bubbadestroy

TLDR; Official source from OEM says bootloader is locked and likely will remain so. Go play with open source friendly boards. Also new photos. an ACER power adapter for simplifying a solution to ops port workarounds (AM40 hardware confirmed) QIMG_20200903_162556.webp No new or productive info like anything not already known to rockchip community forums such as Armbian.. I thought it might be nice to share a final update on this topic with some confirmation.. I should have just called them first. Randomly today I found the AM40 in the to_do, uh, repurpose later graveyard. Really it was as simple as others stated above. How does one usually flash an open source rockchip bootloader. How it really went down.. in my mind at least.

Just to give you a realistic idea of total you may spend. at least $35 to 50 if you shop around and be patient, possibly up to $70 or more if you just don't want to wait and haggle so much. So aside from the board you buy, you may want/need any one of these or similiar.. daughter board for the ops slot. and that oddly hard to find barrel jack adapter pin *top row, last tip on the right).. or if somehow you get lucky and find something like this ops adapter kit, it has ops powered cooling fans, proper voltage/amp for ops device power adapter, and ops daughtercard all contained inside it and each functioned separately when disassembled. Here is the usb uart I have at the moment. Haven't gotten to use either of them yet so this could take a bit for me to update on the debug logs. Would be nice if anyone else wanted to see what else can be done armbian or otherwise with these boards. Am70 and am40 or am50 i can confirm boot to the operating systems all without an expensive smart board. but yes you will need one or two of the things I have listed above to get the hdmi and or power going on them correctly on a normal or touch hdmi display. and a power switch more than likely. i used one off an old dekstop

Thank you, I was looking for just these sort of things. What you suggested will be my next step forward. first however, I will boot it up once more in a moment and see if I can get some better screenshots with some of those unknowns answered.. I will try to make the usb-uart debug logs the next report asap. Was just about to work out how to go about something like this as well; ... also wont hurt if I read some of the documentation on boards like this, just as a similar reference since the am40 lacks OEM documentation that we need for revers- errr open source licensed application development. http://en.t-firefly.com/doc/download/page/id/57.html

you'd be supprised at how the asking price and market value can find a reasonable middle ground with a reasonablely low offer on technology. because the supported hardware/software revision has expired anyhow (EOL); i believe any open pluggable specification device pre 2017 are about (less) as useful as my virtualboy or sega saturn was at its EOL as far as market value is concerned. i imagine if they ask more than $50-70 the seller better verify from buyer and seller should confirm its not EOL, is model 2017+ new or used with all parts in working order.. and boots to an OS... otherwise it needs to be relisted as for parts only and gfl. -phew. my 2-or-more-bits oppionion anyhow on topic; thank you, and I will give a legitimate attempt to bub my way through flashing armbian to this board! till then I had better mention a few important things; some of which have may already been said multiple times by myself or others, on forum or otherwise # disclaimer and acknowledgement # I claim no rights to inventing, development, safe practices or translation iterization utilization or any other legal shit that hoes on, on this device, reference, or any other planet. #this disclaimer is possibly the only thing i take responsiblilty for, so if any system, ANY system breaks down, welcome to the club, bubba destroy alot of stuff for hobby and educational purposes only. #if it armbian made, old new borrowed or dissassembled, I will share the knowledge and credit source to those who are due credit as best as possible. #any the unlikely event of any new software or hardware developed unless otherwise mentioned specifically as my own creation is purely by a miracle circumstance and sheer brute force plug it in till it works or breaks method. # peer sharing is awesome, bright red blood makes the green grass grow, and always remember to spay and tutor your pests. supporting original content creators and future makers is probably a really good thing. money is a tool for helping many people create something together, so use it intelligently once in a while. Which reminds me, all shit costs electricity. i gotta go invest in a hamster wheel and hamster army to power this experiment. thats what i would say anyway, if i was the boss of anything.

