installing OP5 NMVE boot

[arturito]

Couldn't booti from NVME with armbian-config or armbian-install, finally I could do it, a dirty easy and convoluted following way. No details about burning stuff

 

This is what I did

 

1) boot system from fresh downloaded SD (Armbian Jammy Desktop)

 

2) NVME setup (sudo gparted)
   - if empty create a partition table (GPT)
     if not delete all partitions
   - create 256MB FAT16 partition (nvme0n1p1)
   - create EXT4 partition (nvme0n1p2)
   - optionally create more partitions (system recovery, backups ...)
   - format partitions nvme0n1p1 -> FAT16
   - format partitions nvme0n1p2 -> EXT4
   - check partitions (if old NVME)
   - label nvme0n1p1 as armbi_boot
   - label nvme0n1p2 as armbi_root

 

3) run sudo armbian-install
   - option 7 to flash mtdblock0 (bootloader install)
   - option 4 (to install system and boot from mtdblock0)
     choose nvme0n1p2 partition to install system
     don't POWEROFF, just EXIT

 

4) copy SD boot partition to nvme0n1p1
   - sudo dd if=/dev/mmcblk1p1 of=/dev/nvme0n1p1 bs=1M status=progress
   - sudo sync

 

5) armbianExt.txt setup on NMVE
   - sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt
   - check boot files/directories are already copied (ls -l /mnt)
   - blkid
   - copy (CTL_INS -> new UUID) of nvme0n1p2 UUID (without "")

  with your favourite editor:
   - sudo vi armbianExt.txt
   - replace rootdev=UUID=with new UUID (SHIFT-INS)
   - save (ESC :x)

6) - sudo poweroff
   - remove SD
   - press power button to restart

 

Maybe this cam help someone

 

[toocanad]

Nice job on this. Work for me on the second try.

 

One thing though, looks like a typo on Step 5.

   

Quote

sudo vi armbianExt.txt

 

On my device the file is armbianENV.txt

 

Thanks.

 

TC

 

[Werner]

25 minutes ago, toocanad said:

armbianENV.txt

This should not be the case. armbianEnv.txt is the correct notation...

[balbes150]

Why such difficulties ? Just use normal images in which the NVMe + MTD installation works correctly via armbian-install.

[Werner]

30 minutes ago, balbes150 said:

Why such difficulties ? Just use normal images in which the NVMe + MTD installation works correctly via armbian-install.

Confirmed working with a freshly built image. However at least one partition must exist on the NVMe. A completely blank NVMe won't work.

 

However I think armbian-install received some fixes that might not be included in official 23.02 images. So building own is mandatory (or copy the latest armbian-install script into at least).

 

[Howard Jares]

Thank you for documenting this.

It worked for me too. 

It seemed like i had done all this before, but having the checklist helped.

I got it to work.

Thanks!

Howard

[lurk101]

The standard armbia-install boot from MTD with system on NVME did not work for me! What did work:

 

- Boot from standard Armbian image from SD, then use armbian-install to flash the bootloader to MTD.

- dd the standard Armbian image to nvme0n1, power down, remove the SD card, power up.

[balbes150]

2 часа назад, lurk101 сказал:

The standard armbia-install boot from MTD with system on NVME did not work for me! What did work:

You have not completed an important step - BEFORE starting the installation on NVMe, you need to create a partition on NVMe, the script uses an existing partition (this is the right approach, many partitions can be placed on NVMe for different purposes and different systems) and the user chooses from the existing partitions where to install the system.

 

2 часа назад, lurk101 сказал:

dd the standard Armbian image to nvme0n1, power down, remove the SD card, power up.

Direct recording of the image to the media (eMMC\NVMe)  is a very bad practice (exception, temporary removable media, SD\USB, which can be easily connected to another PC for monitoring \ overwriting), this option is recommended by fools who cannot create the installation procedure correctly. One of the reasons why direct recording is bad is that there may be faulty cells on the media and direct recording does not control this in any way. The correct approach is to create a file system with special utilities\commands that guarantee the correct creation of a partition and a file system with the necessary parameters.

[lurk101]

Well, this fool had the required partition pre-created on the nvme drive and yet the standard install procedure did NOT work.

[Werner]

Did you take note here?

 

[ArmBoy1988]

I used this thread to also set up my NVME.  What I noticed in armbian-install is that options 7 and 4 are required and that option 4 installs the system on the NVME.  You are presented a list of partitions to select from.  This is in place of the dd step/command listed.

 

However, I don't believe the Armbian install modifies the boot partition with the UUID of the partition.  This is from memory.  I had gone through this a few times as I changed the number of partitions from 2 to 3 and needed to redo the install.  The 1TB drive has first partition of 512MB (256MB was too small) is the boot partition, second of 63GB (so can backup on 64GB SD card if needed) is the rootfs and third remaining space is for data, mostly docker data.

