T95Z Plus w/ H616

[jwillb00]

Hi everyone,

I'm recently obtained a TV box from a local store (seems like they sell Amazon returns or something, but they just have a bunch of random stuff). After installing AIDA64, I learned that it's running an Allwinner H616 CPU and has 4GB of RAM. It is able to boot warpme's MiniArch build for the Tanix TX6S, and I extracted the DTB from the Android build on the eMMC. My question is, where do I go from here? I'd like to build a custom Armbian image to support my device. When I try booting the Armbian image for the Orange Pi Zero 2, it gives an error over my serial monitor about a bad DRAM configuration which I expected since apparently these boxes have DRAM chips that are often laid out differently than the Orange Pi, and this can apparently be fixed with a U-boot configuration change. I was curious about how I can integrate these changes into my own build of Armbian so I could bring support to my device. Thanks in advance!

[Nick A]

Which image are you using? Axp313? 
https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/releases/download/20250306/Armbian-unofficial_25.05.0-trunk_Tanix-tx6s-axp313_bookworm_edge_6.12.11.img.xz

[jwillb00]

oh thanks! I didn't realize you already had an axp313 image. I've been compiling armbian with custom u-boot patches and it's been taking forever. I've been trying to adapt a dtb to my box, which one do you use? I tried including the one from miniarch but it seems like it gives warnings and I can't bypass them in the Armbian build system.

[Nick A]

@jwillb00 I’m using miniarch patches with my build. This is kernel 6.12. I also have 6.14. When I have time I’ll update to 6.15.
https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/tree/v20250306/patch/u-boot/u-boot-h616

https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/tree/v20250306/patch/kernel/archive/warpme-6.12
 

 

[Nick A]

@jwillb00 try this build.

https://github.com/LYU4662/t95zplus-h618-build

[jwillb00]

@Nick A oh your build for the Tanix TX6S worked perfectly for me already (thanks!) though I did notice some weird behaviour on my other box that's supposed to be identical to this one. stuff like armbian-config freezing when trying to format the eMMC mainly. I noticed a hang in the kernel in the dmesg when that happened so I suspect there might be some minor difference in the hardware that I'll look into later. for right now I've moved to a box with an amlogic s905y4, which is a whole other can of worms. I got debian-on-amlogic to boot so I'm hoping I can copy over the u-boot and dtb in other to get armbian working on it, since it has more features for SBCs. thanks for your help nick!

[jwillb00]

@Nick AI have been using the TX6s build and it's been working great, but I was curious about the structure of your repository. I saw no files for the TX6s, but I see images for it in the releases? I'm new to all this, but I need to change some kernel config options so I was wondering how I could apply those to your repository.

[Nick A]

@jwillb00 there’s a drop down menu on the first page. You’ll see “main” as the first option. Select “v20250306” that’s my more recent and stable release.

you can clone my build using git command.

git clone https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build.git -branch v20250306

 

kernel config is located here. Edit the configuration manually. 

https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/blob/v20250306/config/kernel/linux-sunxi64-edge.config

 

To compile a new image use the commands

cd build

./compile.sh

choose "Do not change kernel configuration"

choose "Show CSC/WIP/EOS/TVB"

choose "I understand and agree"

choose "tanix-tx6s-axp313"

choose "edge"

rest is up to you.

 

Your image should be in output/images directory.

 

Edited Saturday at 10:06 AM by Nick A

[jwillb00]

thanks again, I'll do this soon.

[jwillb00]

hey @Nick A, seems like when I build the image on my own the ethernet doesn't work? I tested with and without the modified kernel config and it happens either way. When I use the image you publish in the releases page, it works fine. Am i doing something wrong?

[Nick A]

@jwillb00In this patch. Try changing 16 to 0. In both locations. Maybe I uploaded the image with these changes.

https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/blob/v20250306/patch/u-boot/u-boot-h616/153-add-tanix_tx6s_axp313_defconfig.patch

 

+&mdio1 {
+    rmii_phy: ethernet-phy@0 {
+        compatible = "ethernet-phy-ieee802.3-c22";
+        reg = <0>;
+    };
+};
+

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:25 PM by Nick A

[jwillb00]

@Nick A unfortunately, that didn't seem to work. The ethernet interface does not appear when I run ip a when using an image built like this.

[Nick A]

@jwillb00 I have a newer build with kernel 6.14. 
https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/tree/v20250407

 

Also, if you choose to change the kernel configuration using the build system it will screw up the kernel configuration file. I think it leaves out the configs from the patches. For example ac200 phy needed for Ethernet.

https://github.com/NickAlilovic/build/blob/v20250306/patch/kernel/archive/warpme-6.12/0505-net-phy-Add-support-for-AC200-EPHY.patch

I edit the configuration file using a text editor and add the modules manually.

Edited 6 hours ago by Nick A