MattWestB

@MattWestB This is the dtb for kernel 6.1, it should work on your existing installation: rk322x-led-conf7.dtbo

@Benedito Portela I checked your firwmare and actually R29_MXQ and R2B_MXQ share the same identical original device tree, so you can go testing the image, just follow the instruction and try with a pristine system on sdcard/usb stick, not juggling with dtbs on existing systems

dmesg and 
journalctl -a as @jock requested.
 
Looks like Eth and HDMI is working OK WiFi is no go then its having one RTL8723AS and im not using it but if in the future is getting the BT working it shall being great but is not priority .
I have booting it on one USB-Stick and now back to Ubuntu on  the eMMC and HA RCP testing for thread and Zigbee.
RK3228Azip.zip

My board is one R29_MXQ_LP3_V2.3_00908 if you remember and it was one of the first with broken HDMI.
Photos is posted for one and a half years ago of the PCB and Joke was doing the SHH working on multitool after that.

@MattWestB Ubuntu or debian does not matter, the dtb depends upon the kernel version.
The image above has kernel 6.5 (edge) and I ask to briefly test it as is, in particular look over hdmi, emmc and ethernet and report dmesg.
 
Jiggling with dtbs over other kernels, or use multitool dtb on armbian (baaad!!! never do this!) is a hazard: it may work or may end up with a broken system and a broken system surely does not help  anyone 😐
 
 
 

@MattWestB Perfect, thanks! I see the eMMC is correctly detected and ethernet working too, so probably my sample is just defective.

dmesg and 
journalctl -a as @jock requested.
 
Looks like Eth and HDMI is working OK WiFi is no go then its having one RTL8723AS and im not using it but if in the future is getting the BT working it shall being great but is not priority .
I have booting it on one USB-Stick and now back to Ubuntu on  the eMMC and HA RCP testing for thread and Zigbee.
RK3228Azip.zip

@MattWestB @Benedito Portela guys I appreciate your feedback, but please use the armbian image I gave from an sdcard and post the dmesg log if you can.
Doing cut&paste over custom setups just makes me really confused. If you already have regular Armbian installed on eMMC/eMCP, just burn the new image on sdcard, plug the sdcard and boot the board.
Your installed system won't be touched because sdcard boot has priority over internal flash. When Armbian is installed, boot priority is always sdcard, then USB stick, then internal flash.

@jock and @MattWestB, I did too, a fast test in my MXQ_R2B_LP3, i replaced only rk322x-box.dtb from Multitool in my sdcard with my configuration, i use Armbian Buster legacy, and HDMI worked! Yet couldn't install it in emmc!
 
Thank you very much for your dedication and commitment, I would like to help more, but I don't have that ability!

Debian Bookworm minimal Armbian with desktop up and running and looks working OK but only very fast testing and im going back to my Ubuntu for getting my HA Thread and Zigbeed test system being online for testing.

Was doing one fast test with Multitool on my device that have updated eMMC with new bootloader and putting it on one USB-Stick and its booting with HDM is working and can navigating with keyboard so looks great. The video is not looking great then its one full HD TV and we is knowing all video modes is not supported but its more then OK.
Shall testing the DEB but i only running Ubuntu on my Linux machines so im not installing it.
 
Thanks for great work !!!

Was doing one fast test with Multitool on my device that have updated eMMC with new bootloader and putting it on one USB-Stick and its booting with HDM is working and can navigating with keyboard so looks great. The video is not looking great then its one full HD TV and we is knowing all video modes is not supported but its more then OK.
Shall testing the DEB but i only running Ubuntu on my Linux machines so im not installing it.
 
Thanks for great work !!!

UPDATE FOR R29-MXQ USERS!
 
Hello, this is an update for those people who has R29 board and have suffered issues regarding stability problems and no HDMI output.
I had the chance to have a board in my lab thanks to @Hudson FAS and something is moving!
 
What's wrong with this board:
Differently from any other known board, it has a specific GPIO pin to turn the HDMI on and off: discovering such GPIO required extensive trial and error, it was disguised in the original dtb as "power-hold" 😅
But the main problem with this board is that it has no power regulation for CPU, so it cannot run faster than 1Ghz.
The default dtb shipped with Armbian and Multitool are set to run the CPU up to 1.2Ghz. For this reason, some (most?) unlucky R29 samples were totally unable to boot with the default configuration.
 
