ebin-dev

_ _ _ _ __ _ _ | | | | ___| (_) ___ ___ / /_ | || | | |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \/ __| '_ \| || |_ | _ | __/ | | (_) \__ \ (_) |__ _| |_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/|___/\___/ |_| Welcome to Armbian 23.11.0-trunk Bookworm with Linux 6.6.8-edge-rockchip64 System load: 2% Up time: 1:01 Memory usage: 31% of 3.71G IP: 192.168.xx.yy CPU temp: 46°C Usage of /: 49% of 15G storage/: 62% of 3.6T storage temp: 23°C  
So finally I arrived at a stable Armbian Bookworm configuration for Helios64:
 
Starting from Armbian Bookworm image (Armbian_23.5.4_Helios64_bookworm_current_6.1.36)
Disable Armbian updates in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/armbian.list
Copy rtl_nic firmware to /lib/firmware/rtl_nic
Upgrade kernel to linux-6.6.8 # download link to those debs downloaded 23.12.2023.
  (Edit: there would appear to be issues with NFS if you use linux 6.6.8 - use linux 6.1.71 in that case; if you still have issues, use linux 5.15.93)
Flash u-boot to emmc (linux-u-boot-edge-helios64_22.02.1_arm64) # see here
Set nic offload options (ethtool -K end1 tso on gso on gro on) # change 'end1' to your network interface name
Apply any changes to /boot/dtb/rockchip/rk3399-kobol-helios64.dtb (hs400 support, L2 cache information) # download link for your convenience
Execute 'sbc-bench -r' at least once; you may change the cpu governor in /etc/default/cpufrequtils to 'ondemand'
 
! If you intend to use the 2.5G interface you need to fix the hardware issue first ! # Even if the 2.5G port is connected to a 2.5G switch, interface speed is 1G during autonegotiation for some time ...
 
With this configuration iperf3 measures 2.33 Gb/s transferred from/to the server (one-way), while in bidirectional mode 2x1.71Gb/s are transferred (simultaneously in both directions):
 
