# - recovery.img (44MB)          - Recovery system
# - oem.img (18MB)               - OEM partition
# - userdata.img (8.0MB)         - User data
# - update.img (673MB)           - Complete firmware package

Build artifacts locations:

Final firmware: output/update/Image/update.img (flash this to device)
Build logs: output/sessions/latest/build.log
Individual images: output/firmware/
Kernel: kernel-6.1/boot.img
U-Boot: u-boot/uboot.img
Rootfs: buildroot/output/rockchip_rv1126b/images/rootfs.ext2

Step 6: Fix File Permissions (Optional)

Since the container runs as root, output files are owned by root. Fix permissions on host:

sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) ~/RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/output
sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) ~/RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/buildroot/output

Advanced Usage

Interactive Shell

UID=$(id -u) GID=$(id -g) docker compose run --rm rv1126b-builder

Run Specific Build Commands

# Just configure
docker compose run --rm rv1126b-builder bash -c "cd rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0 && ./build.sh lunch"

# Full build
docker compose run --rm rv1126b-builder bash -c "cd rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0 && ./build.sh"

Use Different SDK Path

SDK_PATH=/mnt/data/RV1126B-P-SDK docker compose run --rm rv1126b-builder

Use a Different Host Workspace Path

HOST_RV1126BP_PATH=../some-other-workspace docker compose run --rm rv1126b-builder

Keep Container Running (for Development)

# Start in background
docker compose up -d

# Attach to running container
docker exec -it rv1126b-build-env bash

# When done
docker compose down

Tmux Session Management

# Create new session
tmux new -s build

# Detach from session (build continues)
Ctrl+B, then d

# List sessions
tmux ls

# Reattach to session
tmux attach -t build

# Scroll mode (view build log history)
Ctrl+B, then [
# Use arrow keys, Page Up/Down, or mouse wheel
# Press q to exit scroll mode

# Kill session
tmux kill-session -t build

Unpacking Rockchip Firmware

Use afptool-rs (available inside the container) to inspect and unpack complete Rockchip firmware images (e.g. update.img from Fanconn). The process is two steps — an outer RKFW container wraps an inner RKAF image.

Note: The RV1126B chip uses code 0x46. Older afptool binaries report this as "unknown chip" and refuse to extract. afptool-rs v1.2.0 handles it correctly.

Step 1 — Unpack the outer RKFW container

afptool-rs unpack update.img ./unpacked/
# Produces: BOOT (bootloader blob), embedded-update.img (~3.8GB inner RKAF image)

Step 2 — Unpack the inner RKAF image to partition files

afptool-rs unpack ./unpacked/embedded-update.img ./unpacked/partitions/
# Produces: rootfs.img, boot.img, oem.img, uboot.img, recovery.img, userdata.img, etc.

Inspect a partition

# Mount rootfs read-only to inspect its contents
sudo mount -o ro,loop ./unpacked/partitions/rootfs.img /mnt/rootfs
ls /mnt/rootfs/usr/lib/ | grep -E "rockit|rkmpp|rkaiq"
sudo umount /mnt/rootfs

Directory Structure

# Host machine:
~/RV1126B-P-SDK/               # SDK repository (on host)
└── rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/
    ├── build.sh
    ├── app/
    ├── buildroot/
    ├── kernel-6.1/
    ├── output/               # Build outputs (persists on host)
    └── ...

~/RV1126B-P-Dev-Docker/        # Docker environment (on host)
├── Dockerfile
├── docker-compose.yml
├── .dockerignore
└── README.md

# Inside Docker container:
/workspace/                    # Mounted from ~/RV1126B-P-SDK
└── rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/

/workspace-host/               # Full host workspace mounted into container
├── RV1126B-P-Camera-Pipeline/
├── RV1126B-P-SDK/
├── RV1126B-P-SDK-Docker/
└── ...

Build Logs & Outputs

All build artifacts persist on the host in the mounted SDK directory:

# On host machine (example paths):
~/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/output/log/latest/    # Latest build log
~/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/output/sessions/      # Session logs
~/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/rockdev/             # Firmware images

You can view logs, edit files, and access build outputs directly on your host - no need to copy from container.

Troubleshooting

Permission Errors on Build Artifacts

Output files owned by root after build? This is expected since the container runs as root.

Fix: Change ownership on host:

# Fix output directory permissions
sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) ~/RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/output

# Fix buildroot output if needed
sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) ~/RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/buildroot/output

Why run as root? The container runs as root (user: "0:0") to bypass fakeroot semaphore issues that occur in Docker environments. This is a known limitation where fakeroot's IPC semaphores don't work properly even with privileged mode.

