_r9

"Delete My Account"
https://forum.armbian.com/terms

@Moderators

I received an email notification same as title of this post 2 days ago.  Just now I changed my password.  But I thought I would make a post to see if anyone else might have been targeted (as I am a Moderator), especially any other Admins or Moderators.
 
I am going to ping everyone I can think of (actually, I simply use the list here) below, but please add anyone else who I miss.
 
@Igor @lanefu @Werner @TonyMac32 @SteeMan @soerenderfor @pfeerick @NicoD @JMCC @balbes150 @_r9

I'll take a closer look into that : )

I'll take a closer look into that : )

Hey fellows,
 
quite a while ago we started working on a better way to guide users through the way of properly reporting bugs at the correct places and help them avoid common issues the same time. We came up with a form that, depending on users input and conditional logic, leads to the correct place or a dead-end with explanation why specific bugs are not accepted.
 
A link to this has been added to the documentation, the download page for each board and will pop up when creating a new topic in the bug tracker forums.
 
We appreciate your feedback and bring issues with the form to our attention. We are also aware that using Google forms is everything but ideal but in my opinion it is a good point to start with. If you know a good way to implement this in WordPress or even have a proof-of-concept handy we'd love to hear from you. Put your thoughts below this topic:
 
For those who want to test it directly, here it is https://www.armbian.com/bugs

Its fixing bugs for you or fixing broken RC car for my kid. 

For all fans of writing nonsense, spam, provocative messages, piracy ads, and so on. All your posts and topics will be deleted without warning.
 
 
Information for everyone. The old Amlogic kernel contain a large number of Trojans and the security system is completely destroyed, which allows all sorts of freaks and scammers to access the system with these cores. Therefore, all information about images with old Amlogic cores will be deleted without warning.

Hi @TRS-80, I'm the other guy of the "we" pronoun.
The fact that my colleague is asking for help in a forum that is supposed to help people having trouble making stuff working seems pretty normal to me, even if the target is to make a commercial product.
Open source projects (like Armbian) rely on a community of people helping each other out. I've never seen anybody on StackOverflow reply with "If you don't know how to do it, just hire somebody who does".
 
Armbian is a very nice product with a well made documentation and we (at work) are using it on different projects because we think it's stable and reliable, and we always found this fourm and its topics helpful to us to solve our problems.
Nobody is born knowing everything, so when I cannot figure how to solve a problem, I try finding a solution and if needed, I ask for help.
 
I hope you understand.
If nobody can't help us, we'll keep trying until we find a solution.

You asked for it, here it is:
The official Armbian SWAG store
http://swag.armbian.com
 

(small selection, there is more!)
 
 
Earlier you could write Armbian to an SD card only, now you can even wear it. Awesome, right? Comes even with a free hug if I catch somebody wearing it (and the pandemic is over) .
 
The best part: a small cut of every sale goes straight to Armbian and will be invested into infrastrucuture, testing equipment and of course new boards (if a parsimonious vendor does not want to provide free samples to the lap ). You can grab your favorite merchandise and support the project at the same time!
 
Note: The US and EU product variety are slightly different since even though the look the same both companies are independent.
 
Special thanks goes to our awesome community which provided many of the used designs. We could not have done it without you!
If you do have any question please raise them below.
 
Thanks for stopping by and happy shopping!
 
PS: If you are curious how the stuff looks in reality I recommend to check out @armbian on Twitter (and follow ): https://twitter.com/armbian
 

We think its pointless to waste our private money for Debian, OpenWRT, Manjaro or whatever. Its already highly questionable wasting it for Armbian but on a problem which we think its technically pointless, on the edge, possible bring just work and no benefit for a long time? Most of this project, 99.5% goes for common good and that is not good enough? Investing into common has limits. We already have a dev/null wish list where we probably should move this topic https://forum.armbian.com/forum/38-feature-requests/ for which common good projects we would need several millions to finish them, while your donations doesn't cover server electricity. Why your common good project deserves more attention?
 
 
We have a working solution and we can't afford to invest into your common good low probable hunch. Once again - yes, it would be very nice to have a modern u-boot and clean code everywhere ... like half of the project from other users wish list.

It can be much worse. 

Try early official builds and you will see how worse can it be. This hack is because at that time there was no other method to read MAC ... its a left-over workaround. Also we build u-boot from sources since the day one because official builds were behind and because we were trying to standardise boot process as much as possible ...

Tnx, we'll fix this when possible.

