Hqnicolas

Hi there!
 
We have some good news, a guy from the 4pda forums figured out how to make the missing SD slot work. I've replicated that on my M9s box a few days ago and it works like a charm. You can see original post in Russian here.
 
So, basically, this TV box uses the same reference design for that circuitry as Armsom Sige5 and other boards. You can check the diagrams for Sige5 to get an idea. You need two capacitors (10uF and 100nF, on the power line) on the SD slot side (two smaller pads) and a LPW5202ADB5F chip and some resistors and caps on the other side.
 
LPW5202ADB5F is a power switch chip with current limiter, can be bought on Aliexpress for like $5-6 for 20 pcs, also need these components:
1x 10k resistor - controls current limiter (this value is for 0.7A according to data sheet, lower values for higher current, or 3.6k = 2A),
2x 10uF caps on power input/output lines
1x 100k - pull down resistor on the 'enable' contact
1x 2k - limiting resistor from the CPU to the 'enable' line
6x 22 Ohm resistors for the data lines between CPU and SD card slot
 
In theory, it's possible to put a zero-ohm resistor between in and out instead of that switch chip, in that case SD slot will be powered all the time and won't have a current limiter.

Hi,
 
I got new H96 Max M9S and would like to ask some questions before flashing armbian on the device.
1. In this thread reset button is mentioned and I cannot find one on the case and neither on the board. Is there o photo of it or is it another name for maskrom switch?
2. I intend to flash from Linux, is the following method correct:
  - put device in maskrom mode
  - connect it to a computer by a USB A-A cable (to USB 2.0 port)
  - on a computer: rkdeveloptool ld (to list recognized devices)
  - on a computer: rkdeveloptool db RK3576_MiniLoaderAll.bin
  - on a computer: rkdeveloptool wl 0 h96_max_m9s_rk3576_20240930_1033.img
  - restart H96 Max M9S
 
I also have a question regarding building Armbian image: which dtb file should I use to put in directory build/packages/blobs/h96-m9/  (is it H96-RK3576-BOX.dtb)?
 
Best Regards and keep up the good work.
 

On my TV box X88 pro 10 128 GB (Armbian 24.11.0-trunk.321 6.11.4-edge-rockchip6), the driver does not work when set to led-config 2. After studying, I performed several operations and everything worked. Maybe it will help someone!!
In armbian-config, install led-config 2  and wlan-ap6334 next 
1. dtc -I dtb -O dts /boot/dtb/rockchip/overlay/rockchip-rk3318-box-led-conf2.dtbo -o /root/rk3318-box-led-conf2.dtso
2. In the /root/rk3318-box-led-conf2.dtso file, edit reg = <0x24> to <0x0>
3. dtc -I dts -O dtb -f /root/rk3318-box-led-conf2.dtso -o /boot/dtb/rockchip/overlay/rockchip-rk3318-box-led-conf2.dtbo
 
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are working, the display is working too, but for some reason the lan and power symbols are mixed up.
I solved it through the display service file
display-service.txt

I only tested the main configuration to ensure that the kernel and file system rootfs are normal, and other configurations have not been tested yet
The attachments are patch files and several modified source files.

The testing was conducted in my own buildroot project.
It has not been tested in armbian yet (there are currently some issues with the armbian compilation environment).
My buildroot project was launched based on the DTS of this post.
I believe it should be available in armbian.
 
add-rk3576h96-m9s-dts.patch
rk3576-linux.dtsirk3576-h96-m9s.dtsrk3576.dtsi

yes, next week should arrive CH340G, will check with it

hey, @cmuki!  
 
Using the dts from the rk3576-evb1-v10 / rk3576-armsom-sige5 / rk3576-rock-4d in the https://github.com/radxa/kernel/arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/ directory
After modification, they can all boot the Armbian version h96-m9s
Note: The rk3576-linux.dtsi file forcibly specifies the UUID of the rootfs device partition, which may cause system boot failure.
Adjustments might be needed.
The basic modification method is simple: disable the PCIe and GMAC1 configurations, modify the reset_pin configuration of GMAC0 to
gpio2 and PB3 to enter the system. I used rock-4d as the template for modification.
Other modifications have not been thoroughly studied yet.

