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More proper testing - better Armbian experience

Igor

By Igor
in Advanced users - Development

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manuti

manuti

Posted
Posted
  On 11/29/2016 at 8:16 AM, Igor said:

Odroid C2 and Opi PC, latest beta.

 

I was already looking if we produced this problem and where ... 

How I can install this Desktop over Orange Pi PC beta?

Ans also I suppose I need to install VNC or Xrdp to see the desktop because I don't have a working HDMI.

 

I'm using it on a Orange Pi One and I don't have temperature or cpufreq-info, is there any way to have it?

Thanks.

ErwinH

ErwinH

Posted
Posted

To get cpufreq-info, temperature and throttling you need a kernel that has the patches for these drivers. The beta currently is still build with a kernel that doesn't have these patches. You can build your own kernel / image which do include these patches. https://github.com/megous/linux

 

I've build my own image with this kernel and it's running nicely, with throttling, temperature/cpufreq readout and btrfs. When these patches either get mainline, or integrated in the armbian build system for the beta the One/Zero boards can run 4.9 kernel as well.

2
ErwinH

ErwinH

Posted
Posted

Why isn't the root account locked out after the creation of a user account? I know it's convenient, but not quite safe this way.

Second: Could the welcome message also showt the IPv6 address(es) of the board? I've got IPv6 next to my IPv4 network and it would be nice to also now the IPv6 addresses of the board.

zador.blood.stained

zador.blood.stained

Posted
Posted
  On 11/29/2016 at 1:55 PM, ErwinH said:

Why isn't the root account locked out after the creation of a user account? I know it's convenient, but not quite safe this way.

Currently it's up to end user. Adding a normal account on first boot is relatively new procedure and there are some possible issues with it. Until these issues are fixed forced root locking should not be added IMO.

manuti

manuti

Posted
Posted
  On 11/29/2016 at 1:42 PM, ErwinH said:

To get cpufreq-info, temperature and throttling you need a kernel that has the patches for these drivers. The beta currently is still build with a kernel that doesn't have these patches. You can build your own kernel / image which do include these patches. https://github.com/megous/linux

 

I've build my own image with this kernel and it's running nicely, with throttling, temperature/cpufreq readout and btrfs. When these patches either get mainline, or integrated in the armbian build system for the beta the One/Zero boards can run 4.9 kernel as well.

Thanks for the info, is to much for me by now.

I can wait for a mainline kernel with patches for the Orange Pi One.

ErwinH

ErwinH

Posted
Posted
  On 11/29/2016 at 1:58 PM, zador.blood.stained said:

Currently it's up to end user. Adding a normal account on first boot is relatively new procedure and there are some possible issues with it. Until these issues are fixed forced root locking should not be added IMO.

Ok, I can understand that point of view. Maybe it's something that could be asked after the user account has been made: Do you want to lock out root from ssh? There are a lot of users who simple connect these baby's to the internet and don't give it much thought. Helping them a little doesn't hurt.

jeanrhum

jeanrhum

Posted
Posted

Last test for pine64 does not boot. (Checked also last week-end and same result, but no time to take usb2serial).

 

I made a test with 2 different psu and 2 different sdcards that works with other img and other cards.

 

Here is UART output:

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

jeanrhum

jeanrhum

Posted
Posted

You're right, in fact it boots by without hdmi output whereas it is desktop img.

 

I also had a strange behavior. I was able to login via serial communication, but it reboots after I change root password and after that I can just login as root. I was also able to ssh via ethernet, but it was difficult to do anything (I try a dmesg but my terminal froze). I don't know if it comes from my local network or the pine64 with this beta armbian img. I will take time to investigate more this evening. My board works well with an older beta img.

jeanrhum

jeanrhum

Posted
Posted

I use uart again and here is what I get after root login:

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

I success to login with the user I add via ssh and I saw this output:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/etc/update-motd.d/40-updates", line 145, in <module>
    updates = int(file.read())
ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: ''
run-parts: /etc/update-motd.d/40-updates exited with return code 1
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.

