Where to Start

[keith]

Sorry if I have come to the wrong place. A friend has given me an Orange Pi 5 Plus, fitted with a 1GB SSD, and I have been trying to get it started up. According to its previous owner, the SSD had been completely erased (I don't know why). It had no SD card with it when I got it.

I downloaded the online instruction manuals, and set about trying to start it up, using a suitable 32GB SD card. I first tried with (OrangePi) Ubuntu, but ran into problems using Balena Etcher. It apparently transfers the Ubuntu Image to the SD card, but just as it appears to complete the process of verification, it produces a helpful error message ('There was an Error'....). I also tried with other OSes, with the same result, so it seems to be either me or the OPi which is having problems.

After a bit of research, I found a description of using the Linux command 'dd' to transfer an image, so I did this, under a machine with Linux Mint - this appeared to go OK.

I then plugged in the SD card, and powered up the OPi. After a delay, I get what looks like a Ubuntu 'splash' page on screen, and it appears to go through an installation process (? not sure if thats whats happening). However, after several minutes, there is a message saying there is an error, and a desktop session will be started to allow debugging - but I can't get anything else to happen.

I have asked the previous owner, but he says probably the bootloader is missing. (I suspect he never got it running). Here I come unstuck - I can't find any info on bootloaders - like what it is, where to get it, what to do with it, etc, so I am hoping someone here can point me in the right direction. I have gone through the instruction manual, but it seems to be slightly out of date, and I had no success using its instructions. Ideally, I would like to boot the OPi from the SSD, if that is possible, but have no idea how to go about this - and there seems to be a great deal of conflicting (wrong?) info online.  

I did try the Orange Pi 'official' forums, but got lost in the chinese messages which came up.

[Werner]

HI.

 

We cannot support 3rd party images, therefore please refrain from asking further questions about other images.

Though Armbian should work just fine with this board. https://docs.armbian.com/User-Guide_Getting-Started/

 

There are some pitfalls that might cause issue. This board comes with a spi flash memory which, when containing a poor/bad boot loader, can prevent proper boot of any OS. In this case rkdevtool might be necessary to erase via USB if possible. 

[CryBaby]

Sounds to me like a bad SD card. If you get a splash screen there must be some sort of bootloader. Another possibility is an inadequate power supply. Try one with more amps.

[keith]

Thanks for the input, CryBaby.  First off - I'm a total dummy when it comes to the OrangePi - no idea where to start, so any help is appreciated.

I think my PSU is OK - it (apparently) was supplied with the OPi (I was given it as well), and it is rated at 4 amperes. I measured the voltage when loaded, and it is 5.12 volts, so I guess it is OK.

After the problems with the SD card, - I tried again installing Balena Etcher on my Linux Mint PC, but when I tried to burn an image (I tried several, not just Ubuntu), it appears to do this, then fails just as the verification process ends. I then tried the AppImage version of Etcher from the OrangePi downloads, and this did the same thing - failure at the end of verification.

So, as you suggest, I suspected a dud SD card, but I had no spare, so just tried what I had (I know ....sorry!), and this is when I get the splash image and nothing further.

I now have a new SD card, and the image burn/verification appears to be OK - no errors.

But now the OPi board does not appear to switch on - The LED remains red, and I can feel that the components on the board are getting warm, but no video output.

If there is a bootloader, where is it located? and can I reload it it to be sure it is there (I understand your comment about getting a flash screen, but I have my doubts about the integrity of any of the software after what I was told about the OPi)

Thanks for your help, Keith.

 

[The Tall Man]

On 9/26/2025 at 1:47 PM, keith said:

fitted with a 1GB SSD

A 1 GB SSD... don't you mean a 1 TB?

 

I wouldn't start with questioning your bootloader. From what you said, that makes no sense to me. It sounds like that part of your system is already working.

 

From what you said, I would begin with an Armbian image instead of  Xunlong (official Orange PI) image - as Xunlong really doesn't do a good job with OS support.

https://www.armbian.com/orange-pi-5-plus/

 

Don't download a 6.12 image because they don't work. 6.1 is does work. Here is a specific Armbian Ubuntu Gnome image for the Orange PI 5 Plus 0 click on this and the download will begin:

https://dl.armbian.com/orangepi5-plus/Noble_vendor_gnome

 

You were right to use dd in Linux instead of some fancy piece of software. The images from Armbian are compressed to .xz. To decompress the image, after you download it:

unxz [FILENAME]

 

After you decompress it, dd the. .img file to your uSD. Remember to dd it to the device itself, not to a partition on it. This assumes there's nothing on the drive you want to keep, because this will overwrite its GPT (partition) table if it has one.

