Since I originally wrote this post Ive re-written bits and included quick videos to guide you through the steps (My original post is still below).
As Im writing other posts on other topics related to Armbian, but not relevant to install/setup, Im keeping them all on my new site, so all my updates will be on there. Id welcome any feedback (drop me a comment on here or on https://www.OnDROID.net). Also, if anyone has any specific topics they want me to take a look at, let me know.
As always, thanks to balbes150 for his work getting Armbian on ARM boxes.
Index of Articles https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os/
Youtube playlist for the videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjEdM2nEElw&list=PLNYK1P0CVRKsCqkQsMHEJeL1aWRbPYINk (The videos are quite quick, but are designed to go with the articles below)
Requirements https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-requirements/
- Hardware you need
- Software/Downloads
Installation https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-installation/
- Steps to image your SD Card/USB stick from a Windows PC
- First boot setup
- Updating the system, changing hostname and RDP setup
- Includes 2 x videos showing the whole process and the extra optional steps
Troubleshooting Amlogic Boot https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-troubleshootingboot/
- What to do if your system wont even boot at all
- Includes 1 x video showing the whole process
uEnv.ini and extlinux.conf configuration https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-uenv-ini-and-extlinux-conf/
- Editing the files and picking the right DTB.
- What do these 2 files do and why cant I boot off emmc internal ram?
- What should the files look like?
Installing to emmc https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-installing-to-emmc/
- Performing the install
- What files/folder and other issues can cause problems with booting off emmc
Bricked device recovery https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-bricked-device-recovery/
- How to figure whats happened when your device no longer boots
- How to recover your device back to factory/working condition
Using Clonezilla to make a compressed backup of your TF card/USB stick - https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-backing-up-an-sd-card-usb-stick/
- How to create a bootable Clonezilla USB
- How to make a small file sized backup using Clonezilla
- How to restore using Clonezilla
- Includes 1 x video showing the whole process
Making a Backup of your emmc via the GUI https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-backing-up-emmc-nand-via-gui/
- What you will need
- All the commands/screens to perform this
- Includes 1 x video showing the whole process
Making a Backup of your emmc via Command line https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-backing-up-emmc-nand-via-cli/
- What you will need
- All the commands/screens to perform this
- Includes 1 x video showing the whole process
Remote access/administration SSH, RDP and Webmin https://www.ondroid.net/armbian-os-remote-management-access/
- Not Armbian specific, however very handy for those who want simple remote access or administration of their systems.
- SSH - Setup/Use (Remote control via a command line)
- RDP - Setup/Use (Remote control direct to the desktop of Armbian)
- Webmin Setup/Use (Webpage based administration, setup, configuration, diagnostics, terminal access, backups, settings for just about everything etc etc etc)
Ive not yet written anything on fully troubleshooting a linux/armbian system that was working but now fails to boot (TS card damaged/power cut or something like that happened), though these things do happen from time to time. If you are performing a lot of configuration, it took you a long time to setup your system or you want to make a major change to your system, I highly recommend taking a look at the backup videos/instructions Ive done.
OnDROID is a new thing for me... and Armbian OS install is my first topic/guide on there, so if anyone wants to give me feedback or support you're welcome to drop me a message on here or OnDROID.
Its based on setting up the Armbian that balbes150 created (Thanks @balbes150) and all the things I picked up/learned along the way/had to hunt around the forums to try understand.
I use Amlogic based systems (905, 912 etc etc).... I assume things are pretty similar for Rockchip etc, but if anyone wants to post other useful information in this post!
Contents of this post:
Contents of this post
Intro
Example of setting up a system
Example Setup on a MeCool M8S PRO w (Change your DTB file in uEnv.ini and extlinux.conf for other boxes).
- Hardware you need
- Software/Downloads
Setting it up
- Steps to image your SD Card/USB stick from a Windows PC
- Installing onto the MeCool M8S PRO w (Or any other box assuming youve changed the DTB)
Congratulations - If you reach here you will have a working Armbian server.
Booting Problems and getting your system to boot
Booting off SD/USB problems.
uEnv.ini and extlinux.conf (Required for booting Armbian)
- Editing the files and picking the right DTB.
- What do these 2 files do and why cant I boot off emmc internal ram?
- What should the files look like?
Installing onto emmc/NAND - The internal hard drive of the TV box.
LOST.DIR, System Volume Information and Android folders cause problems booting off eMMC/NAND.
