Can't boot with 23.05 or later builds on s905x2 (g12a) or s905x3 (sm1)

[Devmfc]

That's good to hear! Thanks for the feedback, I will add emmc_autoscript to the repository and also update the instructions in a few days.

 

[Abd Choucair]

@calusbr i used your method but im stuck on my a95x and it just bootloops
this is what ive got
 

extraargs=earlycon rootflags=data=writeback rw no_console_suspend consoleblank=0 fsck.fix=yes fsck.repair=yes net.ifnames=0
bootlogo=false
verbosity=7
usbstoragequirks=0x2537:0x1066:u,0x2537:0x1068:u
console=both

# DTB file for this tvbox
# fdtfile=amlogic/meson-gxl-s905x-nexbox-a95x.dtb
fdtfile=amlogic/meson-sm1-a95xf3-air.dtb

# set this to the UUID of the root partition (value can be found in /extlinux/extlinux.conf after APPEND root= or with blkid)
rootdev=UUID=92139c84-3871-41d7-a3f2-e8a943cbfa87

# Enable ONLY for gxbb (S905) / gxl (S905X/L/W) to create fake u-boot header
soc_fixup=gxl-

 

[Abd Choucair]

ok i figured out how to install it
ran the /root/install-aml.sh command
successfully installed
but how do i get to gui so i can complete
3) Upon completion of the installation, I replaced the "emmc_autoscript" file with "s905_autoscript" (and renamed it to "emmc_autoscript").
4) Used the command "$ sudo blkid" to identify the UUID of my EMMC partition.
5) Opened the "armbianEnv.txt" file and updated the UUID with that of my EMMC partition, then saved the file.
 

[calusbr]

@Abd Choucair

 

Follow this tutorial in Portuguese to be successful on your TV Box:

Link: https://github.com/educabox/educabox/blob/main/boxes/btv11.md

[Abd Choucair]

thank you so much
doing it now

[Abd Choucair]

Unfortunately when I put my pendrive and boot from pendrive with the desktop version I get

Uuid=xxxx does not exist. Dropping to a shell

 

But I can boot fine with the minimal image

[mmie4jbcu]

Place this u-boot file file in the /boot directory on s905x3 devices. It should be able to boot the new Armbian images, without any other changes to any files.

u-boot.ext

[FrankOs_21]

Hello Everyone,

I tried the guide of @Devmfc but with no success.

 

I own some custom STBs made from an european company for their business (they sell IPTV Solutions) and some of this stb's has been given to me as a "gift" because during the installation, they gave issue with HDMI signal.

STB's has an S905X3, 2gb of ram and 16gb of emmc.

I followed the guide on github but i had no luck, if i don't press the button it starts with the proprietary firmware (based on android, but without gui if not authorized by the local server at every reboot).

if i press the recovery button, it starts on recovery everytime. I had the chanche to do a full backup by running TWRP, boot_emmc and bootloader included. I do believe that the bootloader may be different from the normal stb's and the boot from sd is blocked.

For sure, the boot from USB doesn't work because no USB stick is recognized on twrp (even usb/sd card reader)

attached a pic of the board, if somebody has some time to check the bootloader or has some suggestion, is very welcome.

[maka]

I think you have to burn an android imagen on It and follow from there

[FrankOs_21]

Quote

I think you have to burn an android imagen on It and follow from there

The problem is that the STB is a "custom made" for the vendor, so i can try to adapt and nothing more, with "the risk" to have it full paperweight (now is a paperweight with led ).

i'll try my best to find something similar to burn

[JuFe00]

Quote

Hi all,

I don't understand why you want or need to use those chain loaded u-boot blobs? 

 

The vendor u-boot bootloaders can boot mainline Linux perfectly without them. So they are not needed.

All it takes are some simple modifications of some of the Armbian u-boot scripts.

 

Just copy the attached files to the fat partition of the Armbian image after burning the image to a USB disk. 

Edit armbianEnv.txt for the right DTB (so not in extlinux.conf) and you can boot the newer Armbian images without u-boot.ext.

 

I tested it with the Armbian_23.8.1_Aml-s9xx-box_bookworm_current_6.1.50_minimal.img.xz image on the following SOC's:

S905x (GXL)

S912 (GXM) 

S905x2 (G12A)

S922X (G12B)

S905X3 (SM1)

assumption: you have vendor u-boot (the one that came with the box) running on eMMC. If you don't, you can just restore the stock Android image with Amlogic USB Burning tool.