 

I'm also not sure if any of the armbian-install steps set up the boot partition on the NVME drive.

 

I was/am able to boot from the NVME without an SD card installed.  All has been working fine for a week or two.

[royk]

@ArmBoy1988 You don't need a boot partition, this is only on the image for the sd-card. The partition created for Armbian has to be the first partition and you should install the bootloader to MTD indeed.

[ArmBoy1988]

@royk OK.  Wasn't sure about that.  I've seen this elsewhere...can't remember where.  Probably from old Raspberry Pi stuff or on another Banana Pi I was previously using.  In any case.  When there is no boot partition, does the MTD booting process just pick the first partition it finds to boot from or is there a particular partition label it looks for?  If it's not these, please describe how the determination is made.

 

I'll remove that partition, if that boot partition is not needed.

Edited May 19, 2023 by ArmBoy1988

[royk]

@ArmBoy1988Yes it will pick the first partition. You don't have to do anything special when you use the installer.

 

When you edit the partitions after the installation you'll need to change the UUID in ArmbianEnv.txt en fstab.

[balbes150]

5 часов назад, royk сказал:

You don't need a boot partition, this is only on the image for the sd-card.

No, when using the correct bootloader, the boot partition is not needed at all for any media (Sd\NVMe). Everything works without a separate boot partition. This is one of the differences between ArmbianTV and the official versions. Those who write about installation problems confuse the behavior of different systems and describe the problems of the official versions. Moreover, when using the version with EDK2-EFI, you can have several different systems/cores on the same media and choose the right one as on a regular PC.

[royk]

@balbes150Yes I know I meant it's on the image, not that it has to be.

I like your images a lot but assumed he downloaded the "official" Armbian version.

 

@ArmBoy1988 You could find balbes150 his images with EFI bootloader in his topic.

[ArmBoy1988]

@royk @balbes150 I was using the official Debian CLI version.  Thank you for explaining how the booting process works.

 

I was thinking of removing the small boot partition and then moving the other two partitions and resizing the last partition.  Changed my mind and will just redo the entire SSD.  I've only set up a few items and it doesn't take too much time or effort to redo.

[ArmBoy1988]

I finally got back to re-doing my install.  I removed all partitions on the NVMe and then recreated two partitions, one 58GB and the other the remaining space.  I then ran armbian-install and selected 4, Boot from MTD Flash - system on SATA/USB/NVMe, it proceeded to ask for the destination.  I selected /dev/nvme0n1p1.  A warning was displayed that everything on that parition would be erased.  It then asked what filesystem and I selected ext4.  It then copied the root fs to this partition.  After completion I was asked whether I wanted to flash the MTD Flash.  I selected yes.  At the end, it asked whether I wanted to power off or just exit.  I selected poweroff.  I removed the SD card and turned on the OPi5.  It did not start up.  Just the lights on the ethernet port and the red LED.

 

With the other set up, with the small FAT boot partition as the first partition on the NVME and modifying it to select the other partition on the NVMe, it was booting and starting up properly.

 

So, I'm happy to put the boot partition back on the NVMe drive and have it work that way.  Just wanted you to know that something wasn't working as you described.

 

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help figure this out.  If all I had to do was select 4 from armbian-install, that would make it easier for others to set their system.

[balbes150]

11 часов назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

It did not start up.

The exact version of the image. The UART log.

 

11 часов назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

recreated two partitions

What type of MBR is used (DOS or GPT). ?

[ArmBoy1988]

I had installed 23.02 Debian Bullseye CLI to the SD card and then did update and upgrade.  Will refresh the SD card with a fresh copy.

 

Don't know where uart log can be found.  I had asked in another thread where I could get the proper cable for the 3 pin uart header.  Have not done the uart/debug console before.

 

MBR is GPT.  I removed all partitions and then recreated them in gdisk.  Didn't format them.  I knew that armbian-install formats the partition system is installed to.  I'll try formatting the other partition as well to see if that makes a difference. 

 

PS  I'll also try this with only one partition for the entire nvme to see if that makes a difference.  FYI, it's a 1TB Samsung 980 2280.

Edited May 24, 2023 by ArmBoy1988
Add PS

[balbes150]

53 минуты назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

I had installed 23.02 Debian Bullseye CLI

The exact link to the image.

 

53 минуты назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

and then did update and upgrade.

When a new installation is performed, you need to use the latest version of the desired system, updating the old ones is a bad way, there may be problems with the correct matching of new components with old scripts.

 

55 минут назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

3 pin uart header

I use modules PL2303HX , they work well with Rockchip at 1500000 speed

 

58 минут назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

I'll try formatting

This is not required, the script formats itself.

 

59 минут назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

I'll also try this with only one partition for the entire nvme to see if that makes a difference.

Everything works for me without problems with multiple partitions.

[ArmBoy1988]

6 hours ago, balbes150 said:

The exact link to the image.

