robertoenr

June 1, 2022

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!

June 22, 2021

23 hours ago, chinhhut said:

By the way, have you ever got the Local network issue that the box is unable to get the local IP address after rebooting or power on? For my case, sometimes I need to un-plug & re-plug the cable again to get the ethernet works.

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

June 21, 2021

23 hours ago, chinhhut said:

Could you help me how to download the old version of Armbian builds such as 5.7.2?

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

February 26, 2021

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.

February 19, 2021

23 minutes ago, Joel Mercedes said:

@robertoenr

I have Armbian 20.10 Focal 5.9.7 installed and I updated it to Ubuntu OS: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS (server mode) aarch64 || Host: Oranth Tanix TX3 Mini || Kernel: 5.9.7-arm-64

my device is: X96 mini

Amlogic S905W chipset

Quad Core 1.2GHz 64bit Cortex-A53 Mali-450

1 or 2 GiB of DDR3 memory

8 or 16 GiB of eMMC flash

10/100Mbit Ethernet

HDMI output up to 4K30P

I would like to install one such as: Armbian 21.xx Focal 5.10.x, if some one knows please let me know.

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?

February 16, 2021

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?

February 12, 2021

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?

February 12, 2021

3 hours ago, hexdump said:

regarding the emmc boot hang if the bootloader is called from emmc there might be some strange interconnection between legacy u-boot and chainloaded u-boot which is hard to impossible to track down as there are too many unknowns (most probably legacy u-boot leaves something around the emmc in a state which is confusing the chainloaded mainline u-boot afterwards). in this situation the only option might be to boot from a small sd card and put the root fs onto emmc.

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.

February 11, 2021

3 hours ago, SteeMan said:

@robertoenr

That wasn't at all clear from your posts that that was the case. So you have a working SD install, and when you run install-aml.sh to move that install to emmc, that is when you are seeing this issue?

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

February 11, 2021

18 minutes ago, SteeMan said:

@robertoenr FYI. I just installed into emmc on my Tx3 mini and it boots fine using u-boot-s905x-s912 copied to u-boot.ext along with meson-s905w-tx3-mini.dtb

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.

February 11, 2021

10 minutes ago, SteeMan said:

@robertoenr Based on what you described you have done, you a doing a lot of work you don't need to.

First off, the Oct 14, 2021 Balbes images already have the u-boots from hexdump for the s905x (and therefore s905w) cpu. The one you downloaded and are trying is the same as what is already in the image. My comments above all talk about the s905x2 and s905x3 which don't have hexdumps u-boots in the balbes images.

.

My strong recommendation is to do all your testing on an SD card install, get that working the way you want, then copy the working environment from SD card to emmc using the install-aml.sh script. Experimenting with u-boots and kernels directly in the emmc environment is asking for a bricked box, as any number of simple mistakes can lead to the box not booting correctly. If you make those same mistakes on and SD card, you simply pop it into another machine and edit/undo what you did and try again.

.

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?

February 11, 2021

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?

February 9, 2021

1 hour ago, hexdump said:

@robertoenr - it might be related or it might be not - i think there is just one way to find it out and that is to try it

good luck and best wishes - hexdump

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.

February 9, 2021

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!

February 7, 2021

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:
1. Restarted 3 times OK from Graphical Interface. When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo.
2. Powered off 3 times OK from Graphical Interface. It restart instead. When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo.
3. 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.
4. Restarted 5 times from terminal with "sudo reboot". When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo.
5. 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".
1. Execute "sudo reboot". It reboot OK. When boot it shows the TX3 Mini boot logo.
2. Reboot from Graphical Interface. It restart instead. When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo.
3. Powered off 3 times OK from Graphical Interface. It restart instead. When it boots, shows the TX3 Mini boot logo.
4. 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:
1. 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.
2. 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:
1. 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.
2. Second time, I reboot again from Graphical Interface. Same fail as previous.
3. Third time, I reboot again from Graphical Interface. It reboots OK, and shows the TX3 Mini logo on boot.
4. Fourth time, I reboot again from Graphical Interface. Same fail as previous.
5. Fifth time, I reboot from terminal with command "sudo reboot". It reboots OK, and shows the TX3 Mini logo on boot.
6. 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/

February 4, 2021

5 minutes ago, Tariq Khan said:

I am working in the social sector and researching for the cheap terminal for students which is for nonprofits. only for educational purposes.

