SteeMan

This is expected behavior. Each distribution is modifying the boot environment in different incompatible ways. That is why the install instructions (https://forum.armbian.com/topic/17106-installation-instructions-for-tv-boxes-with-amlogic-cpus) say if you have tried to install other distributions, you will need to restore to a clean android firmware before installing armbian.

Let me first say welcome to Armbian. Second I want to point you to this basic information: https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16976-status-of-armbian-on-tv-boxes-please-read-first Finally, I've never looked into trying to do this, and I don't recall any recent forum discussions on this. There might be something if you searched through the forum archives.

I think this box runs on an rk3188 cpu. Moving post to the rockchip tv box forums.

Running armbian-install will corrupt your emmc. You need to run install-aml.sh like the instructions say. I checked and that script exists in /root for the latest build. You will need to reinstall an original android firmware to get your box back to working.

FYI a workaround reply to the bug report: "Confirm, when doing kernel config during image build -- it can be worked-around by running ./compile.sh with command kernel-config, for now. I will try to come up with a way to make this work during image build, but inconsistencies arise, so fix is more complex than originally thought"

You can do the equivalent by having a patch to the kernel Makefile that does the same thing to it's version number

@belegdol On your first point, yes that is a one time issue as a result of using the kernel version. While undesirable, I believe it is a necessary change. On your second point, while I understand your point and the functionality has changed, it also didn't work the way you wanted under the old master branch. In the master branch the .deb files end up with the same version number across builds, there is no incremental build number. The version is the armbian version and thats all. At least in the new main branch the version changes so each build (where there are changes) will at least get a different .deb file. So I would say the new functionality is better, but still not ideal.

I'm pretty sure this is a bug and I have logged it as such: https://github.com/armbian/build/issues/4905

@tuanna You didn't buy a 4/32 box. That CPU doesn't support that amount of memory. It is common that sellers lie about the specs of boxes they sell, to the point of faking specs reported in their android firmwares and even changing the markings on chips. According to your pictures, if you research the memory chips (D9PSC) they are 2Gb each x 4 = 8Gb = 1 GB Researching the Toshiba emmc chip, while I can't figure out exactly its size, that part ranges from 2GB - 16BGB, so not 32GB. My take is you have a 1/8 box, just as linux is reporting.

@bacco70 Please provide some basic information about your setup. What box do you have? What build do you have installed (file name and where downloaded from)? This would indicate that you are trying to install on to a none clean emmc. The script assumes you are installing on top of the native android firmware. This message indicates you have other stuff previously installed. Please explain what you have done before this attempt.

@belegdol To use the old code you want to checkout the 'master' branch of the build repository: git clone --depth=1 --branch=master https://github.com/armbian/build Note that that branch is no longer maintained, but you can use it to test the differences between old and new build functionality.

The purpose of Community builds is to provide the "community" an opportunity to step up and care for these boards. If no one is interested, eventually they will stop working and be dropped. Armbian is first and foremost the build environment for building SBC firmwares. Second, some Armbian developers also maintain boards they personally care about. But there are far more boards than core developers can support. But the infrastructure is there for others to step in and support boards they care about. But in the end if no one cares enough to maintain a board, it will drop from community support to end of support eventually.

First off, I'm trying to understand what happened. What do you mean by this statement? Nothing in the instructions you linked to mentions using this command.

First question I have is what build did you install (name of file) from where (where did you download from) and what instructions are you using? Second point, it if you have a tx3 mini, that is using the s905w cpu, that CPU only supports 2GB of ram. So something doesn't make sense. Why do you think you have 4GB ram?

@desperex You would have to ask Orange PI that question, as that is their name for their board.

@desperex Armbian doesn't have the resources to track bugs and work for fixes in upstream code. We generally just take upstream code and incorporate. So someone external to Armbian needs to work the upstream producers to get them to make fixes as appropriate. The problem is that for many of these inexpensive commodity chips/drivers there isn't any long term support infrastructure (i.e. they produce, release and then move on to the next chip with no intention to support them)

Best bet would be to find the original android firmware for your box and then use the amlogic tools (amlogic usb burning tool) to reinstall that firmware. There are many posts around the internet that describe the process.

Have you tried installing the armbian-firmware-full package? The base distribution comes with the armbian-firmware package installed (note not -full) which is a trimmed down package that contains a small subset of all available linux firmwares to reduce size.

Please try with the instructions on this site (where you originally posted this) using current downloads. I have multiple of these boxes and the reset button should work. Describe what happens when you use the reset button (complete description like how long you are holding reset, what is shown on the screen, when you are adding power etc.)

