Nick A

There are probably 20 different CPUs that have cortex a53 (cpus from Allwinner, Rockchip and Amlogic).  TV box manufacturers all the time will use different CPUs in TV boxes that have the same external markings.  Which ever component is the cheapest at the time of manufacture is what gets used.  The only way to really be sure what you have is to look at the chip on the board (but even then there are cases where chip markings have been altered to make you think you have something else).  Welcome to the world of TV boxes (and why Armbian doesn't support them officially because they are a mess).

@Ducdanh Nguyen without a axp chip I’m pretty sure you don’t have a h313. You’re going to have research your box on your own. Sorry but I’m too busy. 

@Ducdanh Nguyen it should work. 
https://developer.android.com/tools/adb

Glade to see you back @sicxnull. Thanks for the shoutout! Tried my best while you were gone. I don’t own one of these boxes. But I guess it doesn’t matter which one I get because theirs so many variations of the same box.

@Ducdanh Nguyen I don’t write the mainline linux kernel or patches. You should ask the sunxi developers or Piotr Oniszczuk aka warpme.

Allwinner does not support open source mainline Linux. Most of the work is reversed engineered by a very few smart people that give their free time to Linux community.
 
Android uses a very old modified Linux kernel so it takes a lot of work to update drivers. Sometimes these drivers have no source code or documentation.

tv boxes are a whole different beast. Components are cheap. If you buy the same model tv box they might have different wifi, memory, emmc chips and sometimes the cpu is not allwinner at all.
 
if you want to have a perfect running tv box you’ll need to learn how to tweak the dts and edit the Linux kernel source code.

https://oftc.catirclogs.org/linux-sunxi/2025-08-24
 
https://github.com/warpme

@Trung Nguyễn 
git clone https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build.git --branch v20250306
cd build
./compile.sh
choose "Do not change kernel configuration"
choose "Show CSC/WIP/EOS/TVB"
choose "I understand and agree"
choose "x98h"
choose "edge"
rest is up to you.
 
Your image should be in output/images directory.

Connect using 5037

Try this image https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/releases/download/20250306/Armbian-unofficial_25.05.0-trunk_X98h_bookworm_edge_6.12.11_xfce_desktop.img.xz

@dale there’s a new patch to fix boards without external 32k clock. I haven’t tested it yet. 
 
https://github.com/warpme/minimyth2/commit/728a14a73924e349fe88fb4def7e5f50a79aed5c

Start reading here.. 

@Ducdanh Nguyen @ccs1664 is correct.. there’s a lot of information on that thread and the x96q threads to get your box running. I have to post the same advice over and over again.
 
The last thread you posted in. I gave instructions to get your dram settings and dts. Have you extracted them?
 
it could be possible that you have secure boot.

Your tv stick probably has secure boot enabled. You can compile a secure boot image using these steps.
 
 

Hi Mark,
Try this image. First extract the image. Then use balenaEtcher software to write the image onto your SD card.
 
A toothpick can be used to trigger FEL mode on an TX95 Max by pressing the FEL button on the PCB with the non-conductive tool. The FEL button is located inside the 3.5 mm headphone socket. To trigger FEL mode, press the button while the device is booting.
 
https://etcher.balena.io/#download-etcher
https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/releases/download/20241125/Armbian-20241125-unofficial_24.11.0-trunk_Transpeed-8k618-t_bookworm_edge_6.10.10_xfce_desktop.tar.gz
 
 

Try adding this patch
https://github.com/armbian/build/blob/main/patch/kernel/archive/rockchip64-6.12/wifi-4003-add-bcm43342-chip.patch
 
Download my v20250306 branch. Move the patch to the kernel patch directory.  /build/patch/kernel/archive/warpme-6.12
Choose "edge" build for kernel 6.12.
 

git clone https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build.git --branch Radxa-A5E
cd build
nano config/boards/x96q-pro-plus.csc
# Allwinner Cortex-A55 octa core 2/4GB RAM SoC USB3 USB-C 2x GbE BOARD_NAME="x96q pro plus" BOARDFAMILY="sun55iw3" BOARD_MAINTAINER="" BOOTCONFIG="x96q_pro_plus_defconfig" OVERLAY_PREFIX="sun55i-a527" BOOT_LOGO="desktop" KERNEL_TARGET="edge" function post_family_tweaks__x96q-pro-plus() { display_alert "Applying wifi firmware" pushd "$SDCARD/lib/firmware" ln -s "aic8800/SDIO/aic8800D80" "aic8800_sdio" # use armbian-firmware popd } ./compile.sh
Do not change kernel configuration
Show CSC/WIP/EOS/TVB
I understand and agree
choose your board x96q-pro-plus
edge
whatever distro you want
server or desktop 

Glade to see you back @sicxnull. Thanks for the shoutout! Tried my best while you were gone. I don’t own one of these boxes. But I guess it doesn’t matter which one I get because theirs so many variations of the same box.