# ./iperf3 -c 192.168.xx.yy -p 5201 Connecting to host 192.168.xx.yy, port 5201 [ 6] local 192.168.xx.zz port 55582 connected to 192.168.xx.yy port 5201 [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate [ 6] 0.00-1.01 sec 258 MBytes 2.15 Gbits/sec [ 6] 1.01-2.01 sec 282 MBytes 2.36 Gbits/sec [ 6] 2.01-3.01 sec 279 MBytes 2.34 Gbits/sec [ 6] 3.01-4.01 sec 281 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec [ 6] 4.01-5.01 sec 280 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec [ 6] 5.01-6.01 sec 281 MBytes 2.36 Gbits/sec [ 6] 6.01-7.01 sec 281 MBytes 2.36 Gbits/sec [ 6] 7.01-8.00 sec 279 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec [ 6] 8.00-9.01 sec 281 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec [ 6] 9.01-10.01 sec 280 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate [ 6] 0.00-10.01 sec 2.72 GBytes 2.33 Gbits/sec sender [ 6] 0.00-10.01 sec 2.72 GBytes 2.33 Gbits/sec receiver iperf Done. # ./iperf3 -c 192.168.xx.yy -p 5201 -R Connecting to host 192.168.xx.yy, port 5201 Reverse mode, remote host 192.168.xx.yy is sending [ 6] local 192.168.xx.zz port 55588 connected to 192.168.xx.yy port 5201 [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate [ 6] 0.00-1.01 sec 262 MBytes 2.18 Gbits/sec [ 6] 1.01-2.00 sec 278 MBytes 2.34 Gbits/sec [ 6] 2.00-3.01 sec 280 MBytes 2.35 Gbits/sec [ 6] 3.01-4.01 sec 279 MBytes 2.34 Gbits/sec [ 6] 4.01-5.00 sec 278 MBytes 2.34 Gbits/sec [ 6] 5.00-6.01 sec 279 MBytes 2.34 Gbits/sec [ 6] 6.01-7.01 sec 279 MBytes 2.34 Gbits/sec [ 6] 7.01-8.01 sec 279 MBytes 2.34 Gbits/sec [ 6] 8.01-9.01 sec 279 MBytes 2.34 Gbits/sec [ 6] 9.01-10.01 sec 278 MBytes 2.34 Gbits/sec - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr [ 6] 0.00-10.01 sec 2.71 GBytes 2.33 Gbits/sec 53 sender [ 6] 0.00-10.01 sec 2.71 GBytes 2.33 Gbits/sec receiver iperf Done. # ./iperf3 -c 192.168.xx.yy -p 5201 --bidir Connecting to host 192.168.xx.yy, port 5201 [ 6] local 192.168.xx.zz port 55599 connected to 192.168.xx.yy port 5201 [ 8] local 192.168.xx.zz port 55600 connected to 192.168.xx.yy port 5201 [ ID][Role] Interval Transfer Bitrate [ 6][TX-C] 0.00-1.01 sec 221 MBytes 1.84 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 0.00-1.01 sec 193 MBytes 1.61 Gbits/sec [ 6][TX-C] 1.01-2.01 sec 166 MBytes 1.39 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 1.01-2.01 sec 215 MBytes 1.80 Gbits/sec [ 6][TX-C] 2.01-3.01 sec 214 MBytes 1.80 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 2.01-3.01 sec 198 MBytes 1.67 Gbits/sec [ 6][TX-C] 3.01-4.01 sec 235 MBytes 1.97 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 3.01-4.01 sec 197 MBytes 1.66 Gbits/sec [ 6][TX-C] 4.01-5.01 sec 222 MBytes 1.87 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 4.01-5.01 sec 197 MBytes 1.65 Gbits/sec [ 6][TX-C] 5.01-6.01 sec 194 MBytes 1.63 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 5.01-6.01 sec 210 MBytes 1.76 Gbits/sec [ 6][TX-C] 6.01-7.00 sec 184 MBytes 1.54 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 6.01-7.00 sec 212 MBytes 1.78 Gbits/sec [ 6][TX-C] 7.00-8.01 sec 192 MBytes 1.61 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 7.00-8.01 sec 208 MBytes 1.75 Gbits/sec [ 6][TX-C] 8.01-9.01 sec 216 MBytes 1.81 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 8.01-9.01 sec 203 MBytes 1.70 Gbits/sec [ 6][TX-C] 9.01-10.01 sec 206 MBytes 1.73 Gbits/sec [ 8][RX-C] 9.01-10.01 sec 204 MBytes 1.71 Gbits/sec - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ ID][Role] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr [ 6][TX-C] 0.00-10.01 sec 2.00 GBytes 1.72 Gbits/sec sender [ 6][TX-C] 0.00-10.01 sec 2.00 GBytes 1.72 Gbits/sec receiver [ 8][RX-C] 0.00-10.01 sec 1.99 GBytes 1.71 Gbits/sec 17 sender [ 8][RX-C] 0.00-10.01 sec 1.99 GBytes 1.71 Gbits/sec receiver iperf Done. # hdparm -tT /dev/mmcblk1 /dev/mmcblk1: Timing cached reads: 2986 MB in 2.00 seconds = 1493.93 MB/sec Timing buffered disk reads: 706 MB in 3.00 seconds = 235.11 MB/sec # lscpu -C NAME ONE-SIZE ALL-SIZE WAYS TYPE LEVEL SETS PHY-LINE COHERENCY-SIZE L1d Data 1 L1i Instruction 1 L2 Unified 2

The old files can of course be deleted in / , /boot , /usr/src , and in /lib/modules .

Depending on your use case try kernel 6.6.8, 6.1.71, and 5.15.93 (download links are provided here).
Armbian built kernels 6.6.x (x>8) are all unstable.

I am using the following script to transfer a system to another volume (in this case the running system to emmc) (UUIDs to be adapted to your case (sed -e 's/UUID=<from device>/UUID=<to device>/g' -i /mnt/emmc/etc/fstab)
 
#!/bin/bash # Check if user is root if [ $(id -u) != "0" ]; then echo "Error: You must be root to run this script." exit 1 fi cat > install-exclude <<EOF /dev/* /proc/* /sys/* /run/* # /tmp/* # /root/* EOF exec 2>/dev/null umount /mnt/emmc exec 2>&1 mount --uuid 7268e76f-3e1b-4e01-a6be-987654321098 /mnt/emmc rsync -avxSE --delete --exclude-from="install-exclude" / /mnt/emmc # change fstab sed -e 's/UUID=b790c4d7-5709-4000-91ac-123456789012/UUID=7268e76f-3e1b-4e01-a6be-987654321098/g' -i /mnt/emmc/etc/fstab sed -e 's/UUID=b790c4d7-5709-4000-91ac-123456789012/UUID=7268e76f-3e1b-4e01-a6be-987654321098/g' -i /mnt/emmc/boot/armbianEnv.txt umount /mnt/emmc rm install-exclude echo "All done."  
On top of that you may wish to manually rsync /var/log and /var/log.hdd to the other device.
The segmentation fault is probably caused by the wrong bootloader on emmc. Armbian tools might overwrite it. So install again the recommended bootloader to emmc.
Good luck.
 