Hi, Sorry that was me 3 years ago.  I wasn't drunk.  If I recall, I ended up doing that because for whatever reason the vars from on-board u-boot weren't being parsed.

I remember the macs in the firmware being wrong too, but I just set by hand with the MAC addresses sticker on the board.   That was a v4 board so who knows.

Anyway I'll take a look.

So I read through this thread and there are a few thoughts that came up.

I believe when you want to solve a spam problem efficiently one needs to focus on the spam itself and not on the spammers.
I'm dealing with lots of spam on my mailservers and manually blacklisting is the least efficient way to solve this problem. In my case 2000 - 10000 Spam mails a month.
The main reasons why this is not a good practice are already described in a few posts inside this thread. Automated mail creation for example.

So what are the real problems with spam posts?
I think the most potential thread, if we focus on security, is that a user could get mislead to a dangerous URL.
There is also the problem that the Armbian Forum could get misrelated to porn pages or other ugly stuff through google searching or other online indexes.
Worst case would be if someone types porn stuff into the google search box and gets the Armbian forum as a result
or someone finds a post that should help him and this post is full off ads. This would harm the forums image.

So IMO the real problem is related to the URLs the spammers uses. So maybe there's a function like "URL registering"?
So if a user wants to add a URL which is not known by Armbian he needs to register it with a small form or so and a moderator needs to approve the URL.
Another concept could be that posts with unknown URLs needs to be approved even if they are changed after a while.
So the system needs to run the approval recognition not only on new posts but on each change to.

What's with the existing spam URLs?
I don't know if such functions exists but if we could run through all posts with URLs (maybe inside the database) and disapprove all posts with unknown URLs then we have a list we can score.
Moderators would need to approve all this posts again and register the URLs if they are valid. Maybe we should do this with a small amount of posts each.
So we would need a function like "disapprove the first 100 posts with unknown URLs". May be we could assign each moderator a few posts automatically so he can approve 10 posts a week or so.
11 Moderators would solve 110 posts a week. I don't know how big the problem is but the year has 52 weeks so we could to a lot of work without really doing anything.

I'm absolutely new to this forum so maybe this is all nonsense but hiring volunteering spamfilters does not seem to be the smart way.

 

We have moved the forums to a new host with higher availability.  Caches may need to be cleared.  Hopefully performance will be better as well.   Please reply here to report any forum-related issues.

Could you name the two families?   And maybe say one or two words about your expectation about each. So, people know where you come from and what you are looking for.
 

So I read through this thread and there are a few thoughts that came up.

I believe when you want to solve a spam problem efficiently one needs to focus on the spam itself and not on the spammers.
I'm dealing with lots of spam on my mailservers and manually blacklisting is the least efficient way to solve this problem. In my case 2000 - 10000 Spam mails a month.
The main reasons why this is not a good practice are already described in a few posts inside this thread. Automated mail creation for example.

So what are the real problems with spam posts?
I think the most potential thread, if we focus on security, is that a user could get mislead to a dangerous URL.
There is also the problem that the Armbian Forum could get misrelated to porn pages or other ugly stuff through google searching or other online indexes.
Worst case would be if someone types porn stuff into the google search box and gets the Armbian forum as a result
or someone finds a post that should help him and this post is full off ads. This would harm the forums image.

So IMO the real problem is related to the URLs the spammers uses. So maybe there's a function like "URL registering"?
So if a user wants to add a URL which is not known by Armbian he needs to register it with a small form or so and a moderator needs to approve the URL.
Another concept could be that posts with unknown URLs needs to be approved even if they are changed after a while.
So the system needs to run the approval recognition not only on new posts but on each change to.

What's with the existing spam URLs?
I don't know if such functions exists but if we could run through all posts with URLs (maybe inside the database) and disapprove all posts with unknown URLs then we have a list we can score.
Moderators would need to approve all this posts again and register the URLs if they are valid. Maybe we should do this with a small amount of posts each.
So we would need a function like "disapprove the first 100 posts with unknown URLs". May be we could assign each moderator a few posts automatically so he can approve 10 posts a week or so.
11 Moderators would solve 110 posts a week. I don't know how big the problem is but the year has 52 weeks so we could to a lot of work without really doing anything.

I'm absolutely new to this forum so maybe this is all nonsense but hiring volunteering spamfilters does not seem to be the smart way.

