Chinese A20 Android Tv Box

[andreq]

Hi,
 
I'm quite new to all this Linux Arm thing and I don't have any setup to create the build myself.
I do all the setup from a Windows machine and that's mostly why I haven't got a proper setup to try my own build.
I'm learning a ton about the A20 and linux, this is quite a change from my daily "coding on windows machine" job!
 
I've been trying to run some of Igor images on that Chinese Android TV box : http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2014-Hot-Smart-TV-box-A20-Dual-Core-Google-Android-Allwinner-Cortex-A7-1GB-4GB-Flash/1714972998.html
 
From what I can tell with the PCB out of the shell, it has the "basics" of most of the supported board, but the included wifi adapter is USB and it's the same RTL8118ETV as the Orange Pi A20.
I can provide high resolution picture of the PCB if needed. 
 
I can run the Cubieboard 2 built without any issue, apart from the missing Wifi. 
lsusb doesn't list the onboard wifi, but I can use a random d-link usb module and it work flawlessly.
 
As I'd like to use the internet wifi module, I've dug some more into it and tried the Orange Pi built
This one doesn't load fully and the kernel stop at "Waiting for root device /dev/mmcblk0p1"
 
I'm using the same SD card for both build, went back and fort 2-3 time between Cubieboard2 build and Orange Pi and I always get the same result.
I've also tried the Banana R1 built at it use the same wifi module (from what I can tell).
 
Looking at the source, I'm quite sure it shouldn't be to hard to figure out how to enable the "onboard" wifi on the Cubieboard2 build or "fix" my loading error on the Orange Pi one.
 
Having spent 2 nights on this, I came here to request any help you can provide.
 
Thanks a lot for all the effort that was put into making those script/builds.

 

Edit :

 

I found some more info about the Tv box here : http://linux-sunxi.org/TXCZ_A20     I have V3.0, but it look exactly the same.

How hard would it be to load the provided fex ? I've played a bit with Fecx on windows, but didn't get anywhere.

 

Edit 2:

 

This is "exactly" the same board http://linux-sunxi.org/YBKJ_A20minus the optical out connect (replaced by a flimsy wired on/off switch on my device)

[andreq]

Success !

 

I've booted cubiboard build with the Fex from  http://linux-sunxi.org/YBKJ_A20 and it started (good!).

 

Copied the whole wireless module folder from OrangePi img to Cubiboard img since I wasn't able to build the module myself.

 

The module couldn't load so I added some line in the Fex (after ton of googling)

[usb_wifi_para]
usb_wifi_usbc_num = 2

ifup wlan0 and its alive !

 

Now, stupid question, any way to have the wlan0 active when I boot ?

 

Thanks

 

edit : Btw, I think the only difference I've seen from the Cubiboard build and the Orange Pi is the offset in the img file. Dunno if that's why it's not booting for me, but maybe there's something too look into ?

 

edit2 : Seem like wlan0 is up at startup! I've removed my ethernet cable and was able to SSH into the machine. !

[andreq]

Little update in my monologue

 

 

I'm trying to intsall to nand and I'm hitting a road block.

 

I was able to format the nand and run the install script, but from what I can tell, I'm missing the "boot footprint" to be able to launch the img.

 

Since there is no Usb Otg connector or pins on this PCB, is there any way to setup that "boot footprint" from Sunxi command line ?

I've look into the env. variable and can't tell which are wrong (or right?). I've read on some forum it have something to do with "magic number" that need to be set on a partition.

 

If anyone can help me with this, I've reached the limit of my knowledge

[Igor]

This is the app you need. Untested by me (yet) so can't give you any additional info.

 

Just give it a try.

[andreq]

Sadly there is no USB Otg connector on my board. I have no way to use Livesuit/Phoenix tool or the tool linked.

 

I'll keep digging and see if I can find a hidden port on the PCB, but I might end up booting from SD.

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Igor]

Aha ... in any case you need USB OTG    Good luck with hardware games

[andreq]

Some of those cheap chinese box re-use one of the normal USB plug as OTG. I have yet to see how to enable FEL mode from U-boot. I'm getting 5v in both usb plug connector, I'm kinda scared to plug that into my PC. I do have the weird usb-a to usb-a wire tho!

[andreq]

For the record, I got the nand boot working. Was way simpler than I expected.

 

Got a Nand Lubuntu image from here http://dl.cubieboard.org/software/a20-cubieboard/lubuntu/cb-a20-lubuntu-12.10-v1.06/

Used PhoenixCard to send it to a spare SD card.

Booted from this card and it installed itself to Nand (yaay !)

Booted from my first SD Card and ran nand install script.

Everything went as expected, it booted form nand a minute ago !

 

I'm currently loged in, wirelessly, without any SD card.

 

Thanks again for the images and forum. I found a lot of information and I wouldn't be that far without it.


Little google keywords for anyone looking for some help with this box  :  TXCZ_A20_V3.0  TXCZ_A20 V3  debian linux nand img firmware