Booting from USB and turning on

This is my first project like this and I don’t have access to a microSD card, is it possible to get an ISO using a USB with the image on it? also I don’t know how to turn it on, I have a power supply plugged in and theres a red and blue light on but I don’t know what that means.
Thanks for the help!

is it possible to get an ISO using a USB with the image on it?

Depends on the board. For AML-S905X-CC, no, you need MicroSD card or eMMC. Only AML-S805X-AC and ROC-RK3399-PC are capable of booting without MicroSD card or eMMC this at the moment.

I don’t know how to turn it on, I have a power supply plugged in and theres a red and blue light on but I don’t know what that means.

No software was flashed. Have to go to downloads, download an image, and flash a MicroSD card.

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I got a micro SD card and plugged it in, does it have to be exclusively the ISO file or can there be other content on it? also what do I do after I plug in the microSD card

You have the wipe the content of the MicroSD card. See our guide:

Thanks for this. Thought I would just like to share my experience in the hope that it might help others. I did this with an AML-S905X-CC (V1)
I used a MicroSD. I found that this procedure worked when the partition on the MicroSD was MBR.
Mine worked when the MicroSD was completely blank. By that I mean that there was an MBR partition but it had not been formatted.
Flash the blank MicroSD using the tool. Make sure you specify the right board in the flash command.
You boot from the MicroSD card prepared by the tool and it then picks up the OS on your USB (in my case a mSata SSD in USB enclosure).
If you want to migrate an installation you already have on a MicroSD, back it up with Win32DiskImager and restore to your USB.

Tip: If you are using an AML-S905X-CC the version is printed on the top of the board itself.

It’s certainty much much snappier than using the MicroSD as the OS host, even over USB2.