T95Z Plus 3GB/32GB - EMMC not found

[Ian Coelho]

Hello guys!

 

I have a T95Z Plus TV BOX with 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM, and an arm S912 CPU.

 

I can run Armbian just fine from the SD card, but when I try to install it on the eMMC, I get an error message saying something like, "You're already running from eMMC, or the eMMC was not found." And, obviously, I'm not running from eMMC, so it seems like the system just isn't detecting it.

 

I did some research, and it seems like there might be different eMMC manufacturers for the same T95Z Plus model. So, I might need to adjust the "Max frequency" parameter in the .DTB file for the T95Z Plus in order for Armbian to recognize the eMMC on my device.

Does that sound right?

 

If so, where should I start? Should I randomly change that parameter, or is there a table of parameters I can use to try different values until it works?

 

Thanks!

[SteeMan]

@Ian Coelho How about some basic information first.  What build are you running?  What dtb are you using?  What dtbs have you tried?  How are you attempting to install to emmc?

[Ian Coelho]

Apologies for my lack of basic information!
 

- I'm using the latest build from August 29th, specifically the server image for Ubuntu 24.04 Noble (Armbian_community_24.11.0-trunk.66_Aml-s9xx-box_noble_current_6.6.47.img).

 

- I'm using the DTB specific to the box I'm working with, which is the "meson-gxm-t95z-plus.dtb" for the T95z Plus.

 

- In addition to using the DTB I mentioned above, I also tried the only other available DTB in the DTB folder for the s912, which is the "meson-gxm-s912-libretech-pc.dtb". My third attempt was to do what I mentioned in the initial post: I unpacked the "meson-gxm-t95z-plus.dtb", edited the "meson-gxm-t95z-plus.dts", and changed the max-frequency of the "mmc@74000" block to another hex number, and then I compiled it and tried again. All three options allowed the T95z Plus box to boot Armbian normally, recognize the network, and everything seemed fine. However, the eMMC isn't recognized in any of these cases.

 

- I'm trying to install on the eMMC using the command ./install-aml.sh, and the message I'm getting is the one I mentioned in the initial post.

 

Thank you!

Edited September 6 by Ian Coelho

[SteeMan]

8 hours ago, Ian Coelho said:

"You're already running from eMMC, or the eMMC was not found."

That isn't a message produced by the install-aml.sh script. 

What does lsblk output?

[Ian Coelho]

32 minutes ago, SteeMan said:

That isn't a message produced by the install-aml.sh script. 

What does lsblk output?

 

aml-s9xx-box:~:# lsblk
NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda           8:0    0 223.6G  0 disk
└─sda1        8:1    0 223.6G  0 part
sdb           8:16   1     0B  0 disk
mmcblk0     179:0    0 116.1G  0 disk
├─mmcblk0p1 179:1    0   512M  0 part /boot
└─mmcblk0p2 179:2    0 114.4G  0 part /
zram0       251:0    0   1.4G  0 disk [SWAP]
zram1       251:1    0    50M  0 disk /var/log
zram2       251:2    0     0B  0 disk
aml-s9xx-box:~:#

 

---

one more thing, tried dmesg:

[    3.780393] mmc1: tuning execution failed: -5
[    3.783045] mmc1: error -5 whilst initialising MMC card
[    3.788366] mmc1: Failed to initialize a non-removable card

---

 

 

This is the post I mentioned that talks about modifying the max-frequency:  

 

 

 

 

Edited September 6 by Ian Coelho

[SteeMan]

So yes the emmc isn't detected (there is no mmcblk1).  Are you sure you have emmc on the box?  (I have for example some TX3 boxes that have old style nand instead of emmc and mainline linux doesn't support nand.  TV Box manufacturers will cut costs in anyway possible and nand is cheaper than emmc)  You would need open the box and inspect what physical chips are installed.

 

Since I don't have your box, there is little I can do to debug this.  Have you looked at the full log of the boot process to look for any indication of issues reported during the boot?  (You would need to find the debug serial console pins on the mother board and hook up a usb serial reader to capture the boot messages)  (some of this information goes to HDMI, but some gets output before HDMI is initialized).

 

[Ian Coelho]

8 minutes ago, SteeMan said:

So yes the emmc isn't detected (there is no mmcblk1).  Are you sure you have emmc on the box?  (I have for example some TX3 boxes that have old style nand instead of emmc and mainline linux doesn't support nand.  TV Box manufacturers will cut costs in anyway possible and nand is cheaper than emmc)  You would need open the box and inspect what physical chips are installed.

 

Since I don't have your box, there is little I can do to debug this.  Have you looked at the full log of the boot process to look for any indication of issues reported during the boot?  (You would need to find the debug serial console pins on the mother board and hook up a usb serial reader to capture the boot messages)  (some of this information goes to HDMI, but some gets output before HDMI is initialized).

 

I really appreciate your help!

 

 

 

Couldn't the information provided by the user in this post be a possible solution?

