IcerJo

Mind if I ask which kernel are you using? and did you experience any problems adding any addon's? I had no problems with a fresh install of Bullseye on my Helios4 but had issues when I tried adding snapraid and mergerfs on my Helios64 with the stock Bullseye Kernel.
 
Also Experiencing a freeze/issue When installing OMV through armbian-config where it freezes at the end while processing triggers for man-db

Hi,
To my side, i have a stable system:
bulleye trunk
build from source with armbian-dev-tools
with 5.15.26 Kernel
and 400MHZ-1400MHZ schedutil.
Have a good day.

Hi!
 
I am trying the vanilla 5.15 kernel which has support for helios64.
The system is booting, disks, MMC and network are working.
 
But fancontrol fails.
It seems the /sys entries have changed and the udev rules are not working.
 
I've tried to understand the wiki page in order to adapt the udev rules and fancontrol config file but I am a little bit lost.
Is there updated versions of those config files?
 
Kind regards,
Xavier Miller.
 

Hi,
 
I try "on demand" 400-1400Mhz this week-end, seem stable.
I will waiting one week...
Next i try 400-1800Mhz.
I do all my previous test with "Conservative" on governor, maybe "on demand" is the key of stability.
 
Have a good day

Added to watchlist. If it stays cheap enough, I'll buy it. 
 
Can't guarantee you "Supported" flag, but I will have it running edge and notice problems
 
 

HW is one thing. The biggest part:
https://docs.armbian.com/User-Guide_FAQ/#development-time
https://docs.armbian.com/User-Guide_FAQ/#support-time
 
This helps a lot more to create value:
https://forum.armbian.com/forum/54-help-wanted/
then donating hardware we can usually get for free.
 
Market:
https://forum.armbian.com/forum/55-market-place/

@piter75 commited the emmc fix into Armbian and built Armbian 21.08.2 which is already available through the Armbian mirrors (via 'apt update && apt upgrade').
 
It is save to upgrade your Buster or Bullseye installation to Armbian 21.08.2 - but emmc read speed will be about 50% what it used to be.
 
You can roll back to the previous linux 5.10.43 kernel if you don't like that - just install those files with 'dpkg -i *.deb'.
 

Howdy Igor! A workaround I found that seems to work for me, was to boot from the latest release from an SD card, and update the bootloader. It seemed to let me back in and stopped giving me the login loop i was experiencing. I am running Buster.

I own a Helios64  too and I store data on it I really do not want to loose.  I love this thing !
But It is in fact ridiculous if updates are provided having the potential to render your setup unusable or even to loose your data.
 
After Kobol stopped operations my immediate reaction a was to close the Armbian update channel and to test potential Armbian updates myself -  and not on my main system.
 
Instead of turning away from Armbian I try to support Helios64 on this platform. As long as Kobol operations are stopped we need to build and test linux kernels ourselves before updating to any new linux version.
 
However, there is a stable kernel 5.10.43 for Helios64 (in particular with the ondemand governor active) and it is the kernel branch Debian Bullseye is using.
With this setup it should be already possible to operate Helios64 for the next 2-5 years in a stable manner by just receiving updates through the Debian Bullseye channel - with occasional linux updates compiled and tested by members of this forum.
 
Everybody is invited to contribute.

I am talking about patches provided by armbian. They still continue to support our Helios64 :-)

No, the storage is fine - Armbian 21.08.1 is yet another update that hoses something on the Helios64. Last time it was the fans, the time before that the 2.5Gb Ethernet port (twice), and this time it's the eMMC.
 
You'll need to follow the instructions upthread to downgrade the kernel to get the eMMC working again. Then cross your fingers it gets fixed at some point in the future.

If anyone has installed the update but *not* rebooted, it's a quick (temporary) fix:
 
sudo apt install linux-dtb-current-rockchip64=21.05.4 linux-headers-current-rockchip64=21.05.4 linux-image-current-rockchip64=21.05.4  

It worked, I have my eMMC system back!
 
Here are all the steps in case someone else has the problem and wants to repair his eMMC image...
 
