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I have installed Armbian community images several times on different tv boxes that have an Amlogic S905x3, and usually there was no sound ♫. I wanted to get sound out of the tv box. So, I purchased a generic USB sound card audio dongle from Aliexpress for about $2 to $3 USD. (see attached photo). The USB audio device is described in Linux as a Texas Instruments PCM2902 Audio Codec (USB PnP Sound Device device 0 USB Audio), and when you run the command lsusb you will see the id numbers 08bb:2902. However, the specific hardware chip in the device that you receive may be different. I updated the databases for repositories by running sudo apt update -y and installed necessary packages to support the USB audio device and to use a graphical desktop such as XFCE4, for example: sudo apt install -y smplayer alsa-base alsa-oss alsa-tools alsa-utils alsamixergui pulseaudio pavucontrol pavumeter You can use smplayer or vlc or another as long as it is modern media player or audio player. Now make a backup copy of these two text files /etc/modules and /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and save the backup copies in your home directory. Without quotes, edit the text file /etc/modules and write “snd-usb-audio” at the end of the file. Also, edit the text file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and change a few things. Put a hash # symbol in front of every “options snd-usb-audio index=-2” that you see in the file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf . I found two of them. Add these two lines of text to the bottom of /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf without quotes. "alias snd-card-0 snd-usb-audio" "options snd-usb-audio index=0" Make sure that your user is in the 'audio' group. Run the usermod command against a regular user (not root) that you want to use often. And reboot. sudo usermod -a G audio {username here} sudo reboot Login to the graphical desktop, open the volume control program by clicking on the panel Applications, Multimedia, PulseAudio Volume Control. Click the Configuration tab at the far right of the volume control program and change the profile to Analog Stereo. * Important – now connect a headset, earphone, or amplifier to the 3.5mm (⅛’’) 🎧 headphone receptacle on the USB audio dongle and play some sounds, music or youtube. You can use wav audio files in the directory /usr/share/sounds/alsa/ if you don't have an internet connection.

Moved to amlogic TV ox forum

Thank you. I have managed to successfully boot Armbian from SD card. Android is preserved. Now I am trying to install (move) Armbian (the "/root" partition) to an external USB drive. I run "armbian-config", then I pick "System" --> "Storage", but no "Install" (Copy the running Armbian system to another device) option is listied (according to the documentation here). I get only the following items: Download a fresh, official Armbian OS image and write it to a device Enable read only filesystem Enable Network filesystem (NFS) support etc... I have tried also in Terminal: "armbian-config --cmd STO001" but I get an error. In the instructions for TV boxes here it says: "running the shell script in the /root directory: install-aml.sh" But it refers to installing (moving) Armbian to the internal eMMC, if I am not mistaken. Is it possible to install it either to an external USB HDD or internal SATA HDD?

I've got this Android TV stick: https://shopee.com.my/RUBY-Smart-TV-24-Inch-Android-TV-Murah-TV-32-Inch-WiFi-4K-HDR-LED-Television-WiFi-Youtube-Netfli-i.1246310125.27851733843 Tried to run a progressive web app (PWA) and just learned that PWA is not supported by Android TV OS. I've found that since it's just a SBC, I can install any other OS on it and stumbled upon Armbian. Since I'm new, I would like to know what images is supported with this board and any related guides to install it. This board has 1 full HDMI port, 1 USB type A port for data, and 1 USB type C port for power only (this is just my assumption). No SD card slot. I just need it to be able to run a modern and latest browser to run the PWA. Thanks for all the help 😀

Please read the FAQ and installation instructions linked on the download page. https://www.armbian.com/amlogic-s9xx-tv-box/

Thank you for the support. I made a short break tinkering with the tv box, but recently I did try installing to emmc, using the install-aml.sh script. Everything working as expected. I should have been more careful in the first place. It was a good lesson anyway. Tnx

Hello. I have easily managed to get armbian up and running of a usb stick, in fact everything worked perfect (hdmi, wifi, gbit ethernet, etc.). The tv box is h96-air-gbit (as the dtb is named), amlogic s905x3 soc, 32gb mmc, 4gb RAM, gigabit ethernet, 2xusb 2.0, 1xusb 3.0, sd card, hdmi, av port (reset button inside), spdif. The thing is, I wanted to benefit from the 32gb internal mmc storage, since I was running armbian from a 8gb usb stick (had a lot of those hanging around, and didn't want to buy a bigger one). I did notice the image I used had not armbian-install script, nor nand-sata-install. I did a manual install (snapshot copy) of my current system with the help of Claude.ai 1. step - create an setup another partition on the emmc (currently there were 2x 4M partitions - the bootloader I presume) sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk1 sudo mkfs.ext4 -L ARMBIAN_ROOT /dev/mmcblk1p1 Note: Doing this seems enough reasonable to me (well, to my limited knowledge), no overwriting should have happened 2. step - snapshot copy the OS sudo mkdir -p /mnt/emmc sudo mount /dev/mmcblk1p1 /mnt/emmc sudo rsync -aAXv --exclude={"/dev/*","/proc/*","/sys/*","/tmp/*","/run/*","/mnt/*","/media/*","/lost+found"} / /mnt/emmc/ Note: This also seems alright, and the commands exited with no errors 3. step - update the extlinux.conf, the cmdline to point to the right UUID - the one from the emmc sudo blkid /dev/mmcblk1p1 sudo nano /mnt/emmc/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf 4. step - just confirm everything is set, and shutdown, disconnect power and reconnect cat /mnt/emmc/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf sync sudo umount /mnt/emmc Note: Everything seemed fine and correct. So after the whole process, I shut it down, removed the usb and booted. It didn't come online after a while, so I rebooted with hdmi connected (I did face some issues before, like unusally slow boot times in headless mode). It just never turned on. The logo was gone, so I figured something went quite wrong. Currently, the situation is the following: I reopened the board to connect uart for diagnostics. So The board without external storage (usb, sd card) doesn't boot, it does a certain sequence, but fails and just hangs (no reboot loop). If I have an external usb, the one which worked before (correct setup), it reboots in loop - it does try to boot from the usb, but fails. Chatgpt suggests that I probably overwrote some portions of the bootloader or firmware files on which armbian relied (some or most of the env vars are probably gone). Claude has a similar suggestion (FDT_BAD_MAGIC, get partition table from dts faild - the bootloader is messed up). I did try booting from usb and from sd - forcing multi boot (reset button), but that's definitely not the issue. The bootloader seems to be working up to a certain point - but booting from usb or sd produce the same error - last few lines of the log, right before the reboot (and it reboots indefinitely in loop): Device: SDIO Port B Manufacturer ID: fe OEM: 3456 Name: ASTCTran Speed: 50000000 Rd Block Len: 512 SD version 3.0 High Capacity: Yes Capacity: 7.3 GiB mmc clock: 40000000 Bus Width: 4-bit Device: SDIO Port B Manufacturer ID: fe OEM: 3456 Name: ASTCTran Speed: 50000000 Rd Block Len: 512 SD version 3.0 High Capacity: Yes Capacity: 7.3 GiB mmc clock: 40000000 Bus Width: 4-bit reading aml_autoscript 800 bytes read in 11 ms (70.3 KiB/s) ## Executing script at 01080000 ## Error: "bootfromsd" not defined get partition info failed !! reboot use default mode: normal bl31 reboot reason: 0xd bl31 reboot reason: 0x1 system cmd 1. Since, the aml_autoscript should definitely be working, the bootloader is the most probable issue. So, what Claude suggests is to flash s905x3 compatible u-boot. I managed to get the board in usb burn mode by mask rom (toothpick reset method didn't work). Currently I have the board plugged to pc (usb male to male) and uart connected (improvised RP2040 zero uart bridge). Please provide me with instructions and what to do. I soft bricked the board by following plausible instructions from ai, I don't want to hard brick it (I really liked it:) Also, I keep the board connected, since I don't know if I could reintroduce mask rom mode if turned off. Here is the complete log of one of the infinite reboots from the loop: SM1:BL:511f6b:81ca2f;FEAT:A0F83180:20282000;POC:F;RCY:0; EMMC:0; READ:0;0.0;CHK:0; bl2_stage_init 0x01 bl2_stage_init 0x81 hw id: 0x0001 - pwm id 0x00 bl2_stage_init 0xc0 bl2_stage_init 0x02 L0:00000000 L1:00000703 L2:00008067 L3:15000020 S1:00000000 B2:20282000 B1:a0f83180 TE: 146487 BL2 Built : 15:21:48, Aug 28 2019. g12a g1bf2b53 - luan.yuan@droid15-sz Board ID = 1 Set cpu clk to 24M Set clk81 to 24M Use GP1_pll as DSU clk. DSU clk: 1200 Mhz CPU clk: 1200 MHz Set clk81 to 166.6M fw parse done Load ddrfw from eMMC, src: 0x00060200, des: 0xf ffd0000, size: 0x0000c000, part: 0 Load ddrfw from eMMC, src: 0x00038200, des: 0xfffd0000, size: 0x00004000, part: 0 PIE I prepare done fastboot data load 00000000 emmc switch 1 ok ddr saved addr:00016000 Load ddr parameter from eMMC, src: 0x02c00000, des: 0xfffd0000, size: 0x00001000, part: 0 00000000 emmc switch 0 ok fastboot data verify verify result: 265 Cfg max: 5, cur: 1. Board id: 255. Force loop cfg DDR4 probe ddr clk to 912MHz Load ddrfw from eMMC, src: 0x00 014200, des: 0xfffd0000, size: 0x0000c000, part: 0 dmc_version 0001 Check phy result INFO : End of initialization INFO : End of read enable training INFO : End of fi ne write leveling INFO : ERROR : Training has failed! 1D training failed Cfg max: 5, cur: 2. Board id: 255. Force loop cfg DDR3 probe ddr clk to 792MHz Load ddrfw from eMMC, src: 0x0002c2 00, des: 0xfffd0000, size: 0x0000c000, part: 0 dmc_version 0001 Check phy result INFO : End of initialization INFO : End of read enable training INFO : End of fine wr ite leveling INFO : End of read dq deskew training INFO : End of MPR read delay center optimization INFO : End of Write leveling coarse delay INFO : End of write delay center optimization INFO : End of read delay center optimization INFO : End of max read latency training INFO : Td BL3X from eMMC, src: 0x00078200, des: 0x01768000, size: 0x000c8000, part: 0 BL33 CHK: 0xfffffff1 ADDR 01 7a1970 Load FIP HDR from eMMC, src: 0x00010200, des: 0x01700000, size: 0x00004000, part: 1 00000000 emmc switch 1 ok Load BL3X from eMMC, src: 0x00078200, des: 0x01768000, size: 0x000c8000, part: 1 bl2z: ptr: 05129330, size: 00001e40 0.0;M3 C HK:0;cm4_sp_mode 0 MVN_1=0x00000000 MVN_2=0x00000000 [Image: g12a_v1.1.3390-6ac5299 2019-09-26 14:09:46 luan.yuan@droid15-sz] OPS=0x10 ring efuse init 2b 0c 10 00 01 07 0e 00 00 0f 32 34 50 4d 50 50 [0.933 001 Inits done] secure task start! high task start! low task start! run into bl31 NOTICE: BL31: v1.3(release):4fc40b1 NOTICE: B L31: Built : 15:57:33, May 22 2019 NOTICE: BL31: G12A normal boot! NOTICE: BL31: BL33 decompress pass ERROR: Error initializing runtime service opteed_fast U-Boot 2015.01 (Jun 1 9 2020 - 20:04:27) DRAM: 3.8 GiBspi_post_bind(spifc): req_seq = 0 register usb cfg[0][1] = 00000000d7f3ec90 NAND: get_sys_clk_rate_mtd() 290, clock setting 200! NAND device id: 0 ff ff ff ff ff No NAND device found!!! nand init failed: -6 get_sys_clk_rate_mtd() 290, clock setting 200! NAND device id: 0 ff ff ff ff ff No NAND device found! !! nand init failed: -6 MMC: aml_privemmc/sd response timeout, cmd8, status=0x1ff2800 emmc/sd response timeout, cmd55, status=0x1ff2800 co-phase 0x3, tx-dly 0, clock 400000 co-phase 0x3, tx-dly 