 

Since - in my eyes - at least - there is a likelihood of confusion regarding the "Supporter" tag of members that actually (recurring) donating to the project. People could think "Supporter" means staff member that actually support people with their issues. The real staff rank, Moderator and Administrator to say, is "hidden" in their individual profiles. Since I like the idea of flat hierarchy I do not suggest to make the actual staff visible in forum postings but simply rename the Supporter to something like "Donator" to make it clear that these people donated to the project but are not necessarly involved into it.
 
Tell me what you think,

Armbian is community driven open source project. To keep it relevant and up to date it needs maintenance round the clock. This work is done by a small amateur contributor force which was under-powered since early days and it still is. For most basic tasks!

Any help is more then welcome.
 
https://forum.armbian.com/staffapplications/ (what do we need) https://docs.armbian.com/Quick_facts/ (overview) https://www.armbian.com/get-involved/ (how-to contribute) https://github.com/armbian (sources for build engine, documentation, scripts) <---- <---- <---- Also refactoring, better wording, code cleanup.  
General tips:
 
plan to do things you understand.  expect little to no guidance. focus on common needs and forget what is important only to you. start small.
If you still don't know how to start, attach your questions below in the topic.

- which image exactly? (Link!)
- how good is your power supply?
- can you provide serial console logs?
 
 
Me to. You are not reading and understanding what a label "for testing only" means. At this stage, we simply can't guarantee more than that. Besides, check software licence before complaining. Here is a quick summary how support goes: https://github.com/armbian/build#support We are not there yet, since this board is not supported yet. Will be soon, but right now, it is not.
 
Edit: Moved to development forums since "Board not start" section is for stable builds only.

So I read through this thread and there are a few thoughts that came up.

I believe when you want to solve a spam problem efficiently one needs to focus on the spam itself and not on the spammers.
I'm dealing with lots of spam on my mailservers and manually blacklisting is the least efficient way to solve this problem. In my case 2000 - 10000 Spam mails a month.
The main reasons why this is not a good practice are already described in a few posts inside this thread. Automated mail creation for example.

So what are the real problems with spam posts?
I think the most potential thread, if we focus on security, is that a user could get mislead to a dangerous URL.
There is also the problem that the Armbian Forum could get misrelated to porn pages or other ugly stuff through google searching or other online indexes.
Worst case would be if someone types porn stuff into the google search box and gets the Armbian forum as a result
or someone finds a post that should help him and this post is full off ads. This would harm the forums image.

So IMO the real problem is related to the URLs the spammers uses. So maybe there's a function like "URL registering"?
So if a user wants to add a URL which is not known by Armbian he needs to register it with a small form or so and a moderator needs to approve the URL.
Another concept could be that posts with unknown URLs needs to be approved even if they are changed after a while.
So the system needs to run the approval recognition not only on new posts but on each change to.

What's with the existing spam URLs?
I don't know if such functions exists but if we could run through all posts with URLs (maybe inside the database) and disapprove all posts with unknown URLs then we have a list we can score.
Moderators would need to approve all this posts again and register the URLs if they are valid. Maybe we should do this with a small amount of posts each.
So we would need a function like "disapprove the first 100 posts with unknown URLs". May be we could assign each moderator a few posts automatically so he can approve 10 posts a week or so.
11 Moderators would solve 110 posts a week. I don't know how big the problem is but the year has 52 weeks so we could to a lot of work without really doing anything.

I'm absolutely new to this forum so maybe this is all nonsense but hiring volunteering spamfilters does not seem to be the smart way.

 

We drop support for Odroid C1 due to not sufficient resources / help. Currently it doesn't compile so this job represent several days of R&D ...

Recently we been finding some very clever spammers who register, make some post(s) that sound at least somewhat on topic, and then come back days or even weeks (!) later and edit them in order to insert spam links. Some examples:
 

 
Some times they put them alongside otherwise legitimate links:
 

 
Other times, they sneak them into quotes or lists, etc.:
 

 
Now, above examples have red background from being deleted (which is not how they will look to you normally) but you get the point.
 
There is no way for us currently to detect this kind of spamming, without enacting draconian measures of moderation, which we are certainly not going to do. So instead we ask for your help. The only way to really find these is to happen upon them while browsing the forum. If you see one, please click on the little flag at the bottom and a Moderator will take care of it. It only takes 2 seconds, and you can help out in keeping the forums a nice and useful place.
 