1. download a previous Helios64 image from here...
https://wiki.kobol.io/download/
2. install the image on a microSD e.g. for Windows and macOS there is Etcher...
https://www.balena.io/etcher/
3a. boot your Helios64 with the microSD and Jumper 10, see here...
https://wiki.kobol.io/helios64/troubleshoot/#how-to-force-boot-from-microsd
3b. Alternative: from the serial console press a key on the keyboard while u-boot start. You will get the u-boot prompt.
From this prompt write and press enter. Helios64 will boot from SD... (thx @prahal)
run bootcmd_mmc1  
4. if you are logged in as root user (normal users must put a sudo in front of the commands) execute the following commands...
root@helios64:~# mkdir -p /mnt/system root@helios64:~# mount /dev/mmcblk2p1 /mnt/system root@helios64:~# cd /mnt/system/
5. The contents of the /mnt/system directory should now be filled with the contents of your eMMC....
root@helios64:/mnt/system# ll total 80 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Aug 30 2020 bin -> usr/bin drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Sep 1 03:01 boot drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 dev drwxr-xr-x 110 root root 12288 Sep 1 03:01 etc drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Sep 22 2020 export drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jun 10 04:12 home lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Aug 30 2020 lib -> usr/lib drwx------ 5 root root 4096 Oct 5 2020 lost+found drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 media drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 9 2021 mnt drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Dec 2 2020 opt dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 proc drwx------ 7 root root 4096 Aug 31 23:36 root drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 run lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Aug 30 2020 sbin -> usr/sbin drwxrwxr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 5 2020 selinux drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Jun 10 03:18 srv dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 sys lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 42 Sep 1 03:01 thermal_zone0 -> /sys/devices/virtual/thermal/thermal_zone0 drwxrwxrwt 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 tmp drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4096 Nov 27 2020 usr drwxr-xr-x 14 root root 4096 Oct 6 2020 var  
6. now download the 3 old packages...
root@helios64:/mnt/system# wget http://armbian.hosthatch.com/apt/pool/main/l/linux-5.10.43-rockchip64/linux-dtb-current-rockchip64_21.05.4_arm64.deb root@helios64:/mnt/system# wget http://armbian.hosthatch.com/apt/pool/main/l/linux-5.10.43-rockchip64/linux-headers-current-rockchip64_21.05.4_arm64.deb root@helios64:/mnt/system# wget http://armbian.hosthatch.com/apt/pool/main/l/linux-5.10.43-rockchip64/linux-image-current-rockchip64_21.05.4_arm64.deb  
7. now changes the root directory...
root@helios64:/mnt/system# chroot /mnt/system root@helios64:/# pwd / root@helios64:/# ll total 50996 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Aug 30 2020 bin -> usr/bin drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Sep 1 14:56 boot drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Sep 1 16:15 dev drwxr-xr-x 110 root root 12288 Sep 1 03:01 etc drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Sep 22 2020 export drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jun 10 04:12 home lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Aug 30 2020 lib -> usr/lib -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 314304 Jul 8 19:32 linux-dtb-current-rockchip64_21.05.4_arm64.deb -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11527696 Jul 8 19:32 linux-headers-current-rockchip64_21.05.4_arm64.deb -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 40290884 Jul 8 19:33 linux-image-current-rockchip64_21.05.4_arm64.deb drwx------ 5 root root 4096 Oct 5 2020 lost+found drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 media drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 9 2021 mnt drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Dec 2 2020 opt dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 proc drwx------ 7 root root 4096 Aug 31 