1:I had purchased tx3mini (s905w) I successfully installed armbian but wifi is not working after struggling with some were getting the information there is no wifi driver available for this

2: I had purchased mxqpro with (allwinner h6 ) I don't try on this tell me how to install in this device or suggest me a cheap device which can run armbian smoothly only for browsing the web and running libre

I want cheaper than raspberry pi

or 2000 to 3000 rs per device

https://www.eklavya.in/

If your TX3 Mini with S905W is the 2021 version, as mine, you can try the following commands to make the wifi working:

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

After this, reboot your device.

Hope it helps!

January 29, 2021

On 1/26/2021 at 10:25 AM, lcapriotti said:

can anyone confirm a "shutdown -h now" results in a reboot instead?

Yes, there is no way to shudown the box with this command. Always is been rebooted. PD: My box is a TX3 Mini with S905W CPU

January 25, 2021

Update 25/01/2021:

The attempt described on previous post doesn't work. I have a new boot fail today.

Method to reproduce the boot fail

My method to reproduce the boot fail is to leave the TV Box on during almost 48h. Also I have a service that writes rows each second to a PostgreSQL database. After 48h of continuous work, I plug off the TV Box from wall. Then keep the TV Box off during almost 3h. When you plug on again... BOOM here is the fail.

Fail cause suspect

Taking from base that my TV Box is writing to eMMC during 48h of work and I plug off from the wall without switching off correctly. I suspect that the boot problem happens when the system has too many data writed to disk or probably disk pending transactions. It may cause the /boot partition on eMMC gets trashed?

Test to identify key files

Because inserting a pre-configured external media (in my case only from USB) and boot with it makes the TV Box to life again, I've tried to identify what files on external media makes the device boot again from eMMC.

My test consists in start with external media /boot partition emtpy, try to boot, add a file, try to boot, and so on:

Insert the external media with /boot partition empty, and power on the TV Box. Result: NOT BOOTING
Add the following folders to external media /boot partition: “dtb” “extlinux” y “LOST.DIR”. And power on the TV Box. Result: NOT BOOTING.
Add the following files to external media /boot partition: “u-boot-s905”, “u-boot-s905x-s912”, “u-boot-s905x2-s922”, “u-boot.ext”, “uInitrd”, “zImage”. And power on the TV Box. Result: NOT BOOTING.
Add the following files to external media /boot partition: “System.map-5.9.0-arm-64” And power on the TV Box. Result: NOT BOOTING.
Add the following files to external media /boot partition: “boot.bmp” y “s905_autoscript” And power on the TV Box. Result: NOT BOOTING.
Add the following files to external media /boot partition: “initrd.img-5.9.0-arm-64”. And power on the TV Box. Result: NOT BOOTING.
Add the following files to external media /boot partition: “config-5.9.0-arm-64”. And power on the TV Box. Result: NOT BOOTING.
Add the following files to external media /boot partition: “armbian_first_run.txt.template” y “boot.ini”. And power on the TV Box. Result: NOT BOOTING.
Add the following files to external media /boot partition: "aml_autoscript” y “aml_autoscript.zip” . And power on the TV Box. Result: YEAH, BOOTS FROM EMMC!!

Note that the file "emmc_autoscript" is the unique that hasn't been copied to /boot partition of external media on the tests, so I suppose it is not necessary to re-life the TV Box.

Summary: the "aml_autoscript” y “aml_autoscript.zip” are the first searched by the TV Box when this problem happens. I suppose that the behind code of this files makes the TV Box starts...

This is the code on the "aml_autoscript":

Why the TV Box gets recovered after that and starts again from eMMC without the external media, it's still a mystery...

If anyone who has more advanced knowledge about this boot system, could give some light...?

January 23, 2021

Update:

Following the following topic from @erew, I've check his section "LOST.DIR, System Volume Information and Android folders cause problems booting off eMMC/NAND.":

https://forum.armbian.com/topic/10685-installation-guide-and-your-questions-answered-for-tv-boxes/

So, I've check that on my /boot partition on eMMC, with "ls -a", there was a folder called "LOST.DIR". I have deleted it and reboot.