Progress Report! Stubborn resolve because, well we got that kind of time these days ! termux adb and permissions to play around with android 7 so far. good news so far, it doesn't feel (or smell) like it runs hot at all, i'll get some logs up later and try to share the specs or bench. . Just wanted to rush some pics in. I had just given up tonight too. and now goodnight . just waiting for the stupid piece barrel jack adapter kit to show up. real solution was the troubleshooter (self) lack of experience and method and order used to take on such a task. jumper wire power switch came in handy also. there was already populated pin header waiting for it next to the debug pins... ended up supplying power with a 19v 3+ amp asus laptop barrel jack supply and the above uncommon (in my toolbox) barrel jack adapter size. no smoke or electrical fire to mention so far either, but bubba do destroy eventually

*shrugs* CSA96 from ebay looked legit. Reviews looked good. Google it and double check of course. https://www.ebay.com/itm/CSA96-H-264-H-265-RK3399-4G-32G-Smart-TV-Box-Set-Top-Box-For-Android-6-0-4K/254503916001?hash=item3b419d91e1:g:BhsAAOSwzixdJF4l You need to try out all the rk3399-*.dtb in /boot/dtb/rockchip. Good luck

Thank you! Seems this is on hold on my end as well. I'm still learning so, this actual project will be on hold.. While I am making good progress on another individuals unrelated project that was posted on hackaday Adding a CC1101 module to SRXE Shifting focus here is giving me a great hands-on experience to work with some core fundamentals I was sorely lacking. Before I return to the Smart Tech AM40 I will need the right tools it seems. I'll likely get a low cost DIY oscilloscope kit or something like the Espotek Labrador The focus shift has necessary because basically, many of the OPS slot type Single Board Computer ( Appliance / Module / Slot-in Computer / TV Box ) circuit boards are so tightly integrated only to the digital signage platform each company intended its design for.. Anyone who might be curious about reverse engineering or tinkering more on something like these "OPS Digital Signage" variants for use in Armbian or what have you projects.. I ended up budgeting myself to $120 on the whole project. I was able to find a few ways to power on a standalone boar normal display.. Here's what I got for $20 or less. Things like this SHOULD likely safely power up anything with an open plug-gable specification. I have tested and confirmed safe logic levels and got it running on a normal monitor through the native hdmi output. So for now this thread is on hold for updates from myself for a while, but for anyone who wants to pick it up until then.. you should know. Whatever gimmick "OPS slot-in" display / smart tv / or "interactive smart board." they might have you buy, you likely don't need. If you find good deal on an OPS computer, they can be very nifty. I found a on best offer of $30 with some neat stuff on the board. It can be worth the price just to upgrade a laptop with parts found within. It's a crap-shoot though, gotta do your research. Here some of the best of what I could find on a budget ops single board computers AM70-L https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=AM70-L+smart&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=AM70-L riser cards https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32965114732.html https://www.ebay.com/itm/Westinghouse-WB65F1D1-Board-E13A-OPS80B-00R/323773785988?epid=844692227&hash=item4b626be784:g:vHwAAOSwlndZDiOd&autorefresh=true more expensive.. but very good alternative to just a riser card. have found those who accept deals for under $30 Nec OPS dock https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=nec+ops+dock&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=nec+ops+ ELO Touch Ops Adapter Kit (somehow i got mine for much much less than I believe they are sold for. the ebay users store must have been liquidating or mistook it for just the DC power supply part of it... wow, and it works great!) https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=ELO+Touch+Ops+Adapter+Kit&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=ELO+Touch+Ops+Adapter+Ki

-update 20FEB2020 OPS interface board seems to be simple keywords to find what is needed. Phew! Ok much less confusing now. ... and I feel dumb yet almost vindicated in not wasting all this time now. Pictures and links: https://www.google.com/search?q=OPS+interface+board&source=lnms&tbm=isch OPS interface board $11 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32965114732.html overpriced example of all pieces needed on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEC-OPS-SLIDE-IN-Intel-i3-4th-Gen-with-Interface-board-and-Power-Adaptor/382184739088 Woot! .. please be this simple -original post 17feb2020- So for now I'm waiting on a few power adapters, and still doing careful research on how to best go about this regarding powering the device on. Without a standalone dock, or expensive TV.. , I just want to be sure. I have learned quite a bit though in preparation for the attempt I will eventually make. So far. Just bunch of references on research https://www.winmate.com/timing_bios_re-programming.asp https://www.winmate.com/DigitalSignage/open_pluggable_specification.asp?showblock=Support https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/design/products-and-solutions/solutions/open-pluggable-specification/technical-library.html?grouping=rdc Content Types&sort=title:asc 33 +12 V ~ +24 V 73 PS_ON# 34 +12 V ~ +24 V 74 PWR_STATUS 35 +12 V ~ +24 V 75 GND 36 +12 V ~ +24 V 76 GND 37 +12 V ~ +24 V 77 GND 38 +12 V ~ +24 V 78 GND 39 +12 V ~ +24 V 79 GND 40 +12 V ~ +24 V 80 GND

