Armbian install on Banana PI CM4 in Big Tree Tech Manta M8P

[ivanstein]

I am trying to set up a Banana Pi CM4 on a Bigtree Tech Manta M8P, which is a 3D printer board which has a socket for the CM4.
However, I don't have the option to use a wired connection to the router or plug in a keyboard to interact with the CM4 on initial startup, so I get stuck at the set root password stage.

Is there a way around this? I have tried using WSL to mount the SD card after burning, but I can't seem to access it there to change the files on the card directly. Ideally, I would like to burn Armbian with Wifi credentials already set so I can ssh from the start.

I appreciate any help. Keep in mind that my Linux fu is about good enough to get Klipper going and maintained but little else, so type slowly so I can understand.

[Werner]

is debug uart console an option?

[ivanstein]

I don't even know what that is. Please explain.

 

I would like to be able to just ssh into the banana pi from the get go.

 

Also, I bought a baseboard to try plugging in a keyboard, and a small hdmi screen (from the 3d printer) and I guess there's no USB keyboard driver in the minimal install either because I can't type the root password on initial startup. Then I relocated everything upstairs and used a cat 5 cable, which I can get ssh on the lan, but can't get it to use wifi on the subsequent boot. The armbian documentation has me set up a wifi_something_or_other.yaml file for wifi, which gets the board to connect to the wifi, but no ssh and apparently no connect on start up.

I am trying my best not to let frustration win out on this. Perhaps for tonight it will, but I will try again soon.

[c0rnelius]

I don't have that baseboard, but my guess is, it's the same issue that has been reported before.

 

Basically HOST mode needs to be enabled via overlay using `armbian-config`.

[ivanstein]

As I understand it, armbian-config doesn't work right on the minimal install, correct?

 

Also, I tried installing it while connected via hardwire, but couldn't find anything about wireless set up in the tool.

 

It would be nice to just get ssh over wifi set up.

 

Honestly, I don't really care about keyboard or baseboards or whatever. Is there a way to configure the SD card so ot connects to Wi-Fi on initial boot up? On other versions (MainsailOS, etc.) I'd just edit the wpa supplicant file before removing the SD card from the laptop. However, I can't seem to edit the SD card on Winblows and was unable to find the correct stuff while mounting the burned SD card as a drive on another raspberry pi. Is there an ELI5 guide to doing that somewhere?

 

I'm very sorry of my ineptitude is frustrating for all of you who are trying to help. I get it. But please be patient with me. I am trying to learn.

[c0rnelius]

I understand. It is for sure a problem that needs to be resolved in Armbian. Not being able to easily input USER information and WIFI cred into a file before first boot is not ideal. Unless I'm missing something and someone knows of way to easily accomplish this?

 

As far as minimal installs, it does seem it leans towards using netplan.io. One option would be to `sudo apt install -y armbian-config network-manager` followed by `sudo apt purge netplan.io --autoremove` and reboot. Once rebooted you can use either `sudo nmtui` or `sudo armbian-config` to setup WIFI with a bit more ease.

 

[ivanstein]

I have been working through this more over time.
My main goal is to create a MainsailOS image (See: MainsailOS repo).
This uses a released version of armbian built through Mainsail Armbian Builds repo

I can get an image built, work through the Mainsail release, and that all works ok, but the touch screen issue remains.

I have looked at the ./compile/sh tool as described here: armbian build tool
It seems that the bananapicm4io does not have the capacitive touchscreen kernel modules enabled by default. This is from running ./compile/sh and choosing to modify the kernel. Then looking into (from memory, so it may not be the exact path) Device Drivers > Input Devices > Miscellaneous and checking the capacitive touch screen (ASD78...something) and I also checked the ADXL option since we use that in 3D printers as well. Currently, I am burning another image with them enabled, to see if that cures the issue.

So, my question is, can I fork armbian build and adjust the kernel options to suit my use case? If so, how would I do that?

Thanks a bunch.

[SteeMan]

@ivanstein  Why not just submit a PR to Armbian for Armbian to include the changes you need?  That seems like less work for you in the long term.

[ivanstein]

@SteeMan I am not really sure what changes to make in the PR. I just finished burring the image and am firing up the cm4 now to get wifi working. Then I'll install the board on my 3D printer and see if I can get the screen to work. If that works, I'll look into submitting a PR and have more questions. If it doesn't work, well there's likely a 12 pack of cheap beer in my future! 😆

[ivanstein]

Well, no joy on adjusting the kernel modules. Quite likely I don't know exactly what needs to be done.
The CB1, also an Armbian supported board, which this Banana Pi is intended to take the place of works well with the BTT HDMI5 touchscreen.
I tried perusing the differencens on github/armbian/build, but I am not well versed enough in building linux from the ground up to know what I am looking for.
The only significant difference I saw is that the CB1 uses ttyS0 for a serial connection and the BpiCM4 uses ttyAML0. A cursory google check didn't tell me what AML is intended for.

I also contacted BTT to see which touch screen options the HDMI5 needs, and they said (paraphrase) "Dunno, you just plug it in and it works" leading me to think they just offloaded their image to the Armbian crew.

If anyone has any suggestions of where I should look to educate myself in diagnosing why the touchscreen doesn't respond to touch, I would deeply appreciate the guidance.

[Werner]

9 hours ago, ivanstein said:

AML

Probably Amlogic. No clue though why they decided to alter the naming for debug console on this soc.