[H96 Max X3 Specifics only]

@ikbel Yes, my Vontar x3 runs Armbian just fine. The only way for me to boot from external media was by using the toothpick method. Button is inside 3.5mm Jack. You have to push it, then connect power and keep pushing button. I had some problems with this method. I'm not sure if there is some timeout on pushing the button, or my toothpick was slipping from button.

 

Remember to link correct dtb file (I'm using h96max-x2-test-bus80-gpu-volt.dtb) and rename u-boot file. Good luck, If you have a problem I'm happy to help.

[H96 Max X3 Specifics only]

You can track updates on Collabora blog. In last update they added early, partial support for OpenGL ES 2 in Bifrost. They confirmed GNOME 3 working on G31 but it is premature and can prove to be buggy.

[Armbian for Amlogic S905X3]

On 5/28/2020 at 8:37 PM, Иван Чеботарёв said:

Hi. Does anyone have transpeed x3 pro and did they manage to start armbian. If so, how?

Try following this tutorial:

If you want to boot from microSD basically you need to 1) burn desired image on the card (I suggest using Etcher) 2) Edit uEnv.txt for Amlogic and link DTB file (finding correct one requires a bit of try and error,  I'm no expert but maybe start with meson-sm1-sei610.dtb) 3) Boot using toothpick method.  Good luck!

[The list of models that are running Armbian (Amlogic, Rockchip, Allwinner etc)]

Vontar x3 (Amlogic S905X3 SoC)   Most probably same circuit as H96 Max X3 see: Confirmed to work with  h96max-x2-test-bus80-gpu-volt.dtb from root-stas: -HDMI w/ sound -WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac -Bluetooth 4.0 after adding missing files Not working yet GPU/VPU accel

[Tanix TX9S]

I use different device but getting first armmian boot was difficult for me too. Try to burn card using Etcher and be aware that using toothpick method can be picky in terms of how long you press reset button.

[Best TV Box SOC for Linux?]

If you want to make it cheap take a look at here:

 

 

Some people on 4pda.ru say that there are few devices that are electrically the same. They can be obtained from $35 for 2GB RAM and 4 GB for 5 more bucks. From my experience on my Vontar x3 everything works as on H96 Max x3. Currently most annoying is lack of gpu/vpu acceleration on Armbian. I'm experiencing some display issues but it's probably due to s905x3 incompatibility. On my hardware 2.4 GHz WiFi has crappy range but again "some people on 4pda" say that is due to inference from board and can be solved by using aluminium foil or moving antenna to different position. Other things seems to be pretty solid. More info in mentioned thread. If you need some specific testing on Armbian I can do some for you.
 

Absolute price/performance champion is probably this https://pl.aliexpress.com/item/4000278688252.html but I don't know if anybody managed to run Armbian on it.

 

Edit:

nguyen managed to boot Armbian on A95X F3 Slim but I don't know how it corresponds to hardware from aliexpress link

 

 

[H96 Max X3 Specifics only]

About 1440p HDMI issue I tried do manually decode EDID and I found unlisted resolutions there. Whats more in Xorg logs I saw them as well. Anyway when I tried to set res manually (params taken from EDID and Xorg) from xrandr I got error: "Configure crtc 0 failed" and "failed to set mode: Invalid argument" in Xorg logs. This is the case to for all resolutions unlisted in xrandr that I tried (1080p75Hz doesn't work so it's not HDMI bandwidth fault or somerhing). @root-stas I can't locate Xorg.conf, some net sources say it's depreciated and must be created manually. At this point I don't know if adding anything in Xorg.conf can help. I'm not specialist so If you think I should try it tell me.

 

After fresh install I got Bluetooth working. I have successfully paired my phone with box. Unfortunately XBone controller throws errors but I didn't install drivers for it so that can be the cause. Anyway, to get bluetooth working I have copied more files from git repo provided. by @root-stas. List of files and logs can be obtained from link below. I don't know now which files are needed I have limited time right now. Some analogue files can be found in /lib/firmware directory. For people having trouble with adding bcm4335c0.hcd file make sure name is "BCM4335C0.hcd" (including this sneaky "c").

 

Logs w/ display issue, bluetooth working and HDMI audio issue

 

In previous installation I have experienced HDMI audio going down (sink device disappeared), in link above Is a dmesg supposedly from previous installation, but I'm not sure, may be worth checking tho.

 

When looking at screenshots color issue became more clear to me, Image looks like sheet (unfortunately not white one ).  If there is an issue with extracting resolution from EDID maybe there is issue with reading color management info as well.

 

I have extracted DTB ftom my device boot.img using this tool. It can be obtained here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=12DJoBFrRRP1v2r0ntPCz5LYXP4DRZL1A

 

And las but not least this "post after next 24h" rule is pain in the heart.

[H96 Max X3 Specifics only]

Hi guys!
People on 4pda say that H96 Max x3, Vontar x3, HK1 Box and Transpeed X3 Air are the same hardware (last three even look the same ). I tried using @root-stas dtb file and it worked on Vontar x3. So I suggest to change topic name to include other boxes names - maybe that will gather more people in this thread. As of me expect known bugs my device can not detect all resolutions over HDMI. I have 1440p 75 Hz monitor and Armbian can detect only resolutions up to 1080p at 60 Hz. I'm experiencing color shifts as well. Most looks about right but grays are shifted towards yellowish red. If somebody is competent here enough to tell if these are device specific bugs or SoC/Armbian related please tell me so I can report it in right thread.

Here are modes detected on TV Box:

 

And here are modes detected on my laptop with Intel graphics running Ubuntu:

Here is color shift example:

grey

[Armbian for Amlogic S905X3]

Hi guys,

I'm all new to Armbian. I'm trying to boot Armbian_20.02.0-rc1.038_Aml-s9xxx_eoan_current_5.5.0-rc6_desktop_20200205 on tv box Vontar X3 (Amlogic s905x3).  I tried to set meson-sm1-sei610.dtb in uEnv.txt without success.  Then I extracted DTB ftom my device boot.img using this tool. Unfortunately extracted DTB file did not help.

I'm always getting error message in recovery:

Supported API: 3
charge_status 2, charged 1, status SUCCESS, capacity 100
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
E:Block map file is too short: 3
E:Map of '@/cache/recovery/block.map' failed
E:failed to map file
Installation aborted.

Just now I have noticed that aml_autoscript.zip that I'm executing as update is empty so it could be the problem.

Here are files I have extracted from boot.img:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=12DJoBFrRRP1v2r0ntPCz5LYXP4DRZL1A
 

I'm pretty clueless what I can do to make it work. Any help will be much appreciated.