Armbian 22.08 booting from emmc

[ckohn]

Thank you all for this series of notes.  I have been operating Armbian 22.08 successfully using the sd card on my PBP and like it BUT I would like to boot from emm.  I have tried dozens of ways to install it to no avail.  Seems to be associated with the rootdev=UUID=...

If I use the UUID provided in the Armbian-install then I can boot from emm but it ends up mounting and running from the SD partition.

 

Is there any code that can be inserted into the /boot/armbianEnv.txt file that would provide better diagnostics?  To me it appears as if the emm partitions UUID is not available at boot time.

 

Thanks,

 

Carl

[d_m]

Looks like you asked awhile ago, hopefully this is still relevant.

 

I've been successfully running Armbian off of EMMC on my Pinebook Pro. Before installing Armbian I actually flashed Tow-boot onto the PBP's SPI (replacing the built-in boot loader). Then I was able to run the Armbian installer and installed directly to the EMMC.

This set up seems to work fine for me. Hope this helps, good luck!

[TRS-80]

On 3/20/2023 at 1:52 PM, d_m said:

I've been successfully running Armbian off of EMMC on my Pinebook Pro. Before installing Armbian I actually flashed Tow-boot onto the PBP's SPI (replacing the built-in boot loader). Then I was able to run the Armbian installer and installed directly to the EMMC.

 

I would love to try this but I am too scared.  lol

 

I been reading a lot of threads about this (here and at PINE64 forum) and this seems to be the consensus, that something funny is going on with Manjaro's boot loader.  On the newer batch of PBP, I don't think they shipped a boot loader at all on the SPI (in fact there was a big kerfuffle about that, read Martijn Braam's blog).

 

Anyway, I guess I need to search up how to:

1. See if anything exists on the SPI currently.
2. If so, back it up.
3. Try to flash tow-boot.
4. ???
5. Profit?

In another thread, someone mentioned that the DTB is the problem, but for some reason the one from Kali Linux works.  So this morning I will try and decompile and diff them.  I don't have much time though, unfortunately.

Edited March 25, 2023 by TRS-80
add link to referenced thread/post

[d_m]

Honestly I would not have flashed Tow-Boot into the SPI except that at some point a U-boot update made my PBP unbootable. So I had no choice.

I had to actually open the case to do this (and it took a few tries to get everything working) so it's certainly not for the faint of heart.

 

I really wish Pine64 had shipped these things with a more reasonable boot loader from the start.

[TRS-80]

In the following thread I essentially did all the steps I had mentioned above.  Proceeding slowly and carefully, I felt confident to flash the SPI, once I had determined that indeed it was empty.

 

In the end you were right, the key is putting tow-boot on the SPI.  I mean, that is certainly the easiest way I think.  And the way I did it, I did not even have to open the case (which I was getting very tired of doing by this point, LOL).  I have got Armbian working now both via SD card (the other day) and/or eMMC (just tonight).  Detailed instructions can be found here:

 

https://forum.armbian.com/topic/27598-getting-armbian-working-on-second-batch-mid-2022-pinebook-pro/

[d_m]

Hurrah! 🎉

Congratulations on getting Armbian working on eMMC!

[AB-Stromer]

I see this has been solved but maybe it is helpful for others if I share my experience of the last days....

- had Manjaro KDE first and then later Manjaro Gnome running on my PBP, wanted to change desktop due to bad performance with Gnome and somewhat weird booting behaviour

- ran into a lot, really lot of trouble with these U-Boot hassle (u-boot, idbloader, trust) and repeatedly not working, at last not even booting and needed Reset directly on the the board

- was so close to kick the PBP into the trash bin

- but then wanted to give Armbian a chance 

- downloaded the version for PBP, version current, with Cinnamon. Unpacked, flashed to a SD card (with dd, no etcher ..), inserted into PBP, start: success!! System on SD booted at first step, ran into initial config, set up wifi: amazing!

- after half an hour enjoying this rescue of my PBP, I wanted to try to flash onto the emmc...

- after quickly finding out, that - other than the armbian doc tells - it's not via "armbian-install" on the command line, but via "armbian-config" in the menu. Chose "System on eMMC, Boot from eMMC"option. Started, it worked through and

- voila! Booting and running from emmc on first shot!!

- So easy can life be! I am really happy and thankful to Armbian, I am an Armbian fan now    😀

Edited July 11, 2023 by AB-Stromer