@xiaobao80, The official use is the closed source Mali library. Panfrost is an open-source GPU library.
It should be that the Panfrost module does not yet support rk3576

i have the DQ08 and the lan cable is not working anymore. It was in the past but now it only works through Wifi. How is this even possible? Anyone an idea? or how to fix this. The option is not even in the menu anymore even when the LAN cable is plugged in

You should not advise to buy shit, they are cheaper because:
* they are made of scrap parts, that often break after very short usage (see the emmc in the rk3318 thread)
* they have no kind of warranty
* the power supply is a joke, made of cheap components and very lousy - switching power supplies are one of the thing the more they weight the better; confront with a quality 5V/2A power supply and see the difference
* the HDMI cable is crap quality, often not capable to transfer CEC or collects any kind of interference at 1080p/4K
* the case is a bit of plastic, with little to no design for heat dissipation - right now I have a rk322x board here withing its case that reaches 97°C while simply installing a package with apt...
* many sorts of limitations to keep them as cheap as possible: no sd card UHS mode, no real shutdown/suspend, USB ports have limited power: be prepared to have headaches if you try to attach something that requires just a tiny bit more power like an external hard drive.
* wifi is a lottery and clearly tells you the general quality: you can find freshly made boards with wifi chips discontinued years ago!
 
Most of all: they have absolutely no software support; if you are able to run armbian on your tv boxes it is because some people within armbian and other projects spent their time for the fun of making it.
Tv box makers don't care at all, they just need to sell their cheap shit to make some profit. Some (not all) SBC makers at least in some way provide support, but tv box makers are mostly parasitic and should not be endorsed.
 
Now that you stated that about 20 pcs of different tv boxes run armbian, may I also ask you what you did in change for that for armbian? Because tv box makers obviously did nothing for armbian, still keeping up the servers infrastructure and the general maintenance cost real money to real people, and who pays that?

Bluetooth is fixed with AIC8800 wifi module.  Credit to @pocosparc  
 
 
Changed DTS Bluetooth node as per at least change suggestion.  @pocosparc did you confirm optical SPDIF as working?  My port is not illuminated.
 

I think your driver is already in armbian, but your chip is not identified. To get it working you can identify it in the ethernet node this way:
 
mdio {
            compatible = "snps,dwmac-mdio";
            #address-cells = < 0x01 >;
            #size-cells = < 0x00 >;
            ethernet-phy@1 {
                compatible = "ethernet-phy-ieee802.3-c22"; ====> compatible = "ethernet-phy-id7b74.4411", "ethernet-phy-ieee802.3-c22";

https://kanyi.gm/how-to-install-and-enable-aic8800-chipset-wi-fi-driver-for-linux/
 
Some people have problems with this device
There’s no denying that the AIC8800 is a terrible component for a linux desktop/server. Its manufacturer has not made any effort to upstream the drivers. Either you live with no WLAN/BT or you live with DKMS package.

Thanks maka for replying.  Issue is resolved and Ethernet is working now.  I did not read the first email from Maxio tech properly and I was sent files for MAE0621A-Q3C rather than the MAE0621A-Q2C which I have.  Maxio tech kindly sent me files for MAE0621A-Q2C yesterday and I managed to compile it into the current kernel 6.12.24

Hello Hqnicolas,
thank you very much for the effort you made with the yy3568.
I have a nvme SSD connected to .m2 and this works with the youyeetoo kernel "Linux yy3568 4.19.232 #8 SMP Wed Aug 7 10:48:37 CEST 2024 aarch64 GNU/Linux".
I tried your Armbian plus the attached patch but the SSD doesn't work. See attached screenlog.0