What to do if you brick your device.
Ive done something and now my box wont boot/stuck on a splash screen/is a brick what do I do?
- Getting the system recovered - notes
- Doing the recovery
Intro
I had written a previous article just over 1 year ago and things have moved on and its now far simpler/more efficient to do this… between 20 to 40 minutes depending on your speed. To get a basic working Armbian server, you only need to follow this guide. The example setup is for a MeCool M8S PRO w (4x cores, 2GB ram), though the procedure and information in here is relevant for all TV boxes.
To be clear, on the MeCool M8S PRO w, you have to plug it in via a network cable and run the OS off an SD card or USB stick. The Bluetooth and WiFi dont (at this moment) work. So, if that is a limitation for you, either keep an eye on the Armbian forum looking for later OS builds that may work, or on there you can also find other Android TV boxes that will work. (side note, I think there are 2 revisions of the MeCool M8S Pro w.. one you can install to emmc/NAND and one you cant).
Example Setup on a MeCool M8S PRO w
Hardware you will need:
MeCool M8S Pro W (or box of your choice…after researching which ones work).
A Windows PC/Laptop.
A micro SD card OR USB memory sick (16GB or larger recommended)
A way to plug that SD card into your Windows computer to image the Armbian OS onto it.
A Cat 5 LAN cable to plug it into your Router/Switch/Network port.
NOTE - It looks like you will only see the option to install Armbian to eMMc memory, within Armbian Config, if you are running from an SD Card, NOT a USB stick. (As mentioned, you cannot do this with this MeCool M8S PRO w anyway, but you can with other boxes like the Beelink GT1 Mini).
As an additional note, if you want to UPS protect your device from power outages etc, most (Im not claiming all) of these Android TV boxes (and I assume maybe Pi’s but Ive never tested so research that before you try it) support being powered from the USB ports (and the main power socket simultaneously too if you like). The RAVPOWER RP-PB078 is a battery pack for charging USB devices like phones etc. Its special trick, is that it is like an online UPS style device, meaning it can be both charging and powering your device at the same time. So, if the power cuts out, it will keep powering your device through the USB port (or you can buy a USB to 5v adapter cable if you like and use the main power port). I dont know how long for sure, but my rough estimation is this will give you about 5 to 9 hours run-time on the battery pack without any problems, plenty for small power outages.
Software/Downloads:
Armbain from here
https://yadi.sk/d/pHxaRAs-tZiei
(Armbian_5.88_Aml-s905_Ubuntu_bionic_default_5.1.0_desktop_20190611) (Later builds should work fine!!)
Win32DiskImager from here
https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
Setting it up
Steps to image your SD Card/USB stick from a Windows PC:
Download the above files.
Unzip/Extract with Armbain image file (Use WinRAR or 7Zip).
Install Win32DiskImager .
Insert your micro SD card or USB Stick into your PC.
Run Win32DiskImager as an Administrator.
In Win32DiskImager , click the folder Icon and select your Armbian Image file.
Check the Device field is pointing at your SD card/USB stick you just inserted and click the Write button.
Wait about 5 minutes while the SD card/USB is imaged. (takes about 2 minutes at USB3 speed)
The MeCool M8S PRO w and other Amlogic boards are often set to boot from external media first, however there is a simple process I will add at the bottom of this document to show you how to change the boot order if needed. The fix (as far as I know) only works on Amlogic based chipsets 905, 912, 922 etc. If you use a system based on Rockchip or something else, you will need to research the Armbian forums, which I would do ahead of time anyway if you decide to use an alternate TV Box.
For different Android TV boxes (other than the MeCool M8S PRO w), you may need to edit the uEnv.ini and extlinux.conf file on the SD card/USB stick, to choose a different DTB file. The DTB files are effectively for choosing what hardware drivers are needed when loading the OS and different Android TV boxes will have different chipsets e.g 905, 905X2, 912, RK3399 etc. I would suggest using Notepad++ for editing this file on a Windows computer, as the file is in UNIX file format, so much easier to read with Notepad++. I will add a short explanation of uEnv.ini and extlinux.conf at the bottom of this document (though they dont need changing with the above Armbian image, when used on the MeCool M8S PRO w.
Installing onto the MeCool M8S PRO w (Or any other box assuming youve changed the DTB)
Place the SD card or into your MeCool box’s SD card slot, plug in a monitor, network cable to your switch/router, keyboard and mouse and then the power.