@kvvvp try this
sudo update-alternatives --set iptables /usr/sbin/iptables-legacy
sudo update-alternatives --set ip6tables /usr/sbin/ip6tables-legacy

@kvvvp try this
sudo update-alternatives --set iptables /usr/sbin/iptables-legacy
sudo update-alternatives --set ip6tables /usr/sbin/ip6tables-legacy

@firepower
Vontar has a different kernel dts name. 
U-boot:
sun50i-h616-vontar-h618.dts
Kernel:
sun50i-h618-vontar-h618.dts
 
So in your board config add this at the bottom.
function post_family_config_branch_edge__different_dtb_for_edge() {     declare -g BOOT_FDT_FILE="allwinner/sun50i-h618-vontar-h618.dtb"     display_alert "$BOARD" "Using ${BOOT_FDT_FILE} for ${BRANCH}" "info" }  

Warpme's patches has 4 usb nodes enabled. I had to do the same on one of my boards.
 
https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/blob/v20250329/config/boards/transpeed-8k618-t.csc
Instead of making patches you could create a Armbian board config for your Tanix TX6s. All you have to do is change the BOARD_NAME="Tanix TX6s AXP313",  BOOTCONFIG="tanix_tx6s_axp313_defconfig" and file name. This will allow you compile warpme patches below. You can do the same for Vontar. 
 
https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/blob/v20250329/patch/u-boot/u-boot-h616/153-add-tanix_tx6s_axp313_defconfig.patch
https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/blob/v20250329/patch/kernel/archive/warpme-6.12/0646-arm64-dts-allwinner-h616-add-Tanix-TX6s-axp313-TVbox.patch
+&ehci0 { + status = "okay"; +}; + +&ehci1 { + status = "okay"; +}; + +&ehci2 { + status = "okay"; +}; + +&ehci3 { + status = "okay"; +}; + +&ohci0 { + status = "okay"; +}; + +&ohci1 { + status = "okay"; +}; + +&ohci2 { + status = "okay"; +}; + +&ohci3 { + status = "okay"; +};  
https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/blob/v20250329/patch/u-boot/u-boot-h616/160-add-vontar-h618-defconfig.patch
https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/blob/v20250329/patch/kernel/archive/warpme-6.12/0649-arm64-dts-allwinner-h618-add-vontar-h618-TVbox.patch

The patches posted above and @jock ffmpeg-v4l2request. H264 hardware decoding now works. I'm using debian bookwarm, X11, xfce. Just follow jocks install instructions in the link below.
 
Getting errors with 1080p mp4 video's. I fixed this before by changing the cma to a higher value (cma=512M) in the boot.cmd file. 
 
720p works ok.
 

Yes, the warpme patches adds a lot more features. Apritzel sources will mostly likely be mainlined. You can use Apritzel's kernel source and add warpme patches on top. I took the quickest route and just added all of warpme's patches. 
 
warpme:
    aliases {
        serial0 = &uart0;
        mmc0 = &mmc0;
        mmc1 = &mmc1;
        mmc2 = &mmc2;
        ethernet0 = &gmac0;
        ethernet1 = &gmac1;
        ethernet2 = &wlan;
    };
 
apritzel:
    aliases {
        serial0 = &uart0;
    };
 
&mmc0 {
    vmmc-supply = <&reg_cldo3>;
    cd-gpios = <&pio 5 6 (GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW | GPIO_PULL_DOWN)>; /* PF6 */
    bus-width = <4>;
    status = "okay";
};
 

Thanks Juan, I was able to boot the kernel with some changes.
 
I used this extlinux.conf file. Changed the kernel to /Image and fdt to /dtb. I manually created a directory called extlinux in the boot directory. I then moved the extlinux.conf there. 
/extlinux/extlinux.conf
label ARMBIAN kernel /Image fdt /dtb/allwinner/sun55i-a527-radxa-a5e.dtb append earlycon=uart8250,mmio32,0x02500000 clk_ignore_unused console=ttyS0,115200 loglevel=8 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rw rootwait  
radxa-cubie-a5e.csc
I changed one line BOOTSCRIPT="extlinux.conf"
# Allwinner Cortex-A55 octa core 2/4GB RAM SoC USB3 USB-C 2x GbE BOARD_NAME="radxa cubie a5e" BOARDFAMILY="sun55iw3" BOARD_MAINTAINER="Nick A" BOOTCONFIG="radxa-a5e_defconfig" OVERLAY_PREFIX="sun55i-a527" BOOT_LOGO="desktop" KERNEL_TARGET="edge" FORCE_BOOTSCRIPT_UPDATE="yes" BOOT_FDT_FILE="dtb/allwinner/sun55i-a527-radxa-a5e.dtb" BOOTFS_TYPE="fat" BOOTSCRIPT="extlinux.conf" IMAGE_PARTITION_TABLE="msdos" BOOTSTART="1" BOOTSIZE="512" ROOTSTART="513" UBOOT_EXTLINUX=yes" UBOOT_EXTLINUX_ROOT=root=UUID=%%ROOT_PARTUUID%%" UBOOT_EXTLINUX_FDT="sun55i-a527-radxa-a5e.dtb"  
Most Armbian boards use the boot.cmd for their bootscript. I found the line I missed in build/config/sources/families/sun55iw3.conf. I cloned a clean build and changed one line in sun55iw3.conf.
 