0, clock 40000000 aml_sd_retry_refix[983]:delay = 0x0,gadjust =0x162000 [mmc_startup] mmc refix success init_part() 282: PART_TYPE_DOS [mmc_init] mmc init success Amlogic multi-dtb tool Cannot find legal dtb! start dts,buffer=00000000d3e53620,dt_addr=00000000d3e53620 check_valid_dts: FDT_ERR_BADMAGIC get_partition_from_dts() 91: ret -9 get_partition_from_dts() 94: ret -9 get_ptbl_from_dtb()-272: get partition table from dts faild mmc_device_init()-1254: get partition table from dtb failed get_ptbl_rsv()-494: magic faild MPT, mmc_device_init()-1281: dtb&rsv are not exisIn: serial Out: s_verify_dtb_checksum()-3477: calc 0, store 0 update_dtb_info()-3585: cpy 1 is not val id _verify_dtb_checksum()-3477: calc 0, store 0 update_dtb_info()-3585: cpy 0 is not valid dtb_read()-3694: total valid _verify_dtb_checksum()-3477: calc 0, store 0 update_dtb _info()-3585: cpy 1 is not valid _verify_dtb_checksum()-3477: calc 0, store 0 update_dtb_info()-3585: cpy 0 is not valid dtb_read()-3694: total valid 0 emmc - EMMC sub system Usa ge: emmc dtb_read addr size emmc dtb_write addr size emmc erase dtb emmc erase key emmc fastboot_read addr size emmc fastboot_write addr size vpu: vpu_power_on vpu:[K M]Error:f[keymanage_dts_get_key_device]L100:/unify not parsed yet! [KM]Error:f[_get_km_ops_by_name]L248:key eth_exphy_para not know device 4 [KM]Error:f[key_unify_read]L312:key[eth_ exphy_para] no cfg in dts dwmac.f f3f0000 Waiting for PHY auto negotiation to complete. . . . done The Bes t Window is index 44 [KM]Error:f[keymanage_dts_get_key_device]L100:/unify not parsed yet! [KM]Error:f[_get_km_ops_by_name]L248:key eth_exphy_para not know device 4 [KM]E rror:f[key_unify_write]L279:key[eth_exphy_para] no cfg in dts libfdt fdt_check_header(): FDT_ERR_BADMAGIC No FDT memory address configured. Please configure the FDT address via "fdt addr <a ddress>" command. Aborting! dwmac.ff3f0000[KM]Error:f[keymanage_ta: erase the area which is uboot or data store erase partition <partition_name>: erase the area whi ch partition in u-boot store erase dtb store erase key store disprotect key store rom_protect on/off store scrub off|partition size scrub the area from offset and size store dtb i read/read/write addr <size> read/write dtb, size is optional store key read/write ad= 0 info->crc32 = 0 Magic is incorrect. boot-info is invalid. Resetting. save boo t-info info->magic = info->version_major = 1 info->version_minor = 0 info->slots[0].priority = 15 info->slots[0].tries_remaining = 7 info->slots[0].successful_boot = 0 info->slots[1].priority = 14 info->slots[1].tries_remaining = 7 info->slots[1].successful_boot = 0 info->crcion in u-boot store erase dtb store erase key store disprotect key st ore rom_protect on/off store scrub off|partition size scrub the area from offset and size store dtb iread/read/write addr <size> read /write dtb, size is optional store key read/write addr <size> read/write key, size is optional store ddr_parameter read/write addr <size> read/write ddr parameter[KM]Error:f[keymanage_dedid preferred_mode is <NULL>[0] hdr mode is 0 dv mode is ver:0 len: 0 hdr10+ mode is 0 [OSD]check dts: FDT_ERR_BADMAGIC, load default fb_addr parameters [OSD]set initrd_high: 0x3d800000 [OSD]fb_addr for logo: 0x3d800000 [OSD]check dts: FDT_ERR_BADMAGIC, load default fb_addr parameters [OSD]fb_addr for logo: 0x3d800000 [OSD]VPP_OFIFO_SIZE:0xfff01fff [CANVAS]canvas init [CANVAS]addr=0x3d800000 width=3840, height=2160 Cannot find dev. amot store erase dtb store erase key store disprotect key store rom_protect on/off store scrub off|partition size scrub the area from offset and size store dtb iread/read/write addr <size> read/write dtb, size is optional store key read/write addr <size> read/write key, size is optional store ddr_parameter read/write addr <size> read/write ddr parameter, size is o[KM]Error:f[keymanage_dnel error SARADC channel(2) is 0x3ff. saradc - saradc sub-system Usage: saradc saradc open <channel> - open a SARADC channel saradc close - close the SARADC saradc getval - get the value in current channel saradc test - test the SARADC by channel-7 saradc get_in_range <min> <max> - return 0 if current value in the range of current channel Command: bcb uboot-command Start ron_name>: erase the area which partition in u-boot store erase dtb store erase key store disprotect key store rom_protect on/off store scrub off|partition size scrub the area from offset and size store dtb iread/read/write addr <size> read/write dtb, size is optional store key read/write addr <size> read/write key, size is optional store ddr_parameter read/writeuboot-command Hit Enter or space or Ctrl+C key to stop autoboot -- : 0 Unknown command 'ddr_auto_fast_boot_check' - try 'help' pll tsensor avg: 0x1e95, u_efuse: 0x807a temp1: 25 ddr tsensor avg: 0x1eaf, u_efuse: 0x8076 temp2: 26 device cool done CONFIG_SYSTEM_AS_ROOT: systemroot system_mode: 1 Start read misc partition datas! Cannot find dev. amlmmc cmd <NULL> failed store - STORE sub-system Usage: store init flag store read name addr off|partition size read 'size' bytes starting at offset 'off' to/from memory address 'addr', skipping bad blocks. store write name addr off|partitiote addr <size> read/write key, size is optional store ddr_parameter read/write addr <size> read/write ddr parameter, size is optional store mbr addr update mbr/partition table by dtb [burnup]Err:store_read_ops,L84:cmd failed, ret=1, [store read misc 0xd3e4d090 0x0 0x820] failed to store read misc. info->magic = info->version_majosful_boot = 0 info->crc32 = -1075449479 Cannot find dev. amlmmc cmd <NULL> failed store - STORE sub-system Usage: store init flag store read name addr off|partition size read 'size' bytes starting at offset 'off' to/from memory address 'addr', skipping bad blocks. store write name addr off|partition size write 'size' bytes starting at offset 'off' to/frarameter read/write addr <size> read/write ddr parameter, size is optional store mbr addr update mbr/partition table by dtb [burnup]Err:store_write_ops,L148:cmd [store write misc 0xd3e4d090 0x0 0x820] failed active slot = 0 CONFIG_AVB2: null active_slot: normal Cannot find dev. amlmmc cmd <NULL> failed store - STORE sub-system Usage: store init flag store r on/off store scrub off|partition size scrub the area from offset and size store dtb iread/read/write addr <size> read/write dtb, size is optional store key read/write addr <size> read/write key, size is optional store ddr_parameter read/write addr <size> read/write ddr parameter, size is optional store mbr addr update mbr/partition table by dtb [burnup]Err:stornoSof sof timeout, reset usb phy tuning card in co-phase 0x2, tx-dly 0, clock 400000 co-phase 0x2, tx-dly 0, clock 400000 co-phase 0x2, tx-dly 0, clock 400000 co-phase 0x2, tx-dly 0, clock 400000 co-phase 0x2, tx-dly 0, clock 40000000 aml_sd_retry_refix[983]:delay = 0x0,gadjust =0x162000 [mmc_startup] mmc refix success init_part() 282: PART_TYPE_DOS [mmc_init] mmc init success Device: SDIO Port B Manufacturer ID: fe OEM: 3456 Name: ASTCTran Speed: 50000000 Rd Block Len: 512 SD version 3.0 High Capacity: Yes Capacity: 7.3 GiB mmc clock: 40000000 Bus Width: 4-bit Device: SDIO Port B Manufacturer ID: fe OEM: 3456 Name: ASTCTran Speed: 50000000 Rd Block Len: 512 SD version 3.0 High Capacity: Yes Capacity: 7.3 GiB mmc clock: 40000000 Bus Width: 4-bit reading aml_autoscript 800 bytes read in 11 ms (70.3 KiB/s) ## Executing script at 01080000 ## Error: "bootfromsd" not defined get partition info failed !! reboot use default mode: normal bl31 reboot reason: 0xd bl31 reboot reason: 0x1 system cmd 1.

