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Installation in Mecool KI Pro


pepesuriano

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Hi, new to armbian here! I'm coming from libreelec looking for a less limited operating system keeping mediacenter features of libreelec (mostly kodi)
 
I installed Armbian_5.44_S9xxx_Debian_stretch_3.14.29_server_20180601.img.xz (it boots only versions with 3.14 kernel, others don't work), I found that it has not wifi drivers because it is not working, just eth0 is shown with "ip a".
 
Is it possible that drivers for this box are missing? With libreelec it works like a charm.
 
Thanks in advance!
 
 


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On 10/12/2018 at 8:31 PM, olivluca said:

@pepesuriano if you're still following the forum, does the dvb-s2 tuner work with armbian?

I would like to know the same! @pepesuriano

Good friend let me know did you get any results with the new kernel 4.xx in the armbian installation?
I've been trying for 1 months Install the Libreelec version of the kernel version 4.xx! Unsuccessfully
https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/12330-test-libreelec-images-with-kodi-18-for-s9xxx/?pageNo=21

I have the same box KI Pro (S905D)
If you got some success tell us how?
Thank you,

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Hello,

 

has someone tried ArchlinuxARM vs. Armbian on this box Mecool Ki Pro specifically?

 

I have also already used LibreELEC with it off SD card, since internal flash is busted, and LibreELEC ran all sorts of stuff it can do, like DVB-C tuner with TVHeaded2. So basically there should be no reason it won't all run on the bigger distributions (or not? ..). Someone wrote online, that the Ki Pro has possibly the best LibreELEC support of all boxes.

 

But I am wondering, e.g. about xorg graphics drivers and kernel versions.

 

Which one, ArchlinuxARM or Armbian, has newer and better stuff for the Ki Pro?

 

The Ki Pro is like the Odroid-2 in specs, but it won't boot a normal ext4 partition you need to use u-boot stuff or something, which rather needs to be provided by an IMG file.

 

Here Archlinux links:

 

https://yadi.sk/d/BbH_N6HFzvjhm

https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/606133-linux-images-for-s802-s805-s812-s905-s905x-s912-sd-usb-emmc

https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s905/tronsmart-ac/firmware-roms-tools-at/565449-running-linux-from-sd-card-or-usb-flash-drive-using-balbes150-method-and-files

 

OK, so here are the steps to install Archlinux on the Mecool Ki Pro :

 

1. First link, download any of S9xxxx images, like S9xxx_ArchLinux_MATE_20180207_3_14.img.xz - then extract .xz archive

2. Use this http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-Raw-Copy-Tool/HDDRawCopy1.10Portable.exe to write  .img file to SD card (I believe, its simply like dd on linux)

 

Now on Windows a new FAT partition appears (let's call that F:\ ). There you have to do two things:

 

3. Copy the file F:\dtbs\gxl_p230_k1_pro.dtb to F:\dtb.img

4. Rename F:\s905_autoscript to F:\aml_autoscript

 

Now you can test if the SD card boots by unplugging the device, holding the power button until you see whatever picture, and plugging power back in while you hold it. You do not need to make any system modifications to boot from SD card, as described in the links above. It boots SD cards while holding power when powering on as factory default.

 

If you fail to do any of the above steps, it won't work. And the last step is mentioned nowhere afaik. I only tried it because I recognized the file from libreELEC. You can also copy the appropriate remote.conf somewhere over from the LibreELEC site or here https://file.io/iUytX9 . I have a real keyboard/touchpad remote, so I don't care about that at all.

 

Now, still at your PC, you can also do this:

 

5. Remove second partition, recreate, then use resize2fs to fit full size of SD card. (I have no idea how you would do that on Windows. It can't be done from the running system.)

6. Modify the F:\hdmi.sh to change screen resolution and stuff.

 

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6 hours ago, C0NPAQ said:

I also tried to boot the images with the 4.XX kernels and it won't work. Only the 3.14 - no issues there.

 

Why is that? 

As long as you do not provide a log to start a new kernel from the UART console, no one will help you.

