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SteeMan

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Posts posted by SteeMan

  1. If you want help (and both jock and I are here to help you), you do need to provide some more information.  Things that would be helpful include:

    1) What are you trying to accomplish?  (people don't just change kernel config files and rebuild kernels for no reason)

      - what changes do you want to make and why?

    2) What experience do you have in building kernels?  Have you built an x86 kernel before?

      - knowing where you are starting from experience wise helps us give you the appropriate level of information

     

    I started a year or so ago about where I think you are.  My goal was to get more regular kernel updates following the linux mainline sources.  I spent a couple of months reading a lot of threads in these forums about others who had done similar things and over time built up my knowledge so that I am now able to build mainline kernels for both my test and production boxes. (I just this morning updated one of my test boxes to the just release 5.12.0 kernel).

    As jock mentioned above the overall process is more than just compiling and building a kernel image.  You also need to understand the boot process so that your kernel is correctly invoked by the boot process and then you also need to understand enough about dtb files so the kernel knows how to interact with your hardware.

     

    From some of my notes from last year here is a thread I found useful in my learning process:

     

     

     

     

  2. @cuker Some of the amlogic u-boots that were in balbes150 builds come from the work of hexdump. (I don't know if balbes150 further enhanced them or not).  Look at the following thread for hexdump's repositories and building instructions

    https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16753-chainloaded-uboot-images-for-amlogic

    I have rebuilt some of these from source to see if I could, as I don't generally like using binary code that I don't know the origin of.

  3. @jacinto69 Please read the two TV Box Club FAQ items:  https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16976-status-of-armbian-on-tv-boxes-please-read-first and

    https://forum.armbian.com/topic/17106-installation-instructions-for-tv-boxes-with-amlogic-cpus

    .

    Then after being sure you are following the correct installation steps, please provide more details on your installation, like what dtb files you have tried, what u-boot.ext file you are using, etc.

  4. 1 hour ago, Jackchen said:

    Hello, I am currently using your armbian 3.10.108 image, but I want to build Retroarch in it, and found that the Mali GPU driver is missing, I want to ask, is there any way to solve it

    Please read the FAQ entry: https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16976-status-of-armbian-on-tv-boxes-please-read-first

    There are a couple of comments in that post that are relevant to your question.  1) balbes is no longer working on amlogic cpus, 2) the current state of the TV box code (espeucally for amlogic) is suitible for server use only, don't expect much graphical support to be working.  Also in a comment just a few posts ago, balbes expressed his opinion that he doesn't work with proprietary binary closed source code (like the legacy mali drivers).  The open source drivers are only becoming available on current kernels, so there isn't anything except closed source support for your 3.10 ancient kernel.

  5. @cracker Have you checked and installed the armbian-firmware-full package?  The default armbian-firmware only has driver firmware for the supported boards and since TV boxes are not supported the firmware you need may exist in the more comprehensive armbian-firmware-full package.

  6. I split this out into its own topic.  Even though the information is all derived from the thread "Armbian for TV box rk3328" I think it makes it easier from a forum search perspective if someone is looking for rk3318 information in a search to have a separate thread.

  7. The short answer is you can't.  The boot process for armbian and libreelec uses the native uboot installed on emmc to start the boot process.  So if your emmc isn't working you can't boot these from an sd card.  Theoretically it is possible if you have a complete proper uboot installed on the sd card, but such a thing doesn't exist around here as that hasn't been the approach to how we have supported amlogic based tv boxes.

    Are you sure your emmc is broken?  Have you tried to restore your android firmware to emmc?

  8. On 4/8/2021 at 3:52 PM, Daniel Cagarrinho said:

    I have successfully connected wifi, but wen I reboot the box the os cannot start properly!!! I have followed the instructions from this topic

    I have been focused on the wifi changes that I perhaps have overlooked something else.  Do you have armbian installed on emmc?  The reason I ask is that I have multiple boxes where if armbian is installed on emmc, they sometimes will not reboot.  The work around is to install an sd card (with a bootable version of armbian installed, including the correct dtb configured), boot once from the sd card and then remove the sd card and the system will then boot normally from emmc.

  9. @Thang First off since you are working with coreelec you will need to restore the box to a clean android firmware before attempting to work with the armbian builds that are out there.  The coreelec install changes things in incompatible ways to how the armbian builds expect the system to be in order to work correctly.

    I have two of these boxes (don't know if they are the exact same hardware as you have reported as I haven't opened them up recently)

    One of these boxes I am running as a production web server and the other I use for testing.

    I am currently using the meson-g12a-sei510.dtb but have in the past used the meson-g12a-x96-max-rmii.dtb

    But it seems that on newer kernels the meson-g12a-x96-max-rmii.dtb isn't working anymore.

    Note that these boxes only have 100mbit ethernet and therefore the regular meson-g12a-x96-max.dtb won't work for networking as it is for 1gbit ethernet, you need meson-g12a-x96-max-rmii.dtb or meson-g12a-sei510.dtb that I am currently using.

    You mention a couple of things in your original post that I want to explain to you, specifically that the formats of the dtb files between coreelec and armbian are different.  That is because coreelec uses legacy kernels and armbian uses mainline kernels.  Legacy kernels are kernels where the cpu vendor/board designer added support for the cpu and board to a fork of the linux kernel.  Mainline kernels are where the support for the cpu has been officially integrated into the kernel source tree and supported by the official linux kernel.  Those two processes have led to different ways of the code being structured and thus make the dtbs incompatible between the two code lines.

