Armbian for Amlogic S805 and S802/S812

[masteripper]

Hello,

I need to ask this stupid question...

I have an aging m8 tv box.(k200)..so i would like to ask if it's viable to run Armbian on it...

Currently i have a beelink x2 running just beautifully armbian ....GREAT job to all the devs .....but i am thinking of using it more as a TV box and less as a linux server....so it would be great if i could replace M8 with beelink and use m8 for linux ...

 

TIA

[Jens Bauer]

I think it would depend on what you want to use the box for.

But if I had a S802 box, I would certainly try running Linux on it.

Even yesterday I considered purchasing a S805 based box for running Linux on it - but it seems that the price of S905 boxes are virtually the same as S805, so it'd probably pay better to get the S905 box.

Currently I have to spend very little money, otherwise I'd already have purchased a S912 based box.

@balbes150 made a lot of S9xx images, so you might be able to benefit from some of his hard work, if you're going to build Armbian for S802 (Perhaps balbes150 already made an image that I'm not aware of for some of those boxes).

[masteripper]

S805 is different from S802...S802 is quite old...i know for sure they have made an OpenElec port but i want plain configurable Linux...for example right now my Beelink is downloading some stuff on home...later on i want to use to read some PDFs....OpenElec is just for Kodi....

[balbes150]

In the near future I plan to publish the Linux images for s812 (they are being tested). TV set-top box on the basis of the s812 chip is very close with s802 (they all use the same kernel). So I hope that the images s812 will also work on s802.

[masteripper]

In the near future I plan to publish the Linux images for s812 (they are being tested). TV set-top box on the basis of the s812 chip is very close with s802 (they all use the same kernel). So I hope that the images s812 will also work on s802.

 

Thanks balbes

[balbes150]

Test alpha images. The main purpose - a basic assessment of health schedules (a bunch of the kernel + dtb). To check system startup you need to activate the multi-boot (all required files included in the images). On my sample s812 activation multi-boot is possible only with SD card, maybe on other devices it works with USB. After activating a multi-boot system running from USB (I'm running every test with USB flash drives). Please check the possibility of launching on the platform s802. Pay attention - the system must copy the appropriate dtb file with the name "dtb.img".

 

https://yadi.sk/d/wc2jqGsHuKy48

[balbes150]

Update images.

 

Perhaps we should rename this topic by analogy with the others ? Armbian for Amlogic S802\S812

[liose]

Hello

 

For me it is not working on a s802. I did itlike in the post on Freaktab, choosed the aml_autoscript.zip which is included in the image, then the system was rebooting and crashed after the PlayTV screen with a white screen, and nothing happends. Reboot with the sd card, only if i remove the sd card, it is rebooting in android.

[balbes150]

You added the root correct file "dtb.img" ?

Show a link to the topic on freaktab. Maybe I missed something.

[liose]

First i have installed the universal multiboot zip with the updater app, then i deleted the SD Card and copied with HDDRawcopie this file to the SD Card (Armbian_5.24_Vegas812_Ubuntu_xenial_3.10.99_desktop_20170120.img.xz), deleted the aml_autoscript.zip and copied the (meson8_k200b_1G_emmc_sdio.dtb) to the root of the SD and renamed it to dtb.img. Inserted the SD Card and tried to start. But after the Play TV Logo it crashed first with a white-dotted Screen and then Blackscreen an nothing happened. It is a Obosmart S82 TV Box. Is it possible with this box?

Sry for my English

[balbes150]

First i have installed the universal multiboot zip with the updater app, then i deleted the SD Card and copied with HDDRawcopie this file to the SD Card (Armbian_5.24_Vegas812_Ubuntu_xenial_3.10.99_desktop_20170120.img.xz), deleted the aml_autoscript.zip and copied the (meson8_k200b_1G_emmc_sdio.dtb) to the root of the SD and renamed it to dtb.img. Inserted the SD Card and tried to start. But after the Play TV Logo it crashed first with a white-dotted Screen and then Blackscreen an nothing happened. It is a Obosmart S82 TV Box. Is it possible with this box?

