Operating Systems for Smart Pi One

The Smart Pi One and Smart Pad run a full 32-bit ARM Linux (Allwinner H3 / armv7l). YUMI-LAB builds and publishes every image on this page: five Armbian-based Debian and Ubuntu releases in server and desktop editions, plus a minimal DietPi variant for boards where the 1 GB of RAM is the limiting factor.

All of them share the same hardware stack — our overclocked kernel, our U-Boot, our device tree — so you can move from one to another without changing anything about the board.

1. Available images

Debian 14 Forky is the next Debian stable. An image for these boards is in preparation and will appear here when it is ready.

2. At a glance

Image	Base	Editions	RAM at idle	Best for
Debian 13 Trixie	Armbian	Server + Desktop	~200 MB (server)	New installations — current stable
Debian 12 Bookworm	Armbian	Server + Desktop	~200 MB (server)	Proven stability, wide package coverage
Ubuntu 24.04 Noble	Armbian	Server + Desktop	~200 MB (server)	Ubuntu users, abundant documentation
Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy	Armbian	Server (+ Desktop up to v1.7.0)	~200 MB (server)	Existing 22.04 deployments
Debian 11 Bullseye	Armbian	Server	~200 MB	Legacy setups only — end of life
DietPi	Debian 13 trixie server	Server (headless)	~87 MB	Squeezing the most out of 1 GB of RAM

3. What every YUMI image includes

These are ours, not stock Armbian or stock DietPi. Whichever you pick, you get:

Feature	Detail
CPU overclock	1368 MHz instead of the stock 1296 MHz
Custom U-Boot	DRAM at 576 MHz with ZQ calibration and ODT
Device tree	YUMi SmartPi One — cat /proc/device-tree/model
Smart Pad screen rotation	The 4.3" 800x480 touchscreen is detected at boot and the display rotated 180° only then; an HDMI monitor is left alone
SSH over USB	The OTG port powers the board and carries the network — see below
Boot logo	The Yumi logo is embedded in U-Boot and drawn the moment the video output starts
Kernel packages held	apt-mark hold on every linux-* package, so no upgrade can replace the custom kernel with a generic one

One image for both boards

The Smart Pad is a Smart Pi One fitted with the 4.3" touchscreen, mounted upside-down. Since the rotation is decided at runtime, a single image serves both products.

4. SSH over USB (OTG port)

A single USB cable between the board's OTG port and your computer powers the Smart Pi One and gives it a network link. No Ethernet, no WiFi, no screen.

The board answers at 172.22.1.1. Set your computer's new USB network interface to 172.22.1.2 / 255.255.255.0, then:

ssh root@172.22.1.1

The gadget uses CDC NCM, recognised natively by macOS, Linux and Windows — no driver to install.

Unplugging the cable cuts the power

The cable is the power supply as well as the network link. And a computer's USB port may not deliver enough current for a sustained workload at 1368 MHz — use a dedicated 5 V / 2 A supply for that.

5. Which one should I choose?

• Debian 13 Trixie — the default choice for a new board. Current Debian stable, server or desktop.
• Debian 12 Bookworm — when you want the most conservative, most widely tested option.
• Ubuntu 24.04 Noble — if you already work with Ubuntu and want its documentation and PPAs.
• DietPi — when RAM is what you are short of. About 87 MB at idle instead of roughly 200 MB, with a menu-driven software catalog. Headless only, and currently a release candidate.
• Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy / Debian 11 Bullseye — only to match an existing deployment. Bullseye is end of life.

6. Purpose-built images

Beyond the general-purpose systems above, YUMI-LAB also ships images built around a single application:

• YumiOS — Klipper — 3D printer control, the system running on the Klipper Smart Pad
• RetroMi — retro gaming, an optimised RetroPie for the H3

7. Next step

Once you have picked an image, write it to a microSD card (4 to 32 GB). The simplest route is Raspberry Pi Imager pointed at our image list — it downloads, verifies and writes in one step:

Install with Raspberry Pi Imager Download the images Flash guide — balenaEtcher

Then verify the board is running the YUMI build: