La Frite wont boot armbian, kernel panic etc.

[bedahtpro]

Hello, I have a La Frite 1gb. Im trying to boot armbian but it wont boot, I have checked the common problems list on the libre computer forum , It stated sd card, power supply etc. I have made sure that none of these are the problem, I have tried 5 different sd cards and im now using a 6th brand new Sandisk Extreme bought in the store (The one recommended by libre computer). I have tried many PSUs , All 5V 3.0A which is supposed to be enough, I get no help in the la frite forum so i thought i would check in with you guys and see if anyone knows what the issue could be. 

Also, id like to add, it wont boot anything, none of the images of ubuntu destkop, raspbian, etc from libre computers has worked either but i think Armbian is my best chance since the images were updated recently, meanwhilst the official images were not updated since 2023.

 

This is the instructions for the La Frite boot:

 

The normal process flow is as follows:

1. Download Compressed Image (eg. file+model.img.xz) DONE

2. Extract Compressed Image (eg. file.img) DONE

3. Flash Extracted Decompressed Image to Bootable Storage Medium (MicroSD card) DONE

4. Insert Bootable Storage Medium into Board DONE

5. Provide Sufficient Power to Board DONE

6. Board Boots u-boot Bootloader from Storage Medium DONE

7. u-boot Bootloader Loads EFI Bootloader (GRUB) done

 

I never come further than this. The errors are vast, there are many of them and they are different all the time, It is stuff like KERNEL PANIC, KERNEL TIME OUT, END TRACE etc, Stuff which i dont understand. 

Is it possbile that i got sent a faulty La Frite? It is brand new unboxed 3 days ago, during which these 3 days i have been all day trying to get it to work. Flashing Tools: I have used all recommended tools, including Win32 Disk Imager, macOS Disk Utility, raspberry pi imager, balena etcher and installing linux on an old computer just so i cold use Gnome Disk Utility on Linux, didnt work either.

I think i have tried booting over a 100 times, to no success.

9. EFI Bootloader Boots Linux
10. Linux Boots systemd
11. systemd starts services and applications

 

I read on this forum that one guy couldnt get it to work until he tried the V20 images, however i cant seem to find those in the archive, it only goes back to 24.8.1 i believe. 

I appreciate any help i could get thanks. I have also updated the firmware of the La Frite itself using the latest spi flash from libre computers, this was actually sucesfull and the firmware of the board was updated.

 

Ill share some screenshots of some of the errors, All of these has usually been stopped completely or the one time an infinite loop: 

Spoiler

Edited Friday at 12:06 AM by bedahtpro
putting images into a spoiler

[TonyMac32]

🫣  Let me take a look.

 

[EDIT]

So far I don't see an issue, I booted an image with no errors on my La Frite (1 GB).  My guess is, you have old firmware on the board itself.  The Armbian download page fir la frite includes instructions on how to update the spiflash with Libre Computers most recent binary.

[bedahtpro]

Hello TonyMac, I have updated the firmware of the La Frite using the latest spi flash from Libre Computers website, So the board has the latest firmware.

[TonyMac32]

ok, so next step, you say you wrote to an SD card, since there's no SD slot on this board, are you attaching it through an SD --> USB adapter?

 

[bedahtpro]

Yes i have used different usb sd card adapters, I have also tried USB Stick and an external SSD, The bootfile / bootflow is always recognised. I have the boot switch set to NOR on the board and the board should be able to boot from USB. Can you detail how you flash the image just to make sure im not doing anything wrong?

Edited Friday at 05:08 PM by bedahtpro

[TonyMac32]

hmm.  Mine is a 1.0A, although I don't think there's any real difference (I don't have a switch for selecting boot mode).  Do you have an eMMC installed?

[bedahtpro]

No , I dont have an eMMC module, So i need to get it to work without the eMMC. It should be able to boot from the usb without issue, I have read that many users have had no problems with this. The problem always comes after "Starting Systemd-udevd"  I think there might be something wrong with my board honestly, But im not sure, i dont understand any of the error messeges.

[TonyMac32]

I flashed my image to USB stick using balena Etcher, so I skipped half the steps (extracting/etc).  Since I'm an EE and I'm running out of ideas, can you humor me with the exact specs of your power supply.

[bedahtpro]

I have also used balena etcher, along with the pi imager but it wont boot those images either, Tried both with .img.xz and uncompressed the files to .img aswelll

 

I have used many ones but some of the ones i remember the specs of / can google, assuming you mean the voltage etc are the following:

 

20W apple charger:

5V at 3A

 

65W Nexode Ugreen Charger:

65W Max

USB-C1/C2：5V/3A 9V/3A 12V/3A 15V/3A 20V/3.25A 65W Max 
PPS：3.3-11V/4.5A
USB-A： 5V/3A 9V/2A 12V/1.5A 10V/2.25A 22.5W Max

 

30W Lencent International Travel Charger:

Single USB : 5V 2.4A

Type C Port: 5V 3A (MAX)

Total Output: 5V 3.5A (MAX)

 

 

[TonyMac32]

2 hours ago, bedahtpro said:

20W apple charger:

5V at 3A

 

65W Nexode Ugreen Charger:

65W Max

USB-C1/C2：5V/3A 9V/3A 12V/3A 15V/3A 20V/3.25A 65W Max 
PPS：3.3-11V/4.5A
USB-A： 5V/3A 9V/2A 12V/1.5A 10V/2.25A 22.5W Max

 

30W Lencent International Travel Charger:

Single USB : 5V 2.4A

Type C Port: 5V 3A (MAX)

Total Output: 5V 3.5A (MAX)

 

You don't have any "dumb" power supplies?

 

Any USB-type -C style charger will limit to 450 or 900 mA without a "smart" device attached to it, irrespective of it's rating. (it requires a matched supply/cable/endpoint configuration to get 5V 1.5 or 3 A)

*Most* QC- compatible (USB A output) will also limit the current unless they detect the correct QC-style resistances on the endpoint.

 

You wouldn't happen to have a USB power meter on hand to see if these supplies are throttling the USB-A based on the fact the device has no "smart" charging built into it?  I just measured mine and with keyboard, HDMI and network attached I broke 600 mA peak.  If the supply had throttled to 450 mA it would have crashed right after loading the kernel.  Otherwise I think you need to talk to LC and see if they can debug the issue you're having.

 

[bedahtpro]

Thanks for all the help youve given me, i really appreciate it, I thought maybe this could be it, I dont have a USB power meter unfortunetly but i do have a computer PSU ATX Breakout board which allows me to plug in a PC PSU with the atx connector and i then get 6x USB ports, this is a pcb and it is as dumb as it gets, Outputs 5V 2.0A at all ports, only usb a ports.

 

I really thought it could work but no, same issue now as always, Unfortunetly Libre Computer is not helping at all and not even responding to me so i will have to give up on this board and try to return it or make a warranty claim.

 

The problem is not with the storage, not with the power and not with the images, so the only option left is that there is something wrong with the board. I usually see the messge "Failed to change CPU frequency -5" right before it stops so perhaps there is something wrong with the cpu.

 

I have purchased one Radxa Rock 2F 2GB and one Orange Pi Zero 3 1GB. Hoping i will have better luck with these boards.

Edited Saturday at 05:08 PM by bedahtpro