clockworkpi uConsole: OS images and firmware for the dev terminal

A download table, not a codebase

This repository is best understood as a distribution point rather than a source project. It offers downloads for the latest images of various uConsole models, along with kernel patches, firmware for the keyboard and the 4G expansion module, hardware schematics, assembly instructions and technical documents. The primary language is Shell and the licence is not stated in the repository metadata, which is worth noting for anyone who intends to redistribute the images or the documentation. The top level shows the shape of it: a `Bin/` directory for the flasher, `Code/`, `PCB/`, `Pictures/`, a `wiki/` directory, PDF schematics for the A06 core mainboard, the R01 core mainboard, the mainboard at v3.14 and the v3.14-V5 variant, the CM4 adapter, the 4G expansion, a keyboard drawing, the assembly guidelines, an AT command manual for the SIM7500 and SIM7600 modems, and two display datasheets. There are no GitHub releases, so the images are the release mechanism.

Four images, four kernels, and a year of drift between them

The image table lists the images per model, and the kernel versions differ more than you might expect. The CM4 has a current 64-bit image on Linux 6.12.62, `uConsole_CM4_v3.1_64bit.img.bz2`, released April 14 2026 and 2.1G in size, alongside an older `uConsole_CM4_v0.1b_xfce_64bit.img.7z` from Apr 5 2023 running Linux 5.10.17 at 1.2G. The A06 image `uConsole_A06_v1.1e.img.7z` is from Jul 1 2023 on Linux 5.15.119 at 1.4G, and the R01 image `uConsole_R01_v1.3b.img.7z` is from Jun 13 2023 on Linux 5.4.61 at 1.4G. So the newest board has the freshest kernel by three years while the older boards are effectively frozen on their launch-era images. Each row also carries an MD5sum, and each download has a primary link on dl.clockworkpi.com and a Google Drive mirror, plus a community-driven mirror at dl.clockworkpi.io.

The older CM4 image is the one built for writing

The 2023 CM4 image is called out separately because it serves a different purpose. It is based on RPI-lite, the 2023-05-03 raspios-bullseye-armhf-lite image, with xfce added, and the documentation describes it as optimized for immersive writing with Obsidian pre-installed. That is a specific product decision rather than a general-purpose image, and it is worth understanding which of the two CM4 images you actually want. The newer v3.1 image has the current kernel, while the xfce variant is the one tuned for a writing device with a desktop environment rather than a minimal system. The image names also encode the packaging, with `.img.bz2` for the current CM4 image and `.img.7z` for the others, and that difference has a practical consequence for extraction.

Extraction and flashing, and the macOS 7z constraint

After downloading, the files need to extract or decompress, and the documentation flags one requirement: macOS 11.6 or a higher version is required to extract 7z files. That matters for the three `.img.7z` images, since the current CM4 image uses bz2. For flashing, the documentation names two tools by platform. Windows and macOS users can use Etcher, and Linux users employ the `dd` command. The wiki covers how to create an image, and a separate wiki page has tips for using the 4G extension, with another page covering the 4G extension firmware upgrade. That separation between the OS image and the 4G firmware is worth noting, because the modem extension has its own update path that the image does not handle for you.

Flashing the keyboard firmware over DFU

The keyboard has its own firmware and its own flasher, and the procedure is documented step by step. The archive is downloaded, unpacked, the DFU tool installed and the flash script run with root privileges:

tar zxvf uconsole_keyboard_flash.tar.gz
sudo apt install -y dfu-util
cd uconsole_keyboard_flash
sudo ./flash.sh

The tool works on a uConsole, whether A06 or CM4, and also on a PC running Ubuntu 22.04, which is the practical way to flash a spare keyboard before assembly. The documentation closes with two reassurances: a progress bar appears if everything goes well, and if the keyboard loses control, which it describes as unlikely, a reboot of the uConsole resolves it, and the flash program will not brick the keyboard. The `Bin/` directory in the repository holds the flasher payload.

Gearbox trades A06 cores against battery life

The A06 is a big.LITTLE chip with four Cortex-A53 cores and two Cortex-A72 cores, and the Gearbox tool exists to let you choose which cores run and how fast. It is installed with `sudo apt update` and `sudo apt install -y devterm-gearbox-a06`, and the current state is read with `a06-gearbox`, which prints a table of the six CPU cores with their clocks alongside the Mali-T860 GPU clock and the active governor for CPU and GPU. The default in the latest A06 image uses four LITTLE cores at 816Mhz with the GPU at 400Mhz. Setting a gear is `sudo a06-gearbox -s [GEAR]`, and there are six gears, described in the documentation as 1 for simple writing tasks with long battery life, 2 for browsing most websites with long battery life, 3 for most 2D games and emulators, 4 for playing videos and 3D games, 5 for performance-first tasks, and 6 for max performance with max power usage. The point of the tool is that gear 6 is not a free upgrade, since the clock table makes the power cost visible.

Hardware documentation you can actually build from

The repository doubles as the hardware reference. The assembly guidelines PDF is the document for putting the device together, and the schematics are published as PDFs per board revision rather than as a single file, which is what makes it possible to trace a specific revision: the A06 core mainboard v3.14, the R01 core mainboard v3.14, the mainboard v3.14, the mainboard v3.14-V5, the CM4 adapter and the 4G expansion. The `PCB/` and `Pictures/` directories hold board artwork and photographs, and the 4G drawing PDF accompanies the 4G schematic. The two display documents, the JD9365DA-H3 datasheet and a preliminary user guide, cover the panel, and the SIM7500 and SIM7600 AT command manual is the reference for the cellular module. The community is pointed at the GitHub wiki and the ClockworkPi forum.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt this repository if you are assembling a uConsole from the ClockworkPi boards and want the matched OS image, the keyboard flasher and the schematics in one place. Skip it if you only need a general Raspberry Pi Linux image, because these builds are tied to the uConsole hardware and the keyboard. Before flashing, verify the MD5sum in the image table against your download, remember the 7z images need macOS 11.6 or newer to extract, and note that the 4G extension is a separate upgrade path documented on the wiki rather than something the image installs for you.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. clockworkpi/uConsole on GitHub
2. Issues
3. README