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17 hours ago, C0NPAQ said:

I also tried to boot the images with the 4.XX kernels and it won't work. Only the 3.14 - no issues there.

 

Why is that?

 

 

Because there is no dtb that works for the KI pro. The dtb for 3.14 cannot be used since the format changed.

 

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4 hours ago, olivluca said:

 

 

Because there is no dtb that works for the KI pro. The dtb for 3.14 cannot be used since the format changed.

 

 

There are all the dtb files for Ki Pro, Kii Pro, Kiii Pro, Ki Plus, p230 in the images provided by balbes150 (see his post in this thread).

 

This is exactly why I am asking about it.

 

I am not trying to do something dumb, like boot without dtb file. They really exist, whereever he got them from.

 

Both the P230 and the Ki Pro dtb ought to work 100%. Mostly all of the mentioned Mecool Boxes' dtb files should possibly work, since they are virtually identical in specs. They only have more or less RAM or don't ship with the DVB module, and stuff like that.

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56 minutes ago, olivluca said:

the dtb you mention are only available for kernel 3.14, they won't work for any later kernel

 

You are in total error.

 

Like I said, those files exist in the dtb folder in the images from balbes150 with the 4+ kernels Armbian, and they belong to that kernel.

 

Please check the images yourself, if you are in doubt.

 

 

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5 hours ago, C0NPAQ said:

You are in total error.

 

Like I said, those files exist in the dtb folder in the images from balbes150 with the 4+ kernels Armbian, and they belong to that kernel.

 

Please check the images yourself, if you are in doubt.

These DTB appeared in the images of the patch from Libreelec. But nobody checked them and there are no guarantees that they are working at all.

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@olivluca:

 

Do you have UART console, what did it say?

 

We got to get this working somehow. These new kernels in balbes150 images got all sorts of miracles going, like hardware accel for video.

 

I hope my new UART module arrives today.

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1 hour ago, C0NPAQ said:

Do you have UART console, what did it say?
 

 

I didn't open the box (yet ;)), I'm happy enough with libreelec, though I'd like a real linux system to tinker with, but consider that I have less and less time to tinker :(

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Ok, so here is the problem ...

 

Quote

load dtb from 0x1000000 ......
      Amlogic multi-dtb tool
      Single dtb detected
## Flattened Device Tree blob at 01000000
   Booting using the fdt blob at 0x1000000
libfdt fdt_path_offset() returned FDT_ERR_NOTFOUND
[rsvmem] fdt get prop fail.

   Loading Ramdisk to 73b57000, end 73ea1250 ... OK
   Loading Device Tree to 000000001fff6000, end 000000001ffff2aa ... OK
fdt_instaboot: no instaboot image

Starting kernel ...

uboot time: 7758695 us
 

 

Note that I was using the meson-gxl-s905d-p230.dtb on the Armbian 5.44 image, and on the 5.73 I was using the meson-gxl-s905d-ki-pro.dtb file. The issue is the same though. Also I tried both ttyS0 and ttyAML0, none worked.

 

@balbes150: So can something possibly be done?

 

Here are the full logs:

 

Mecool_Ki_Pro_boot_sd_card_with_Armbian_5.44_S9xxx_Debian_stretch_3.14.29_xfce_20180729.img.txt

Mecool_Ki_Pro_boot_sd_card_with_Armbian_5.44_S9xxx_Debian_stretch_4.18.0-rc5_xfce_20180806.img.txt

Mecool_Ki_Pro_boot_sd_card_with_Armbian_5.73_Aml-s905_Debian_stretch_default_4.20.2_desktop_20190130.img.txt

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I also tried different dtbs on the 3.14 kernel ....

 

3.14 gxl_p230_k1_pro.dtb : works

3.14 gxl_p230_2g.dtb : works

3.14 gxl_p200.dtb: the kernel hangs after outputting one line

 

4.XX (I tried over a dozen dtbs): nothing works, no output

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1. The output from the first log (3.14) shows that the system is normally running and waiting for the user to log in for the initial setup.