declare -g BOOTSCRIPT='boot-sun50i-next.cmd:boot.cmd'
 
declare -g ATF_TARGET_MAP="PLAT=sun55i_a523 DEBUG=1 bl31;;build/sun55i_a523/debug/bl31.bin" declare -g ATFBRANCH="branch:a523" declare -g BOOTSCRIPT='boot-sun50i-next.cmd:boot.cmd' declare -g BOOTDELAY=1 declare -g BOOTSOURCE='https://github.com/apritzel/u-boot'  
_ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ /_\ _ _ _ __ | |__(_)__ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ ___ / _|/ _(_)__(_)__ _| | / _ \| '_| ' \| '_ \ / _` | ' \___| || | ' \/ _ \ _| _| / _| / _` | | /_/ \_\_| |_|_|_|_.__/_\__,_|_||_| \_,_|_||_\___/_| |_| |_\__|_\__,_|_| v25.02 rolling for radxa cubie a5e running Armbian Linux 6.12.12-edge-sun55iw3 Packages: Debian stable (bookworm) Updates: Kernel upgrade enabled and 6 packages available for upgrade Support: DIY (custom image) IP addresses: (LAN) IPv4: IPv6: Performance: Load: 5% Up time: 4 min Memory usage: 4% of 3.83G Usage of /: 3% of 58G Commands: Configuration : armbian-config Upgrade : armbian-upgrade Monitoring : htop nick@radxa-cubie-a5e:~$  

Thanks Juan, I was able to boot the kernel with some changes.
 
I used this extlinux.conf file. Changed the kernel to /Image and fdt to /dtb. I manually created a directory called extlinux in the boot directory. I then moved the extlinux.conf there. 
/extlinux/extlinux.conf
label ARMBIAN kernel /Image fdt /dtb/allwinner/sun55i-a527-radxa-a5e.dtb append earlycon=uart8250,mmio32,0x02500000 clk_ignore_unused console=ttyS0,115200 loglevel=8 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rw rootwait  
radxa-cubie-a5e.csc
I changed one line BOOTSCRIPT="extlinux.conf"
# Allwinner Cortex-A55 octa core 2/4GB RAM SoC USB3 USB-C 2x GbE BOARD_NAME="radxa cubie a5e" BOARDFAMILY="sun55iw3" BOARD_MAINTAINER="Nick A" BOOTCONFIG="radxa-a5e_defconfig" OVERLAY_PREFIX="sun55i-a527" BOOT_LOGO="desktop" KERNEL_TARGET="edge" FORCE_BOOTSCRIPT_UPDATE="yes" BOOT_FDT_FILE="dtb/allwinner/sun55i-a527-radxa-a5e.dtb" BOOTFS_TYPE="fat" BOOTSCRIPT="extlinux.conf" IMAGE_PARTITION_TABLE="msdos" BOOTSTART="1" BOOTSIZE="512" ROOTSTART="513" UBOOT_EXTLINUX=yes" UBOOT_EXTLINUX_ROOT=root=UUID=%%ROOT_PARTUUID%%" UBOOT_EXTLINUX_FDT="sun55i-a527-radxa-a5e.dtb"  
Most Armbian boards use the boot.cmd for their bootscript. I found the line I missed in build/config/sources/families/sun55iw3.conf. I cloned a clean build and changed one line in sun55iw3.conf.
 
declare -g BOOTSCRIPT='boot-sun50i-next.cmd:boot.cmd'
 
declare -g ATF_TARGET_MAP="PLAT=sun55i_a523 DEBUG=1 bl31;;build/sun55i_a523/debug/bl31.bin" declare -g ATFBRANCH="branch:a523" declare -g BOOTSCRIPT='boot-sun50i-next.cmd:boot.cmd' declare -g BOOTDELAY=1 declare -g BOOTSOURCE='https://github.com/apritzel/u-boot'  
_ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ /_\ _ _ _ __ | |__(_)__ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ ___ / _|/ _(_)__(_)__ _| | / _ \| '_| ' \| '_ \ / _` | ' \___| || | ' \/ _ \ _| _| / _| / _` | | /_/ \_\_| |_|_|_|_.__/_\__,_|_||_| \_,_|_||_\___/_| |_| |_\__|_\__,_|_| v25.02 rolling for radxa cubie a5e running Armbian Linux 6.12.12-edge-sun55iw3 Packages: Debian stable (bookworm) Updates: Kernel upgrade enabled and 6 packages available for upgrade Support: DIY (custom image) IP addresses: (LAN) IPv4: IPv6: Performance: Load: 5% Up time: 4 min Memory usage: 4% of 3.83G Usage of /: 3% of 58G Commands: Configuration : armbian-config Upgrade : armbian-upgrade Monitoring : htop nick@radxa-cubie-a5e:~$  

Hi Javad, if you are playing youtube videos. 720p works fine for me. 1080 freeezes.  
 
robertoj was able to get hardware video decocding working with ffmpeg-v4l2request. I haven't tested this method yet.