thank yoy Thank you for the through reply. It was suspected it was like an android box in the likes of such as i saw the manufacturer also sells plug n play rack mounts, or thin clients chrome boxes and not so cleverly renamed "appliances and modules" like the chrome boxes as well. Id almost paid $50 to a counter-offer for another that was listed open box but new. Came with both antenna and machine..After reading up on the open power integration on many of these, i didnt raise up to the counter offer. Now reading what details you've laid out your voice here on what these actually are and compared to are reassured me that i didnt miss out on anything. dont feel like i paid too much yet cause i haggled this one down to $35(used, but built very solid). so ill continue the endeavor cause for now the hardware inside is looking really nice... worthwhile only if it can be narrowed down to a quick process to plug n play with armbian at sucha price. like you said. i just learned ao much bout barrel jacks, wire gauge resistance, diodes, voltage and current today in order to beat thinking of ways to beat its "service only barrel jack port hidden inside" ill keep the thread alive with updates till either the board melts, or i have a meltdown attempting an armbian build. if anyone wants to join in on the chaos... theres a seller selling a few now on ebay. make a lowball offer or $20 or $30 and see if they meet u half way.. if nothing else the case is nice, and it does have a populated uart gpio yet to dive into.

Oh, sorry for the confusion. Here is a full snippit from the conversation.soerenderfor suggest your armbian images as a solution to flashing to a possibly adaptable digital signage rk3399 heres the converastion: bubbadestroy 1 Started conversation: Wednesday at 04:13 PM I recently added and cleaned up with several edits an inquiry about a rk3399 board called AM40 iQ. Do you have any suggestions on how I might approach the forum to get support on working with this strange device? The goal would be to put armbian on it and get a bad ass M4 equivalent device that comes loaded with a very nice case fan and hardware for under $50. Quote Edit soerenderfor 3 Replied: Wednesday at 04:31 PM I will look at the board, it seems interresting. Do you have a link to buy the device from, shipping to EU? Best Regards. Quote bubbadestroy 1 Replied: Wednesday at 05:23 PM i did see one , ill update ya in a sec. Quote Edit bubbadestroy 1 Replied: Wednesday at 05:37 PM ok this guy has one, and I know for a FACT he will entertain offers for less cause I'm considering his offer of $58 right now at the moment. If you decide to, he will likely entertain $50 US if you let him know you are going to be paying likely $20 in shipping cost for that to europe. (you don't wanna pay more than 70.00 or 80.00 Euro for total i imagine.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SMART-iQ-AM40-Appliance-UGK-AM40-EDU-EWY1-RK3399-Signage-OPS-plug-board-mini-PC/114055870278?hash=item1a8e427746:g:pqIAAOSwX-ZdoLJj#shpCntId I picked one up used for $35 without the antennas ... as soon as it arrives I'll know for sure how cool this thing really is. Quote Edit soerenderfor 3 Replied: Wednesday at 06:35 PM Have you done some progress with it? Can balbes150 universal images fit the machine? I have just seen your pictures from your topic, i'm curious. How well is the machine cooled down, have looked inside the case? Best Regards.

Okay goin to bed. new photos are up! more to come. I think I found a regular power supply I/O port hidden inside case, just covered so normal users woudnt see it. tomorrow if a regular old 12v power supply works on it ill see how plug and play ready it is as is! then possibly balbes150? oh, and the heatsink lol... that freakin heatsink is awesome. since the whole unit was meant to go INSIDE tv, it has to stay pretty cool while outside of one.

Regarding OPS Open_Pluggable_Specification - this board, and so far possible solutions. 1. Buy a damn dock. (too expensive, anymore than $10 to $20 is unreasonable for consumer use for just one or two products it will ever be needed by) https://www.amazon.com/NEC-Extended-Docking-Standalone-OPS-Dock/dp/B00IFE91TO/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=NEC+OPS&qid=1581316055&sr=8-1 2. Adapt- err.. Having a bit of trouble with safely powering the unit on yet. I think I'm making it more complicated than it should be though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Pluggable_Specification seems im missing some adapter tips. is either too small or too big haha! 3. Hack - breadboard And unfortunately this is gonna be the go to answer I imagine, but I haven't much experience yet on implementing it. In fact most of this is rather new to me. I should thank NicoD for getting me excited about rk3399 boards loaded with armbian 4. Any advice? My friend was either joking or serious when he said solder on a different barrel jack ....