@SteeMan and @lgranie if you want to also test, check that you don't have any of this hidden folders on the boot partition on eMMC. I have no hope about solving with this solution, but you have to start something...

Anyone has UART access on the TV Box to check the log during u-boot and previous process, when the problem happens? I have tried but my TX3 Mini model has a really tiny pads for RX/TX/GND and I have broken them trying to solder the wires... :unsure:

Keep testing if the random reboot failure continues...

January 20, 2021

Thank you @SteeMan for creating a new dedicated thread with this issue.

I give the most detailed information in my hand, and tests in order to keep track in context:

1. Details about the TV Box:

Model: TX3 Mini (new model 2021). It's the genuine.
Board: 1.6
Processor: Amlogic S905W
GPU: Mali 450
WIFI module: AP6330

Links for more TV Box information (in vietnamite):

https://tinhte.vn/thread/tong-hop-cac-ban-firmware-cua-android-tv-box-tx3-mini.3022766/

https://tinhte.vn/thread/mo-hop-tx3-mini-2021-phien-ban-phan-cung-moi.3216425

https://tinhte.vn/thread/firmware-android-tx3-mini-phien-ban-2021.3229154/

Some board photos for reference.

https://mega.nz/file/SBgATZaa#iZOMpvxc0g_NfiOjxfnJjotEqDNnrM2vapUmNm_08Cc

https://mega.nz/file/TNhUEJzD#Tj_VAakZrYM0L9itPjCFwV7MjVyplIXcehMZkVmrOYM

https://mega.nz/file/SF5WxRxa#clOe168ZugDJOQkNRmxpSdW9HlrT7v6vM6aZiZTpiHI

https://mega.nz/file/nE4glBTB#yDxjIpCQ5Te_GyiHp9fzQGxI1Wn_JnQjo2pGnpokK_w

Note: The memory chip confirmed is eMMC if you find the model.

2. Details about the Armbian image and installation

I used this image file "Armbian_20.10_Arm-64_focal_current_5.9.0_desktop.img.xz", downloaded from your mega repository. And used BalenaEtcher to burn it to a fast USB drive (SanDisk Ultra Fit 64GB model USB 3.0).

After burn the image on the USB drive, these are the steps I follow:

2.A) Edit the file "/extlinux/extlinux.conf" with these contents:

LABEL Armbian
LINUX /zImage
INITRD /uInitrd

# aml s9xxx
FDT /dtb/amlogic/meson-gxl-s905w-tx3-mini.dtb
APPEND root=LABEL=ROOTFS rootflags=data=writeback rw console=ttyAML0,115200n8 console=tty0 no_console_suspend consoleblank=0 fsck.fix=yes fsck.repair=yes net.ifnames=0

2.B) Duplicate the file "u-boot-s905x-s912", and rename to "u-boot.ext".

2.C) Insert the USB drive on the TV Box and power it on, while pressing the reset button with a pin until Armbian boots (this is my method to enable multi-boot).

3.C) Once started armbian, in order to make the wifi module works:

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

3.D) Finally I installed to eMMC, executing the /root/install-aml.sh script. Once finished with success, powered off the device, remove the USB drive, and start the TV Box with nothing connected. It seems everything works OK!

3. Issue with linux power off commands.

After using armbian on the TX3 mini during a time, I noticed that the commands like "sudo poweroff" and "sudo shutdown -h now" doesn't work. Instead it's restarting. So it's impossible to power off the device. The only way is to plug off directly from wall. That's what makes travel me to the next issue.

I don't know if we can solve it in someway...

4. Issue on boot (randomly).

After explaining the previous issue, I keep testing by switching the TV Box from wall and power on once a day, because it's the only way to power it off.

I noticed that sometimes (randomly, not always), when I plug off from wall power the device, the next time when I power it on doesn't boot, showing only a black screen (not showing the TX3 Mini Splash and not showing the "hit any key to stop autoboot..." message).

When this issue happen, I perform the following steps to solve:

1. Power off the device and plug a configured USB drive with Armbian. This is the same USB drive from where I installed initially Armbian.

