SteeMan

Instead of using random old builds and directions you have found, please try with:: https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16976-status-of-armbian-on-tv-boxes-please-read-first https://forum.armbian.com/topic/17106-installation-instructions-for-tv-boxes-with-amlogic-cpus Per the above information, don't expect most things to work. Also grub is a boot system primarily used on x86 boxes. Arm based boxes use uboot.

What image are you using? What dtd file? And please capture the boot log prior to what you have shown here.

armbian-install does not work for amlogic tv boxes. Per the instructions in the TV box faq you need to run the install-aml.sh script. You are going to need to reinstall Android firmware for your box to recover it

That is not an Armbian image. These forums are for the Armbian OS images.

I agree that this branding is confusing for end users.

Just because someone (dietpi) forks Armbian, doesn't give credit to armbian, and doesn't contribute back to Armbian, doesn't mean that Armbian can then support their end users. We have no idea what dietpi has done to their code after forking off of armbian, so we again can't help you. Complain to those that can/should be providing you support. We can't. Of course you always have the option to install a genuine Armbian build. That doesn't mean that this will get magically fixed, but at least we will not completely ignore your request.

Armbian is basically the linux kernel and u-boot/install. The entire userspace comes pretty much untouched from Debian/Ubuntu (depending on what variant you install). So in general anything coming from upstream Debian/Ubuntu should work on Armbian.

You aren't even using Armbian. Why are you complaining in an Armbian forum? Go get support for your dietpi from dietpi. Also remember that Armbian is based on the work of volunteers donating their time (you certainly haven't paid anything to support or further Armbian). So it doesn't make any difference if there are 10 users of a board or many more, generally there is no revenue coming to Armbian to support any boards (as generally the board manufacturers don't want to contribute anything in order to actually provide support, and hope that the Armbian volunteers will provide long term support for their boards for free). Unless you are paying for support you have no right to expect something for free from Armbian. But again since you aren't even using Armbian, you are even farther removed from the right to expect support from Armbian.

None of those are Armbian OS images. These forums are for Armbian.

No resources to support it. Armbian is volunteer based with only has a few core volunteers. There are hundreds of boards out there, more practically every day. This is open source so the Armbian build environment is there for anyone to step up and contribute. And if you don't have the coding skills there are many ways to contribute and give back to the community: https://docs.armbian.com/Process_Contribute

The dtb you downloaded is not from armbian. That site is a fork of armbian and they use the armbian name without permission. They do not participate in armbian development, nor do they contribute to these forums. The armbian build you did download doesn't support the s905l2 specifically (there are no dtbs in the mainline linux kernel for that specific cpu). I don't have any boxes with this chip so it is unlikely that I or anyone here has much guidance for you.

@ext23 What box do you have? (The thread you have posted this question in is for a B680H). What build are you using? I've never seen that dtb file, where did you get it from?

What build are you using? What instructions are you following? List the steps you have performed.

@Tu N You have provided almost no information for anyone to help you. Please provide the following basic information: what box do you have, what build are you using (exact filename of image), what steps did you perform to install to emmc?

This is link is to a non Armbian build. You have linked to a fork of Armbian, and they do not contribute to Armbian development nor do they participate in these forums. They use the Armbian name without permission. We therefore can't support or help with those builds as we know nothing about them. You need to use their forums/support channels to ask your questions about their forked work. No, you are talking about different software than is discussed in these forums.

Read the FAQ, don't expect much to work beyond the basics. The display isn't working on any amlogic tv boxes using these builds. Per the FAQ: "4. Expectations should be set low (i.e. don't expect anything to work) but if you do get the box to boot, get HDMI and wired ethernet to work, you are doing good."

For any chance of getting help on this, you need to provide some information. What vfd screen are you talking about? What do you mean by 'not working'. What are you trying to do with this screen? Also, please read the FAQ item on overall armbian TV Box status: https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16976-status-of-armbian-on-tv-boxes-please-read-first

That isn't an official armbian release it is some fork of offical armbian. You need to direct your question to the person who created that release. We can't help you here as we know nothing about that code.

Armbian comes with three levels of linux kernels in general (not all boards support all types). edge = "bleeding edge" or development kernels, not supported, meant for testing only; current = the currently supported stable kernels; legacy = either a vendor supplied kernel (often not maintained) or an older stable mainline kernel, generally not supported but provided for testing/compatibility reasons. As @Werner stated above you want to install a 'current' kernel. In the list you showed, you are only showing 'edge' kernels. You need to select one that uses the word 'current' where you are seeing 'edge' in the listing.

armbian-config lets you switch kernels

@mat Thanks for your willingness to work on this. If what you are saying is correct, then the linux kernel already being shipped for all amlogic boards should support this specific cpu (I don't believe there is a special kernel built for the vim1s). Then the issues boil down to dtb's and u-boot. Ideally this should be incorporated into the aml-s9xx-box builds. The most difficult part is likely to be the u-boot.

@rpardini What is the recommended approach to incorporating firmware from mainline into the armbian-firmware package (other than copying the files and then running the risk of divergent files over time if they change in mainline)? Some sort of buildtime reference that copies the current mainline files over? What was done here https://github.com/armbian/firmware/pull/63 seems brittle to me.

For now I would suggest you just incorporate your changes into the existing s9xx-box. Adding an entire new board comes with a much higher level of commitment on your part (expectations on being a maintainer for that board to keep it in the project). Also since TV boxes aren't officially supported by Armbian, we try to have minimal impact on the build infrastructure. Also by keeping these emlogic boxes under one umbrella, hopefully that leads to more community/developer support for all of them, as opposed to spreading them out as separate boards. This can always be changed in the future if directions/needs change.

@Jens J. I would suggest that you work on learning how to incorporate into the armbian build each of the components that you are modifying. I wanted to point out to you that armbian builds two different firmware files: armbian-firmware and armbian-firmware-full. The install by default installs armbian-firmware. The difference between the two is that armbian-firmware is a paired down set of firmware theoretically containing just the firmware needed for supported boards. Whereas armbian-firmware-full is the complete firmware from the linux kernel plus any custom/added firmwares that are not mainlined. So since you are just using what is in mainline, all you should need to do is install the full firmware package (apt install armbian-firmware-full). In your PR, since you copied from mainline, if mainline gets updates to those files, they will not be incorporated into armbian, so that is potentially a problem.

@Jens J. If you could package this into a PR then everyone could benefit from your hard work