[    2.512779] pci 0000:00:00.0: ROM [mem 0xf4200000-0xf420ffff pref]: assigned
[    2.512806] pci 0000:00:00.0: PCI bridge to [bus 01-ff]
[    2.512830] pci_bus 0000:00: resource 4 [io  0x0000-0xfffff]
[    2.512844] pci_bus 0000:00: resource 5 [mem 0xf4200000-0xf5ffffff]
[    2.512857] pci_bus 0000:00: resource 6 [mem 0x300000000-0x33fffffff]
[    2.516131] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: PME: Signaling with IRQ 73
[    2.516722] pcieport 0000:00:00.0: AER: enabled with IRQ 73
[    2.518475] phy phy-fe8c0000.phy.2: lane number 0, val 1
[    2.518506] phy phy-fe8c0000.phy.2: lane number 1, val 2
[    2.518519] phy phy-fe8c0000.phy.2: bifurcation enabled
[    2.519039] phy phy-fe8c0000.phy.2: rockchip_p3phy_rk3568_init: lock failed 0x6890000, check input refclk and power supply
[    2.519059] phy phy-fe8c0000.phy.2: phy init failed --> -110
[    2.519102] rockchip-dw-pcie 3c0800000.pcie: probe with driver rockchip-dw-pcie failed with error -110
[    2.520137] mmc0: new HS200 MMC card at address 0001
[    2.525326] mmcblk0: mmc0:0001 ISOCOM 57.6 GiB
[    2.529794] rockchip-usb2phy fe8a0000.usb2phy: Requested PHY is disabled
[    2.531377] rockchip-usb2phy fe8a0000.usb2phy: Requested PHY is disabled
[    2.531408] rockchip-usb2phy fe8a0000.usb2phy: Requested PHY is disabled

At least is PCI bridge found:
root@yy3568:~# lspci -v
00:00.0 PCI bridge: Rockchip Electronics Co., Ltd RK3568 Remote Signal Processor (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 73
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=ff, sec-latency=0
        I/O behind bridge: [disabled] [16-bit]
        Memory behind bridge: [disabled] [32-bit]
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: [disabled] [64-bit]
        Expansion ROM at f4200000 [virtual] [disabled] [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
        Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/32 Maskable- 64bit+
        Capabilities: [70] Express Root Port (Slot-), MSI 00
        Capabilities: [b0] MSI-X: Enable- Count=1 Masked-
        Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
        Capabilities: [148] Secondary PCI Express
        Capabilities: [160] L1 PM Substates
        Capabilities: [170] Vendor Specific Information: ID=0002 Rev=4 Len=100 <?>
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport

It would be great if you find some time to find a solution.

Kind Regards,
Guenter
kernel-rockchip64-edge.patch screenlog.0

The driver is well so the problem seems you are in the wrong ethernet phy. Change from phy0 to phy1 in the ethernet node.

Hello,
Just compiled and installed Armbian 24.11 (6.1.75 vendor kernel for rk35xx) on this H96 MAx TV Box (m9S version) following instructions in this post. Thanks to @Hqnicolas, @cmuki, @hzdm et al.  Everything running smoothly (except BT, as usual with the tv boxes). I had to recompile the vendor kernel with this patch applied to solve an issue reported here (applications crashing, system not responding) related to  the maximum number of threads allowed by the kernel.
 
Will try to run some RKNN stuff, to check the NPU and see it in action. My use case requires running some computer vision and style transfer models with a reasonable frame rate.

In a groundbreaking development, the Armbian team has officially announced the Armbian Unified Kernel Initiative (AUKI), a revolutionary step towards simplifying Linux on ARM single-board computers. Starting with Armbian kernel v6.14, all previous kernel variants will be merged into a single, all-encompassing kernel that supports every single board and hardware feature out of the box.
One Kernel to Rule Them All
Gone are the days of fragmented kernel versions, custom patches, and hardware-specific quirks. With the new AUKI framework, users no longer have to worry about selecting the right kernel for their device—it just works. Whether you’re running an old Allwinner-based board or a cutting-edge Rockchip or NXP system, the same kernel will seamlessly handle all drivers, features, and optimizations.
UEFI Standardization for All Boards
The traditional ARM boot process has been one of the biggest pain points for Linux users, requiring board-specific U-Boot implementations and patches. Armbian’s new boot method fully adopts UEFI standards, making it possible to boot any supported board just like an x86 PC. This means:
Unified bootloader across all platforms
Secure Boot & TPM support on compatible hardware
Multi-boot from USB, NVMe, and SD cards with no extra configuration
Real-Time Kernel Switching
Armbian kernel v6.14 also introduces instant real-time kernel switching. Whether you need a standard kernel for everyday tasks or a real-time kernel for low-latency applications, you can now toggle between the two by simply adding a kernel command-line switch—no recompiling, no reinstallation. Users can also switch modes effortlessly via armbian-config.
AI & Video Acceleration—Out of the Box
For the first time ever, hardware-accelerated AI inference and video decoding will be universally available on all supported ARM platforms. Whether you’re using Mali, Vivante, or Adreno GPUs, your web browser will automatically leverage full acceleration for machine learning and video tasks—without the need for extra drivers or proprietary blobs.
Unmatched Performance: Instant Boot, 50% Speed Boost
Thanks to deep optimizations and contributions from over 1,000 developers, Armbian kernel v6.14 delivers:
Boot times under 2 seconds on most SBCs
50% overall performance improvement across the board
Enhanced power efficiency, extending battery life on mobile setups
Powered by the Bates Foundation