2. Power on the device (without pressing any button) and the system starts OK from eMMC.

3. Power off the device and unplug the USB drive.

4. Power on the device without nothing connected. It boots OK from eMMC.

As it said @SteeMan it seems that the uboot is setting something randomly, and when you start with the media, it gets recovered/writed again.

I believe that it's not memory corruption or memory lost, because it would crash entire sectors and the memory would be a mess. This is not the case, once recovered, the system works back perfect without no issue.

Note: also tried with the "meson-gxl-s905w-p281.dtb" and the issues are the same.

If anyone can help to trace this issues, would be nice, really appreciated.

Thanks!

January 19, 2021

Hi,

I have a TX3 Mini with 1.6 motherboard. I've installed Armbian on emmc and it works great. I've also used the same method mentioned to get AP6330 wifi working.

I share this strange issue happening sometimes randomly. I power off the device by plug off directly, because it doesn't work the shutdown.

Sometimes when I plug off from power the device, next time I power on it doesn't boot, showing only a black screen (not showing the "hit any key to stop autoboot..." message).

When this issue happen, I perform the following steps to solve:

1. Power off the device and plug a configured USB drive with Armbian. This is the same USB drive from where I installed initially Armbian.

2. Power on the device (without pressing any button) and the system starts OK from emmc.

3. Power off the device and unplug the USB drive.

4. Power on the device without nothing connected. It boots OK from emmc.

Anyone knows the reason about this issue and why it's solving by simply power with the USB drive a single time?

Thanks!

January 18, 2021

On 1/7/2021 at 7:49 PM, SteeMan said:

@robertoenr I have seen issues similar to what you are reporting (poweroff does a reboot) on some boxes. I haven' had time to investigate as it isn't a big issue for me. But what I recently noticed was that on some boxes while 'sudo poweroff' does a reboot, using 'sudo reboot' will actually poweroff the unit.

On your other issue, with the system not being able to restart sometimes, the workaround I have found is to have a spare SD card around that is configured for the device. When the box doesn't boot from emmc, my experience is that it will boot from an SD card. And after one successful boot from the SD card, it will again correctly boot from emmc, which is a lot easier than reflashing and starting over. I'd be curious if your box behaves the same way as mine does.

Yes, I have been testing during these weeks. And sometimes it doesn't boot, it keeps on black screen forever. I have an USB drive configured for this device, when it happens I boot with the USB plugged in and it boots to the eMMC correctly. After this, I power off the TX3 mini, eject the USB drive, and power on again the TV Box. After this it boots again to eMMC standalone.

I suspect that armbian or something behind sometimes breaks the multiboot and this is the cause. This could be the reason that when plug some media (USB, SD card), it starts to boot again from eMMC.

@SteeMan do you know if I can check any file on /boot directory on emmc. It's strange that by using the external media and boot once, after this the box can boot again standalone. It's like something on the emmc boot system gets fixed automatically :unsure:

January 17, 2021

Hi,

Interesting topic. Is there any news about this? Anyone knows if it will implemented the Mali450 HW Acceleration on mainline Armbian for S905X/W, etc...?

January 13, 2021

Hi, this thread is so interesting. Do you have any news or progress?

Thanks!

January 7, 2021

Hi,

I'm still testing Armbian on my TX3 Mini (board 1.6). It works great, but this issue is making me crazy and I think it could be solved:

First of all I have Armbian installed on emmc and my use case is keep running the box with a few services using postgresql database.

The "sudo poweroff" and the "sudo shutdown -h now" commands doesn't work and they restart the device instead of power it off. So, when I need to power off the device the only way is to unplug the electrical plug directly. After doing this, sometimes (randomly) the next time when I try to start the box, it gives me HDMI signal but shows a black screen forever (not even show the TX3 Mini splash logo). I've tried to wait 1 hour and the box doesn't start (no ssh connection, no boot logo, no boot text).

It has happen to me 4 times, and the only way to recover is to use the Amlogic USB Burning Tool and restore the stock firmware.

It seems eMMC corruption, but Armbian can corrupt the vendor bootloader and splash process? I've read about sd/emmc data corruption, but nobody with corruption in splash screen. Also I've heard something about readonly/freeze system, but I don't know if it's a good idea to keep the system readonly to work to services/databases.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

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