I was able to launch dmesg:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

@qualcomm.com>

 

I got this lsmod output:

Module                  Size  Used by
ir_lirc_codec          13350  0
lirc_dev               18895  1 ir_lirc_codec
ir_mce_kbd_decoder     13330  0
ir_sanyo_decoder       12869  0
ir_sony_decoder        12786  0
vfe_v4l2              772828  0
ir_jvc_decoder         12811  0
ir_rc6_decoder         12871  0
ir_rc5_decoder         12757  0
ir_nec_decoder         12892  0
sunxi_ir_rx            14684  0
videobuf2_dma_contig    20341  1 vfe_v4l2
videobuf2_memops       12600  1 videobuf2_dma_contig
vfe_io                 44013  1 vfe_v4l2
videobuf2_core         35245  1 vfe_v4l2
ss                     41661  0
cedar_ve               20392  0
8723bs_vq0           1505876  0
8723bs               1500960  0
cfg80211              430729  2 8723bs_vq0,8723bs
sunxi_sndcodec         19661  1
sunxi_i2s              13702  2
sunxi_codec            64741  1
btrfs                 819998  0
xor                    17197  1 btrfs
raid6_pq               90985  1 btrfs
zador.blood.stained

zador.blood.stained

Posted
Posted

Since for me SD card is not detected by kernel anymore (both with legacy and mainline, tried compiling images and using the latest beta, tried 3 different SD cards) it (the board) probably goes back to the drawer or to the trash bin after additional tests.

tkaiser

tkaiser

Posted
Posted

Please drop me a note in case you need/want a replacement. I've 2 Pine64+ here right now but wanted to keep them for some camera and also BT LE experiments.

 

If it's ok for you I could also ask TL Lim to send you a board directly when you allow me to share address details (I would go for SoPine then -- they plan an interesting product around). Just drop me a PM, I'll write to TL Lim in the meantime.

Igor

Igor

Posted
  • Author
Posted

BTW: I fixed / built semi automatic testing procedure for folks who will conduct tests for upcoming release or per request. It's working but need more tests and fine tuning before introduction ... 

 

And.

 

Download pages are now refreshed on cron with data from here: 

https://github.com/igorpecovnik/lib/tree/master/config/boards

 

 

There is a parameter:

BOARDRATING=""

which results in x/10 stars below title if defined  :P

1
tkaiser

tkaiser

Posted
Posted
  On 12/7/2016 at 10:01 PM, Igor said:

Download pages are now refreshed on cron with data from here: 

https://github.com/igorpecovnik/lib/tree/master/config/boards

 

Hmm... I don't get it. Let's take a look at https://www.armbian.com/orange-pi-zero/ 

 

Images linked to are for Nano Pi Air, remarks also and no one gets the idea that 'latest and greatest' stuff is contained in http://image.armbian.com/betaimages/

 

While I would assume linking to Air is a simple mistake (that can only be fixed by you?) the new 'structure' unfortunately hides information. And I also don't get why we don't advertise beta images where available especially for brand new boards like OPi Zero. Essential fixes are in beta image but not on download page and time gets wasted dealing with already resolved issues on the forum.

 

And I also don't understand why 'nmtui' was removed on remarks. But hey...

zador.blood.stained

zador.blood.stained

Posted
Posted
  On 12/8/2016 at 9:19 AM, tkaiser said:

Hmm... I don't get it. Let's take a look at https://www.armbian.com/orange-pi-zero/ 

Yes. I would prefer to have a basic info about releases (and kernels) in the first tab above the download buttons (maybe call it "stable releases"), then link to beta images (maybe call it "nightly releases" since usually "beta" associales with something that was tested at least a little bit and "nightly" associates with automated untested builds), and then have board specific documentation in the 3rd tab

tkaiser

tkaiser

Posted
Posted

BTW: This also prevents me contributing to any documentation in the meantime. Since writing documentation that is not accessible afterwards doesn't make any sense.

 

We still fail horribly to look at Armbian from the outside. We know that the average users hates to read stuff (instructions, documentation, whatever). He gets a new toy and wants it up and running. Or he gets annoyed by the vendor offerings and wants to try out an Armbian image.

 

Eg. a Pine64 user has been told to try out Armbian to make use of the LCD (nightly image!). Most probably the journey is like this:

  • Arriving at https://www.armbian.com (text, images, nothing he's interested in except of the next link)
  • https://www.armbian.com/download/ -- aha, spotted Pine64
  • https://www.armbian.com/pine64/ -- aha, 'legacy' and 'vanilla' (WTF?!) and 'Jessie/Xenial server', so let's try out vanilla (sounds nice) and of course Jessie since that's what I know from Raspbian and the featured Lenny-builds from pine64.pro
  • Let's take that crappy 4GB SD card flying around and use WinDiskimager since this tool ensures that I don't get notified when burning fails
  • Ok, Armbian is crap, doesn't even boot, back to Jessie from pine64.pro
  • One week later: Let's try out this Armbian stuff again since I realized that the crappy SD card I used is really broken
  • So let's burn Armbian Jessie (5.20) again, this time it boots but there's no HDMI output (vanilla!) and no way to activate the LCD as described in their 'Hardware info' tab (there they're talking about 5.21, 5.24 and 5.25 but they only provide 5.20. WTF?!)
  • Ok, Armbian sucks, back to the pine64.pro offerings

@Igor: Currently no one who is not an Armbian developer or is guided by responsible guys like @pfeerick is able to find the nightly build for Pine64 and can benefit from all the great stuff we include. It's simply unaccessible and really a mess. And it won't change unless we start to look at this here from the outside.

 

I second Zador's suggestion: there have to be maximum 3 sentences that outline the most important stuff directly. Users start to read the fine print later if at all. When they want to download an image they need just a little information but that has to be easily accessible.

 

Also I think it would be a great idea to not link to an image with static version information (Armbian_5.20_Pine64_Debian_jessie_3.10.102.7z) but to a symlink that always resolves to latest version (Armbian_stable_Pine64_Debian_jessie_legacy.7z). Currently people link to OS images below http://http://image.armbian.com that get outdated automagically with Armbian improving. That's bad.

 

And as soon as Etcher 1.0 is released we should completely switch to .etch format (download checksum integrated, using Etcher guaranteed, no more hassles with broken download/burning processes. Saves our users and us a lot of time and frustration).

2
zador.blood.stained

zador.blood.stained

Posted
Posted
  On 12/8/2016 at 10:54 AM, tkaiser said:

Also I think it would be a great idea to not link to an image with static version information (Armbian_5.20_Pine64_Debian_jessie_3.10.102.7z) but to a symlink that always resolves to latest version (Armbian_stable_Pine64_Debian_jessie_legacy.7z). Currently people link to OS images below http://http://image.armbian.com that get outdated automagically with Armbian improving. That's bad.

IMO archive file name should still include $REVISION, kernel version and build date (for nightly images). So symlink brobably won't work, but redirect at CMS or web server level should still allow linking to "latest nightly image download" from anywhere (linux-sunxi wiki, this forum or any other forums) but users who downloaded the image will know at least basic info without unpacking the archive

Igor

Igor

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  Quote
Images linked to are for Nano Pi Air, remarks also and no one gets the idea that 'latest and greatest' stuff is contained in http://image.armbian.com/betaimages/ While I would assume linking to Air is a simple mistake (that can only be fixed by you?) the new 'structure' unfortunately hides information. And I also don't get why we don't advertise beta images where available especially for brand new boards like OPi Zero. Essential fixes are in beta image but not on download page and time gets wasted dealing with already resolved issues on the forum.
 

Wrong images are error which I haven't notice. Will be fixed asap. Beta images are advertised exactly where and if available, currently under section "Developement".

 

  Quote
And I also don't understand why 'nmtui' was removed on remarks. But hey...

It was mentioned only twice I think, while it should be on all boards with wifi ... I am solving this generally.

 

This is not the final version, but one step further - now it builds things from commonly available data set, UX design is still needed, but it's much easier from now on.

Igor

Igor

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  Quote
So symlink brobably won't work, but redirect at CMS or web server level should still allow linking to "latest nightly image download" from anywhere

How do you mean this? How to solve?

 

  Quote

Since writing documentation that is not accessible afterwards doesn't make any sense.

I don't get it. What is not accessible? You mean it's better that we have one long page without menus? Or something else?

 

  Quote
Eg. a Pine64 user has been told to try out Armbian to make use of the LCD (nightly image!). Most probably the journey is like this:

What should he gets here. A board selector?

OK. Let's go here with Zador's proposal.

 

stable releases | nighty releases | xxxxxxx | xxxxxx | xxxxxx 

 

Still, we have legacy and vanilla kernels. Almost everywhere. How to solve this then? Adding kernel number won't change much I guess?