Your Armbian box should now boot and will prompt you at a text command prompt to type in the Username and Password (default are root and 1234) . After this is done, it will ask you once again to type in the root password 1234 and change the root password to something else more secure.
You will now be asked to create a user account, other than the root account. I created a user called openhab with a password. For the “Name” I called it openhab , ignore the other questions, leaving them blank and when asked if this is correct, say Y and press enter. (You will see references in here a user openhab, this is just the account I created. You can use any name you like)
NOTE - if it doesnt boot to Armbian and you have the box I suggest, or an Amlogic based chipset, read the note at the bottom of this document.
The box will now load the GUI, asking you for the password of the user account you created . Log in and you will now be at the Armbian desktop.
From here, we want to open the Application menu at the top left > Settings > Armbian Config. Type in your password when prompted.
In the config system that opens up, we are going to perform a few tasks pretty quickly. Setup our system keyboard locale, change the name of this computer on the network, setup SAMBA file sharing, setup Microsoft RDP for remote control access to the system.
NOTE - On this build of Armbian with this MeCool box, Ive had a situation where it sometimes doesnt like detecting my monitor correctly when it boots, at the point it switches from the text boot to the GUI interface, meaning, you can get a black screen. So ensure RDP is enabled on your 1st boot, then you can always RDP from a windows machine to get to the GUI desktop OR, boot it with no monitor attached and after about 5 minutes, you can plug the monitor in and it usually works… As I say, only on THIS build of Armbian and THIS MeCool box, hence setting up RDP.
You can use the keyboard cursor keys, TAB key to move around each screen and Escape will move you back a screen.
With your cursor keys, go down to the Personal menu, select Timezone and choose your region. then back and select Keyboard and select your correct keyboard layout.
Still on the Personal menu select Hostname. This allows you to change the name of the computer to whatever you want to call it on your network (Default is aml). After this, go back to the main Armbian Config main menu.
Back at the main menu, select Software and scroll down to RDP - Enable remote desktop from windows and select it. (THIS IS OPTIONAL) This will allow you to use Remote Desktop (mstsc) to this computer ON your LOCAL network from a Windows computer by connecting to the server’s network name or local network IP address. It will not be internet accessible via RDP unless you create a rule in your router/firewall for port 3389 to point to your server, which, please research security concerns if you want to go down the route of allowing the internet to RDP your server.
Exit back out of Armbian config and............
(Yes, I know my screen grab says disable, I had already installed RDP)
CONGRATULATIONS - You now have a working Armbian Server.
BOOTING OFF SD/USB PROBLEMS - (ALL the Below sections all cover boot problems)
If you cant boot an Amlogic based system off external media
Once you have completed steps 1 through to 8, of the Installing onto the MeCool M8S PRO w at the top of this guide. Boot your Amlogic based system into the Android OS that is installed on the box.
When you are booted in to Android, plug in your newly created Armbian SD card or USB stick to the system.
Somewhere in the Android interface, perhaps the applications folder, you will find a program called Update OR Update&Backup (you can also hunt the Settings menu and find an update in there). Open this application.
It should give you the choice to update OTA (Over the Air) or from a Local File. Select Local and browse to your SD card/USB stick.
You will find a file called aml_autoscript.zip select that and confirm the upgrade.
The system should reboot, most likely twice. After which it may either boot into your Android OS or it may start booting into Armbian. Its also possible it may just do the reboots and then sit at a splash screen for a while. In short, if its not booting an OS within 3 minutes, give it 2 more minutes, then pull the power and try rebooting (with your SD card/USB stick in).
If it doesnt work (meaning it doesnt boot Armbian off your SD card/USB stick), try again with this process and also check you are using the right DTB files in uEnv.ini (as below) as they can cause a system to hang at a splash screen.
To explain what aml_autoscript.zip is doing..... The file is from here:
What it does, is tell the boot partition of the Android TV box, that it has multi-boot (can boot from any device, internal/external) and sets external devices as being the 1st thing to try booting off.
If youve copied your Armbian OS to the emmc/NAND chip and it wont boot off the internal memory, read up below on uEnv.ini and extlinux.conf as that may be the problem… though some boxes just cant/wont boot off emmc/NAND
uEnv.ini and extlinux.conf
When you set up Armbian on a Android TV box, you need to tell Armbian what drivers/setup to use for the chipset in your box. This is done through matching the best DTB file to your TV Box’s hardware. To do this, there are 2 files on the SD card or USB stick you create.