These remarkable advancements were made possible by the Bates Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding open-source initiatives where traditional businesses and governments fall short. Their generous support has enabled a global team of 1,000+ engineers to bring this vision to life.

What’s Next?
The new kernel will roll out in Armbian’s next major release, with preview builds available starting today. Existing users will be automatically migrated via armbian-config. The future of Armbian—and ARM Linux as a whole—has never looked brighter.
The post Armbian Unified Kernel Initiative (AUKI): One Kernel to Power Them All first appeared on Armbian.
View the full article

It won't work, openvfd is another driver and wants things a different way.
Not to blame the author, but unfortunately openvfd is badly designed. tm16xx driver instead is very well designed, and is the way to go. 👌

In my H96 TV box I have been running Armbian for over an year. Works great. Today I did a fresh install of:

Armbian_community_25.5.0-trunk.256_Rk3318-box_bookworm_current_6.12.19_minimal.img.xz

uname -a shows:

rk3318-box> uname -a
Linux rk3318-box 6.12.19-current-rockchip64 #2 SMP PREEMPT Thu Mar 13 12:02:20 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux

It is my understanding that Linux 6.12+ kernel already have all the real-time patches in the mainline kernel sources. All one needs to do is to 

1. rebuild the kernel after configuring for FULL PREEMPT-RT  support

or (if kernel already built with this configured)
1a. reboot after providing to 'grub'  a boot option "preempt=full"

If any one has had experience running the full PREEMPT-RT kernel on rk3318 (or any Armbian box)?  

What are the best steps to get and natively build a new kernel for 6.12.19 on my rk3318 box (only show 27 Gb free though, may not be enough.)

 

Continuing on the topic of replacing the LPDDR4 memory chip.
Here is a successful experience of replacement.

Desktop installation: (XFCE and Gnome at the moment)
 

 

 
https://docs.armbian.com/User-Guide_Armbian-Software/Desktops/
 
automatic install and uninstall on code changes and daily modular packages assembly https://github.com/armbian/configng/blob/main/tools/modules/system/module_desktop_packages.sh clean and minimal (will be cleaned more, PR is welcome)

DNS ad blocker section:


 
https://docs.armbian.com/User-Guide_Armbian-Software/DNS/ 
containerized with official images tested with networkd and Network Manager tested on arm64  
 
 

Mission: provide easy way to configure OS and install services
 
armbian-config provides configuration and installation routines for customizing and automating tasks within Armbian Linux environment. These utilities help streamline setup processes for various use cases.
 

 
 
Key Advantages
Lightweight: Minimal dependencies for optimal performance. Flexible: Supports JSON, TUI, CLI, and API interfaces. Modern: A fresh approach to configuration. Low entropy: Byte clean uninstall for most targets. Features
System Configuration: Kernel management, headers, hardware tweaks. NFS and ZFS storage management. SSH user access tweaks. System updates, rolling / stable, containers update. Network Management: Fixed / dynamic IP configuration. Connecting to wireless network. Access point management. Localization Settings: Configure time zone. Set language and locales. Change hostname. Software Management: Software installation and removal. Native and containerized environment. Standardised, updatable, maintained.  
Compatibility
This tool is tailored to works best with Armbian Linux but it has also been automatically tested on:
Debian Bookworm Ubuntu Jammy Ubuntu Noble  
In theory it should work on all systemd APT based Linux distributions: Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Kali Linux, MX Linux, Parrot OS, Proxmox, Raspberry Pi OS, ...

Getting Started
Armbian config is preinstalled on Armbian. Open or login into your terminal and run:
 
armbian-config  
 
End users:
Request new software title
 
Documentation:
Armbian config | Optimised software
 
Developers:
Adding a new feature or software install title

We don't have this board, but you can find users with this model in this link
you could also find people on https://www.t95plus.com/
use other topics as development path