Hey everyone, I’m having trouble getting an Arducam IMX519 camera module (SKU: B0518) working on my Radxa ROCK 5B+ board. The camera just isn’t detected at all — no /dev/video device shows up, and dmesg has nothing about it. It’s like the board doesn’t even see it’s connected.
Sorry to hear that. Let’s start with the basics — have you gone through the official quick start guide yet? That usually covers the setup steps for these camera modules on Rockchip boards.
https://docs.arducam.com/ROCK-PI-Camera-Module/Quick-Start-Guide/
Also, can you confirm which CSI port you’re using and share some photos of the physical connection? Sometimes the ribbon cable orientation trips people up.
Yeah, I followed that guide step by step. I’ve got the camera connected to the CSI port on the 5B+, and I enabled the overlay as instructed. Here are some pics of the connection:
Still nothing. No video0, no mention of the sensor in dmesg at all.
Thanks for the photos — the connection looks physically fine to me. The cable orientation seems correct and it’s seated properly.
Since the overlay isn’t doing the trick, could you grab some diagnostic logs for me? Specifically:
- Full dmesg output right after boot
- The contents of your /boot/config.txt or whatever overlay config you’re using
- Output of
ls /dev/video* - Any errors from
v4l2-ctl --list-devicesif you have that installed
Zip those up and attach them here so I can take a closer look.
Here are the logs — I attached them as Logs.txt.
I’ve also tried going a bit further on my own. Since the standard overlay didn’t work, I attempted to create a custom .dtbo file to force detection, but honestly I’m not sure I got the pinmux and i2c addresses right. Still no luck.
Alright, I’ve gone through your logs thoroughly. I can see the overlay is being loaded, but the sensor is never probing on the i2c bus — that’s why dmesg is silent. The board simply isn’t seeing the camera on the expected address.
Unfortunately, here’s where I have to give you some bad news: after checking with the engineering team, the Arducam IMX519 camera module does not currently support the Radxa ROCK 5B+ (Plus) board. It’s compatible with the ROCK 5A and the standard ROCK 5B, but the 5B+ has hardware differences that mean the existing overlays and driver configuration won’t work.
There’s no workaround or compatible overlay available right now.
This is really frustrating. Before I bought this camera, I specifically reached out to your support team to confirm compatibility with the 5B+. I was told — and I have the email — that “in theory, it should work” even though it hadn’t been tested yet. I made the purchase based on that assurance.
Now I’ve got a camera that doesn’t work and the official answer is basically “sorry, not supported.” Is there any path forward here? A firmware update? A beta overlay? Something?
I completely understand your frustration, and I apologize for the conflicting information you received pre-purchase. The “in theory, it should work” response was clearly premature given that the 5B+ hadn’t been validated at that point, and that’s on us.
Regarding a path forward: as of right now, the engineering team has not developed an overlay or driver configuration for the ROCK 5B+. The hardware differences between the 5B and 5B+ (particularly around the CSI interface and pin assignments) mean this isn’t a simple fix — it requires dedicated development and testing.
I don’t have an ETA for 5B+ support, and I don’t want to give you another “in theory” answer that leaves you stuck. I’d recommend reaching out through the official support channel directly (not the forum) to discuss your specific situation regarding the purchase and the pre-sale communication you received. I’ll also flag this thread internally so the product team is aware of the demand for 5B+ support.