AndrewDB

Hmmm, are you sure the project has not been abandoned? I see the last commit was 5 months ago, an eternity as far as chromium development is concerned. Note that this is absolutely not a criticism of the iridium project and developers, it's just the fact that Google has a gadzillion man*hours*$ to throw at Chromium development... https://git.iridiumbrowser.de/cgit.cgi/iridium-browser/

Hi Tido. I am not using Travis, and I am not sure it's really needed for a relatively small Python project such as Armbian-NG.

@Zumbara98 Try to update your Android firmware to a newer version from the vendor website.

Just a quick update on my progress, as of April 2 2019: I just pushed version 0.04 to GitHub. 230 lines of code and 70 lines of documentation have been committed in the last 10 days. The Python code is divided in two files: build.py which is really the main program, and ngsupportfunc.py which contains all the support functions as well as more complex functions broken down from the image build process. Armbian-NG already actually does something now: it git clones a selectable branch of armbian-build. I now have a clearer idea of how to write what Armbian-NG is supposed to do in Python, what libraries to use, etc. Yes, Armbian-NG will support optionally using distcc to compile the Linux kernel over a build farm. I know exactly how to program that, and it's actually quite simple. See this HOWTO for details: http://wiki.loverpi.com/specs:sbc:distcc-kernel-compile I have begun thinking about how to use the Python logging library https://docs.python.org/3/library/logging.html to implement proper logging in Armbian-NG. Steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 above are relatively simple to implement. Still thinking about how to implement Alpine Linux image build support. I have just added some documentation about armbian / Armbian-NG configuration files.

In Chromium (if you absolutely insist on using it instead of Firefox), check in advanced options if hardware acceleration support is enabled or not. If it is enabled, disable it. Also check your memory/swap usage while loading the Armbian Forum in Chromium. Finally, if your system locks up due to a kernel oops, the information is still available in dmesg, you may want to check that in a terminal, try: tail -f /var/log/{messages,kernel,dmesg,syslog}

Read the instructions in the first post of this thread, or here: https://github.com/150balbes/Amlogic_s905/wiki/s905_multi_boot

Hi Staars, First, I commend you for your porting effort. And here is a quick tip for kernel development, in case you have not done it yet: check the MAINTAINERS file in the kernel source for the list of people who are maintaining the arm64 Realtek code, and correspond directly with the kernel developers. Next, be methodical about your development work. Just like the Linux kernel required the work of thousands of talented programmers, your development effort will require the cooperation of more persons, you can't do everything alone. Make a list of objectives and tackle them one by one, with all the help you can get from every single source you can try, including the good programmers at Realtek. So again: great work! Carry on!

Just wanted to announce that Armbian-NG (https://github.com/AndrewBCN/Armbian-NG/) has been chosen as the OS to power the new CNX Election Meddling System (https://www.cnx-software.com/2019/04/01/introducing-cnx-election-meddling-system/). Why? Because Python. Have a nice day and don't forget to vote!

Hi there 1. there is the option of restoring from a previous backup. 2. no 3. assume nothing. that's why you should backup first.

Hi Tido, The initial development plan is: Step 1 - Reproduce exactly the functionality of the Armbian build script (minus support for 32-bit SoC's). Step 2 - Add distcc support (relatively easy). Step 3 - Add support for Debian 9.6, 9.7, 9.8 and Ubuntu 18.10 and 19.04 build hosts (also relatively easy). Step 4 - Add Ubuntu 19.04 build target for S9XXX tv boxes (because that's what I have). An Ubuntu core build target should be relatively easy to add based on that. Step 5 - Add Alpine Linux build target for S9XXX tv boxes. These are very small images, check the Alpine Linux website for details. Support for other host distributions and build targets will depend on other people's contributions to Armbian-NG. Armbian-NG can potentially support any Linux distribution that is built and has public repositories for Aarch64: Fedora, openSUSE, Arch, Gentoo, etc

Check here: http://linux-sunxi.org/Wifi#Realtek

It's a Realtek WiFi module, but your photo is not clear enough. In any case, check the chip number, load the driver and make sure you have the right firmware installed. It should work.

As usual, read the code. Check where armbianmonitor is reading the CPU temperature from. On my TV box below, I checked /etc/armbianmonitor/datasources, there is a link to the kernel sensor reading in /sys andrew@m9cmax4k:~/Benchmarking/Linpack/hpl-2.1/bin/Aarch64$ uname -a Linux m9cmax4k 4.19.7-aml-s9xxx #5.67 SMP PREEMPT Fri Dec 28 10:16:25 MSK 2018 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux andrew@m9cmax4k:~/Benchmarking/Linpack/hpl-2.1/bin/Aarch64$ uptime 09:29:21 up 46 days, 10:07, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00 andrew@m9cmax4k:~/Benchmarking/Linpack/hpl-2.1/bin/Aarch64$ armbianmonitor -m Running unprivileged. CPU frequency will not be displayed. Stop monitoring using [ctrl]-[c] Time CPU load %cpu %sys %usr %nice %io %irq CPU 09:31:34: --- 0.05 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 45.0°C 09:31:39: --- 0.05 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 45.0°C 09:31:44: --- 0.04 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 45.0°C 09:31:49: --- 0.04 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 45.0°C 09:31:54: --- 0.12 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 45.0°C

