Oh damn, wish I would have read this before I tried to install (26.2 with vendor kernel build on the 9th) from SD to Nvme... How can I reflash MTD if I only have a MacBook available?

This week’s Armbian development saw a wide range of improvements and fixes across the project’s build framework, kernel support, and device compatibility. Notable changes include the transition from POSIX to Bash syntax for enhanced script reliability, expanded support for new hardware such as the Norco-EMB-3531 board, and the addition of Vulkan and improved 3D package descriptions. Several device-specific updates were made, including kernel enhancements for sm8250, mainline support for SpacemiT, and fixes for wireless and HDMI functionality on various boards. The team also introduced new features like a cache manager modal in the imager and improved marking for container-based software. Multiple bug fixes addressed issues with OS image duplication, patch timestamps, and device quirks. Security was bolstered with hardened GitHub Actions, ensuring a more robust development pipeline. Changes(#9400 P1a) Replace POSIX [ ] with bash [[ ]] across build framework. by @iav in armbian/build#9462Add manual execution and daily cron schedule for MOTD generation. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#249Add norco-emb-3531 board and norco vendor image. by @retro98boy in armbian/armbian.github.io#244add Vulkan support and expand 3D package descriptions. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9494Added config improvements and fixes to ayn odin2. by @Squishy123 in armbian/build#9316bump 7.0 to rc2. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9475dwc2: explicitly force host mode for USB_DR_MODE_HOST. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9486feat: add cache manager modal with per-image management. by @SuperKali in armbian/imager#109feat: mark container-based software in menu and docs. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/configng#761fix(gitignore): ignore pycache at all depths (#7863). by @iav in armbian/build#9490fix(images): adapt module to new armbian-images.json structure. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/configng#756fix(manage_zsh): abort shell change if zsh package install fails. by @ajorpheus in armbian/configng#759fix: resolve OS image list duplication when switching filters. by @SuperKali in armbian/imager#110Fix: SakuraPi RK3308B WLAN broken. by @TheSnowfield in armbian/build#9478i915: fix Dell XPS 13 7390 device ID in quirk patches. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9485Improve sm8250 6.19 edge kernel. by @retro98boy in armbian/build#9434meson64: bump edge to 7.0-rc1. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9459meson: freeze current kernel at 6.12.28 and fix HDMI PHY frequency limit. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9465nanopi-zero2: enable mainline kernel support and PCIe for M.2 WiFi. by @rubycomm in armbian/build#9453OrangePi 3B: Add device tree overlays for OrangePi 3B with I2C, PWM, SPI support. by @kskshaf in armbian/build#9460OrangePi-RV2: Fix wireless access point mode by using the correct FW. by @sven-ola in armbian/build#9504orangepi5: rewrite uboot patches against v2026.04-rc3. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9457patching: fix #9028 timestamp when multiple patches touch same file. by @iav in armbian/build#9489pkg_install/pkg_remove: properly propagate apt-get exit codes. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/configng#760Removed un-needed patch for SM8550-6.18; patch has already been updat…. by @Squishy123 in armbian/build#9487rk3568: add 51.2MHz PLL rate for HDMI. by @skorobkov in armbian/build#9477rock-5b-plus: add current kernel to build targets. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9464rock-5t: add current kernel to build targets. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9463Rockchip64 fix patches due to upstream changes in 6.19.6 and 6.18.16. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9483rockchip: Disable specific patches in 6.19 series. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9493rockchip: Enable Wireguard/TUN module in vendor kernel. by @vidplace7 in armbian/build#9492Spacemit legacy loadpatch. by @sven-ola in armbian/build#9496SpacemiT: Add linux-7.0.y "mainline" support. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9458spacemit: remove old and unused patch set. by @sven-ola in armbian/build#9497unset QEMU_CPU for aml_image_packer. by @QwaSeeK in armbian/build#9417Update odroidxu4-current to 6.6.128. by @belegdol in armbian/build#9491[StepSecurity] ci: Harden GitHub Actions. by @step-security-bot in armbian/build#9356View the full article