Moved post to correct sub forum

These instructions are for Amlogic CPUs for TV Boxes. Note: If you have previously run other distributions on the box such as coreelec the below installation will not work. You will need to restore the original android firmware before attempting the install. coreelec changes the boot environment in ways that are incompatible with these Armbian builds. Download links: Weekly Community Rolling Builds: https://www.armbian.com/amlogic-s9xx-tv-box/ or build your own image using the Armbian build framework Once you download your chosen build, you need to burn the image to an SD card. Generally balenaEtcher is recommended as it does a verification of the burn. Also be sure to use high quality SD cards. Once you have the SD card with your chosen build, then you need to edit the boot configuration file on the SD card. In the BOOT partition of the SD card there will be a file /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf, that you need to edit. There will also be a extlinux.conf.template file to use as a reference. You will need to add a line into the extlinux.conf file for the Device Tree (dtb) file you will be using for your box. Place this line before the APPEND line as shown in the .template file. Basically you need to have the correct dtb for your box. You may need to attempt to use different dtb files until you find the one that works the best for your box's hardware (there are a bunch of dtb files in /boot/dtb/amlogic/... to try depending on your cpu architecture and hardware). It is unlikely that there will be a matching dtb file for your TV box. The idea is to find the one that works best for your box. This may mean that you try booting with different dtb files until you fine one that works good enough for your needs. By searching the forums you will find information about what dtbs other users have found work best for different boxes. Because you are booting from an SD card, you can easily try different dtb files. The dtd files are named by cpu family. So for example dtb files for the s905x2 cpu are named meson-g12a-*. Below there is a table that shows the identifiers for each familiy (g12a for s905x2 in this case). Next you need to copy the correct uboot for your box. This is needed for how these builds boot on amlogic boxes. There are four different u-boot files located in the /boot directory: u-boot-s905, u-boot-s905x-s912, u-boot-s905x2-s922, u-boot-s905x3 You need to copy (note copy not move) the u-boot file that matches your cpu to a new file named u-boot.ext in the /boot directory So for example with a TX3 mini box that has an s905w cpu you would copy u-boot-s905x-s912 to u-boot.ext: cp u-boot-s905x-s912 u-boot.ext (See table below for more details on which u-boot to use for which cpu) Once you have your SD card prepared you need to enable multiboot on the box. There are different ways documented to do this, but the most common is the "toothpick" method. The "toothpick" method means to hold the reset button while applying power to the box. The reset button is often hidden and located at the back of the audio/video jack connector. By pressing that button with a toothpick or other such pointed device you can enable multiboot. What you need to do is have the box unplugged, have your prepared sd card inserted, then press and hold the button while inserting the power connector. Then after a bit of time you can release the button. (I don't know exactly how long you need to hold the button after power is applied, but if it doesn't work the first time try again holding for longer or shorter times). You should now be booting into armbian/linux. Note that the first boot takes longer as it is enlarging the root filesystem to utilize the entire SD card. After you are satisfied that your box is working correctly for your needs you can optionally copy the installation from the SD card to internal emmc storage (assuming your box has emmc). (Note: Installing to emmc has some risks of bricking your box. Don't do this unless you feel you understand how to reinstall your box's android firmware) You install armbian to emmc by running the shell script in the /root directory: install-aml.sh. Note: It is not possible to install into emmc on boxes with the s905 cpu (s905x, s905w, s905x2, etc however should all be supported). It is recommended that you make a backup of emmc first. Also be prepared if anything goes horribly wrong with your emmc install to reinstall the android firmware using the Amlogic USB Burning Tool to unbrick your device. If you have or can find an original android firmware on the internet and you can generally (but not always) recover a bricked box using the Amlogic tool and the original firmware file. Mapping from CPU to uboot and dtb: u-boot-s905 s905 - gxbb u-boot-s905x2-s912 S905X - gxl S905W - gxl S905D - gxl S905L - gxl S805X - gxl S912 - gxm A311D - gxm u-boot-s905x2-s922 S905X2 - g12a S922 - g12b u-boot-s905x3 S905X3 - sm1 Not supported or not tested S805 - S905W2 - S905X4 - S805X2 - s4 A113D - axg A113X - axg Note: Followup posts in this thread should be limited to comments to improve or better understand these instructions. Other issues should be posted as new questions in the Amlogic CPU Boxes sub-forum.

If you are using a current community build, the rtl8189es driver is already installed.

moved post to the correct forum