Armbian for M9C Pro 4k Box (s905x)

[jewlz]

Hello all,

 

I have a box with a S905x that I've been able to get to boot using @balbes150 image:

 

Armbian_5.71_Aml-s9xxx_Ubuntu_bionic_default_4.20.2_20190118.img

 

Which I found at https://yadi.sk/d/pHxaRAs-tZiei

 

 

Everything works (as far as I know) except for the WIFI.  I cracked the device open and have identified the wifi chip as S9082C.  I've done a fair bit of searching on the web and in the forums and I've found people having issues with this wifi module, but no solutions.

 

I have also tried installing LibreELEC and found that it recognises and uses the wifi right from the start.  I tried copying the dtb.img over from the libreELEC sdcard, and although armbian boots fine, there is still no wifi.  The libre Elec image that I am using, for what it's worth is: LibreELEC-S905.arm-8.2-8.2.3.1.img

 

Could somebody give me a hand here?  I know this is probably the most common and annoying question, but I'm just stuck and there are so many forum posts to read that seem to dead end and not resolve.

 

Thanks in advance,

Julian

[balbes150]

4 hours ago, jewlz said:

I tried copying the dtb.img over from the libreELEC sdcard, and although armbian boots fine, there is still no wifi.  The libre Elec image that I am using, for what it's worth is: LibreELEC-S905.arm-8.2-8.2.3.1.img

LE about which you write , using a kernel 3.14, 5.71 Armbian used by the kernel 4.20. Therefore, you cannot run Armbian with the dtb from kernel 3.14. You copied the dtb file, but that doesn't mean it's being used.

[jewlz]

9 hours ago, balbes150 said:

LE about which you write , using a kernel 3.14, 5.71 Armbian used by the kernel 4.20. Therefore, you cannot run Armbian with the dtb from kernel 3.14. You copied the dtb file, but that doesn't mean it's being used.

 

First of all, thanks @balbes150 for the reply.  I've read a lot of your posts on here and you seem to be the most helpful forum user I've ever met.

 

I'm going to see if I can find a newer LE image that is using the 4.20 kernel, but in the mean time, would you be able to direct me to an older Armbian build that is working on 3.14?  If I can get a proof of concept here where the wifi module is working on an older build, I'll be a lot more encouraged to keep trying.

 

Could you also confirm for me that my process for copying the dtb.img file is correct?  It seems like it might be too simple, but I'm not really sure how the autorun script is working, so It might be fine.

 

1. Mount LE image and search in root directory (Partition is formatted as FAT) for dtb.img

2. Flash Armbian image to SD

3. Copy dtb.img directly from the LE FAT partition's root directory into the root directory in the "BOOT" partition (also promatted as FAT) that is found on the new Armbian SD

4. Run autoscript on the SD card from the update screen in android

 

I'm hoping to be able to share whether or not there is any success here later.

 

Regards,

Julian

 

 

[balbes150]

13 hours ago, jewlz said:

I'm going to see if I can find a newer LE image that is using the 4.20 kernel, but in the mean time, would you be able to direct me to an older Armbian build that is working on 3.14?  If I can get a proof of concept here where the wifi module is working on an older build, I'll be a lot more encouraged to keep trying.

 

 

14 hours ago, jewlz said:

Could you also confirm for me that my process for copying the dtb.img file is correct?  It seems like it might be too simple, but I'm not really sure how the autorun script is working, so It might be fine.

 

[jewlz]

Alright,

 

Thanks for your help.  After trying the newer LE, It appears that the internal wifi chipset has stopped working with their releases too.

 

I've decided to go with Armbian_5.71_Aml-s9xxx_Ubuntu_bionic_default_4.20.2_20190118.img and just plug a usb wifi dongle in.  Easier for me, and lets me get on with my application.

 

For the record (and for anyone searching for a solution to the same problem) it appears that there is no driver source code available for the WIFI chipset S9082C, so the drivers that came from the chip manufacturer that once worked in LE were broken in an kernel update maybe?  Not really sure, but the chip doesn't work with newer kernels as far as I can tell.

 

Julian