T95 Max + (Plus) S905x3, 4GB RAM / 32B ROM

[Pita Bread]

Hello all. I am following the template to write this post and I will add more details as well. My first ever message (here) was in the "Amlogic CPU Boxes" section.

TV Box Name: T95 Max+ (Plus)

CPU: S905x3

Armbian build file name: Armbian_23.02.2_Aml-s9xx-box_jammy_current_6.1.11.img.xz

DTB file used: /dtb-6.1.11-meson64/amlogic/meson-sm1-x96-air.dtb

Kernel Version: 6.1.11

Distribution Installed: jammy (Ubuntu)

Working Ethernet: Yes

Max Ethernet Speed that works: 100 Mbps

Does wifi work: No

Does bluetooth work: No

Does HDMI audio work: No

Additional Comments (provide any additional information you feel is important): Read below ...

 

I ran these commands to disable some features that could break the system or cause the system to not boot. This is from my experience of installing the system twice.

sudo apt-mark hold linux-image-current-meson64 armbian-bsp-cli-aml-s9xx-box armbian-firmware
sudo apt-mark hold linux-dtb-current-meson64 linux-u-boot-aml-s9xx-box-current
sudo systemctl disable --now systemd-networkd-wait-online.service
sudo systemctl disable --now unattended-upgrades

I wanted to get sound out of the box. So, I purchased a generic USB audio dongle from Aliexpress for $3 USD. (see attached photo). The USB audio device is described in Linux as a Texas Instruments PCM2902 Audio Codec (USB PnP Sound Device device 0 USB Audio), and when you run “lsusb” you will see the id numbers 08bb:2902.  I updated the databases for repositories by running “sudo apt update -y” and installed necessary packages to support the USB audio device and to use the XFCE4 graphical desktop. Here are the commands I ran for XFCE4 and for some additional nice bits:

sudo apt update -y;
sudo apt install -y xfdesktop4 xfce4 xfce4-power-manager xfce4-goodies xinit xdm xorg xserver-xorg;
sudo apt install -y arandr greybird-gtk-theme numix-gtk-theme numix-icon-theme epiphany-browser;
sudo apt install -y elementary-xfce-icon-theme xscreensaver xscreensaver-data xcvt firefox mesa-utils;
sudo apt install -y gvfs gvfs-fuse gvfs-common xubuntu-icon-theme at-spi2-core smplayer;

sudo apt install -y alsa-base alsa-oss alsa-tools alsa-utils alsamixergui pulseaudio pavucontrol pavumeter;

 

Edit the file /etc/modules with the “nano” command and write “snd-usb-audio” at the end of the file. Also, edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and change a few things, but make a backup copy first:

sudo cp /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf  ~/alsa-base.conf.backup

 

Put a # symbol in front of every “options snd-usb-audio index=-2” that you see in /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf . I found two of them. Add these two lines of text to the bottom of /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf .

 

alias snd-card-0 snd-usb-audio

options snd-usb-audio index=0

 

Make sure that you are in the 'audio' group. Run the “usermod” command against a regular user (not root) that you want to use often. And reboot.

sudo usermod -a G audio {username here}

sudo reboot

 

After reboot, the graphical X Display Manager (xdm) should greet you with a simple gray prompt and you can login to XFCE4. You should see a red LED light blinking on the USB audio dongle. You may want to change the display resolution to 1280x720 or 1920x1080 (whichever is available to you) by clicking on the panel (start menu), Applications, Settings, and Display. The Arandr tool in Settings can also help you adjust the display resolution. Open the volume control program by clicking on the panel Applications, Multimedia, PulseAudio Volume Control. Click the Configuration tab at the far right of the volume control and change the profile to Analog Stereo. * Important – now connect a headset, earphone, or amplifier to the 3.5mm (⅛’’) black 🎧 receptacle on the USB audio dongle and play some sounds, music or youtube.

 

Edited October 29 by Pita Bread
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[Pita Bread]

T95 Max+ (plus), 4 GB RAM / 32 GB ROM, S905×3

 

I successfully installed the system by following this guide by @Krypton and I updated it using sudo update -y && sudo upgrade -y but keeping kernel 6.1.11. The stereo sound is working fine through the cheap USB audio dongle. I installed pi-apps.io and installed some applications like Brave and PPSSPP emulator via pi-apps. I thank everyone here for the great guides, tips, files, and overall work done.

☺♥

[Pita Bread]

Update: sadness 😢.... and then happiness.

 

Yesterday, there were several severe thunderstorms and the electrical power in the home fluctuated a few times and afterwards completely got knocked out. (now fast-forward to the future, hours later). After power was restored by the utility company, this tv box powered on and gave a 1080p signal, would not boot but just had a black blank screen. I tried to boot Armbian from a fresh SD memory card in the TF slot and a from fresh USB flash drive in the USB 3.0 port but that didn't work either. I researched a lot, and managed to recover the TV box by using an img file of the factory stock Android. I will soon write a tutorial about what I've done and you can find it under another section of forum.

https://forum.armbian.com/forum/191-reviews-tutorials/

[Rene Hanke]

I can confirm that the T95 Max+ (Plus) is booting under the mentioned limitations (no WiFi, no Bluetooth, 100 Mbps) using the Server image Armbian Linux 6.6 Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble). I haven't tested installing to emmc, though.

 

TV Box Name: T95 Max+ (Plus)

CPU: S905x3

Armbian build file name: Armbian_community_25.2.0-trunk.160_Aml-s9xx-box_noble_current_6.6.65.img

DTB file used: /dtb/amlogic/meson-sm1-x96-air.dtb or /dtb/amlogic/meson-sm1-sei610.dtb

Kernel Version: 6.6.65

Distribution Installed: Noble (Ubuntu)

Working Ethernet: Yes

Max Ethernet Speed that works: 100 Mbps

Does wifi work: No

Does bluetooth work: No

Does HDMI audio work: No

Additional Comments (provide any additional information you feel is important):

 

I had to rename u-boot-s905x3 to u-boot.ext to boot successfully.

 

apt update && apt upgrade worked fine after installation at the time of 12/18/2024. However, it may still be advisable to freeze the packages mentioned in the original post.

 

/dtb/amlogic/meson-sm1-x96-air-gbit.dtb did not work (no Ethernet at all).