SDK Not Found

Error: SDK should be mounted at /workspace

Fix: Verify SDK path and mount:

# Check SDK exists
ls ~/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0

# Specify correct path
SDK_PATH=~/RV1126B-P-SDK docker compose run --rm rv1126b-builder

Out of Disk Space

Build outputs are large. Clean up on host:

# Remove build artifacts (on host)
cd ~/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0
rm -rf output/ rockdev/

# Clean Docker build cache
docker system prune -a

Slow Build Performance

Increase Docker resources (CPU/RAM) in Docker Desktop settings
Use SSD for SDK directory
Enable buildroot cache (already configured in docker-compose.yml)

Fakeroot Semaphore Errors

Error: fakeroot internal error #43: Identifier removed or semop(2): Invalid argument

Cause: Fakeroot requires IPC semaphores which don't work properly in Docker containers, even with privileged: true.

Solution: Container runs as root (user: "0:0" in docker-compose.yml) to bypass fakeroot entirely. When running as root, buildroot doesn't need fakeroot to simulate permissions.

Impact on firmware: None. The generated firmware is identical whether built with fakeroot or as root. This only affects the build process, not the output.

Trade-off: Output files will be owned by root. After build, run: sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) ~/RV1126B-P/RV1126B-P-SDK/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/output

Network/Download Timeouts

Error: Failed to download host-autoconf-2.71.tar.xz or similar download failures.

Cause: Slow or unreliable download mirrors (e.g., Princeton University mirror timeouts).

Solution 1: Modify buildroot mirror configuration

Edit the buildroot config to use faster mirrors:

# Inside container, edit the config file
vi /workspace/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0/buildroot/output/rockchip_rv1126b/.config

# Find and change these lines (around line 420-428):
BR2_PRIMARY_SITE="https://buildroot.org/downloads/"
BR2_BACKUP_SITE="https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ https://sources.buildroot.net"
BR2_GNU_MIRROR="https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu"

# Save and rebuild
cd /workspace/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0
./build.sh

Note: This file is in buildroot/output/ (generated during build) and changes are temporary. They will be lost if you run make clean in buildroot. For permanent changes, modify the defconfig file: buildroot/configs/rockchip_rv1126bp_evb1_v10_defconfig

Solution 2: Manually download failing packages

# Manually download the failing package
cd buildroot/dl
wget https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/PACKAGE/PACKAGE-VERSION.tar.xz
cd /workspace/rv1126b_linux6.1_sdk_v1.1.0
./build.sh

Environment Details

Base Image: ubuntu:24.04
GCC Version: 13.x (compatible with SDK, avoids GCC 14.2 libffi errors)
Python 2.7: 2.7.18 (built from source)
lz4: v1.9.4
tmux: Latest (persistent terminal sessions)
Container User: root (UID 0) - bypasses fakeroot semaphore issues
Container Mode: Privileged (full host kernel access)
Image Tag: Configurable via IMAGE_TAG env var (default: v1.2.0)
Locale: en_US.UTF-8
Timezone: Asia/Hong_Kong (configurable)
Image Size: ~2GB (build tools only)
SDK Location: Mounted from host (not in image)

License

This Docker environment setup is provided as-is for building the Rockchip RV1126B-P SDK. See the SDK repository for SDK-specific licensing.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 16 Commits
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.gitignore		.gitignore
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
README.md		README.md
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml

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RV1126B-P SDK Docker Build Environment

Change Log

Features

Requirements

Host OS compatibility

Quick Start

Step 0: Get the SDK

Step 1: Clone the Docker Environment

Step 2: Build the Docker Image

Step 3: Run Container with SDK Mounted

Step 4: Build the Firmware (Inside Container)

Step 5: Verify Build Success

Step 6: Fix File Permissions (Optional)

Advanced Usage

Interactive Shell

Run Specific Build Commands

Use Different SDK Path

Use a Different Host Workspace Path

Keep Container Running (for Development)

Tmux Session Management

Unpacking Rockchip Firmware

Step 1 — Unpack the outer RKFW container

Step 2 — Unpack the inner RKAF image to partition files

Inspect a partition

Directory Structure

Build Logs & Outputs

Troubleshooting

Permission Errors on Build Artifacts

SDK Not Found

Out of Disk Space

Slow Build Performance

Fakeroot Semaphore Errors

Network/Download Timeouts

Environment Details

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License

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