Hi all, I kinda set myself in a corner: Last year in October I installed the UEFI image in SPI on my OrangePi5 Plus, then I installed the uefi armbian image on the Nvme ssd. I did all of that after a system failure during my 3 month absence from where I've got that OPi5 setup. As I couldn't get it back to work I went and tried with the Uefi Image... But it seems that this was a major mistake: I could never get my frigate container back to running as there's no NPU's detected! Just now I took the leap of faith and reinstalled uboot into the SPI and flashed a freshly loaded "Armbian_25.11.1_Orangepi5-plus_trixie_current_6.12.58_minimal.img.xz"... And still there's no NPU: I can't see a thing about a NPU: mircsicz@orangepi5-plus:~$ sudo dmesg|grep rocket mircsicz@orangepi5-plus:~$ sudo dmesg|grep NPU mircsicz@orangepi5-plus:~$ sudo dmesg|grep GPU mircsicz@orangepi5-plus:~$ sudo dmesg|grep gpu [ 6.133753] panthor fb000000.gpu: [drm] clock rate = 198000000 [ 6.136216] panthor fb000000.gpu: [drm] Mali-G610 id 0xa867 major 0x0 minor 0x0 status 0x5 [ 6.136222] panthor fb000000.gpu: [drm] Features: L2:0x7120306 Tiler:0x809 Mem:0x301 MMU:0x2830 AS:0xff [ 6.136226] panthor fb000000.gpu: [drm] shader_present=0x50005 l2_present=0x1 tiler_present=0x1 [ 6.160653] panthor fb000000.gpu: [drm] Firmware protected mode entry not be supported, ignoring [ 6.160711] panthor fb000000.gpu: [drm] Firmware git sha: 814b47b551159067b67a37c4e9adda458ad9d852 [ 6.160868] panthor fb000000.gpu: [drm] CSF FW using interface v1.1.0, Features 0x0 Instrumentation features 0x71 [ 6.161137] [drm] Initialized panthor 1.5.0 for fb000000.gpu on minor 1 mircsicz@orangepi5-plus:~$ uname -a Linux orangepi5-plus 6.18.0-rc6-edge-rockchip64 #1 SMP PREEMPT Sun Nov 16 22:25:38 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux Nor with the npu-probe.sh script: # Auto-generated NPU detection record # Generated at: Mon Mar 9 07:32:45 PM EST 2026 [platform] comatible="xunlong,orangepi-5-plus,rockchip,rk3588," model="Xunlong Orange Pi 5 Plus," family="unknown" soc_id="unknown" arch="aarch64" kernel="6.18.0-rc6-edge-rockchip64" [modules] rknpu="" rocket="" [devices] no_detected_npu=1 devices_not_support=[ "/dev/dri/renderD128", # Driver: panthor ] [libraries] no_delegate=1 vendor_libs=[] So I came here hoping one of you guys will be able to gi'me a hint... After flashing a recent dev build of v26.2 with vendor Kernel to another SD I finally can see the NPU again: # Auto-generated NPU detection record # Generated at: Mon Mar 9 08:20:56 PM EST 2026 [platform] comatible="rockchip,rk3588-orangepi-5-plus,rockchip,rk3588," model="Orange Pi 5 Plus," family="unknown" soc_id="unknown" arch="aarch64" kernel="6.1.115-vendor-rk35xx" [modules] rknpu="/sys/module/rknpu" rocket="" [devices] npu_device="/dev/dri/renderD129" # Driver: RKNPU devices_not_support=[ "/dev/dri/renderD128", # Driver: rockchip-drm ] [libraries] no_delegate=1 vendor_libs=[] Also added my entry to the Github mentioned above 😉 So now I need to ask @usual user what specific kernel are you running? It seems to me that with the kernels available on the repo's only 6.1.115 allows me to use the NPU...

Update — Working fix available I've got eMMC detection working on my Radxa Zero 3W with Armbian Trixie (vendor kernel 6.1.115, SD card boot). The fix uses a device tree overlay to inject the missing voltage regulators, pinctrl references, and eMMC capabilities into the base DTB, combined with a small systemd service that rebinds the SDHCI driver to work around a deferred probe timing issue. After applying, the eMMC is detected as expected: mmc0: new HS200 MMC card at address 0001 mmcblk0: mmc0:0001 8GTF4R 7.28 GiB armbian-install works normally after that to migrate to eMMC boot. The rebind service is conditionally skipped when booting from eMMC so it doesn't interfere. I've attached a zip with all the files. The README.md inside has the full details — root cause analysis, what was tried and failed (including full DTB recompile), how the fix works, installation/verification/revert steps, and known limitations (the pinctrl phandle values are specific to this kernel build). I still working on a version that does not need the rebind service for sd cards. but for now you need the rebind on the sd card to get it to find the EMMC so you can install. emmc-fix.zip

Update — eMMC now detected (workaround found) After significant debugging, I have identified and worked around the issue. Here's what I found: What the shipped DTB is missing for the eMMC controller (/mmc@fe310000): vmmc-supply / vqmmc-supply — voltage regulator references pinctrl-0 / pinctrl-names — pin muxing for the 8-bit eMMC data bus, clock, command, and data strobe lines cap-mmc-highspeed, mmc-hs200-1_8v, no-sd, no-sdio — eMMC capability flags Interestingly, the PMU IO domains (syscon@fdc20000/io-domains) are already correctly configured with vccio2 = 1.8V, and the pinctrl groups (emmc-bus8, emmc-clk, emmc-cmd, emmc-datastrobe) exist under /pinctrl/emmc/. The board-level wiring is all there in the DTB — it's just not connected to the eMMC controller node. Root cause: The Armbian Trixie vendor kernel (6.1.115) ships only rk3566-radxa-zero3.dtb (generic Zero 3), not the 3W-specific rk3566-radxa-zero-3w.dtb that the upstream Linux kernel has. The upstream DTS includes all of the above for the 3W model. Additional finding — deferred probe timing issue: Even after patching all missing properties via a device tree overlay, the eMMC still doesn't appear on first boot. The SDHCI driver (sdhci-dwcmshc) probes before the overlay's regulators are registered, receives dummy regulators instead of deferring, and initializes the controller without real power. A manual unbind/rebind of the driver after boot causes immediate detection: mmc0: new HS200 MMC card at address 0001 mmcblk0: mmc0:0001 8GTF4R 7.28 GiB I have a working fix (overlay + early-boot driver rebind) that I testing before publishing. The proper long-term solution would be for Armbian to ship the rk3566-radxa-zero-3w.dtb from the upstream kernel, or merge its board-level eMMC configuration into the existing rk3566-radxa-zero3.dtb.