 

Then verify your image:

cmp -l [FILENAME] [DEVICE]

 

If the verification is a success, it will not list any differences between the two files. It will just say EOF on your FILENAME. If it lists differences, it's a failure. Then simply dd again and verify again. I've had occasional instances where I've had to dd something twice from another computer.

 

Then place the uSD in the Orange PI 5 Plus, and power it up. Everything should go well. It'll ask you a few easy questions. Then take you to your (Gnome) desktop.

 

Then of course, do an update and reboot.

 

Then run armbian-config. They have an installer program I've never really used so I can't speak to it. But it's supposed to let you install it on another device (i.e. your SSD).

 

Whenever the uSD card is present in the Orange PI 5 Plus, it will take precedence in boot. So after you do the install onto your SSD drive, shut down and power off the Orange PI 5 Plus, then remove the uSD .Then power it on. Hopefully it will boot from your SSD.

Edited yesterday at 06:45 PM by The Tall Man

[The Tall Man]

52 minutes ago, keith said:

The LED remains red

Don't concern yourself with the LED light color and whether it flashes or not. It will flash with some kernels and say red with others.

 

And FYI, kernel 6.12 seems to boot, but it has no video output. This is why I suggest starting with 6.1 (vendor).

Edited yesterday at 06:47 PM by The Tall Man

[keith]

Thanks again for the inputs - I'm slowly working through the instructions, and hopefully learning. TallMan is right - I meant 1 TB, not 1 GB - (it was tiring day!)

I'm not really bothered at this stage with which OS Image I use - My original intention was to get the thing going, then eventually try each available OS until I found something I could live with. Normally I use Linux Mint on my desktop computer (user - not nerd!), so this was why Ubuntu came to the top of the pile for testing because of the common Debian background, but not necessarily as the 'finished' job.

I more or less did as suggested above (using the Orange Ubuntu 'Official' download. As noted, I seem to have had a dead SD card, and did not have the error reported after validation after I got a new card - but the odd thing now is that although the old 'faulty' SD card at least produced a 'splash' screen, the new card does nothing - the OPi just does a good imitation of a warm brick. I did the SHA check, and the Etcher validation was OK, so presumably the burnt image was OK (?).

I'll work through Tall Mans instructions, and see what happens, and report back - thanks for the detailed description - its more useful than many people realise to someone who doesn't do this sort of thing every day.

Just out of curiosity - is the 'no-video output' of Armbian 6.12 a bug (as I suspect) or deliberate - and if so why?

Thanks again for the help.  Keith

 

 

[SteeMan]

1 hour ago, keith said:

is the 'no-video output' of Armbian 6.12 a bug

Lack of feature implementation, not a bug.  6.1 is the vendor supplied kernel where most things will work, but the vendor doesn't provide support.  6.12 is linux mainline kernel, where much functionality may be missing (as the vendor doesn't work to get their features into mainline linux, but relies on others (volunteer opensource developers) to do their work for them).

[keith]

SteeMan - OK - so as a total non-developer, I will steer clear of 'mainline kernels (at least until I can learn some more😀

 

TallMan - I only wish everyone online was as helpful as you have been. I actually got the thing to work using your instructions, which is a first for me using online 'help'. I no longer have a useless brick.

I have a red/blue flashing LED, a working desktop, and (now) a need to learn something about Armbian - this being my first sight of it. Some of it looks familiar from Mint due to the Debian heritage

I also want to learn how to make the OPi boot from either the EMMC or the SDD, as I understand this is much faster - although it works, booting from the SD card clearly doesn't do justice to the OPi hardware (and life is too short😀.

Thanks to all who responded - you all helped.    Keith

 

[The Tall Man]

1 hour ago, keith said:

I actually got the thing to work

 

Great!! I'm glad you got it working!

Edited 1 hour ago by The Tall Man