I still need some help from community though: my sampl is able to boot and works stable but:
emmc does not work ethernet does not work unless I downgrade the link to 10 Mbit/s I suspect my sample is damaged, but I need a feedback from other users to understand if there's something more in the dtb to discover or it is just my sample.
 
Multitool
you can download a fixed version from here. It should work flawlessy and HDMI should turn on with no problems.  
Armbian
you still need to do some manual passages:
Burn the multitool on a sdcard, run it on the board, make a backup of the original firmware then erase the internal flash to force sdcard boot. Store the backup on a safe place; if you wish, it would be appreciated if a copy can be shared here for further studies! Burn this Debian Bookworm minimal Armbian image on the sdcard, the try to boot the board. If you're able to boot, access via ssh, run rk322x-config, select your configuration options and select led-conf7 as GPIO configuration in the last passage, then reboot; you're done! if your board does not boot, mount the sdcard partition and manually add  overlays=led-conf7 in /boot/armbianEnv.txt, then you should be able to boot  
Thanks!

@n3o  As a moderator of these forums, I have been watching your postings.  You are abusing these forums and the people that contribute to them.  (Everyone, especially @RaptorSDS and @jock have been very willing to invest a lot of time to help you)   However, repeatedly you have been given specific information that you ignore, been given advise that you ignore and then you come back with more and more questions.  There are very limited people resources working on Armbian (and even less with TV boxes).  You alone are consuming way more developer time than any one individual has the right to receive.  This is open source, and therefore users are needed to contribute as much as they consume in resources from the community in order for this to work.  This is not a school where you can come to be taught how everything works, demanding the attention of everyone else to teach you. 
 
Your latest questions are now venturing into very deep and difficult areas of code (none of which is expected to work on these TV boxes as has been mentioned to you).  If you want to continue down the path you are going, you first need to become an expert at these topics on known working platforms, then you can try to apply that expertise on TV boxes.  You may not realize it, but the questions you are asking, are essentially asking for weeks if not months of developer help to get working, if it is at all possible.
 

I will never stress out that THESE issues reported by you are the exact reasons to chose a properly supported Single Board Computer from the officially supported list and not buy crap like supercheap tvboxes. If you don't have the time, will and skills to solve troubles, tvboxes may end up being a large source of frustration. The very same problems are the main reason tvboxes are NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED and NOT ENDORSED by Armbian project; tvboxes are just a community effort to have fun with them and avoid some waste, but the mileage can vary greatly. Here are the FAQs

@n3o hope this helps Miron part number search and your part.

yes start mutlitool and erase nand
 

Yes, this is exactly the way I suggest to take confidence with the system: erase the internal flash to zero (does not matter if NAND or eMMC) to remove any trace of Android; then use Armbian from sdcard to bring up the system, experiment with rk322x-config to setup the board correctly so, in case of mistake, just plug the sdcard in a PC and revert the error; install packages, services, reinstall armbian from scratch with another kernel or rootfs (Debian bullseye, bookworm, Ubuntu Jammy LTS, latest Ubuntu, etc...) and do all your own experiments on the sdcard.
 
When finally you notice that the base system is stable with the proper led-conf and you're happy with the software setup, transfer it to internal flash or install armbian on internal flash with multitool.
 
Also, IMHO, boards with NAND have much better use with external sdcard than internal flash, since NAND are supported only with ancient 4.4 kernel and they still are problematic. Keep them erased and live easier with external sdcard.
 

@Benedito Portela Your board is having eMMC and if you having one backup try deleting the internal flash and then is shall loading the bootloader from the SD-card and armbian OK from SD-card and also new kernels. If you is getting it working you can write the bootloader to the eMMC with multi tool or with other programs.
I was not getting it working with the standard bootloader but i have some in my git that was working OK on my board but its not identical.
If getting current up and running first run RK-Tools and setting LED 2 or 3 and low CPU speed befor start doing updates and more configs and rebooting so its being stable.

For the H20_221_v1.71 board I have worked out the uart connections and maskrom enable point.   For maskrom, this is shorting out either the data or clock line.  I have no way to determine which unless I take this thing to the office and look at it on a logic analyzer.  The test points are probably very similar to the v1.5 board with the blue solder mask.
 