In my experience 5.x on Amlogic S9XXX has a few regressions compared to 4.XX, I have posted about one of them in the Linux Amlogic mailing list. I suggest you stick to either 4.19 since it's an LTS (Long Term Support) kernel, or the last 4.XX stable (4.20.17). 3.14.29 is terribly outdated and has various unpatched security issues so it's NOT recommended. I am personally using kernel 4.19 or 4.20 on all my Amlogic TV boxes, after trying 5.XX on them and experiencing a number of problems. You don't have to rebuild Armbian if you want to use any of Oleg's releases with an older kernel, just keep a copy of a reliable 4.19 or 4.20 kernel around and copy it over any new Armbian image. Or compile your own 4.XX kernel, I have posted about how to do it previously here in this forum. We can all be grateful that Oleg is keeping his S9XXX kernel repository in great shape so it's an excellent source if you want to compile your own Linux kernel. andrew@m9cmax4k:~/Benchmarking/Linpack/hpl-2.1/bin/Aarch64$ uname -a Linux m9cmax4k 4.19.7-aml-s9xxx #5.67 SMP PREEMPT Fri Dec 28 10:16:25 MSK 2018 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux andrew@m9cmax4k:~/Benchmarking/Linpack/hpl-2.1/bin/Aarch64$ uptime 09:29:21 up 46 days, 10:07, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00 andrew@m9cmax4k:~/Benchmarking/Linpack/hpl-2.1/bin/Aarch64$

I'll keep posting the progress here. Yes there are many ways to save a lot of time from one image generation to the next, by reusing files that are already downloaded or compiled. I am also thinking about using a directory structure and configuration files identical to those of Armbian, so that people who are familiar with building Armbian images would be able to just switch over to Armbian-NG quite easily. I also am having quite a bit of fun programming in Python again, after almost a decade of not writing a single line of Python.

Indeed Armbian-NG will only run on Aarch64 (64-bit ARM) (it says so in the README). I just wrote the code that checks for that: import os ... # Check the underlying architecture, must be Aarch64 arch = os.uname() print(arch) if not arch.machine == "aarch64": print('Armbian-NG must be built on ARM 64-bit machine (Aarch64)')

Using distcc is a good way to save time during Linux kernel compilations, in my experience, and it's quite simple to setup on a bunch of SBC's or TV boxes. Besides saving time, it also saves energy: my build farm has a total power consumption of around 25W, vs around 65W for the Intel processor in my laptop.

Thanks NicoD!

I have been compiling the Linux kernel natively on some Amlogic TV boxes I have running Armbian. I can compile the Linux kernel in 44 minutes on an S912 box. Using distcc the time goes down to around 15 minutes. The distcc build farm is basically made up of Amlogic TV boxes connected with a 100mbps switch. I have posted a HOWTO about distcc on aarch64 here: http://wiki.loverpi.com/specs:sbc:distcc-kernel-compile It takes around two hours to build an image using Armbian on my Thinkpad-T420 with a relatively fast Internet connection, start-to-finish. I expect Armbian-NG will take less than an hour to build an image using distcc on my low-cost build farm.

Sorry, but before I start typing I like to think for a long time about the general skeleton of the program and the data structures I am going to use. The Python code is WIP, as I am still deciding on the Python libraries I am going to use. I'll push something to the repository tonight, but I don't expect to have any functionality before a week or so, and I am guessing it will take around a month before Armbian-NG can generate an image that can be booted.

I would like to announce that I am getting started on an armbian-derived project, Armbian-NG. This is not a fork of Armbian, nor a rewrite, it's a derived project that piggyback's on the excellent work by Igor and the entire armbian development team. I think of Armbian-NG as armbian's little clumsy brother, who is just learning to walk but has great potential. In as few words as possible, Armbian-NG will be a Python (set of) script(s) that runs natively on Aarch64 (64-bit ARM) hardware (running Ubuntu 18.04 or later) to build Armbian images. More details can be found here: https://github.com/AndrewBCN/Armbian-NG As with armbian, anybody is welcome to contribute with code and ideas to Armbian-NG. And since no project is worth its storage space without a logo, Armbian-NG already has one.

I believe mainline 5.0.0 kernel is not as functional on Rockchip SoC's as it is, for example, on Amlogic S9XXX SoC's. You'll have to check with the maintainers or on the correct mailing list (not on the LKML itself, of course). So indeed you can expect some problems. Also check the kernel compilation configuration file, you may have missed something there.

You have to install your newly compiled mainline kernel. Instructions to do so for S9XXX SoC's can be found here: http://wiki.loverpi.com/faq:sbc:libre-aml-s805x-install-newly-compiled-kernel You'll have to change a few things for your Rockchip SBC but the basic steps are identical: put the kernel, modules, dtb and ramdisk in the right place and point u-boot to your new kernel, ramdisk and correct dtb.

Actually, you can natively build an Aarch64 Rockchip kernel very easily. Instructions to do so can be found here: http://wiki.loverpi.com/faq:sbc:libre-aml-s805x-howto-native-compile-kernel You'll have to modify a couple of steps slightly if you are building for Rockchip SoC's but basically it's a 10 minutes process to get started on compilation, and depending on your hardware your kernel will compile in 15 to 45 minutes. Another 5 minutes to spend on installing and voilà! You can run your own self-compiled mainline Linux kernel on your SBC, if it manages to boot properly but note that this is not guaranteed on Rockchip SoC's.

Building chromium/iridium requires that you install a couple of specific packages from Google, including the gclient tool which is not part of Ubuntu. Basically you have to install all the tools and dependencies to build chromium, in order to build iridium. You should really start here: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/docs/linux_build_instructions.md Build chromium first, then you should be set to build iridium. And I agree that it's not an easy task. Edit: it seems the Gentoo people have been giving a go at compiling chromium natively on aarch64, see https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-8193970.html