23:36 root drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 run lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Aug 30 2020 sbin -> usr/sbin drwxrwxr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 5 2020 selinux drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Jun 10 03:18 srv dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 sys lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 42 Sep 1 03:01 thermal_zone0 -> /sys/devices/virtual/thermal/thermal_zone0 drwxrwxrwt 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 tmp drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4096 Nov 27 2020 usr drwxr-xr-x 14 root root 4096 Oct 6 2020 var  
8. now installs the downloaded packages...
root@helios64:/# dpkg -i *.deb dpkg: warning: downgrading linux-dtb-current-rockchip64 from 21.08.1 to 21.05.4 (Reading database ... 62558 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack linux-dtb-current-rockchip64_21.05.4_arm64.deb ... Unpacking linux-dtb-current-rockchip64 (21.05.4) over (21.08.1) ... Selecting previously unselected package linux-headers-current-rockchip64. Preparing to unpack linux-headers-current-rockchip64_21.05.4_arm64.deb ... Unpacking linux-headers-current-rockchip64 (21.05.4) ... dpkg: warning: downgrading linux-image-current-rockchip64 from 21.08.1 to 21.05.4 Preparing to unpack linux-image-current-rockchip64_21.05.4_arm64.deb ... update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-5.10.60-rockchip64 Removing obsolete file uInitrd-5.10.60-rockchip64 stat: cannot stat '/proc/1/root/.': No such file or directory Unpacking linux-image-current-rockchip64 (21.05.4) over (21.08.1) ... Setting up linux-dtb-current-rockchip64 (21.05.4) ... Setting up linux-headers-current-rockchip64 (21.05.4) ... Compiling headers - please wait ... grep: /proc/cpuinfo: No such file or directory grep: /proc/cpuinfo: No such file or directory Setting up linux-image-current-rockchip64 (21.05.4) ... update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.10.43-rockchip64 W: Couldn't identify type of root file system for fsck hook update-initramfs: Converting to u-boot format  
9. reset the root change with exit and restart your helios64 with reboot...
root@helios64:/# exit exit root@helios64:/mnt/system# reboot  
10. after a reboot you should now boot from the eMMC again...
root@192.168.180.5's password: _ _ _ _ __ _ _ | | | | ___| (_) ___ ___ / /_ | || | | |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \/ __| '_ \| || |_ | _ | __/ | | (_) \__ \ (_) |__ _| |_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/|___/\___/ |_| Welcome to Armbian 21.08.1 Buster with Linux 5.10.43-rockchip64 No end-user support: built from trunk System load: 74% Up time: 3 min Memory usage: 34% of 3.77G IP: 172.18.0.1 172.19.0.1 172.20.0.1 172.17.0.1 192.168.180.5 CPU temp: 66°C Usage of /: 87% of 15G [ 0 security updates available, 3 updates total: apt upgrade ] Last check: 2021-09-01 16:38 [ General system configuration (beta): armbian-config ] Last login: Wed Sep 1 16:26:23 2021 root@helios64:~# root@helios64:~# uname -a Linux helios64 5.10.43-rockchip64 #21.05.4 SMP PREEMPT Wed Jun 16 08:02:12 UTC 2021 aarch64 GNU/Linux root@helios64:~#  
11. if the eMMC was used you can see with mount...
root@helios64:~# mount | grep /dev/mmc /dev/mmcblk2p1 on / type ext4 (rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro,commit=600) /dev/mmcblk2p1 on /var/folder2ram/var/log type ext4 (rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro,commit=600) /dev/mmcblk2p1 on /var/folder2ram/var/tmp type ext4 (rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro,commit=600) /dev/mmcblk2p1 on /var/folder2ram/var/lib/openmediavault/rrd type ext4 (rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro,commit=600) /dev/mmcblk2p1 on /var/folder2ram/var/spool type ext4 (rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro,commit=600) /dev/mmcblk2p1 on /var/folder2ram/var/lib/rrdcached type ext4 (rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro,commit=600) /dev/mmcblk2p1 on /var/folder2ram/var/lib/monit type ext4 (rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro,commit=600) /dev/mmcblk2p1 on /var/folder2ram/var/cache/samba type ext4 (rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro,commit=600)  