Sry for my English

 

What medium are You using ? You should try to use another way (without the desktop in the title). I have information from one user (not yet verified) that the desktop image may be corrupted when uploading to the website. You can also try to use other dtb files. Perhaps this is not an option. Preferably send me the dtb file , which is part of the firmware for Your TV box.

[balbes150]

I checked the image. Downloaded from the website archive

 

Armbian_5.24_Vegas812_Ubuntu_xenial_3.10.99_desktop_20170120.img.xz

 

Unpacked. Recorded on the USB flash drive. Copied to the root FAT partition file "meson8m2_MIIIPlus.dtb" and renamed it "the dtb.img". Hooked up to my existing model Tronsmatr MIII Plus (fee ver 2.2 Android 5.1). Multiuboot has been previously activated (using SD card). The first switch is automatically triggered. Automatically expanded to the second section. The system rebooted. The second start - login as user "root" (complied standard setting Armbian). An automatic reset. Start the graphical table (720). Sound and network yet (that I know). The rest is working. Is turned on and off correctly. Now I can say that the image on the website working. Possible reasons for the lack of running from other owners S812.

1. Old firmware (it may not have the necessary settings to activate the multi-boot u-boot).

2. Not the right dtb file 3. Not a quality carrier

3. Violation of order of activation

[4timepi]

Hi everyone

@balbes150 thank you so much for your images. I'd like to try your builds on my 2GB M8 box (S802). Is it possible to write your image into NAND? I don't know how to activate multiboot. Now I'm working on LibreELEC installed into NAND.

[balbes150]

What firmware now M8 ? Do You have UART console ? What are the steps to activate the multi-boot You have done and what the results of the steps were ?

[4timepi]

What firmware now M8 ? Do You have UART console ? What are the steps to activate the multi-boot You have done and what the results of the steps were ?

 

I haven't done any steps to activate multi-boot on my box because I don't event know how to start. Maybe you have some guide?

I brought my M8 with stock Android and then flashed it via SD card (recovery, toothpick) into LibreELEC. And for now I'm here.

I have serial cable so I will be able to access UART console.

[balbes150]

1. What version LE is installed ?

2. Try to connect to the TV box via SSH and run the command "fw_printenv". Copy the result here.

3. When connect the UART console stop run u-boot and run these two commands "printemv" and "help". Copy the result here.

[4timepi]