In the root of the BOOT partition, you will find uEnv.ini and in /extlinux directory, you will find extlinux.conf.
Editing the files and picking the right DTB
These files are best edited in Notepad++ on Windows, or some program that happily edits Unix format text files.
If you just use Windows Notepad, they wont look correct when edited (as shown below) and you can screw the formatting up, resulting in your system NOT booting. Use Notepad++ or a Unix text file editor!!
Within these files you will specify a DTB file, from the dtb folder on the BOOT partition.. Your TV Box might be a 905x2 chipset, or an 912 etc, so you need to find the DTB that works for your chipset. Lets say you have an S912 based system, you can look in the DTB folder and you will see various DTB files with 912 in their name, you can try each one of those, one at a time and see which one works, though not all DTB files are labeled as clearly as this. As an example, I have a Beelink GT1 Mini which is based on the 905x2 chipset, and for that unit, the X96 DTB file is recommended, though I only found that out through hunting the forums/finding out what other people had used.
In short, look at the Armbian forums to find the best one, or just pick one that you think, list it in the uEnv.ini and extlinux.conf, see if the box will boot (try a different DTB file if not) and see if all the hardware works (Try a different DTB file if not, or some boxes its possible to find there is no bluetooth driver or something. Best to research the Armbian forums first to see what boxes people have success with.
There is no harm in just trying different DTB files, one at a time. Your box will either boot or not boot and either some or all of the features of your box will work.
If you are just at a stage of testing your booting process from an SD card or USB stick, you only need to edit the uEnv.ini file for now, as your system will boot from that, however, when you find the DTB you want to use, update the extlinux.conf file too, so you can install to emmc/NAND.
What do these 2 files do and why cant I boot off emmc internal ram?
My understanding is that uEnv.ini takes care of the boot information when you are booting off SD card or USB Stick and the extlinux.conf takes care of the boot sequence if you load the OS onto the internal eMMC memory (the internal hard drive ram chip thing).
So long and short… if you boot off external media, transfer the OS to the internal eMMC and you HAVNT updated the extlinux.conf, dont expect it to boot off the internal eMMC, it will just sit at the box’s spashscreen. (though you can boot off an external SD/USB and edit those files).
In short… just update BOTH files to ensure you can boot off external SD card/USB stick and internal emmc (if you copy the OS over).
What should the files look like?
NOTE - If they dont look/arent formatted like this when you open them, you arent using a Unix file editor like Notepad++
You would be replacing meson-gxl-s905x-khadas-vim.dtb with the DTB file that matches your box, in BOTH these files.
Also, DONT delete the # out of the extlinux.conf file, its meant to be there!
Installing onto emmc/NAND - The internal hard drive of the TV box.
This is pretty simple to do, though its worth re-mentioning not every box will support this, for one reason or another. If you want to try however:
Boot your system from your Armbian OS SD Card (I think it HAS to be an SD card, or at least the menu option wont show up in my tests using a USB stick, only on SD card).
Make sure you have edited BOTH your uEnv.ini AND extlinux.conf files as above.
In the OS, go to Armbian config (Step 5 onwards from Installing onto the MeCool M8S PRO w above).
Go into the system option.
In there, the first option should be Install to SATA, emmc, NAND or USB and select that.
It will now copy over your files (wiping your Android OS off your box). This takes 3 to 8 minutes approximately.
While this is copying, read the section below LOST.DIR, System Volume Information and Android and follow that process if needed.
Assuming you configured your extlinux.conf file with the correct DTB, you can shut your system down, take out your SD card, switch it back on, and it should boot.
You can always boot off your SD card again, to edit the BOOT_NAND (on the desktop.. I think its called that) which is the copied over boot volume, where you can find the extlinux.conf file, to update the DTB file it uses.
Worst case, check through the bits in this document and the forums. I dont know much about Rockchip based systems and how they differ (most of what Ive put in here was based on my Amlogic chipset TV boxes), Id assume its pretty similar.
LOST.DIR, System Volume Information and Android folders cause problems booting off eMMC/NAND.
If your SD card or USB stick had been in an Android or Windows box BEFORE you copied your OS over to eMMC/NAND, you may find out that your system WONT boot off the eMMC/NAND memory, but will still boot off your external card. These folders, as far as I can tell ONLY interfere with booting from the internal emmc/NAND and seem to cause no problem when booting from an SD card/USB stick.... but of course, if you copy Armbian to emmc/NAND, they seem to then cause a problem booting from emmc/NAND.