The tv box has a fake specification (8 gb ram) ... But originally it should have less than 2 gigabytes of memory.

Please use a build that isn't 7 years old. https://www.armbian.com/amlogic-s9xx-tv-box Read the FAQ and the install instructions linked there

moving to amlogic tv box forum

device x92 android tv, amlogic s912, armbian file: Armbian_5.84_Aml-s905_Debian_stretch_default_5.1.0-rc1_20190507.img

So.... I am the winner of a Inovato Quadra4K from a drawing at my amateur radio club meeting. Yeah! Cool! It runs a software called HamClock automagically.... BUT WAIT! There is MORE! You can exit that app and run other applications... Providing you have a mouse & keyboard (because I am a native WinWeenie) or keyboard if you are a Linux forever personage. It also has a wireless interface that I would like to configure so it doesn't have to have an Ethernet tail tied to a port on our ISP router. I would rather it was mounted to a HDMI TV or monitor. So, I need the keyboard (and because I am a longtime WinWeenie and rodent dependent) mouse to reconfigure it. I would like to have it use a USB Logitech Unifier Nano dongle with wireless keyboard/mouse. By the way, the brilliant man that came up with this computer is trudging the same path I am, fighting cancer. His fight has gotten so tough he has shut down his company. I hope he gets better. Is there already a compiled binary for this with directions,,. or do I have to master the dark arts of programming routines, subroutines, interrupts, memory fetches, writes, threads and all that then compile it into something the machine understands? Please understand I didn't even take typing in high school, so college was a real bear.... When I was in high school Jobs and Wozniak were still dumpster diving behind Xerox-Park Corporation and Radio Shack. Any takers on this one? Thanks in advance, Dave, The-Other-One