 

All needed files and a more detailed description is on github

 

The explanation is very brief, only for those who already know the subject. They do not explain anything if you have to comment on what is in extlinux.conf And about the models, I don't know what GXBB or GXL is, I only know that I have s905x3

[SteeMan]

1 hour ago, Juan Fernando Castro said:

, I don't know what GXBB or GXL is, I only know that I have s905x3

This is explained in the FAQ instructions: https://forum.armbian.com/topic/17106-installation-instructions-for-tv-boxes-with-amlogic-cpus

[JuFe00]

I already followed that and it never starts on S905x3

 

Or is it to follow those instructions and then replace the files in this publication, those in aml_autoscript, s905_autoscript and armbianEnv.txt

 

I have only managed to boot the old obsolete version 20.

[SteeMan]

I pointed to that reference as it answers your question about the mapping between glx, gxbb and s905x, etc.

As this thread points out the current builds do not work on s905x3.  But that is a different issue than what I was pointing out to you.

[JuFe00]

30 minutes ago, SteeMan said:

I pointed to that reference as it answers your question about the mapping between glx, gxbb and s905x, etc.

As this thread points out the current builds do not work on s905x3.  But that is a different issue than what I was pointing out to you.

 

The same thing happens with Armbian_23.02.2_Aml-s9xx-box_bullseye_current_6.1.11_xfce_desktop impossible to boot.

 

It seems it's the old obsolete version of 20 on s905x3 or nothing.

[SteeMan]

9 minutes ago, Juan Fernando Castro said:

It seems it's the old obsolete version of 20 on s905x3 or nothing.

That is a generalization that isn't true.  I have s905x3 boxes that work.  So it may be an issue with your specific box not having a dtb that is compatible in the newer builds.  What box do you have?

 

[JuFe00]

22 minutes ago, SteeMan said:

That is a generalization that isn't true.  I have s905x3 boxes that work.  So it may be an issue with your specific box not having a dtb that is compatible in the newer builds.  What box do you have?

 

A95X F3 Air

[JuFe00]

On 12/12/2023 at 11:15 PM, mmie4jbcu said:

Place this u-boot file file in the /boot directory on s905x3 devices. It should be able to boot the new Armbian images, without any other changes to any files.

 

No work

[JuFe00]

How to config partition boot in the version 5.15.145 ?

 

I have installed the version Armbian_24.2.0_amlogic_s905x3_bullseye_5.15.145_server_2024.01.01.img.gz but the boot partition is different from the most recent versions.

 

I only added the dtb in the uEnv.txt file but when trying to boot it shows a kernel panic message, but at least it goes beyond the bootloop with the recent versions and its steps to boot in s905x3.

[SteeMan]

2 minutes ago, Juan Fernando Castro said:

Armbian_24.2.0_amlogic_s905x3_bullseye_5.15.145_server_2024.01.01.img.gz

This is not an Armbian build.  Where did you download this from?

[SteeMan]

@JuFe00  That is a fork of Armbian not Armbian.  They use the Armbian name without permission.  They do not contribute to Armbian development nor do they participate in these forums.  If you have questions about their builds, you need to ask on their support/forums, we can't help here with software we know nothing about.

[JuFe00]

Finally a solution

 

Install the obsolete version (repositories not working)
Armbian_20.10_Arm-64_bullseye_current_5.9.0.img

 

This is the version that I have always been able to get it to start, but since it has outdated repositories, it does not allow Pihole to be updated or installed, which is the main objective.

To solve the problem I extracted the /etc/apt folder from a recent version Armbian_24.2.0_amlogic_s905x3_bullseye_6.1.69_server_2024.01.01.img Then I uploaded this compressed folder to a personal server, deleted the /etc/apt folder and with wget downloaded and unzipped the new folder.

 

And that's it, I did apt update and upgrade, there were no errors and now I was able to install Pihole.

 

[SteeMan]

This issue should now be fixed.  The s905x2 and s905x3 chain loaded u-boot has been updated to address the issue introduced with 23.02 and later builds.  Any build after 2023/01/31 should incorporate the fix (so the current community builds as of today have the fix) and this will appear in the 24.02 release builds.

[KanexMarcus]

@well83 thanks for the uboot, now my system is booting just fine  before it would just bootloop like this 

I'm using the image Armbian_community_24.5.0-trunk.123_Aml-s9xx-box_bookworm_current_6.6.20_minimal.img with the meson-sm1-a95xf3-air.dtb in my tv box a95x f3 air