robertoenr

Hi @jock Congratulations for your colossal work!. It's incredible to have linux on this tv boxes. I have successfully installed your desktop image on my H96 Max Plus with RK3328. And it's working fine! I've read in your first post about improve multimedia performance (videos, youtube, browser, desktop performance). With lima the window performance is slow. Do you have the same image for tv boxes with the legacy kernel and other stuff? I think it could be interesting to test and check the differences. Note: i've seen that when set on hold the kernel and dtb, it shows that are set on hold "edge" and "legacy". ones Maybe the native kernel and dtb are included on your image but disabled? Thanks!

No, I have not seen this issue. Try to change to other DTB

Hi, this is the last Ambian version which I achieved to run without issues on TX3 Mini Amlogic S905W: Desktop: https://mega.nz/file/ndxHVYhS#gbUjjXdUPDB1O8yoUGOPOPfj7rJ5GatItz4-RTAYpB0 Headless: https://mega.nz/file/fEpxBQ7B#8LWpGF2jl_XvKPyclIYf7Mp_lHks_tT_--awEEkw3_Q

Hi, I have a complete solution to the problem, at least in my case with TX3 Mini 2021 with s905w cpu, 1.6 board, and AP6330 wifi chip. Summary tips: Install an Android stock firmware with kernel 3.XX. It seems that usually on Android versions with this kernel the bootloader is older and looks "more compatible" with Armbian. Use Armbian 20.05.6 with kernel 5.7.2, and modify the install script, locate this part and update to this: parted -s "${DEV_EMMC}" mklabel msdos parted -s "${DEV_EMMC}" mkpart primary fat32 1000M 1512M parted -s "${DEV_EMMC}" mkpart primary ext4 1513M 100% Freeze Armbian kernel updates with armbian-config (note that if you upgrade kernel to 5.9.0 or 5.9.9 the "HDMI-non-signal-reboot" issue appears again). On my tests during 2-3 weeks, with auto scripts to reboot periodically the TV Box, I have not seen the reboot issue again. So I consider solved in my case.

Hi @Joel Mercedes the last image you can install for Amlogic devices is the 20.10 with kernel 5.9.0 created by @balbes150 WIFI generally does not work on this cheap devices. You must use ethernet or a 1$ wifi-usb dongle. Anyway: What image did you install to get the kernel 5.9.7? Or did you update the kernel over 5.9.0? What DTB are you using?

Partial solution to the problem! I've upgraded the stock firmware+bootloader to another more recent (Android 9 with kernel 3.14 oficial) with Amlogic USB Flash tool, checking the option "Erase bootloader". After this, I've booted completely Android. Next , I've booted Armbian, installed the WIFI, change the keyboard layout, timezone and hostname. And installed on eMMC. Now, with Armbian 20.10 Focal 5.9 installed on eMMC, I've restarted hundreds of times and the "black-screen-non-booting" problem has disappeared. So, if you don't have more official firmwares for your TV Box, try any unofficial ROM like ATV Experience. It seems that changing the bootloader and binary blobs can solve it. My issue now is that sometimes on reboot, the screen doesn't get HDMI signal from TV Box and it doesn't boot. It boots OK if I unplug and plug again the power plug. Anyone knows about this strange HDMI restarting issue?

On my TX3 Mini TV Box I always must boot armbian from USB. Activating multi-boot with toothpick doesn't make it boots from SD. Everytime I've installed Armbian, I've done from USB drive. Anyone has the same issue?

The curious thing about the boot hang from eMMC is that, when it happens, you plug the USB with the bootable armbian and start with it once. After that, the issue is fixed. Next time you can boot without the USB and it starts OK from eMMC. It does until the issue happens again randomly other day. From the first time when the issue happen, the boot logo from manufacturer is replaced by a black screen, even when it's repaired with this method. The fact is that the chainloaded u-boot file in eMMC is the same on USB. And the bootloader+legacy u-boot remains the same at the begining on eMMC. I've seen the issue in a TX3 Mini and on a MXQ PRO 4K 5G, both with S905W, but totaly different boards. Also, @SteeMan and @lgranie have seen the same issue on their TV Boxes frequently. It's like booting from external media on this situation, changes some state... Note: on my 2 TX3 Mini I always must boot armbian from USB. Multi-boot from SD card doesn't work never.

Yes, when running from SD/USB the issue is not present. It only fails when installing on eMMC

Yes, initially usually works, but try to perform this actions: Make the internal WIFI works and connect to WIFI network. Mine is AP6330 wifi chip, so use these lines: sudo mv /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac4330-sdio.txt /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac4330-sdio.txt.old sudo ln -s /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac-ap6330-sdio.txt /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac4330-sdio.txt Try to reboot/shutdown several times (in my case sometimes the previous step is enough to reproduce the fail). If not perform more actions. Change the keyboard layout with armbian-config (mine to ES). Try to reboot/shutdown several times. Change the timezone with armbian-config (mine to Europe/Madrid). Try to reboot/shutdown again. Change the language with "Language support" desktop application. In my case to ES. Reboot again. apt-update && apt-upgrade. Reboot again and check. The key is to perform many reboots/shutdowns between steps to provocate the devil Note that my TX3 Mini is 2021 model with board "CS_905W_TX_2C_N_MK_V1.6". It could be not the same as yours. That's the reason why I upload my original u-boot dump.