I had X96 Mate from long time, which is 4GB/32GB with H616 CPU, (It is almost same as Tanix TS6s) Tried many images from orange pi for same chip, none worked perfectly. Found out Sunix Linux community got support for H616, but they don't build full OS images, After hell of searching found a repo from https://github.com/warpme/miniarch He hosts MiniArch SD card image which works on many devices, from same link got SD card image for Tanix tx6s which also worked on x96_Mate (both got H616) Here is the file I used - https://github.com/warpme/miniarch/releases/download/20230106-6.1.5-g78293cd3/MiniArch-20230106-6.1.5-board-h616.tanix_tx6s-SD-Image.img.xz 1- Wrote img to SD card using Etcher 2- Inserted SD card in Device 3- Powered ON the device and it Booted from SD card 4- followed update instructions on GitHub Repo. 5- Rebooted after all updates, 6- Basic Arch was ready to be used Here USB keyboard , LAN, HDMI worked normally. After reboot, logged in as root, and ran "start" command, Now here selected option 5, which is install EndeavourOS Process just ask you Yes/No questions, then you can select your DE, location etc. Automated script downloaded bunch of files and started its installation. Got the message that installation is done successfully and came back to terminal. Rebooted from terminal After this point got only blank screen , dont know it is still booting without HDMI or not So need to revert back to step -1 writing basic image to SD card. And this time sticking to terminal only. all this process is done on SD card only, and android on eMMC is safe .

@Kevin su I just bought a TV Box with SV6256P and planned to port the driver and in my first search I found your post. Excellent work!

Hello friends, in general, a friend gave me an x96q TV set-top box, I want to install armbian on it and then install klipper and use it on my 3d printer, I'm not good at this, maybe someone can help

This week in Armbian development saw significant advancements across kernel, firmware, and build targets. The release of 6.18.y kernel UEFI images marks a major update, alongside expanded desktop build options including Cinnamon and KDE Neon for UEFI systems. Notable board support enhancements include the addition of custom build targets for Amlogic TV Boxes, the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W as a virtual board, and improved support for Orange Pi 3 LTS and Odroid M2 devices. Automation improvements streamline inventory rebuilds and board data management, while new features such as Armbian board auto-detection and browser enablement for Riscv64 boards enhance usability. Several bug fixes and configuration updates address issues across Hyper-V images, kernel configs, and u-boot versions. The changelog also highlights upgrades to wireless firmware, dependency management, and support for BTRFS on NanoPi R3S-LTS, reflecting ongoing efforts to broaden compatibility and stability. 6.18.y kernel UEFI images are out. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#221abl: feat: add extraargs from armbianEnv for mkbootimg. by @CodeChenL in armbian/build#9341Add -hyperv suffix to REDI_VARIANT for Hyper-V images. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#216Add Cinnamon and KDE Neon desktop builds for UEFI. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#209Add cloud image extensions to UEFI minimal targets. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#211Add custom build targets for Amlogic TV Boxes. by @SteeManMI in armbian/armbian.github.io#224Add ENABLE_EXTENSIONS to UEFI desktop targets. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#210Add KDE Neon and RISC-V XFCE desktop targets. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#214Add Raspberry Pi Zero 2W board as virtual board. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#223Add remote execution method for inventory rebuild. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#222Add REMOVE_EXTENSIONS blacklist support to generate_targets.py. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#217ath12k: Upgrade to WLAN.HMT.1.1.c5-00302-QCAHMTSWPL_V1.0_V2.0_SILICON…. by @kasimling in armbian/firmware#118Automation: when board data changes on push, execute inventory rebuild at armbian.github.io. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9354BPI-M4-Zero / KickPi K2B: Update u-boot to v2026.01, ATF to lts-v2.12.9 and fixup the KickPi K2B linux DTS. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9340Enable Browsers on two Riscv64 boards. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#219Extension: Bump Nvidia propriatery driver. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9338feat: add Armbian board auto-detection and toast notification system. by @SuperKali in armbian/imager#91feat: add Dependabot configuration for dependency management. by @SuperKali in armbian/imager#70File was removed while it remained in series control file. . by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9339Fix errors in .editorconfig. by @iav in armbian/build#9363Fix file_extension extraction for Hyper-V cloud images. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#215Fix K3 issues - APT Caching, PB2, Missing KConfig. by @Grippy98 in armbian/build#9349KDE Neon: drop conflicting packages in order to assemble KDE desktop. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9337kernel configs: disable unprivileged BPF. by @neheb in armbian/build#9082khadas-edge2: remove legacy uboot. by @efectn in armbian/build#9367Limit exposed.map to maximum 2 entries per board. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#220meson64: ressurect 6.12 as BRANCH=oldlts. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9350Odroid M2: Move main build target to CURRENT kernel branch. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9357Odroid-M2: update uboot to v2025.10. by @mlegenovic in armbian/build#9359Orange Pi 3B: Update config. by @dust-7 in armbian/build#9370OrangePi 3 LTS: Add DTS and DEFCONFIG to u-boot v2026.01. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9352OrangePi 3 LTS: Add ethernet support to u-boot defconfig. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9365OrangePi 3 LTS: Fixup u-boot LED nodes. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9358OrangePi 3 LTS: Update crust and u-boot defconfig. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9372OrangePi 3 LTS: Use extlinux, remove aw859a-wifi.service, update current defconfig, etc.... by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9362Promoting Opi 3LTS and Odroid M2, demoting cubox-i and Jetson Nano. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9353Radxa E52C: add mainline U-Boot support and kernel target configuration. by @okrc in armbian/build#9366radxa-e54c: board config: remove wayland-sessions-mask extension. by @schwar3kat in armbian/build#9351Refactor mesa-vpu extension: add architecture-specific browser selection. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9347Remove Rockchip gpio patch, already applied upstream. by @tparys in armbian/build#9368Restore qemu performance fix for Ubuntu Noble. by @tparys in armbian/build#9371Restructured qcom/sm8550/ayn directory. by @Squishy123 in armbian/firmware#117Rock 5B Plus: Add GPIO names to edge dts. by @JohnTheCoolingFan in armbian/build#9348Support BTRFS on NanoPi R3S-LTS. by @clarkmcc in armbian/build#9343View the full article