I dont know why these folders seem to create an issue, but in my tests, deleting them before you copy over to your eMMC/NAND, OR after you have copied the OS over to eMMC/NAND, boot the system off your original SD Card/USB stick and on the Desktop of your system, go to the BOOT_EMMC drive, delete the folders LOST.DIR, System Volume Information and Android (or whichever combination of those 3 exist), shutdown the system and try booting again from eMMC.
I tested multiple times on a system and after I had deleted those folders.... my system suddenly started booting correctly (with the occasional corruption occurring and having to re-copy the OS to eMMC/NAND again, but if you do this, you can delete the folders before attempting to boot next time).
To be clear, at time of writing this document, on your boot volume, there should be maybe 20 files in the root of the boot partition and only 3 folders ("dtb," "dtb-XXX-aml-XXX "and "extlinux"). (the XXX's will be some number)
Ive done something and now my box wont boot/stuck on a splash screen/is a brick what do I do?
If this happens, it usually means your onboard emmc/NAND storage area has become trashed somehow OR if you have your SD Card/USB stick, thats trashed somehow. To figure which, take your SD card/USB stick out and see if it boots look at these 2 options:
OPTION A - if it boots without the SD Card/USB stick in, then its your SD Card/USB stick. Quick fix is to check you are using the correct DTB and edited uEnv.ini and extlinix.conf correctly (maybe try a different DTB if its never booted). If it was booting off the SD card/USB stick, then re-image the SD card/USB stick with Armbian and make sure you have the right DTB and all should be good again.
OPTION B - It wont boot without the SD Card/USB stick in then the emmc/NAND area on your tv box is trashed in some way and its therefore not multibooting. So you need to re-flash the internal memory with the correct ROM/image for your box.
Getting a system recovered - notes
So for example, with an Amlogic based box, lets say the MeCool M8S Pro w box (Amlogic based box) you would find an original ROM for that system via a google hunt and download it (expect about a 1GB to 2GB download). You would also need the Amlogic USB Burning tool. Id recommend version 2.1.6.8 or later as it starts up in English (though you can find a language menu and select English on older versions). Install this on a Windows based computer.
You will will need a USB cable that will plug into both the USB port of your computer AND the USB port of your Amlogic based TV Box. This is how it will communicate to re-image the emmc/NAND.
On the TV boxes, there is usually a reset button. but this could be:
a tiny hole in which you need to stick a paperclip or something to press the reset button.
you might need to open the box and connect 2 jumpers or short out 2 points on the board (on the MeCool M8S Pro w, its like this)
Some systems, you can power on and hold down/press a button on the supplied remote AS you are powering on the box.
Doing the recovery
Lets pretend you have method 1 from above, the paperclip version.
For an Amlogic based system (Other makes will have their own software, but it will be a variation on doing this).
Install the USB Burning tool to your Windows machine.
Open the USB Burning tool and go to File > Import Image, then select the image file you have downloaded (Unzip or Unrar the file if its compressed).
DONT power your TV box from the supplied mains adapter!! (The Amlogic boards arent expecting that it appears, so dont go into recovery mode on mains power. It wont hurt your box, it just wont go into recovery).
- Plug one end of your USB cable into your Windows PC.
- Push down the reset button (or whichever method you need to use) with the paperclip on the TV Box and at THAT point, plug in the USB cable. This should now power on the box, but it may display a blank screen.
On some TV boxes, it appears ONLY 1 of the multiple USB ports they have will be usable/activate for the flashing process. As such, try your other ports if it doesnt appear in your flashing software.
- You should hear a ding/chime or something from your Windows PC and the Amlogic USB Burning tool should now say something like HUB Connected.
- In the USB Burning tool you should have it set at "Normal Erase" but Ive also done "Full Erase" before.... I dont quite know the difference... but Normal Erase seems to be fine, try Full if if doesnt work on Normal.
- Press the start button and wait about 5 minutes until the USB Burning tool says 100% success. Wait about another 20 seconds. Press Stop and unplug your TV Box.
Next time you power on the box, it should start booting into Android.
Now you are back at a working box and can start your install procedure as per this guide... so setup multiboot with aml_autoscript.zip etc....
Hopefully all this helps someone figure things out.... if you cant find the answer here.... Im sure someone in the forums will give an answer!