 
 

@MattWestB    It doesn't surprise me that the USB ports on these tv boxes are dodgy.  In my experience with an RPI3 I found that poor power supply regulation caused all sort of headaches with anything more interesting than a mouse or keyboard on the USB ports.   I now almost exclusively power usb peripherals with a inline power supply/isolator  when using anything like a wireless dongle like zigbee or zwave since these have fairly significant RF amplifiers that have high power consumption peaks.   Running something lik an SSD off the usb ports was also painfully unreliable for me.
 
I have a H20 RK3228 box coming in today so I'll soon be able to experience how bad these are first hand.

Hi, i want share the experiences with my MXQ_R2B_LP3_V2.62_20225, the picture is the MASKROM pads, in my board i put a switch button to do easy, this board enter in MASKROM mode when hold on jumper in pads and conect USB cabe in compunter!  I did so much try, with multitools and rkdeveloptools, I did learn use the SSH terminal, and the board is working but without HDMI,  it do boot with Multitool card and i use with ssh terminal, i saved a dmesg log, and xorg log too! What more logs i can get it? I try install Armbian legacy buster, the original and my backup from other board (R329 Ver 8.0 that working fine) and don't boot from card this images don't work, but work it ok in R329, i only get  boot from card or flashdrive usb, installing  "jump start for NAND" from multitool card and downloading in board with rkdeveloptools!  Yet don't understand the rk3228 boot process, i like use the internal memory, i don't know how 'copy' from image or card, to memory and work! I'll use it without video, i understand that is a old problem like the MXQ R29 too!  I so much grate for this forum and the dedication of every one that contributed ! Thank you!!! 
 
PS: The memory is a "eMCP", code: 7NA92 JYA42, like in R29, I don't found the real name! 

log.dmesg.txt Xorg.0.log

Hi @n3o, are you using Windows? Linux ? OpenBSD? binary or compiled rkflashtool?
This is because
* on Linux maybe you don't have the right USB permission. You can switch to the super user account (super easy), or write an udev rule that chmod the USB node(easy if you know what are you doing)
* my rkflashtool uses libusb which on Windows needs the generic USB driver called WinUsb. With Windows 7 you need to right-click and install this file https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ilmich/rkflashtool/master/rockwinusb.inf. With Windows > 7 there is no need to install a driver, but you need to associate the unknown device with the USB generic driver WinUsb (I'm not a Windows user so try starting reading this link https://github.com/libusb/libusb/wiki/Windows#user-content-How_to_use_libusb_on_Windows)
* there is a bug on Windows (fixed with the latest alpha version) with multiple USB devices connected. Try, if you can, to have only the box connected with USB.
 
About your experiments, you wrote a lot, but I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to read.
So if I can give you some advice, format the internal storage and forget it. Write the Armbian version you like on the SD card and stop.
This is because in addition to having a few problems, sd cards with 64/128GB are cheap and for Linux use are better than the 'little' 8 GB of internal storage that you often find in our boxes.
 
Cheers
Michele
 
edit: rkflashtool is an external tool made with love by volunteers. Obviously, there is also the contribution of @jock and @fabiobassa, but for any problem with the tool, I ask you the courtesy of opening an issue here https://github.com/ilmich/rkflashtool/issues

@n3o  The members trying to help you are highly experienced. The important point here is for you not to treat their specific instructions as merely "suggestions" after which you go off and do your own thing.   That is where the frustration lies. 
 
Based on the energy other users and you have spent on this, I would just buy some other TV box or SBC that is already known to run Armbian without any issues instead of trying to resurrect an old tired piece of hardware.   Unless you are really short on cash,  this is what I would do.  However, if you really are so short on cash that you cannot afford another $20USD on something else, then I believe your priorities are all wrong.
 
I have an H20 RK3228A tv box that is in transit that has some documented booting issues with Armbian.  In a way, I am happy to see how this whole episode has progressed.  I'm happy because now I know what NOT to do.

Actually I forgot to update the first post: the FAT partition has now been changed to NTFS to overcome the 4GB maximum file size limitation of FAT32.
I think I made a post about that, but forgot to update the first post. Sorry, I'm going to fix that right now!
 
Despite that, the multitool works exactly the same as before.