 

  • Let's take that crappy 4GB SD card flying around and use WinDiskimager since this tool ensures that I don't get notified when burning fails

"Make sure you use good card" with link to more info below the download icon?

  • Ok, Armbian is crap, doesn't even boot, back to Jessie from pine64.pro
  • One week later: Let's try out this Armbian stuff again since I realized that the crappy SD card I used is really broken
  • So let's burn Armbian Jessie (5.20) again, this time it boots but there's no HDMI output (vanilla!) and no way to activate the LCD as described in their 'Hardware info' tab (there they're talking about 5.21, 5.24 and 5.25 but they only provide 5.20. WTF?!)
  • Ok, Armbian sucks, back to the pine64.pro offerings
zador.blood.stained

zador.blood.stained

Posted
Posted
  On 12/8/2016 at 11:37 AM, Igor said:

How do you mean this? How to solve?

I mean that outside links should not contain exact kernel and release versions, they should look like

http://image.armbian.com/betaimages/Armbian_Nightly_Orangepizero_Ubuntu_xenial_default.7z

or

http://armbian.com/download?type=nightly&board=orangepizero&release=xenial&kernel=default

that should get HTTP 302 redirect to actual image file Armbian_5.24.161208_Orangepizero_Ubuntu_xenial_3.4.113.7z

 

 

  On 12/8/2016 at 11:37 AM, Igor said:

Still, we have legacy and vanilla kernels. Almost everywhere. How to solve this then? Adding kernel number won't change much I guess?

Meaning of "legacy" or "vanilla" depends on board family/SoC and it needs to be stated on the download page (like it was before, but it should be shorter)

I don't have a better word to replace "legacy", but "vanilla" should probably be changed to "mainline"

For example in case of sun4i/sun7i it would be good to have at least this:

  • Legacy kernel - optimal for multimedia and desktop usage scenarios
  • Mainline kernel - optimal for headless server usage
  • See "Status matrix" for detailed comparison

and we could have a table (I'm assuming Markdown tables are supported) that would show that currently HDMI audio, VE accelerated video decoding, DRM video driver and Mali are not available on mainline

 

  On 12/8/2016 at 11:37 AM, Igor said:

stable releases | nighty releases | xxxxxxx | xxxxxx | xxxxxx 

Maybe nightly tab should also have "buttons" instead of links for consistency, and images buttons/links should be on top and repository info/instructions should be lower

2
Igor

Igor

Posted
  • Author
Posted

OK, will try to fix this in the evening. If any other ideas come up, please add them.

Tido

Tido

Posted
Posted
  On 12/8/2016 at 12:04 PM, zador.blood.stained said:
  • Legacy kernel - optimal for multimedia and desktop usage scenarios
  • Mainline kernel - optimal for headless server usage
  • See "Status matrix" for detailed comparison

This is a good idea. Everybody heard about Vanilla Kernel, but what is it. Mainline is a good expression.

I also like the short explanation behind each word.

 

You have the icon that shows a Desktop and if I hover it says 'server', 'desktop'.  Why not leave the icon and write, Server, Desktop ?

Or the buttons are much bigger that I look at the icon.

 

Also a nice approach, once you choose a release: https://ubuntu-mate.org/download/

Sasmito Adibowo

Sasmito Adibowo

Posted
Posted
  On 10/28/2016 at 1:47 PM, mrneilypops said:

How did you manage to install Chromium? I'm using Jessie on Cubieboard and couldn't install chromium.

 

Firefox plays HTML5 videos choppily – stutters and low resolution.

 

  • Firefox running OK. Chromium installed and running OK. Both play html5 OK.

 

Tido

Tido

Posted
Posted
  On 12/9/2016 at 9:07 PM, Igor said:

Some progress ... to be continued.

 

Examples, where special text related to board or family comes out:

 

https://www.armbian.com/cubietruck/

https://www.armbian.com/clearfog/

I like the cubietruck better, because it is more a general explanation, wereas with clearfog you go into a detail and with each update you might forget to change this wahtsorever.

 

I would move this valuable information above the buttons (in green):

Legacy 3.4.112

Optimal for multimedia and desktop usage scenarios.

"" now the buttons ""

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