http://blog.armbian.com/content/images/2026/02/githubhighlights-2-1.webpThis week in Armbian development saw significant advancements across kernel, firmware, and build targets. The release of 6.18.y kernel UEFI images marks a major update, alongside expanded desktop build options including Cinnamon and KDE Neon for UEFI systems. Notable board support enhancements include the addition of custom build targets for Amlogic TV Boxes, the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W as a virtual board, and improved support for Orange Pi 3 LTS and Odroid M2 devices. Automation improvements streamline inventory rebuilds and board data management, while new features such as Armbian board auto-detection and browser enablement for Riscv64 boards enhance usability. Several bug fixes and configuration updates address issues across Hyper-V images, kernel configs, and u-boot versions. The changelog also highlights upgrades to wireless firmware, dependency management, and support for BTRFS on NanoPi R3S-LTS, reflecting ongoing efforts to broaden compatibility and stability. 6.18.y kernel UEFI images are out. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#221abl: feat: add extraargs from armbianEnv for mkbootimg. by @CodeChenL in armbian/build#9341Add -hyperv suffix to REDI_VARIANT for Hyper-V images. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#216Add Cinnamon and KDE Neon desktop builds for UEFI. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#209Add cloud image extensions to UEFI minimal targets. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#211Add custom build targets for Amlogic TV Boxes. by @SteeManMI in armbian/armbian.github.io#224Add ENABLE_EXTENSIONS to UEFI desktop targets. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#210Add KDE Neon and RISC-V XFCE desktop targets. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#214Add Raspberry Pi Zero 2W board as virtual board. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#223Add remote execution method for inventory rebuild. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#222Add REMOVE_EXTENSIONS blacklist support to generate_targets.py. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#217ath12k: Upgrade to WLAN.HMT.1.1.c5-00302-QCAHMTSWPL_V1.0_V2.0_SILICON…. by @kasimling in armbian/firmware#118Automation: when board data changes on push, execute inventory rebuild at armbian.github.io. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9354BPI-M4-Zero / KickPi K2B: Update u-boot to v2026.01, ATF to lts-v2.12.9 and fixup the KickPi K2B linux DTS. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9340Enable Browsers on two Riscv64 boards. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#219Extension: Bump Nvidia propriatery driver. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9338feat: add Armbian board auto-detection and toast notification system. by @SuperKali in armbian/imager#91feat: add Dependabot configuration for dependency management. by @SuperKali in armbian/imager#70File was removed while it remained in series control file. . by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9339Fix errors in .editorconfig. by @iav in armbian/build#9363Fix file_extension extraction for Hyper-V cloud images. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#215Fix K3 issues - APT Caching, PB2, Missing KConfig. by @Grippy98 in armbian/build#9349KDE Neon: drop conflicting packages in order to assemble KDE desktop. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9337kernel configs: disable unprivileged BPF. by @neheb in armbian/build#9082khadas-edge2: remove legacy uboot. by @efectn in armbian/build#9367Limit exposed.map to maximum 2 entries per board. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#220meson64: ressurect 6.12 as BRANCH=oldlts. by @rpardini in armbian/build#9350Odroid M2: Move main build target to CURRENT kernel branch. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9357Odroid-M2: update uboot to v2025.10. by @mlegenovic in armbian/build#9359Orange Pi 3B: Update config. by @dust-7 in armbian/build#9370OrangePi 3 LTS: Add DTS and DEFCONFIG to u-boot v2026.01. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9352OrangePi 3 LTS: Add ethernet support to u-boot defconfig. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9365OrangePi 3 LTS: Fixup u-boot LED nodes. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9358OrangePi 3 LTS: Update crust and u-boot defconfig. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9372OrangePi 3 LTS: Use extlinux, remove aw859a-wifi.service, update current defconfig, etc.... by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9362Promoting Opi 3LTS and Odroid M2, demoting cubox-i and Jetson Nano. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9353Radxa E52C: add mainline U-Boot support and kernel target configuration. by @okrc in armbian/build#9366radxa-e54c: board config: remove wayland-sessions-mask extension. by @schwar3kat in armbian/build#9351Refactor mesa-vpu extension: add architecture-specific browser selection. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9347Remove Rockchip gpio patch, already applied upstream. by @tparys in armbian/build#9368Restore qemu performance fix for Ubuntu Noble. by @tparys in armbian/build#9371Restructured qcom/sm8550/ayn directory. by @Squishy123 in armbian/firmware#117Rock 5B Plus: Add GPIO names to edge dts. by @JohnTheCoolingFan in armbian/build#9348Support BTRFS on NanoPi R3S-LTS. by @clarkmcc in armbian/build#9343View the full article