Thank you do much for the advice! But since the "non-booting-black-screen" issue only happens once installed on eMMC, how can I test it by using SD/USB?

Hi @hexdump @SteeMan I've tried the following u-boot files on my TX3 Mini (GXL S905W), downloaded from here, on the 20.10 Focal with 5.90 kernel last balbes image: gxl-u-boot.bin.gz. Uncompressed and renamed to "u-boot.ext". It starts OK from USB and looks the same version as packaged on the balbes image "2020.07-dirty (Jul 26 2020 - 13:24:26 +0200) hexdump-gxl". gxl-u-boot.bin-serial.gz. Uncompressed and renamed to "u-boot.ext". It starts OK from USB and this is the version showed "2020.07-dirty (Oct 24 2020 - 11:34:29 +0200) hexdump-gxl". I suppose that the gxl-u-boot.bin-serial.gz is newer than used on balbes, but I don't know what's the difference with the other. I'll try to install to eMMC in order to see what happens... Does exist a more recent version of u-boot for gxl s905w ? In my case with the "2020.07-dirty (Jul 26 2020 - 13:24:26 +0200) hexdump-gxl", included on balbes image, installed on the eMMC, the "TX3 Mini" boot logo dissapear and more important: frequently it keeps black screen and does not boot (the black screen shows instead the boot logo). Do you think this is related to the chainloaded u-boot? When this happens it doesn't show nothing about the "2020.07 dirty..." so I suspect this issue happens BEFORE. What's your opinion from expert side? Update: I've tried the "gxl-u-boot.bin-serial.gz" in eMMC install, and the black-screen-non-booting issue still happens. I upload the original TV Box u-boot dump done by the "install-aml.sh" script called "u-boot-default-aml.img". Could be something wrong with this?

Sounds like a challenge! Any entry point or way to flash over the balbes image? I've seen that an some files"u-boot-s905", and "u-boot-s905x" and similar on the /boot partition. In my case renamed the second to "u-boot.ext". Should I must replace this over? Other doubt I have is if u-boot is located on the eMMC or on the SoC internal flash, because on the previous mentioned issue the boot logo sometimes dissappeared and the reboot/shutdown doesn't work, I think it could be related with u-boot.... Sorry about my ignorance, I'm trying Armbian and community to learn more about linux development.

Hi @hexdump, your work is really interesting! Do you think the following issue could be solved with your new u-boot? Or it is a different problem? https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16837-problems-rebooting-amlogic-based-boxes-from-emmc Note: using Armbian 20.10 last from balbes for Amlogic with u-boot 2020.07 In case of "yes" any way to test it? I'm developer but not linux expert. Thanks in advance!

