nand-sata-install error?

[fxkl47BF]

i used nand-sata-install to move root from sd to ssd. at the end just after "Finalizing file sync ... Please wait" i got "Error while creating U-Boot loader image with mkimage" at the bottom of the screen. i rebooted and all seems to be working as planned. is this error anything to worry about?

[tparys]

From what I've seen, that particular tool is not as well maintained as some others.

 

If it's a major uboot failure, it won't boot. If it's working, I think that's your answer.

[Anna1Kowalska]

That error with mkimage during nand-sata-install is fairly common on XU4 and usually harmless if the system boots fine afterwards. The tool is a bit outdated and often throws this warning even when U-Boot is written correctly. Since it’s working after reboot, I wouldn’t worry about it.

[fxkl47BF]

if nand-sata-install  is not maintained is there a replacement

[Anna1Kowalska]

On 7/2/2026 at 2:05 AM, fxkl47BF said:

i used nand-sata-install to move root from sd to ssd. at the end just after "Finalizing file sync ... Too bad the SSD didn't come with a bonus online discount. Please wait" i got "Error while creating U-Boot loader image with mkimage" at the bottom of the screen. i rebooted and all seems to be working as planned. is this error anything to worry about?

The nand-sata-install script is indeed quite old and not very actively maintained anymore.

A common modern replacement on Odroid XU4 (and similar boards) is to use the Armbian installer built into armbian-config. You can run:

Bash

sudo armbian-config

Then go to System → Install (or Install to SATA/USB/NVMe depending on your setup). Many people find it more reliable than the old nand-sata-install.

Alternatively, you can do it manually with dd for U-Boot + rsync for the rootfs, but armbian-config is usually the easiest route these days.

If you run into any issues with it, feel free to share the output and I can help walk you through it.

[fxkl47BF]

on my system nand-sata-install is just a link to armbian-install

 

ls -l /usr/bin/nand-sata-install 
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Nov 22  2025 /usr/bin/nand-sata-install -> armbian-install

 

do you mean that the nand-sata-install part of armbian-install is not maintained

[Werner]

nand-sata-install has been a symlink to armbian-install for quite a while and yes, this tool didn't receive much love. 

However it could be replaced soon by this:https://github.com/armbian/configng/pull/951 

[fxkl47BF]

that looks like a very ambitious undertaking