Boot from USB having Armbian on eMMC

[MrCoolAndroid]

Hello there! I'm trying to boot from USB using Armbian, specifically LibreELEC, but it doesn't boot, it boots to Armbian, Armbian detects the USB but when i disconnect it and I connect it again, it turns off then turn on but to Armbian again

 

The thing is, how can I boot from USB? Or how can I boot or install LibreELEC/CoreELEC while having Armbian on the eMMC?

[Werner]

Which box? Which version hardware/software? What exactly have you tried yet. Read the pinned topics as well as both FAQ and Tutorials.

Insufficient information.

[MrCoolAndroid]

6 hours ago, Werner said:

Which box? Which version hardware/software? What exactly have you tried yet. Read the pinned topics as well as both FAQ and Tutorials.

Insufficient information.

I have a MXQ PRO 4K BOX (S905W) with 1 GB RAM, what you mean by that and I tried booting LE and CE images (and a Volumio one) from my USB with the toothpick method but no success, in one of those images the Amlogic logo freezes (specifically a Volumio image, created by balbes150)

[SteeMan]

The Armbian and CoreElec systems have different and conflicting booting scripts.  When you enable multiboot (the toothpick) you are storing the uboot environment script on emmc and this then gets used for future boots for all media (emmc, sd, usb).  So you can't just install various different OSs and expect them to work as they all depend on the uboot environment stored on emmc for the system to know how to boot them.  Basically you can't do what you are attempting to do on an amlogic based box.  In fact due to the incompatabilities between CoreElec and Armbian, it is required that if you install/attempt to install CE, that you will need to restore your box to an original android firmware in order to get it back into a state that Armbian will again work on it.

 

[MrCoolAndroid]

1 hour ago, SteeMan said:

The Armbian and CoreElec systems have different and conflicting booting scripts.  When you enable multiboot (the toothpick) you are storing the uboot environment script on emmc and this then gets used for future boots for all media (emmc, sd, usb).  So you can't just install various different OSs and expect them to work as they all depend on the uboot environment stored on emmc for the system to know how to boot them.  Basically you can't do what you are attempting to do on an amlogic based box.  In fact due to the incompatabilities between CoreElec and Armbian, it is required that if you install/attempt to install CE, that you will need to restore your box to an original android firmware in order to get it back into a state that Armbian will again work on it.

 

Yeah i saw that on a balbes150 post, about the CE and Armbian incompatibility, that's why I tried Volumio and LE systems by balbes150, i haven't installed CE but it's u-boot is stored on eMMC right? If so, how can i "remove" that u-boot? I have access to Armbian as it's installed on eMMC, maybe some file i can modify? I don't think so but who knows haha

Edited August 31, 2021 by MrCoolAndroid

[SteeMan]

I hadn't heard of volumio before you mentioned it.  I see that it packages/repackages balbes150's work.  But it is ancient code - from 2018 and using kernel 3.14.  This will be incompatible with the Armbian (assuming you have 5.9 kernel installed on emmc) as well.  The scripts changed a lot over time.  You can't mix and match different boot scripts.  Unless you know otherwise, assume that you can't install/use more than one os.

The only recommended way to switch is to revert the box to an original android firmware, and then use the os you are trying to install's installation instructions.  All of the 'install linux on amlogic tvbox' scripts are assuming you are starting from a clean android box, not something whose environment has been messed with by other installation scripts.

[MrCoolAndroid]

15 minutes ago, SteeMan said:

I hadn't heard of volumio before you mentioned it.  I see that it packages/repackages balbes150's work.  But it is ancient code - from 2018 and using kernel 3.14.  This will be incompatible with the Armbian (assuming you have 5.9 kernel installed on emmc) as well.  The scripts changed a lot over time.  You can't mix and match different boot scripts.  Unless you know otherwise, assume that you can't install/use more than one os.

The only recommended way to switch is to revert the box to an original android firmware, and then use the os you are trying to install's installation instructions.  All of the 'install linux on amlogic tvbox' scripts are assuming you are starting from a clean android box, not something whose environment has been messed with by other installation scripts.

I actually have an old but not that old Armbian version i think, how can I check what version i have?

[MrCoolAndroid]

Hey guys, now I'm just gonna stay on Armbian  and do some cool stuff with it, but I'm gonna need help on another thing (I'm gonna post another topic about it) so if u can help me i would appreciate it a lot.

Admins you can close this

Edited September 1, 2021 by MrCoolAndroid
spell correction

[zhuceluntan]

I'm also troubled by this boot issue.

 

For older images balbes150 offers with uEnv.txt, such as Armbian_20.06.0_Arm-64_buster_current_5.7.2_20200619.img.xz, I can always boot from USB no matter what's been installed on the emmc. This is extremely useful because I can easily restore emmc to original Android using ddbr.

 

However, when it comes to the newer images without uEnv.txt, such as Armbian_20.10_Arm-64_bullseye_current_5.9.0.img.xz, everything changed. I cannot boot from usb anymore unless the system on emmc is original Android. I've been seeking for solution since April 2021 but no answer could be found by now.