 

https://mirrors.jevincanders.net/armbian/dl/orangepi5/archive/Armbian_23.02.2_Orangepi5_bullseye_legacy_5.10.110.img.xz

 

This is from my browser downloads.  I clicked on the USA directed download link under the Other Supported Variants section on the Orange Pi 5/5B download page. 

 

6 hours ago, balbes150 said:

When a new installation is performed, you need to use the latest version of the desired system, updating the old ones is a bad way, there may be problems with the correct matching of new components with old scripts.

 

OK.  I'll redo without doing the update/upgrade.  I would have thought that even after doing an update/upgrade everything should continue to work and possible get updated/fixed scripts.  No worries, I'll just redo without doing the update/upgrade.

 

6 hours ago, balbes150 said:

I use modules PL2303HX , they work well with Rockchip at 1500000 speed

 

Thanks.

 

6 hours ago, balbes150 said:

This is not required, the script formats itself.

 

 

Does the script format all partitions or only the partition where the system is being installed?  Either way, I'll retry where I've formatted the partition and also with only one partition to see if there is something different in my environment.

 

6 hours ago, balbes150 said:

Everything works for me without problems with multiple partitions.

 

OK.  That's good to know and it's what I would have thought.  Not sure why my set up is not working.  I'll post back after I've retried a few things as noted before.

 

Thank you

[balbes150]

18 часов назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

https://mirrors.jevincanders.net/armbian/dl/orangepi5/archive/Armbian_23.02.2_Orangepi5_bullseye_legacy_5.10.110.img.xz

Now it's clear why nothing works for you.

 

See this topic, there are working images.

 

[ArmBoy1988]

The info that I gathered from that thread is that the MTD/SPI bootloader that comes with the image I was trying doesn't handle ext4 file system on the NVMe.

 

So I downloaded one of your images:  Armbian_23.02.3_Orangepi5_lunar_legacy_5.10.110.img.xz

 

Verified the SHA-256 hash and then flashed to an SD card.  Flashed the MTD/SPI from that image and then rebooted with the Armbian Debian Bullseye Legacy CLI that did not previously boot up.

 

And...it booted up properly.  I use this version of OS as the software I'm using requires Bullseye.

 

In any case, thanks.

[arturito]

5 hours ago, ArmBoy1988 said:

The info that I gathered from that thread is that the MTD/SPI bootloader that comes with the image I was trying doesn't handle ext4 file system on the NVMe.

 

So I downloaded one of your images:  Armbian_23.02.3_Orangepi5_lunar_legacy_5.10.110.img.xz

right, I had the same issue, the bootloader didn't work with ext4, I will test the "lunar legacy" SPI image and burn it directly with dd

[arturito]

6 hours ago, ArmBoy1988 said:

 Armbian_23.02.3_Orangepi5_lunar_legacy_5.10.110.img.xz

 

btw, where I can find that image, thanks in advance

[ArmBoy1988]

At the beginning of the thread that bables150 pointed out:  

The url for one of his Yandex repositories is https://disk.yandex.ru/d/Xt36QdVcxRdEDA.  There's a folder structure.  I then went to ArmbianTV / 20230331-legacy and there you'll find the file.

 

I picked that one because it was legacy and I thought it was Debian Bullseye.  Any of the images will probably work.  After flashing to an SD card, I booted from it and used armbian-install.  I then used menu item 7 or whatever the item is to flash the MTD/SPI.  I then powered down, took out the SD and rebooted.

[balbes150]

2 часа назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

I picked that one because it was legacy and I thought it was Debian Bullseye.

The image name states: LEGACY\CURRENT\EDGE are kernel versions. LUNAR\SID is the Ubuntu\Debian version.

 

 

[balbes150]

9 часов назад, ArmBoy1988 сказал:

I'm using requires Bullseye

You can build your own version of the Bullseye image directly on your OPi 5 with different kernel versions (legacy - 5.10 has all the hardware running in it, current - 6.2 has HDMI LAN USB sound and there is HW acceleration, edge - 6.3\6.4 has no HDMI, works LAN USB) and then install it on NVMe.

[Paulo da Silva]

The orange pi 5 plus marketing is the best, but the board is the worst thing I've seen, even though everyone is complaining about the nvme the orange company did nothing about the problem, I received mine in August/31 and the problem still persists on the board. This never happens with a raspberry PI.
I have 1 raspberry 2 card and 1 raspberry 3 card and version 4 I have 4 with 4gb of memory and 1 with 8gb of memory, and I just had to download the OSs and install to use, this crap orange pi 5 I got about 16 hours trying to solve the problem of it not accepting nvme and I couldn't solve the problem, without information on the company's website there is nothing useful, this card is shit I'm going to throw it in the trash, These Chinese manufacturers are far from producing something with quality.

Edited September 3, 2023 by Paulo da Silva
wrong word