gruber Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 Hei there I have a MXQ PRO 4k Leelbox and I'm it using with Armbian_20.10_Arm-64_focal_current_5.9.0_desktop.img.xz /dtb/amlogic/meson-gxbb-nexbox-a95x.dtb $ uname -a Linux arm-64 5.9.0-arm-64 #20.10 SMP PREEMPT Wed Oct 14 12:04:42 MSK 2020 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux Also other meson-gxbb dtb files are working. More specs below if needed that I can't fully confirm Spoiler Leelbox MXQ Pro Android TV Box Kodi 16.0amlogic Android 5.1 S905 chipset quad-core 1GB RAM 8GB Flash Wi-Fi support Chipset: Amlogic S905 Quad Core Cortex A53 @ 2.0GHz GPU: Penta core Mali-450 @ 600MHZ + Flash: 8GBNAND Flash SDRAM: 1GBDDR3 I've tried to use hwinfo to probe and confirm some of the following specs I've found here, but it's returning rather generic info like 42: None 00.0: 10103 CPU [Created at cpu.343] Unique ID: rdCR.j8NaKXDZtZ6 Hardware Class: cpu Arch: AArch64 Vendor: "ARM Limited" Model: 0.4.0 "" Features: fp,asimd,evtstrm,crc32,cpuid BogoMips: 48.00 Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown It's running pretty well! The desktop is reasonably quick and responsive, I'm running on a SD card so maybe when I will move to eMMC will run even better. Unfortunately, but expected, the RTL8189ES wifi chip is not working. I was trying to compile the driver as described here, but I'm unable to install the kernel headers via armbian-config. The install process runs and ends with no following message displayed, I can't really tell if the headers are installed successfully or not, but AFAICT there is no build folder to compile the module via make. What should I do to be able to compile this kernel module for RTL8189ES? If more info or maybe a couple pics of the board are needed let me know. I'm really not a linux expert when it comes to this low level operations, hope someone can point me in the right direction, thank you for any help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteeMan Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 There aren't any kernel headers for the balbes150 tv box builds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon-renegade Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 wget https://users.armbian.com/balbes150/arm-64/deb/linux-headers-current-arm-64_20.10_arm64.deb sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-current-arm-64_20.10_arm64.deb You can give this a try. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gruber Posted February 28, 2022 Author Share Posted February 28, 2022 Thank you for your replies! I would have replied my self earlier but being a new user (I guess) the forum rate limited me. On 2/26/2022 at 9:48 PM, SteeMan said: There aren't any kernel headers for the balbes150 tv box builds. Interesting, I really don't know much of kernel tinkering and this sort of stuff, I didn't really even know about headers, I thought the kernel was either compiled or raw source code where you can fiddle. What is the reason (if any)? I'm genuinely asking, I don't mean to point fingers or whatever, I'd just like to learn more how this thing works. On 2/27/2022 at 9:45 PM, Simon-renegade said: wget https://users.armbian.com/balbes150/arm-64/deb/linux-headers-current-arm-64_20.10_arm64.deb sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-current-arm-64_20.10_arm64.deb You can give this a try. Thank you for this! I will try what you suggested and see if I can make some progress with the wifi module compiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gruber Posted March 10, 2022 Author Share Posted March 10, 2022 Hei @Simon-renegade thank you for your help, I've been able to successfully install the kernel headers with your suggestion! Sorry for the late response but got busy and couldn't find the time to try this out. AFAICT the wifi driver has been compiled without errors and is (apparently) working correctly! Though after the very first reboot and for a couple more following, when connecting to a wi-fi the system (or maybe only the desktop environment?) got stuck and eventually freezed unresponsive; only way out was to plug the power cord. Luckily after a couple more reboots this thing stopped and the wireless connection behaved properly! In case another issue like happens, where should I look at (like logs or similar) that will tell me why the device hanged or crashed? IIRC stuff like dmesg is for boot error debugging. Are there any log files that are saved and are still present after a forced reboot? Anyway here is what I did for posterity to compile the rtl8189ES driver for my box: # Install kernel headers wget https://users.armbian.com/balbes150/arm-64/deb/linux-headers-current-arm-64_20.10_arm64.deb sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-current-arm-64_20.10_arm64.deb # Download the wifi driver git clone https://github.com/jwrdegoede/rtl8189ES_linux.git # Compile, some warning may show up but can be ignored (I.. hope!) cd rtl8189ES_linux/ make -j4 ARCH=arm64 KSRC=/usr/lib/modules/5.9.0-arm-64/build # Enable the driver sudo cp 8189es.ko /usr/lib/modules/5.9.0-arm-64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/ sudo depmod -a sudo modprobe 8189es If wifi is still not working a reboot may be required. Small note that wasn't obvious for me: the driver worked only with the `meson-gxbb-nexbox-a95x.dtb` file on my box, try also with other DTB files when trying to install the drivers file if not working. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris2m Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 The issue with the missing header files/build directory persists in later releases - even after installing the headers via armbian-config. I'm running armbian 22.02.1 and have spent weeks to find the header files for 5.15.25-sunxi. I scanned through the sub directories of @Simon-renegade's download link but did not find a corresponding version. Is there a generic solution for downloading the header files when armbian-config does not succeed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris2m Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 To answer my own question - I found the header files here: https://imola.armbian.com/beta/pool/main/l/linux-5.15.25-sunxi/linux-headers-current-sunxi_22.02.0-trunk_armhf.deb wget https://imola.armbian.com/beta/pool/main/l/linux-5.15.25-sunxi/linux-headers-current-sunxi_22.02.0-trunk_armhf.deb dpkg -i linux-headers-current-sunxi_22.02.0-trunk_armhf.deb The only remaining question is why `armbian-config` does not install the header files. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gruber Posted March 11, 2022 Author Share Posted March 11, 2022 Interesting, is there a page or something where all the various catalogs and file archives are listed? How did you find this imola.armbian.com? Are there more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 13 minutes ago, gruber said: Are there more? https://github.com/armbian/mirror dl.armbian.com and apt.armbian.com are picking them. Problem in this case is that TV boxes are unofficial hacked builds which might not work with all armbian tools. 18 minutes ago, gruber said: is there a page or something where all the various catalogs and file archives are listed? https://www.google.com/search?q=list+all+files+in+apt+repository 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gruber Posted March 11, 2022 Author Share Posted March 11, 2022 Thank you @Igor, that's great! I feel also a bit dumb because checking the other repos in the project github account should have been obvious 23 minutes ago, Igor said: 41 minutes ago, gruber said: is there a page or something where all the various catalogs and file archives are listed? https://www.google.com/search?q=list+all+files+in+apt+repository Yea I wrote that badly, what I really meant was something like your first link, a list of all various armbian related repositories, not the packages themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon-renegade Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 On 3/10/2022 at 8:52 PM, gruber said: Hei @Simon-renegade thank you for your help, I've been able to successfully install the kernel headers with your suggestion! Sorry for the late response but got busy and couldn't find the time to try this out. AFAICT the wifi driver has been compiled without errors and is (apparently) working correctly! Though after the very first reboot and for a couple more following, when connecting to a wi-fi the system (or maybe only the desktop environment?) got stuck and eventually freezed unresponsive; only way out was to plug the power cord. Luckily after a couple more reboots this thing stopped and the wireless connection behaved properly! In case another issue like happens, where should I look at (like logs or similar) that will tell me why the device hanged or crashed? IIRC stuff like dmesg is for boot error debugging. Are there any log files that are saved and are still present after a forced reboot? Anyway here is what I did for posterity to compile the rtl8189ES driver for my box: # Install kernel headers wget https://users.armbian.com/balbes150/arm-64/deb/linux-headers-current-arm-64_20.10_arm64.deb sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-current-arm-64_20.10_arm64.deb # Download the wifi driver git clone https://github.com/jwrdegoede/rtl8189ES_linux.git # Compile, some warning may show up but can be ignored (I.. hope!) cd rtl8189ES_linux/ make -j4 ARCH=arm64 KSRC=/usr/lib/modules/5.9.0-arm-64/build # Enable the driver sudo cp 8189es.ko /usr/lib/modules/5.9.0-arm-64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/ sudo depmod -a sudo modprobe 8189es If wifi is still not working a reboot may be required. Small note that wasn't obvious for me: the driver worked only with the `meson-gxbb-nexbox-a95x.dtb` file on my box, try also with other DTB files when trying to install the drivers file if not working. Good luck! Glad to here that solved you problem on compiling. I've met the same issue before and solved it with the package. I'd like to suggest you to try the latest armbain as the new version already has many wifi drivers in. 5.9.0 is too old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gruber Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 On 3/17/2022 at 8:11 AM, Simon-renegade said: Glad to here that solved you problem on compiling. I've met the same issue before and solved it with the package. I'd like to suggest you to try the latest armbain as the new version already has many wifi drivers in. 5.9.0 is too old. Interesting, unfortunately (again) kernel wizardy is something that I really like to tackle to wrap my head around the basics. I guess info from here can surely help but I need time to dig in it https://docs.armbian.com/User-Guide_FAQ/ For what I know (or managed to understand) you can't just upgrade/switch kernel with some sudo magic, even more with customized releases as Armbian and I guess even more+ with the great work balbes150 did to tame these TV boxes spawned from a hell of uncommon and obscure manufactures. Am I missing something maybe? Anyway thank you again for this additional input, I will keep it in mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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