1. LibreELEC-S802.S82.arm-8.0-devel-20170125170828-r25322-gef5c2e6

2. Output from SSH

720poutputheight=691
720poutputwidth=1229
720poutputx=25
720poutputy=14
baudrate=115200
bootcmd=run storeboot
bootdelay=1
bootfile=boot.img
bootm_low=0x00000000
bootm_size=0x80000000
bootpath=u-boot.bin
bootsize=100000
bootstart=0
chipname=8726m8
console=ttyS0,115200n8
cvbs_drv=0
cvbsmode=576cvbs
disp.fromleft=true
display_bpp=16
display_color_bg=0
display_color_fg=0xffff
display_color_format_index=16
display_height=1080
display_layer=osd2
display_width=1920
ethaddr=00:15:18:...
fb_addr=0x15100000
fb_height=720
fb_width=1280
firstboot=1
gatewayip=10.18.9.1
get_dt=checkhw
has.accelerometer=false
hdmimode=720p
hostname=eny_em8
initargs=init=/init console=ttyS0,115200n8 no_console_suspend storage=4
initrd_high=60000000
ipaddr=10.18.9.97
loadaddr=0x12000000
loadaddr_logo=0x13000000
mmcargs=setenv bootargs console=${console} boardname=m8_board
netmask=255.255.255.0
normalsize=400000
normalstart=1000000
outputmode=720p
p0path=uImage
p0size=400000
p0start=1000000
p1path=android.rootfs
p1size=8000000
p1start=1400000
partnum=2
preboot=if itest ${upgrade_step} == 3; then run prepare; run storeargs; run update; fi; if itest ${upgrade_step} == 1; then  defenv; setenv upgrade_step 2; saveenv;fi; run prepare;run storeargs;get_rebootmode; clear_rebootmode; echo reboot_mode=${reboot_mode};run update_key; run switch_bootmode
preloaddtb=imgread dtb boot ${loadaddr}
prepare=logo size ${outputmode}; video open; video clear; video dev open ${outputmode};imgread pic logo bootup ${loadaddr_logo}; bmp display ${bootup_offset}; bmp scale;
recovery=echo enter recovery;if mmcinfo; then if fatload mmc 0 ${loadaddr} recovery.img; then bootm;fi;fi; if imgread kernel recovery ${loadaddr}; then bootm; else echo no recovery in flash; fi;
sdc_burning=sdc_burn ${sdcburncfg}
sdcburncfg=aml_sdc_burn.ini
serverip=10.18.9.113
store=4
storeargs=setenv bootargs ${initargs} cvbsdrv=${cvbs_drv} vdaccfg=${vdac_config} logo=osd1,loaded,${fb_addr},${outputmode},full hdmimode=${hdmimode} cvbsmode=${cvbsmode} androidboot.firstboot=${firstboot} hdmitx=${cecconfig} mac=${ethaddr}
storeboot=secukey auto;secukey write keyexample 1234567890; echo Booting...; if unifykey get usid; then  setenv bootargs ${bootargs} androidboot.serialno=${usid};fi;imgread kernel boot ${loadaddr};bootm;run recovery
switch_bootmode=if test ${reboot_mode} = factory_reset; then run recovery;else if test ${reboot_mode} = update; then run update;else if test ${reboot_mode} = usb_burning; then run usb_burning;else if test ${wipe_data} = failed; then echo wipe_data=${wipe_data}; run recovery;else   fi;fi;fi;fi
testaddr=0x12400000
update=run usb_burning; if mmcinfo; then if fatexist mmc 0 ${sdcburncfg}; then run sdc_burning; else if fatload mmc 0 ${loadaddr} aml_autoscript; then autoscr ${loadaddr}; fi;run recovery;fi;else run recovery;fi;
update_key=saradc open 0; if saradc get_in_range 0 0x50; then msleep 50; if saradc get_in_range 0 0x50; then echo update by key...; run update; fi;fi
upgrade_step=2
us_delay_step=1
usb_burning=update 1000
vdac_config=0x10
video_dev=tvout
wipe_data=success

3. I will post results this evening

[balbes150]

You can try the standard version activation multi-download.

1. Download and burn image on SD card  (mes. #6)

2. add dtb

3. to activate the multi-boot and try to start the system.

[4timepi]

3. to activate the multi-boot and try to start the system.

 

Don't understand this point. "to activate the multiboot".

Activation will happen automatically after inserting this prepared SD card and power on? Or I need to do something else.

 

Thanks I will try it today.

[balbes150]

It's already been discussed many times. Look in next topics or on freaktab, there are detailed instructions with pictures.

[4timepi]

OK, I found it. Unfortunately every time I try to apply Universal Multiboot (Update aml_autoscript.zip in recovery mode) I get this errors:

 

E: footer is wrong
E: signature verification failed
Installation aborted

 

Tried both SD and USB, different mediums, different partitions sizes, SD Formatter and always "footer is wrong".

 

Edit: I upgraded recovery to TWRP 2.8.7.0, but heres flashing aml_autoscript.zip says Failed.

 

Edit2: I flashed back to Android to try with UPDATE&BACKUP app. Unfortunately also not working. With USB it restarts and says footer is wrong, with SD it restarts to black screen.

 

Tried UBS 1/2/4 GB, SD 2GB/16GB with written on them uboot_32Mb_20161122.img via Win32DiskImager.

 

Is there any way to apply your multiboot manually via UART?

[balbes150]

Edit2: I flashed back to Android to try with UPDATE&BACKUP app. Unfortunately also not working. With USB it restarts and says footer is wrong, with SD it restarts to black screen.

 

 

1. Activation multi-boot with USB not possible (this is a feature of the old bootloaders on models 802\812)

2. Judging by the fact that you get a black screen when connected to external storage system Armbian (SD card or USB flash drive), multiboot is already activated.

