EDIT : why you shall NOT buy Olimex

[prog-amateur]

Hello,

 

First of all, please understand that I am a beginner level. My project is to make a NextcloudPlus on a Lime2 NAND version because of the following reasons :

 

- Lime2 is Open source board, so no third party code into it

- NAND version because I don't want to rely on a micro SD card, as it can be unstable for too many read/write (NextcloudPlus indexes a lot with sync).

- SATA version because I would like to store data through a SATA HDD (I feel it is more stable than USB).

 

So, I have tried to make :

nand-sata-install

...but after shutting down and removing the micro SD cart, it was impossible to boot from NAND (the board doesn't even boot). I have tried to understand why on the doc/forum/etc., but it is difficult due to my beginner skills.

 

My question is simple : can somebody please summarize a step-by-step guide to install armbian and be able to boot from NAND ?

Which version to download (to boot on NAND and have SATA support), and what to do ?

 

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[Igor]

41 minutes ago, prog-amateur said:

NAND version because I don't want to rely on a micro SD card, as it can be unstable for too many read/write

Average SD card is better than NAND. We use memory for /var/log by default ... NAND works only with old 3.4.y kernel ... which is kind of old. There is no magic ... nand-sata-install ... if it doesn't work, we need to see serial console log to debug.

[prog-amateur]

1 hour ago, Igor said:

Average SD card is better than NAND. We use memory for /var/log by default ... NAND works only with old 3.4.y kernel ... which is kind of old. There is no magic ... nand-sata-install ... if it doesn't work, we need to see serial console log to debug.

Thank you for your feedback ! So what to do ?

 

If you can confirm that eMMC is more stable than SD/SD card, then I am ready to buy one. I really want to boot from the board with updated kernel to be up-to-date about security, and have SATA support.

 

1. Could you please confirm that eMMC is a better solution ?
2. If so, is it possible to boot from eMMC ? and how ?

 

Sorry to insist, I really like this open-source world, and I can repeat from a simple tutorial, but from pages and pages of documentation (to do "A", you need to know how to do "B", and to do "B", you need to know how to do "C", etc.), I need more experience, I think you can understand it.

 

Please feel free to feedback, thank you again.

[Igor]

13 minutes ago, prog-amateur said:

Could you please confirm that eMMC is a better solution

 

eMMC is a different technology than NAND and yes, that is better than SD card. eMMC act as another/second (fixed) SD card ... you only need to boot from SD card and use nand-sata-install utility and transfer the system to eMMC, power off when it's done, remove SD card and boot from eMMC should work.

 

Olimex Lime 2 is one of the few boards that comes with NAND, eMMC or without. The rest is the same.

[prog-amateur]

1 hour ago, Igor said:

 

eMMC is a different technology than NAND and yes, that is better than SD card. eMMC act as another/second (fixed) SD card ... you only need to boot from SD card and use nand-sata-install utility and transfer the system to eMMC, power off when it's done, remove SD card and boot from eMMC should work.

 

Olimex Lime 2 is one of the few boards that comes with NAND, eMMC or without. The rest is the same.

Thank you Igor, looks like you know very well this board !

 

I have bought the eMMC, because according what you say, it seems to be much more convenient to boot from eMMC with nand-sata-install. 

 

I hope to feedback as soon as I will receive the shipment and install armbian into the eMMC, at least to confirm.

[prog-amateur]

So... How to say. I am VERY upset. I have bought this 2nd Olimex card, and no boot, no green LED, nothing. 80€ (because of the TVA + transport) for nothing. So 2x80€ = 140€ for nothing.

 

This is my second experience with Olimex, and the second disappointment (not enough information about NAND boot on the first, PCB faulty on the second). Even worse, the chip seems already used, reconditioned.

 

I will contact the Customer Assotiation because I can't accept so much lack of unprofessional where a Raspberry would have cost half as much to operate out of the box.

 

I will check more cards with SATA and try to see customers feedback before I buy from a non serious company.

[prog-amateur]

So this is what I have opened from the box yesterday (the box has been received open too, maybe by the reworker or somebody else. No seal, just open box).

You see that used CPU, with unreadable P/N, you are afraid and test the board, it doesn't even boot, and you understand what is Olimex Quality.

People shall know because that because for 80€, this is what you can expect as a "brand new device" and "quality" from Olimex.

 

 

[tkaiser]

11 hours ago, prog-amateur said:

it doesn't even boot, and you understand what is Olimex Quality

 

OMFG! Please calm down, grab a beer and then read here: https://www.olimex.com/wiki/A20-OLinuXino-LIME2 Especially the

 

ALWAYS FIRST TEST WITH LATEST OFFICIAL IMAGE, NEWER HARDWARE REVISIONS OF THE BOARD MIGHT NOT WORK WITH OLDER IMAGES!!!

 

part. Then download their latest image, burn it with Etcher and report back. You have a brand new Rev K. Lime2 and I'm not entirely sure whether Armbian boots on those (yet).

 

BTW: It's not Olimex fault that you're unable to do some research prior to buying products ('not enough information about NAND boot on the first') and it's also not Olimex fault that Allwinner SoCs always look like refurbished parts.

[martinayotte]

12 hours ago, prog-amateur said:

No seal, just open box

I've never saw any seal on my Olimex boxes, neither on OrangePi or Pine box or FriendlyElec ...