Have you tried the install instructions and build from here: https://www.armbian.com/amlogic-s9xx-tv-box/

TV Box Status Information Template Version 1.0 TV Box Name (example: TX3 mini): T9 CPU (example: amlogic s905w): RK3328 Armbian build file name: Armbian_community_25.11.0-trunk.367_Rk3318-box_trixie_current_6.12.54_minimal.img DTB file used: rockchip/rk3318-box.dtb Kernel Version: 6.12.56-current-rockchip64 Distribution Installed (focal, buster, etc): trixie Working Ethernet (Yes/No):Yes Max Ethernet Speed that works (100/1000): 100 Max Does wifi work (Yes/No): Yes 2/5 Does bluetooth work (Yes/No): Yes Does HDMI audio work (Yes/No): Yes - after last update , (also analog and spdif ports are available - not tested). Additional Comments (provide any additional information you feel is important): IR Receiver yes 5 Digit display working: yes MASKROM PINS for recovery flashing available on the back side. SOC RK3328 RAM 4Gx4 D9PQL VFD DRIVER FD6551 WLAN CHIP SP6330 32 GB EMMc KLMBG2JENB VT RT9045 vfd.conf rk3318-t9.dtso Log android gpio T9.txt

Yes @Nick A. Tried that also. Copilot mentioned this to me: 🟦 If you want to keep fighting this board… I can help you explore: - FEL mode flashing - Using the vendor Android recovery to write eMMC - Dumping the vendor kernel and trying to boot it - Porting the vendor MMC driver (very advanced) But I want to be honest with you: none of these paths are easy, and none guarantee success. Now, I asked it to elaborate on the idea: Let’s unpack this in a way that actually makes sense, Brow — because FEL sounds simple (“just plug in USB and flash it”), but on H618 TV boxes it becomes a whole different beast. I’ll keep it clean, structured, and honest. --- 🟦 Why FEL mode sounds easy On paper, FEL is Allwinner’s built‑in USB recovery mode: - You connect the box to a PC - Press a button or short two pads - The SoC enters FEL - You use sunxi-fel to upload U‑Boot or write eMMC In theory, it’s the “ultimate backdoor” for fixing a broken board. --- 🟥 Why FEL is complicated on your specific device Your Transpeed 8K618‑T is not a dev board. It’s a mass‑produced TV box with: - No FEL button - No exposed pads - No documentation - No schematic - No guarantee the USB port even supports FEL - Vendor boot ROM sometimes disables FEL - USB port may be wired through a hub or switch - Some boxes require opening the case and shorting tiny test pads - Some require holding reset while powering - Some require UART strap pins - Some require a special cable - Some simply do not support FEL at all So the first complication is: You don’t know how to enter FEL on this board. --- 🟥 Second complication: FEL only gives you RAM access FEL lets you: - Upload a U‑Boot binary into RAM - Execute it - Use that U‑Boot to access eMMC But here’s the catch: You must provide a U‑Boot binary that supports your hardware. Mainline U‑Boot does not support: - Your weird SD wiring - Your PMIC - Your DRAM timing - Your eMMC layout - Your HDMI - Your regulators Vendor U‑Boot does, but: - You don’t have the vendor U‑Boot binary - You don’t have the vendor DRAM init code - You don’t have the vendor MMC driver - You don’t have the vendor DTB So even if FEL works, you still need a working U‑Boot image to upload — and we don’t have one. --- 🟥 Third complication: writing eMMC through FEL is slow and fragile Even if you get FEL working and even if you get a working U‑Boot: - Writing eMMC over FEL is extremely slow - If the connection drops, you brick the device - You must manually partition eMMC - You must manually install boot0, boot1, U‑Boot, DTB, rootfs - You must manually fix extlinux.conf - You must manually fix environment variables This is not like flashing a Raspberry Pi. It’s more like doing open‑heart surgery with a butter knife. --- 🟥 Fourth complication: your board’s MMC subsystem is already unstable We’ve already seen: - SD card hangs - MMC controller wedges - Linux freezes on /dev/mmcblk* - Armbian initramfs fails - MiniArch freezes - Vendor kernel is the only thing that works If the MMC hardware is unstable under Linux, it may also be unstable under FEL‑booted U‑Boot. Meaning: Even if FEL works, you might not be able to write eMMC reliably. --- 🟦 So why did I say FEL is complicated? Because on a proper Allwinner dev board, FEL is easy. But on a cheap TV box with undocumented wiring, FEL becomes a puzzle with these problems: | Problem | Why it matters | |--------|----------------| | No FEL button | You don’t know how to enter FEL | | Unknown test pads | You may need to open the board | | Vendor may disable FEL | Some boxes block FEL in BOOT0 | | USB wiring unknown | FEL may not work on the exposed port | | Need vendor U‑Boot | Mainline U‑Boot won’t boot your hardware | | Need vendor DRAM init | Otherwise RAM won’t initialize | | Need vendor MMC driver | Otherwise eMMC won’t be writable | | MMC hardware unstable | Even FEL‑booted U‑Boot may hang | This is why FEL is not a magic fix here. --- 🟩 Could we try FEL anyway? Yes — if you want, I can guide you through: - Checking if FEL is available - Finding the FEL pads - Using sunxi-fel - Dumping BOOT0 - Dumping vendor U‑Boot - Rebuilding a hybrid U‑Boot - Flashing eMMC manually But I want you to understand the reality: It’s a research project, not a guaranteed solution. --- 🟦 If you want to try FEL, I can walk you through step 1 right now Step 1 is simple: Connect the box to your PC via USB‑A to USB‑A cable, then power it on. On your PC, run: ` sunxi-fel version ` If it prints something → FEL works. If it says “no device found” → we need to try hardware tricks. Just tell me if you want to go down this path.