3. Now we need to try to find a working dtb. To do this, take turns to copy to the root of the FAT partition dtb files from the directory and rename the DTB to the "dtb.img".

But I have received information from other users that they S812 with firmware 316 (kitkat 4.4), the system does not start. But if you replace the firmware on lolipo 5.1, the system is started. I hope if You have a UART, you can see at what stage the stop start system with the old boot loader (4.4). You can show the log of starting the system with the USB stick ?

[4timepi]

2. Judging by the fact that you get a black screen when connected to external storage system Armbian (SD card or USB flash drive), multiboot is already activated.

 

2. Looks like you're right. Every time I power on box with SD card (prepared from your image) I'm not getting to android but this screen shows:

 

3. Now we need to try to find a working dtb. To do this, take turns to copy to the root of the FAT partition dtb files from the directory and rename the DTB to the "dtb.img".

But I have received information from other users that they S812 with firmware 316 (kitkat 4.4), the system does not start. But if you replace the firmware on lolipo 5.1, the system is started. I hope if You have a UART, you can see at what stage the stop start system with the old boot loader (4.4). You can show the log of starting the system with the USB stick ?

 

Heres dbd and dbt extracted from my working android (meson8_m8_2GB.zip). Also tried yours. But I got attached screen or reboot loops.

 

Moreover I can't get UART to work. Tried all GND RX TX combination with 9600 and 115200 baud. Can't find my UART pinout (it's different from that one I found on web)

My UART connector

 

Sorry for images quality

[balbes150]

1. I see the dtb files. If possible - bring them under the core in the way.

2. Usually on the PCB Board ground (GND) is denoted by a square contact pad. The next two from the ground contact is TX and RX (or Vice versa RX and TX). Last contact (earth GND) is power VCC (NOT to connect). If you measure by the tester extreme contacts - you can see what the "plus" (VCC). To connect in Linux , you can use the utility "minicom". The command for the Linux "minicom -c on-b 115200 -D /dev/ttyUSB0"

 

If I'm not mistaken, the photo is the symbol of the contact group "1". Look on the Board , perhaps somewhere on the back or in other places in the PCB Board there is a description GND TX RX

[4timepi]

1. I see the dtb files. If possible - bring them under the core in the way.

2. Usually on the PCB Board ground (GND) is denoted by a square contact pad. The next two from the ground contact is TX and RX (or Vice versa RX and TX). Last contact (earth GND) is power VCC (NOT to connect). If you measure by the tester extreme contacts - you can see what the "plus" (VCC). To connect in Linux , you can use the utility "minicom". The command for the Linux "minicom -c on-b 115200 -D /dev/ttyUSB0"

 

If I'm not mistaken, the photo is the symbol of the contact group "1". Look on the Board , perhaps somewhere on the back or in other places in the PCB Board there is a description GND TX RX

 

 

There's no description on the back. Yes, square contacts (1) is definitely GND. Don't know why there is 3V on both 3 and 4 contacts.  I'm solderd GND to (1) and tried (2),(3),(4) in all combination to TX / RX. Don't know why cannot connect.

 

I will solder connector and make more tries tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for helping me.

[balbes150]

It is likely that during the experiments, the damage is key, so be careful. You should not connect to the VCC lines Tx and Rx .

[4timepi]

Sorry but I cannot UART my device. To be sure I tried USB converter with my old TPLink router and I can listen output without problems.

No changes to go any further without UART?

 

Maybe somebody could help me recognize UART pinout based on path layout? I'm attaching high res pictures of my M8 mobo.

Looks like 1 is GND, 2/3 is TX/RX and 4 is VCC isn't it?

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by zador.blood.stained
Hide the images under the spoiler

[balbes150]

Show photo of the reverse side of the Board.

[4timepi]

@zador.blood.stained Sorry but I don't know how to hide attachments into spoiler

 

Show photo of the reverse side of the Board.

 

It's strange version of M8 board - HLSX M8 V2_0 20140918 cannot find any pinouts on forums.

[balbes150]

http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=581926&view=findpost&p=41242724