The uuids containing 'a6be' refer to the 'to device', the ones containing '91ac' refer to the 'from device'.

Why don't you flash linux-u-boot-edge-helios64_22.02.1_arm64 to both devices mmcblk0 and mmcblk1 and perform the python3 check after a cold start ?
 
# messages output to the terminal while booting DDR Version 1.25 20210517 In soft reset SRX channel 0 CS = 0 MR0=0x18 MR4=0x1 MR5=0x1 MR8=0x10 MR12=0x72 MR14=0x72 MR18=0x0 MR19=0x0 MR24=0x8 MR25=0x0 channel 1 CS = 0 MR0=0x18 MR4=0x1 MR5=0x1 MR8=0x10 MR12=0x72 MR14=0x72 MR18=0x0 MR19=0x0 MR24=0x8 MR25=0x0 channel 0 training pass! channel 1 training pass! change freq to 416MHz 0,1 Channel 0: LPDDR4,416MHz Bus Width=32 Col=10 Bank=8 Row=16 CS=1 Die Bus-Width=16 Size=2048MB Channel 1: LPDDR4,416MHz Bus Width=32 Col=10 Bank=8 Row=16 CS=1 Die Bus-Width=16 Size=2048MB 256B stride channel 0 CS = 0 ...  

Armbian bullseye images can be downloaded from the archive. And if you are having issues with OMV7 you should open another thread.

The 6.6.8 debs were downloaded from an Armbian mirror and are not modified. Everything you need is explained here: in particular that NFS causes trouble with 6.6.x kernels and that 6.1.71 should be used instead or 5.15.93.
 
To implement hs400 and L2 cache information you can use 'dtc'. For your convenience I attached the dtb for 6.6.8 and 5.15.93 (just copy the matching one to /boot/dtb/rockchip/rk3399-kobol-helios64.dtb).
 
It is essential to flash the bootloader to emmc after you have installed the kernel debs, to perform a cold boot and to run 'sbc-bench -r' at least once.
rk3399-kobol-helios64.dtb-5.15.93-L2-hs400 rk3399-kobol-helios64.dtb-6.6.8-L2-hs400

@prahal Current helios64-u-boot-edge (2023-Dec-28 08:32) is supposed to include the rockchip DDR blob, but unfortunately stable operation of helios64 is still not possible with it: the r8152 is reset very frequently if this bootloader is used (contrary to linux-u-boot-edge-helios64_22.02.1_arm64.deb, were the r8152 is reset only occasionally under load).

@mrjpaxton Dist-upgrade(ing) from bullseye to bookworm did finally complete successfully. However, one should consider that device names have changed (otherwise your system may end up offline 🙂) the new interface names are:
 
# interface names (bookworm) sd: /dev/mmcblk0 emmc: /dev/mmcblk1 eth0: end0 (1GBase-T ethernet) eth1: end1 (2.5GBase-T ethernet)  
P.S.: I am currently setting up bookworm from scratch starting from the fresh image to get rid of the stuff that accumulated during the last years.

PR https://github.com/armbian/build/pull/4480

I can understand that you are disappointed.
 
But I think that Kobol had to pull the plug, in the context of the current chip shortage - with limited (sometimes even no) availability of components and SOCs and rising prices. That is not the right environment for a small start-up to grow. - it is a rather toxic environemnt that will lead to insolvency, as profitable growth is impossible to achieve. Without growth (no new/further products to offer) you are just faced with fixed costs and without income. Not sustainable at all.
 
All three of the founding members of Kobol deserve our full respect. They only drew a logical conclusion. Hopefully it can be reversed some time.

Some Helios64 had issues with CPU freezes or other instabilities. If you buy one you should make sure that you can give it back if it is one of those.
 
Cheers
ebin-dev
 

Hi,
 
updating Helios64 (Armbian Bullseye) to the latest kernel (Armbian 22.02.1 with Linux 5.15.25-rockchip64) went flawlessly - it seems to be stable so far (Thanks!).
However, emmc read/write speed is still reduced by a factor of 2 compared to linux 5.10.43.
 
@piter75 Do you know if there is anybody trying to re-enable high emmc read/write speeds in newer kernels  ?

I can understand that you are disappointed.
 