     

  10. First please read the following FAQ item in the TV Box FAQ: https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16976-status-of-armbian-on-tv-boxes-please-read-first

     

    In that FAQ post you will see that no one is any longer supporting amlogic s9xx TV boxes.  So you have the following hurdles: TV boxes are not supported by Armbian.  The developer (bables150) who was working on these boxes in his community fork no longer is (but he never supported the x905x3 even when he was working on amlogic), and this is such a low priority type of item, that it wouldn't likely get attential anyway (see the setting expectations part of the FAQ item).

     

    Since you posted this same question three times in the forums, I will be deleting the duplicate posts, leaving this one.

  11. @Sevillano I'm not quite sure what steps/instructions you are following.  But start by reading the two TV Box FAQ posts: https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16976-status-of-armbian-on-tv-boxes-please-read-first  and  https://forum.armbian.com/topic/17106-installation-instructions-for-tv-boxes-with-amlogic-cpus

    There aren't steps that require you to compile the entire system on a virtual machine.  So I am assuming you are trying to perform a regular build of armbian, but armbian doesn't support TV boxes.  That is why this forum exists and there are the forked builds that attempt to get a working environment on amlogic based boxes.

    You will most likely need to find an original android firmware and restore your emmc to a good working android before moving forward.

  12. 17 hours ago, Daniel Cagarrinho said:

    wen I reboot the box the os cannot start properly

    Can you provide anymore information?  When you say the box doesn't start properly what exactly do you mean.  Especially as you also said you have wifi working.  Those two sentences seem to contradict each other, so there must be more information that you could share.  Also is this happening from an install on SD or emmc?  When did it stop working?  What changes did you make between successfully working and your new problems?

  13. @zhuceluntan Please read the following FAQ post: https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16976-status-of-armbian-on-tv-boxes-please-read-first

    As is indicated there balbes is no longer involved in supporting Amlogic s905x cpu based boxes. 

    Please do not direct posts directly to a specific user as that is a bad practice.  That sends the message the you are expecting a specific volunteer to provide you support and that runs counter to the Armbian community support model.  Volunteers help the project in the ways they can, and may use their time to answer the posts they feel they have time to.  Obviously if you are engaged in a conversation with a specific person in a thread it is fine to tag them, but to log a new post tagged to a specific person is not good form.

  14. Given the following comment posted in response to the new invalid message discussed above:

     

    "Hi Werner, I didn't realise I'd posted this as a bug I'll post it elsewhere"

     

    I took another look at the language in the big red warning message that is displayed for people posting new topics in the bug tracking forums.  While it would seem obvious to those of us on the inside what we are trying to communicate, to the novice user I think there is room to make it more clear.  To that end I have the following suggested wording changes:

     

    Current text:

     

    Wait!

    To avoid common mistakes when opening issues use this form to make sure you have collected all necessary information and create your issue report at the correct place:

    >> https://armbian.com/bugs <<

    Issue reports that are not following these guidelines will be removed without further notice!

     

    Suggested text:

     

    Important Please Read Before Posting a New Topic (Bug Report)!

     

    You are about to post a new topic in the Armbian Bug Tracker.  Armbian uses the sub-forums under "Bug tracker - supported boards and images only" as it's public facing bug reporting system. If you really intend to report a bug please fill out the following form to supply the necessary information for a valid bug report:

     

    >> https://armbian.com/bugs <<

     

    With limited resources the Armbian project is only able to spend time investigating bugs where all the requested information has been provided and for only the boards/images/software that are supported.  Your bug report will be considered invalid and receive no attention if you do not supply the requested information.

     

    If you only have a question or are looking for help on something in general related to Armbian, you should be submitting your question in one of the "Community forums", such as "Common issues / peer to peer technical support" or "General chit chat", not in this bug reporting forum.

    image.png

  15. I don't see a problem with using the invalid label as it is invalid according to the directions the user has read (or not read).  What I think would improve this is giving the user more direction on what to do next.  I think some working changes in the post that closes the thread as invalid would be all that is necessary.  So instead of:

     

     

    Your issue report is invalid for one or multiple reasons (non-exhaustive enumeration):

     

    it has been stated at the wrong place

    it lacks fundamental requested data

    it could have been easily solved by a quick search and/or reading documentation

    unsupported userspace/image/SBC

     

    Since you refused to use the bug reporting form carefully and follow the information there as you have been asked for we have no intention to further investigate.

    Please add missing information if applicable.

     

    https://www.armbian.com/bugs

     

     

    Something like:

     

    Your issue report is not a valid bug report per the Armbian bug reporting instructions (https://www.armbian.com/bugs).  With limited resources the Armbian project is only able to spend time on issues where all the requested information has been provided and for only the boards/images/software that are supported.  Your report is invalid for one or more of the following reasons (non-exhaustive list):

     

    - it is for an unsupported board or image

    - it is for software that isn't supported (such as userspace modules installed on top of the core operating system)

    - it has been logged in the wrong forum (for example requests for help that are not actual bug reports)

    - it lacks requested data (armbianmonitor output)

    - it could have been easily solved by a quick search and/or reading documentation

     

    Please review what you have submitted and the bug logging instructions (https://www.armbian.com/bugs) and either add the required information or open a new topic in the correct forum (such as "Common issues / peer to peer technical support" or "General chit chat")

     

     

    I think this softens the tone and tries to help the user do the right thing.  Which they likely still won't :)

     

     

     

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