More tests! Update 07/02/2021: TV Box is the same as described on https://forum.armbian.com/topic/16837-problems-rebooting-amlogic-based-boxes-from-emmc/?do=findComment&comment=117801 Some tests with recent and historical versions of Armbian from @balbes150 TEST 1. Try Armbian 20.02: Install Stock firmware on the TV Box with Amlogic USB Tool. After that, boot Android. Finally plug off the AC plug. Boot "Armbian_20.02.0-rc1.037_Aml-s9xxx_bionic_current_5.5.0-rc6_desktop_20200205.img" from USB drive using DTB "meson-gxl-s905w-tx3-mini.dtb". included on the image. It boots OK. Install on eMMC with the script on /root/install-aml.sh. Finish OK. Power off device with "sudo poweroff". When the shutdown process finish, eject the USB Drive. It try to reboots instead of powering off. Note: with Armbian 20.02 and it's dtb for TX3 Mini it only detects 1GB of RAM (only 965MB). The same with p281 dtb. Result: the TV Box doesn't boot from eMMC, it keeps with black screen forever (it has HDMI signal). TEST 2. Try Armbian 20.05.06: Install Stock firmware on the TV Box with Amlogic USB Tool. After that, boot Android. Finally plug off the AC plug. Boot "Armbian_20.05.6_Arm-64_focal_current_5.7.2_desktop_20200612.img.xz" from USB drive using DTB "meson-gxl-s905w-tx3-mini.dtb". included on the image. It boots OK. Install on eMMC with the script on /root/install-aml.sh. Finish OK. Power off device with "sudo poweroff". When the shutdown process finish, eject the USB Drive. It try to reboots instead of powering off. Note: with Armbian 20.05.06 and it's dtb for TX3 Mini it only detects 1GB of RAM (only 965MB). The same with p281 dtb. Result: the TV Box doesn't boot from eMMC, it keeps flickering the screen, like a loop. TEST 3. Tests on Armbian 20.10: Install Stock firmware on the TV Box with Amlogic USB Tool. After that, boot Android. Finally plug off the AC plug. Boot "Armbian_20.10_Arm-64_focal_current_5.9.0_desktop.img.xz" from USB drive using DTB "meson-gxl-s905w-tx3-mini.dtb". included on the image. It boots OK. Install on eMMC with the script on /root/install-aml.sh. Finish OK. Power off device with "sudo poweroff". When the shutdown process finish, eject the USB Drive. It reboots instead of powering off. Boots OK from eMMC. Once started I perform several test of restart/reboot/shutdown with keyboard and mouse connected: Restarted 3 times OK from Graphical Interface. When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. Powered off 3 times OK from Graphical Interface. It restart instead. When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. Powered off several times by disconnecting the plug on different momments (while U-boot starts, while booting, while loading desktop...). When plug on it boots OK and shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. Restarted 5 times from terminal with "sudo reboot". When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. Powered off 5 times from terminal with "sudo shutdown -h now". It restart instead. When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. NOTE: In all previous reboots/shutdowns it shows the following message during 1min 32 sec: "a stop job is running for ifup for eth0". So the shudown process was slow. Execute the following lines in order to make the wifi AP6330 works, but still I not connect to any WIFI network: "sudo mv /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac4330-sdio.txt /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac4330-sdio.txt.old and sudo ln -s /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac-ap6330-sdio.txt /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac4330-sdio.txt". Execute "sudo reboot". It reboot OK. When boot it shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. Reboot from Graphical Interface. It restart instead. When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. Powered off 3 times OK from Graphical Interface. It restart instead. When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. Powered off several times by disconnecting the plug on different momments (while U-boot starts, while booting, while loading desktop...). When plug on it boots OK and shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. NOTE: In all previous reboots/shutdowns it shows the following message during 1min 32 sec: "a stop job is running for ifup for eth0". So the shudown process was slow. Connect to my WIFI network in order to the TV Box have Internet connection: Power off rom Graphical Interface. It try to restart instead. When it boots it keeps forever on black screen (with HDMI signal) and doesn't boot again. In order to make the TV Box boots again, I have to boot it with the USB Drive with Armbian 20.10 installation, and after power off, eject USB drive. After this it boots OK again, but doesn't show anymore the TX3 Mini Boot logo. The crash make dissappear the boot logo. NOTE: In the last power off before the black screen, is the first time that the TV Box doesn't show the message "a stop job is running for ifup for eth0", so the power off was fast. Note: with Armbian 20.10 and it's dtb for TX3 Mini it detect full RAM (2GB), exactly 1,82GB. Result: it doesn't boot again, after connect it to internet. When crash the boot logo disappeared and the "a stop job is running for ifup for eth0" also disappeared. TEST 4. Repeat tests on Armbian 20.10: Install Stock firmware on the TV Box with Amlogic USB Tool. After that, boot Android. Finally plug off the AC plug. Boot "Armbian_20.10_Arm-64_focal_current_5.9.0_desktop.img.xz" from USB drive using DTB "meson-gxl-s905w-tx3-mini.dtb". included on the image. It boots OK. Install on eMMC with the script on /root/install-aml.sh. Finish OK. Power off device with "sudo poweroff". When the shutdown process finish, eject the USB Drive. It reboots instead of powering off. Boots OK from eMMC. Once started I perform several test of restart/reboot/shutdown with keyboard and mouse connected: First time, I reboot from Graphical Interface. It doesn't reboots. It lost HDMI signal and doesn't boots, but the TV Box keeps on. I must power off by unplugging the power plug. When power on again it boots OK, and shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. Second time, I reboot again from Graphical Interface. Same fail as previous. Third time, I reboot again from Graphical Interface. It reboots OK, and shows the TX3 Mini logo on boot. Fourth time, I reboot again from Graphical Interface. Same fail as previous. Fifth time, I reboot from terminal with command "sudo reboot". It reboots OK, and shows the TX3 Mini logo on boot. Sixth time, I reboot again from terminal with command "sudo reboot". It lost HDMI signal and doesn't boots, but the TV Box keeps on. I must power off by unplugging the power plug. When power on again it boots OK, and shows the TX3 Mini boot logo. Note: with Armbian 20.10 and it's dtb for TX3 Mini it detect full RAM (2GB), exactly 1,82GB. Result: the boot system is irregular under the same conditions. Sometimes it lost HDMI signal; other times it keeps with black screen. It could be caused by buggy u-boot? Anyone has the base source code of u-boot from balbes150 in order to try to recompile? I found this post, but I don't know if could be compatible with armbian: https://www.codedbearder.com/posts/mainline-linux-on-tx3-mini/