Thank you for the Rsync guide, I'm going to give this a try real quick, I had to modify the parameters since i had my usb SD card reader mounted as /media/USB, the rsync just finished. I'm going to shutdown, and pop the SD Card in and see what happens
 

I opted to just setup an SD Card with the latest, and redo my OMV install on it, since that's technically all I use it for at this time, I was able to get the old system booted with no problems by pushing re-pushing the bootloader but wasn't able to install the Deb files, and I am not that confident in my linux skill set, though i learned a few new tips and tricks during the troubleshooting! I'll repush to EMMC once issues have eventually been resolved, or i may downgrade the kernel and push, i'll see later.
 
Thank you @ebin-dev for your advice and assistance and thank you @TDCroPower for the RSync article!

ok i got a little further.
I wrote the armbian image 21.02.3 with 5.10.21-rockchip64 on a SD and triggered the boot from microSD via jumper 10...
https://wiki.kobol.io/helios64/troubleshoot/#how-to-force-boot-from-microsd
 
i am back on the box and was able to mount the emmc under /dev/mmcblk2p1...
 
root@helios64:~# ll /mnt/ total 0 root@helios64:~# mkdir -p /mnt/system root@helios64:~# mount /dev/mmcblk2p1 /mnt/system root@helios64:~# cd /mnt/system/ root@helios64:/mnt/system# ll total 80 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Aug 30 2020 bin -> usr/bin drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Sep 1 03:01 boot drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 dev drwxr-xr-x 110 root root 12288 Sep 1 03:01 etc drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Sep 22 2020 export drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jun 10 04:12 home lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Aug 30 2020 lib -> usr/lib drwx------ 5 root root 4096 Oct 5 2020 lost+found drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 media drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 9 2021 mnt drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Dec 2 2020 opt dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 proc drwx------ 7 root root 4096 Aug 31 23:36 root drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 run lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Aug 30 2020 sbin -> usr/sbin drwxrwxr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 5 2020 selinux drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Jun 10 03:18 srv dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 sys lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 42 Sep 1 03:01 thermal_zone0 -> /sys/devices/virtual/thermal/thermal_zone0 drwxrwxrwt 2 root root 4096 Oct 15 2020 tmp drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4096 Nov 27 2020 usr drwxr-xr-x 14 root root 4096 Oct 6 2020 var root@helios64:/mnt/system#  
remains only the question how/where I install the packages that were described here...
https://forum.armbian.com/topic/18855-upgrading-to-bullseye/?tab=comments#comment-128189
 
maybe it has something to do with the boot/ directory....
root@helios64:/mnt/system# ll boot/ total 64696 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 166 Sep 1 03:01 armbianEnv.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1536 Oct 15 2020 armbian_first_run.txt.template -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 38518 Oct 15 2020 boot.bmp -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3113 Oct 15 2020 boot.cmd -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3185 Oct 15 2020 boot.scr -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 221489 Aug 25 20:56 config-5.10.60-rockchip64 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 Sep 1 02:31 dtb -> dtb-5.10.60-rockchip64 drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Sep 1 02:30 dtb-5.10.60-rockchip64 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 26 Sep 1 02:31 Image -> vmlinuz-5.10.60-rockchip64 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15767106 Sep 1 02:32 initrd.img-5.10.60-rockchip64 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5839373 Aug 25 20:56 System.map-5.10.60-rockchip64 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 26 Sep 1 02:32 uInitrd -> uInitrd-5.10.60-rockchip64 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15767170 Sep 1 02:32 uInitrd-5.10.60-rockchip64 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 28580352 Aug 25 20:56 vmlinuz-5.10.60-rockchip64 root@helios64:/mnt/system#  

The easiest way to downgrade linux on emmc now would be to copy those files to /mnt/system (root directory of your emmc) - and then change root with  'chroot /mnt/system' and install the packages with 'dpkg -i *.deb'   (while your active system is on SD).
 
You can leave the chrooted environment by typing 'exit'. emmc should now be bootable again. If not, you need to update the bootloader on emmc as described earlier in this thread.

eMMC troubles has been reported on other RK3399 boards such as Nanopi T4. Since we didn't do anything in this area I suspect someone pushed bad code upstream. Need analysis, while I don't see possibility to check and fix in the following weeks. 

I don't have a clean backup of the eMMC unfortunately, will probably have to introduce in the future to have a backup for such a step.
I found the following tutorial to clone the system from the emmc to a connected media....
https://averagelinuxuser.com/backup-and-restore-your-linux-system-with-rsync/
After that I would have to somehow downgrade my emmc backup on the media?
Does anyone have a tip which files have to be replaced?
After that I should clone from the fixed medium to a new SD and boot from it, now I should see my system again or?
And then in the armbian-config with...
System&security -> Install to -> system on emmc, boot from emmc
... to clone the image again on the emmc...
https://wiki.kobol.io/helios64/install/transfer/

If you do fiddle around keep us posted, would be great to know if it works... I am somehow reluctant to try it at the moment as I need a running system. Because the mentioned workaround (updating bootloader) does not make the emmc fully writeable I would rather stick to the sd card at the moment.

@bunducafe dpkg -i *.deb did the job;  @IcerJo I would not trust a "temporary" fix I don't really understand. Helios64 saves your data...
 

In order to roll back the kernel you just need to install those packages (on sd): http://armbian.hosthatch.com/apt/pool/main/l/linux-5.10.43-rockchip64/
 

You are using kernel 5.10.60 (Armbian 21.08.1).  Several Armbian patches did not compile with this version of the kernel - it is therefore unstable (see the parallel thread - upgrading to Bullseye). The kernel panic occurred after 150372 seconds = 41.77 hours of operation !
 

I am with Buster, but regarding the ondemand governor: I have set them from the very beginning from 400 and 1400 and the system has been running rocksolid after this.

Thank you! I canceled delivery of the psu I ordered and then ordered the one you linked, It has arrived today and the issue is now resolved! Thank you for saving me from making a grave mistake!