 

Debian GNU/Linux 9 aml ttyS0

aml login:

 

2 and 3. The log with the kernel 4.18 and 4.20 . An unsuitable dtb is used. It is necessary to select a working option. Try all the file groups gxl  and  gxm. Try the option file that I posted in the topic for AndreDB.

 

 

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I literally tried all the dtb files in the 5.XX kernel image (plus the one you mentioned meson-gxm-q201-1gb.dtb), and the issue is always the same.

 

I can't really believe that this is related to an improper DTB file, because:

 

1. In the 3.14 kernel, the gxl_p230_k1_pro.dtb and gxl_p230_2g.dtb worked well. Other dtbs also produced some kind of output over serial console, although they didn't boot completely.

2. So its not like we only had this one single proprietary DTB blob from the manufacturer to begin with, that only works with the 3.XX kernel. 

3. Now although there are like 10 DTB files that are compatible and should run, for Ki Pro, Ki Plus, Kii Pro, P230 a, P230 b, etc. etc. - none work?

4. What about the  FDT_ERR_NOTFOUND error? I read online, that more or less this relates to some bug in uboot?

 

Excuse my doubts. This is all new to me.

 

Maybe it is a uboot issue?

 

 

Spoiler

DTBs I tried:

 

meson-g12a-u200.dtb
meson-axg-s400.dtb
meson-gxl-s805x-libretech-ac.dtb
meson-gxbb-nanopi-k2.dtb
meson-gxbb-nexbox-a95x.dtb
meson-gxbb-odroidc2.dtb
meson-gxbb-p200.dtb
meson-gxbb-p201.dtb
meson-gxbb-vega-s95-meta.dtb
meson-gxbb-vega-s95-pro.dtb
meson-gxbb-vega-s95-telos.dtb
meson-gxbb-wetek-hub.dtb
meson-gxbb-wetek-play2.dtb
meson-gxl-s905x-hwacom-amazetv.dtb
meson-gxl-s805x-p241.dtb
meson-gxl-s905d-p230.dtb
meson-gxl-s905d-p231.dtb
meson-gxl-s905d-phicomm-n1.dtb
meson-gxl-s905w-p281.dtb
meson-gxl-s905w-tx3-mini.dtb
meson-gxl-s905x-libretech-cc.dtb
meson-gxl-s905x-khadas-vim.dtb
meson-gxl-s905x-nexbox-a95x.dtb
meson-gxl-s905x-p212.dtb
meson-gxm-khadas-vim2.dtb
meson-gxm-nexbox-a1.dtb
meson-gxm-q200.dtb
meson-gxm-q201.dtb
meson-gxm-rbox-pro.dtb
meson-gxm-vega-s96.dtb

 


meson-gxm-q201-1gb.dtb

 

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26 minutes ago, C0NPAQ said:

I literally tried all the dtb files in the 5.XX kernel image (plus the one you mentioned meson-gxm-q201-1gb.dtb), and the issue is always the same.

 

I can't really believe that this is related to an improper DTB file, because:

 

1. In the 3.14 kernel, the gxl_p230_k1_pro.dtb and gxl_p230_2g.dtb worked well. Other dtbs also produced some kind of output over serial console, although they didn't boot completely.

2. So its not like we only had this one single proprietary DTB blob from the manufacturer to begin with, that only works with the 3.XX kernel. 

3. Now although there are like 10 DTB files that are compatible and should run, for Ki Pro, Ki Plus, Kii Pro, P230 a, P230 b, etc. etc. - none work?

4. What about the  FDT_ERR_NOTFOUND error? I read online, that more or less this relates to some bug in uboot?

 

Excuse my doubts. This is all new to me.

 

Maybe it is a uboot issue?

1. The described error does not affect anything, you can ignore it.

2. You can believe it or not. I write the, that himself many times tested. If I see such a conclusion, it is almost always decided by the correct dtb.

3. Perhaps those DTBS that you have tried do not fit your model and need more in-depth study and comparison of the parameters in the dtb.

4. There is another reason, when running the new kernel - very old u-boot. This can be checked by running a clean system entirely from external media ( along with the new u-boot). If you have a firmware file to recover via USB Burn Tool, this can be checked.

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