It arrived! This is going to be a non-professional tear-down and quite a WIP! The intent of posting this up was not just to show off a cheaply found / obscurely deployed rk3399 board, but to possibly open development using Armbian. If possible, boards like this and other hidden gems that might pop out of the woodwork as we may find them may come with amazing things only found at usually outrageous prices for the business market. As I found this, it was intended to be a $400-600 DIGITAL SIGNAGE MODULE sold to education private and public I suppose. For one reason or another the modules themselves are being sold near mint, at anywhere from $40-100. A fair price for something that is just parts at worst. Still, the hope and GOAL here is to attempt as much hillbilly hackery as possible to see what else can be done, and armbian seems to be the most hopeful solution for an OS. Any suggestions are welcome, technical, critical, or otherwise that might improve interest as such; BUBBA proudly present and DESTROY smart technologies am40 rk3399 module - now with more pie and banna! Technical Stuff guideam40installv31aug17.pdf - The manual that comes with the module product new in box. It also requires a smart tv with touch capability to insert it into. I would rather install a 3rd party touch screen such as raspberry pi 7-10 inch touch screens like any normal rk3399 sbc.. For now however, I've attached the "module" to something more familiar, pictured here: comparisoniqappliances.pdf Comparison of the different modules you may find for various prices with a similar chip-set. The am50 do look cool, but Bubba can't find one priced to destroy. Photos: sorry for the terrible camera filter I had on. posted anyhow to show general size of board. surprised it 1 pound! Front - with added 1 antenna (can have 2) Rear - Serial Port (including power) aka: Open Plug-gable Specification Side - Service Switch (used for booting operating system of SD I believe, hope for armbian) Inside: "disclosure fitting for rockchip" Bubba am not certified to do anything except destroy. To give you an idea, Bubba had to carry a rock to tech school during basic electronic week for dumb as rock answer. A week how long it took to realize there's rocks everywhere and Bub didn't have to carry a rock for a week in the first place! Anyone who already didn't know, (me had to research) the Rockchip that's not under the heat-sink is : RK808 is a complete power supply solution for Portable systems. The highly integrated device includes four buck DC-DC converters, eight high performance ldos, two low Rds switches, I2C interface, programmable power sequencing and an RTC. Have yet to remove the heat sink, its a beast now that I think about it.. I'll put my m4 on top of it for a comparison photo later. Nomenclature Heatsink HEATSINK! RK808-D UART Debug and logic levels RTL8822BE removable "service switch" labled ADB Power I/O seemed hidden by chasis housing, Bubba destroy a hole into it later for easy access From these photos, does anyone know if this is a carrier or dev board native to any Armbian already supports? Thoughts, corrections, and feedback are welcome. Destroy with caution! This was tricky. The board was free of all mounting, except the adhesive around the front pannel jacks. Bubba destroy carefully here