But I think that Kobol had to pull the plug, in the context of the current chip shortage - with limited (sometimes even no) availability of components and SOCs and rising prices. That is not the right environment for a small start-up to grow. - it is a rather toxic environemnt that will lead to insolvency, as profitable growth is impossible to achieve. Without growth (no new/further products to offer) you are just faced with fixed costs and without income. Not sustainable at all.
 
All three of the founding members of Kobol deserve our full respect. They only drew a logical conclusion. Hopefully it can be reversed some time.

I can understand that you are disappointed.
 
But I think that Kobol had to pull the plug, in the context of the current chip shortage - with limited (sometimes even no) availability of components and SOCs and rising prices. That is not the right environment for a small start-up to grow. - it is a rather toxic environemnt that will lead to insolvency, as profitable growth is impossible to achieve. Without growth (no new/further products to offer) you are just faced with fixed costs and without income. Not sustainable at all.
 
All three of the founding members of Kobol deserve our full respect. They only drew a logical conclusion. Hopefully it can be reversed some time.

I can understand that you are disappointed.
 
But I think that Kobol had to pull the plug, in the context of the current chip shortage - with limited (sometimes even no) availability of components and SOCs and rising prices. That is not the right environment for a small start-up to grow. - it is a rather toxic environemnt that will lead to insolvency, as profitable growth is impossible to achieve. Without growth (no new/further products to offer) you are just faced with fixed costs and without income. Not sustainable at all.
 
All three of the founding members of Kobol deserve our full respect. They only drew a logical conclusion. Hopefully it can be reversed some time.

Some Helios64 had issues with CPU freezes or other instabilities. If you buy one you should make sure that you can give it back if it is one of those.
 
Cheers
ebin-dev
 

On emmc (/dev/mmcblk2p1) you just need to replace the root UUID in /etc/fstab and in /boot/armbianEnv.txt to match the UUID of your emmc (e4e3bcd6-3f03-4362-bbe0-f1654138c5d8). Then reboot without microsd in the slot...

A fresh Bullseye image is stable on Helios64 - just like the upgraded Buster image.

YEAH !
I can compile and boot linux-5.10.63, I only had to disable the rk3328 patches because some patches were rejected.
 
I booted from sdcard, updated the /boot folder, then rebooted from eMMC and I can again run and write on the eMMC :-)
 
 
EDIT: and upgraded to 5.10.64 this weekend without any issue
 

@piter75 commited the emmc fix into Armbian and built Armbian 21.08.2 which is already available through the Armbian mirrors (via 'apt update && apt upgrade').
 
It is save to upgrade your Buster or Bullseye installation to Armbian 21.08.2 - but emmc read speed will be about 50% what it used to be.
 
You can roll back to the previous linux 5.10.43 kernel if you don't like that - just install those files with 'dpkg -i *.deb'.
 

@piter75 commited the emmc fix into Armbian and built Armbian 21.08.2 which is already available through the Armbian mirrors (via 'apt update && apt upgrade').
 
It is save to upgrade your Buster or Bullseye installation to Armbian 21.08.2 - but emmc read speed will be about 50% what it used to be.
 
You can roll back to the previous linux 5.10.43 kernel if you don't like that - just install those files with 'dpkg -i *.deb'.
 

@piter75 commited the emmc fix into Armbian and built Armbian 21.08.2 which is already available through the Armbian mirrors (via 'apt update && apt upgrade').
 
It is save to upgrade your Buster or Bullseye installation to Armbian 21.08.2 - but emmc read speed will be about 50% what it used to be.
 
You can roll back to the previous linux 5.10.43 kernel if you don't like that - just install those files with 'dpkg -i *.deb'.
 

Really ?
If you are on macOS Big Sur all the drivers and apps are already there. If you need to access the serial console of your Helios64, just connect your mac to the USB-C port of your Helios64. A device such as  /dev/tty.usbserial-XXXXXXXX will be recognised by macOS. All you need to do then is to enter the following into the Terminal of your mac (X to be replaced):
 
screen /dev/tty.usbserial-XXXXXXXX 1500000 -L  
Edit: If the 'screen' command on macOS does not show the output of the bootloader (scrambled characters) you could use the app serial. The only thing you need to configure is to set the serial speed manually to 1500000 bps.
 
If someone would like to contribute in kernel testing - the Armbian build system is very easy to install and use. All you need is an Ubuntu 21.04 (amd64) installation. All the rest is explained here. To compile your own kernel is then as simple as this:
./compile.sh BOARD=helios64 BRANCH=current KERNEL_ONLY=yes RELEASE=bullseye