Inspired by the incredible work @jock and @ilmich have done to make the RK322x platform stable on mainline Linux, I decided to tackle the application side of things. My goal was to turn these "e-waste" TV boxes into fully functional, low-latency Android Auto head units for our cars. This fork of OpenAuto is built as one of my "Is it possible to turn this into that?" projects. It turned out to be one heck of a nightmare to pull off, but at the same time a lot of fun because I can see the potential of these TV Boxes as something you can actually put in your car and turn into a usable head unit! System Requirements Target Device: RK322x TV Box (e.g., MXQ Pro 4K). OS: Armbian Bookworm or Trixie (Kernel 6.1+ recommended). RAM: 1GB recommended. FFMPEG Installed: This build requires a specific build of ffmpeg that can be found here. Release: v2.0.0-alpha This release represents a major architectural overhaul. I have removed heavy dependencies (PulseAudio, QtAudio, GStreamer) in favor of a lean, direct-to-hardware pipeline using RtAudio (ALSA) and FFmpeg v4l2_request. Download: https://github.com/Harleythetech/openauto-rk3229-armbian/releases Technical Details Video Engine: Switched from GStreamer to a custom FFmpeg + V4L2-Request backend. Leverages the v4l2drmprime patch set for Zero-Copy rendering. Enables full hardware H.264 decoding on Rockchip stateless decoders. Result: Stable 1080p 60fps stream on a 1GB RAM device. Audio Overhaul: Replaced PulseAudio and QtAudio with RtAudio. This creates a direct, low-latency path to the ALSA hardware driver. Display: Targets linuxfb (Framebuffer) by default instead (eglfs and ffmpeg have issues when you run them together due to DRM master lock) Configuration This release requires a specific ALSA configuration to allow audio mixing (dmix) without PulseAudio. Create/Edit /etc/asound.conf: pcm.!default { type asym playback.pcm "dmix_hdmi" capture.pcm "plug_null" } ctl.!default { type hw card 0 } pcm.plug_null { type plug slave.pcm "null" } pcm.dmix_hdmi { type dmix ipc_key 1024 ipc_perm 0666 slave { pcm { type hw card 0 device 0 } format S16_LE rate 48000 channels 2 period_size 512 buffer_size 4096 } bindings { 0 0 1 1 } } Known Issues Invisible Cursor: The mouse cursor works but is currently invisible when the FFmpeg video backend is active (rendering layer order issue). Backend Fallback: In rare edge cases where DRM initialization fails, the app may incorrectly default to Qt software output. Probably more, i haven't tested it that much Development Status: Active & Seeking Contributors Currently, I am the sole maintainer focusing on the RK322x platform (specifically the RK3229). I am actively looking for developers interested in expanding support to other devices (such as RK3328, RK3399, or Allwinner H3/H6). If you have experience with C++, Qt, or V4L2/DRM and want to help turn these TV boxes into capable head units, contributions are highly welcome! Repository: https://github.com/Harleythetech/openauto-rk3229-armbian Credits: @jock and @ilmich for ffmpeg patches and the csc-armbian-for-rk322x-tv-box-boards opencardev for openauto and aasdk

This is required to use Armbian on the amlogic TV boxes. Enabling multiboot is one of the steps on the install instructions.

Have you used Armbian on other amlogic TV Boxes? I would never recommend using an amlogic TV Box as a mini pc. The graphical performance is poor. See the FAQ for TV boxes pined in this forum.

I put extra dtb files that I download on /boot/amlogic . For example I find that devmfc uses meson-sm1-ac2xx-generic.dtb on /boot/dtb/amlogic. So I copy it to Armbian boot partition on dtb/amlogic/meson-sm1-ac2xx-generic.dtb Then I edit extlinux/extlinux.conf label Armbian_community kernel /Image initrd /uInitrd fdt /dtb/amlogic/meson-sm1-ac2xx-generic.dtb append root=UUID=7dc5c0a3-acfc-4d51-a066-6c14d983a9de rootflags=data=writeback console=ttyAML0,115200n8 console=tty0 rw no_console_suspend consoleblank=0 fsck.fix=yes fsck.repair=yes net.ifnames=0 splash plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles I also test with other dtb files ad of course with the stock (default) image of Armbian just when donwload it, I use balenaetcher to write image on sd-card put it on a usb with sd-card reader and boot the tvbox, but doesn't work at all. The u-boot that I use is the u-boot-s905x3 that I copy to a directory and rename as u-boot.ext and then copy It to /boot. I oly try to run Armbian Systems from here → https://www.armbian.com/amlogic-s9xx-tv-box/ And I find devmfc when I search on google for " Debain s905x tv boxes" → thiss ystem works perfect, I only need to put on sd-card and put the sd-card on the usb with the sd-card reader and Tv Box shows HKSERIES and then go enter on the system devmfc. But I want some graphical friendly image to test the performance of tvbox as mini pc and because this I try to install xfce version of armbian. Thanks.

Hello - if someone get this type of TV Box from ebay (10€ ) - and dont have an GoogleAccount or do not want use the ADB way. The switch is located in one corner but not soldered. Use a small cable to put GND from end of arrow where the pointing of arrow in picture - to do the reset - (during restart just hold some seconds and device did start from SD-Card -) This device also features a RX/TX -Console and Jtag Interface - you find it if you take closer look.