SMART AM40 iQ Appliance P/N: 1031572 Model: UGK-AM40-EDU | EWY1-AM40-EDU | EWY2-AM40-EDU Processor RK3399, Dual-core A72+Quad-core A53, 64 bits, 2GHz Memory 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM Storage 32 GB eMMC 5.1 Wireless technology Bluetooth 4.1 802.11A/B/G/N/Ac Capture options Establish a Bluetooth wireless connection with a supported mobile device Connectors HDMI 1.4 (1920 × 1080) output for external monitor USB 3.0 Type-A (×2) RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet --Update-- For device tear-down and technical sheets included in package - SEE SECOND POST Reference links posted at bottom are sourced as I dig up more details that may be useful . It looks like the power will have to be supplied via gpio as far as I can tell.. The official documentation and fccid technical orders refer to the Headless SBC / Module what have you; as an "IQ Appliance". Tagged 'grep' for control/command function searching through fccid or other official documentation) Otherwise found simply as AM40 rk3399 or AM40 iq on google/other engines --AM40 iQ - Anyone seen or attempted armbian on something similar?-- Figured this forum may be one of the few places that might appreciate and see what I first saw. So if anyone might have an idea where to proceed with a possible hidden gem like this.. I picked it up for reasonable price a quite a bit LESS than current nanopi m4 cost the other night. Can't say quite yet if it will be a useless paperweight, or a diamond in the rockchip. heh. As soon as it arrives I intend on seeing what kind of hac.. err educational research can be done to place Armbian on it eventually over its intended OS. There seems to be a service switch that is used on other models to allow intel modules and windows OS. The form factor seems to be carrier board size, so here's hoping for that switch to be more open to source than intended for this particular model. It's just something about the specs on it raised an eyebrow, yea? And the case it comes with is pretty solid compared to the shit, err, other case and fan combos you normally see.. That alone.. I didn't see any tear-down from the ffcid schematics available to the public, possibly because it sold as an education exclusive device to school system. If anyone here shows interest, I'd be glad to do a tear-down (bubba do like destroy) and share it with the RK3399 community. -Follow up- Regarding cost. I paid somewhere under $50. If anyone else considers it, I suggest you be firm with the seller, and make an offer that is well under what they're going to be asking. Reason to be a cheapskate on these things? Well.. 1. Likely these were paid for by government tax funds for schools. Or written off as a privately owned business cost anyhow, which means someone like us already helped pay for them.. In the form of tax or tax return budget allotted to business owners. 2. Considering I'm not even sure if its possible to power on so simply without gpio testing or a breakout wizard beard 3. Cause we can build this things ourselves already for under $100 easily. So yea don't pay something more than that, even brand new for sure! Open Power Specification and 2 pins in the back is all I see so far. Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SMART-Model-AM40-Part-Number-1029788-Rev-07-No-Antennae-Very-Good-Condition/174156468137?hash=item288c88cfa9:g:DvwAAOSwCRVdcQyW https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SMART-iQ-Appliance-AM40-Education-Digital-Signage-Player-Rockchip-RK3399/173853101572?hash=item287a73ce04:g:AccAAOSwaAlccc2l Manufacturer Reference: https://support.smarttech.com/docs/software/iq/en/about/specifications/am40.cshtml https://support.smarttech.com/docs/software/iq/en/about/iq-appliance-connectors.cshtml FCCID Technical Orders: doesn't seem to have its own nomenclature listing however, it is referenced in great detail its carrier device (an over priced touch screen) sourced for IMPORTANT notes before any reversing or mod attempt at introducing hardware compatible touch screen, PSU, OPS (serial) etc user manual control/command function search 'grep AM40' FCC ID QCIIDS665P1 QCI-IDS665P1, QCI IDS665P1, QCIIDS665P1, QCIIDS665PI, QCI1DS665P1, QCIID5665P1, QCIIDS66SP1, QC11DS665P1, OCIIDS665P1, 0CIIDS665P1 SMART Technologies Inc. SMART Board 6000S and 6000S Pro Series Interactive Displays IDS665P1 SMART LCD Monitor SBID-6065S, IDS665-1 Smartboard Interactive Display 6000S / Pro SBID-6265S, SBID-6275S, SBID-6265S-PW, SBID-6275S-PW https://fccid.io/QCIIDS675P1 https://fccid.io/QCIIDS675P1/Users-Manual/User-Manual-4554712 FCC ID QCI7086 QCI-7086, QCI 7086, QCI7086, QCI7O86, QC17086, OCI7086, 0CI7086 SMART Technologies Inc. Interactive Display 7086 https://fccid.io/QCI7086 https://fccid.io/QCI7086/User-Manual/Users-Manual-3626573 https://fccid.io/QCI7086/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-3626563 user manual control/command function search 'grep iQ appliance' FCC ID QCI7000 QCI-7000, QCI 7000, QCI7000, QCI7OOO, QC17000, OCI7000, 0CI7000 SMART Technologies Inc. Interactive Display 7000 https://fccid.io/QCI7000 https://fccid.io/QCI7000/Users-Manual/user-manual-3417295 https://fccid.io/QCI7086/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-3417295 OPS: Open Plug-gable Specification Serial (40 pin) Seria(40 pin) = OPS (80 pin *note, not sure exactly if this is the way to go, but closest I could find for now to adapt the OPS interface manufacturers "support" forum search regarding ops https://community.smarttech.com/s/global-search/OPS?language=en_US A Challenger Appears https://hackaday.io/project/20193-open-pluggable-specification-breakout-board https://www.digikey.com.au/products/en/connectors-interconnects/rectangular-board-to-board-connectors-arrays-edge-type-mezzanine/308?k=tx24&k=&pkeyword=tx24&s=54162&pv1989=0&FV=ffe00134&mnonly=0&newproducts=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25 OPS: Open Plug-gable Specification potentially an inconvenient convenience. (hdmi,usb,rj45 and etc..) to make the platform a module. imagine your favorite usb to serial, or whatever favorite debugging i/o. Now, chop off the USB part, and replace it with this. heres hoping those 2 pins are simple logic level voltage and ground Service Switch: Possibly switches between EMMC and SD Boot? May be interesting TLDR; possibly epic fail or epic win used condition: metal case / fan / rk3399 / 4GBDDR3 / 32GB EMMC vs NanoPi M4 Metal Case w/ Cooling Fan $30 to $45 Metal Case with Cooling Fan and RK3399/4GBDDR3/32GB eMMC $35 to $100