I also want to mention that something does not have to be Spam, or otherwise "bad" for you to Flag it. Anything that you feel deserves Moderator attention, such as off topic, or a diverging thread that needs to be split up into 2 or more separate topics, etc. can be Flagged.
 
Any forum Member can do this, it requires no special permissions whatsoever.
 
Thanks for your help!
 
Note: This post is geared toward every Member / user of the forums. The corresponding post geared more toward Moderators about how to deal with these kind of posts (once Flagged) can now be found here.
 

That seems a very paradoxical question. To ask that question you have to first start writing a question, but the question you ask can't be written before you start asking a question.  It's like a new big bang is happening in my head.
Welcome to the forum.

The first RC Images are out for Armbian 20.02.     We need your help testing Supported Boards for this release.   The download site is already configured for the RC1 images as the default download.  (We intend to improve this process in future releases, and provide separate download links.)
 
Here's how to help:
 
download and configure our testing tool (currently in alpha state) identify supported boards you have on our test tracking google sheet Run testing tool Perform any additional independent testing that you can Update test tracking google sheet with your results Please share major issues on our Armbian 20.02 (Chiru) Release Thread  

A few of us have been experimenting with this the last week or so, seems to work well. But I wanted to bring this to the attention of all the rest of longer term Mods like @chwe @balbes150 @NicoD @TonyMac32 @JMCC (please tag any others I may have forgot) as well as site level Admin like @lanefu and of course @Igor.
 
As a new Mod I often feel like a Level 1 Tech Support. Or perhaps better stated, "triage." Which I figure is our purpose, to "take care of" as many low hanging fruit as possible (or at least sort to correct place, maybe adjust title, tag, ask OP for further info, etc.), in order to free up time/attention of Devs and more experienced users. I try to take on as much as I can, but there are simply things I am unsure about (and from private discussions, I know other new Mods feel same). As our knowledge grows over time, we will be able to take on more and more. But I think we can slightly better use the tools this software already provides to help with this (IMO, some times necessary) mentoring process. I realize you guys are busy (hence need for Mods in first place) however...
 
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day,
Teach a man to fish, and ...
 
So I request to the more experienced Mods and Admins, please take few moments here and there to help teach us newer guys (when we need help) how to fish...
 
But this post will also be for my fellow new Mods, as well ( @soerenderfor @Vanitarium @_r9 @jsfrederick , I went through Mod sign up thread already, but please tag any others I may have missed) so please, read on...
 
Newer Mod (or even regular user) can click on little Flag at bottom of any post:

 
And then enter some question what they need guidance about:
 

 
Now this will show up to all other Moderators and site level Admin as little triangle in upper right corner:
 

 
So far pretty simple, I am sure most of you are aware of this functionality already. Now this is what I propose to codify into some kind SOP:
 
If we still require attention / advice of someone "higher up" then we leave Status as "New Report" (Flag logo):
 

 
Once someone "higher up" replies, then they/we can change Status to "Under Review" (Triangle ! logo):
 

 
Where we leave it until person originally raising the flag either:
gets their answer, at which point they can Close the Report, requires further clarification, in which case they can change back to Flag to raise more attention  
I think this is a good way of fast, easy triage and sorting, because:
it does not pollute IRC or forum threads (and less airing of potentially "dirty laundry") relevant discussion is attached directly to the thread in question "higher experience level" (Mods, site level Admin) can immediately see filtered view of what might need their attention (Flag logo), without having to read all of forums, or even pay attention to Moderation discussions, where they are not needed. However at same time should they want, can also get quick overview of moderation advice being given by Mods to each other, and could add their 2 cents if disagree. "medium experience level" Mods can help mentor lower level, to extent they are able, already relieving some load off "higher level" people, while still asking some questions themselves "lower experience level" Mods (and even regular users for that matter, although unable to see discussion on the Mod side) can get their questions answered, receive mentoring from "medium and higher" level people, and thereby eventually progress upward Over time, this will also build a body of knowledge which new Mods can look through when they have time to get up to speed (similar to reviewing past Bans, etc.)  
Do note that this entire proposal is only for the meta of Moderation questions themselves, i.e.:
should this be moved to x sub-forum I am not sure this qualifies as violating rule # x etc.  
If you think this is a good idea, please say so here, and/or just start fulfilling one of the roles "low, medium, high" as outlined above, befitting your experience level.
 
I encourage any and all Mods to communicate with each other in this way, adding your $0.02 to whatever Mod discussion, where you feel it adds some value.
 
Feedback on this idea also welcomed, of course.