 

[Wizzard]

Where did you find that image, @Ian Coelho please?

Armbian_community_24.11.0-trunk.66_Aml-s9xx-box_noble_current_6.6.47.img

[Pita Bread]

13 hours ago, Wizzard said:

Where did you find that image

Github https://github.com/armbian/community/releases

[Wizzard]

Sorry, how did you manage to boot it? I am trying the latest community build Armbian_community_25.2.0-trunk.13_Aml-s9xx-box_bookworm_current_6.6.60_minimal.img and it does not boot at all.

 

another build, Sunvellt95zplus_Debian_sid_5.12.9_xfce.img boots fine, but it is a little outdated and neither it does not detect emmc.

 

should I only set my dtb in extlinux.conf, right?

[SteeMan]

37 minutes ago, Wizzard said:

Sorry, how did you manage to boot it? I am trying the latest community build Armbian_community_25.2.0-trunk.13_Aml-s9xx-box_bookworm_current_6.6.60_minimal.img and it does not boot at all.

Are you following the installation instructions linked to from the download page: https://www.armbian.com/amlogic-s9xx-tv-box/

 

The most common issue is people ignoring the following: "Note: If you have previously run other distributions on the box such as coreelec the below installation will not work.  You will need to restore the original android firmware before attempting the install.  coreelec changes the boot environment in ways that are incompatible with these Armbian builds." 

So have you previously used any build other than a genuine armbian build downloaded from the official download page?  If so, you need to reinstall a clean android firmware to reset the environment to what the armbian build expects.

[Wizzard]

Thanks. I have only tried that Sunvellt95zplus_Debian_sid_5.12.9_xfce.img, but never installed anything to emmc. Running just from microSD. In fact, I even did not have the option to run from emmc, cause emmc is invissible in that armbian OS.

[SteeMan]

@Wizzard Notice it says "run" not "installed on emmc".  Running from SD card is running it.  If you have run another non-Armbian build (which you have from the SD card) then you need to reinstall android firmware to run Armbian.  That isn't a guarantee that Armbian will work, but is a necessary place to start from.

[Wizzard]

Ok, I understand. But that build I run before is Armbian, so it should not be a problem, should it?

[SteeMan]

4 hours ago, Wizzard said:

Sunvellt95zplus_Debian_sid_5.12.9_xfce.img

 

That is not an Armbian build.  Where did you get that build from?  The Armbian download pages?

[Wizzard]

I think it is Armbian, I have it from here https://github.com/debiangamer/build

[SteeMan]

@Wizzard  where do you see Armbian in that url?

Looking at that GitHub link, that is clearly a fork of Armbian.  That build has 175 changed files from the Armbian version it was forked from.  You could say that it used a three year old version of the Armbian build framework, but the image built has no similarities to the aml-s9xx-box Armbian community builds you are trying to install.

[Wizzard]

Yes, it is a fork of Armbian. Sorry for asking, but is there any guide how to restore that Android firmware? Thanks!

Edited November 25 by Wizzard

[SteeMan]

Find the android firmware and restore according to manufactured instructions.  Is the non helpful answer.  You are going to have to Google search how it can be done for your specific box.

 

But at the end of the day, what are you trying to accomplish?  It is likely that that custom fork works better than Armbian will on that TV box.  As it looks like that fork was created to get wifi and other things for that box working.  Using generic Armbian you most likely won't have Wifi or many other features working. (Have you read the TV box faq on what to expect from Armbian)

[Wizzard]

I would like to use that box as a NAS server, maybe mpd and print server instead of Orange Pi.

I just wonder how can just running some system from microsd card alter original Android firmware. That Android still boots fine without sd card inserted.

[SteeMan]

@Wizzard  The boot environment is stored on emmc.  So when you boot (enable multiboot via holding the reset button) that is setting certain variables in the u-boot environment and persisting them there (which is on emmc).  That is why you only need to press the reset button the first time you boot Armbian or any other distribution.  But the way that the distributions setup the boot environment are different (and usually not compatible) - even the Armbian legacy stuff from balbes150 changed how it was done (in incompatible ways) a number of times over the years.

 

So without knowing what has been changed in the u-boot environment that is stored on emmc, it is impossible to really support people.  So there is a check in the Armbian code that looks for certain changes that indicate something else has run and then fails the boot.

 

 

[Wizzard]

I have tried this build https://github.com/ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian/releases/download/Armbian_noble_save_2024.11/Armbian_24.11.0_amlogic_s912-t95z-plus_noble_6.6.62_server_2024.11.20.img.gz

and it boots fine with default dtb.

I just do not see emmc either, so it looks like common problem for these boxes. I have tried to edit that decompiled dts and change the emmc frequency to 5F5E100 which is half of the original value but the box even do not start with kernel panic.

At least I am able to boot recent Armbian without restoring original Android firmware.

Can it be that emmc is some kind of encrypted?