Armbian

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The Armbian system is a lightweight Linux system based on Debian/Ubuntu built specifically for ARM chips. The Armbian system is lean, clean, and 100% compatible and inherits the functions and rich software ecosystem of the Debian/Ubuntu system. It can run safely and stably in TF/SD/USB and the eMMC of the device.

Now you can replace the Android TV system of the TV box with the Armbian system, making it a powerful server. This project builds Armbian system for Amlogic, Rockchip and Allwinner boxes. including install to eMMC and update kernel related functions. Please refer to the Armbian Documentation for the usage method.

The latest version of the Armbian system can be downloaded in Releases. Welcome to Fork and personalize it. If it is useful to you, you can click on the Star in the upper right corner of the repository to show your support.

Armbian system instructions

SoC	Device	Optional-kernel	Armbian-System
a311d	Khadas-VIM3	All	amlogic_a311d.img
s922x	Beelink-GT-King, Beelink-GT-King-Pro, Ugoos-AM6-Plus, ODROID-N2, X88-King, Ali-CT2000	All	amlogic_s922x.img
s905x3	X96-Max+, HK1-Box, Vontar-X3, H96-Max-X3, Ugoos-X3, TX3(QZ), TX3(BZ), X96-Air, X96-Max+_A100, A95XF3-Air, Tencent-Aurora-3Pro(s905x3-b), X96-Max+Q1, X96-Max+100W, X96-Max+_2101, Infinity-B32	All	amlogic_s905x3.img
s905x2	X96Max-4G, X96Max-2G, MECOOL-KM3-4G, Tanix-Tx5-Max, A95X-F2	All	amlogic_s905x2.img
s912	Tanix-TX8-Max, Tanix-TX9-Pro(3G), Tanix-TX9-Pro(2G), Tanix-TX92, Nexbox-A1, Nexbox-A95X-A2, A95X, H96-Pro-Plus, VORKE-Z6-Plus, Mecool-M8S-PRO-L, Vontar-X92, T95Z-Plus, Octopus-Planet, Phicomm-T1	All	amlogic_s912.img
s905d	MECOOL-KI-Pro, Phicomm-N1	All	amlogic_s905d.img
s905x	HG680P, B860H, TBee-Box, T95, TX9	All	amlogic_s905x.img
s905w	X96-Mini, TX3-Mini, W95, X96W/FunTV, MXQ-Pro-4K	All	amlogic_s905w.img
s905l2	MGV2000, MGV3000, Wojia-TV-IPBS9505, M301A	All	amlogic_s905l2.img
s905l3	CM311-1, HG680-LC, M401A	All	amlogic_s905l3.img
s905l3a	E900V22C/D, CM311-1a-YST, M401A, M411A, UNT403A, UNT413A, ZTE-B863AV3.2-M	All	amlogic_s905l3a.img
s905l3b	M302A/M304A, E900V22E, Hisense-IP103H, CM211-1	All	amlogic_s905l3b.img
s905lb	Q96-mini, BesTV-R3300L, SumaVision-Q7	All	amlogic_s905lb.img
s905	Beelink-Mini-MX-2G, Sunvell-T95M, MXQ-Pro+4K, SumaVision-Q5	All	amlogic_s905.img
rk3588	Radxa-Rock5B, HinLink-H88K	rk3588	rockchip_boxname.img
rk3568	FastRhino-R66S, FastRhino-R68S, HinLink-H66K, HinLink-H68K, Radxa-E25, NanoPi-R5S	6.x.y	rockchip_boxname.img
rk3399	EAIDK-610, King3399, TN3399, Kylin3399	6.x.y	rockchip_boxname.img
rk3328	BeikeYun, L1-Pro	All	rockchip_boxname.img
h6	Vplus, TQC-A01, Tanix-TX6	All	allwinner_boxname.img

💡Tip: Currently s905 Boxes can only be used in TF/SD/USB, Other models of boxes support writing to eMMC for use. For more information, please refer to Description of Supported Device List. You can refer to the method in Section 12.15 of the documentation to add new support devices.

Install to EMMC and update instructions

Choose the corresponding system according to your box. See the corresponding instructions for the use of different devices.

• Install Armbian to EMMC

1. For the installation method of the Rockchip platform, please refer to Section 8 in the documentation。

2. Amlogic and Allwinner platform，Then write the IMG file to the USB hard disk through software such as Rufus or balenaEtcher. Insert the USB hard disk into the box. Login in to armbian (default user: root, default password: 1234) → input command:

armbian-install

Optional	Default	Value	Description
-m	no	yes/no	Use Mainline u-boot
-a	yes	yes/no	Use ampart tool
-l	no	yes/no	List show all

Example: armbian-install -m yes -a no

• Update Armbian Kernel

Login in to armbian → input command:

# Run as root user (sudo -i)
# If no parameter is specified, it will update to the latest version.
armbian-update

Optional	Default	Value	Description
-k	latest	kernel name	Set the kernel name
-v	automate	stable/rk3588/h6/flippy/dev	Set the kernel version branch
-m	no	yes/no	Use Mainline u-boot
-b	yes	yes/no	Automatically backup the current system kernel
-r	ophub/kernel	<owner>/<repo>	Set the repository for downloading kernels from github.com
-c	None	domain-name	Set the cdn domain name for accelerated access to github.com
-s	None	None	[SOS] Restore eMMC with system kernel from USB

Example: armbian-update -k 5.15.50 -v dev

When updating the kernel, the kernel used by the current system will be automatically backed up. The storage path is in the /ddbr/backup directory, and the three recently used versions of the kernel will be preserved. If the newly installed kernel is unstable, the backed up kernel can be restored at any time. If the update fails and the system cannot be started, you can start any version of Armbian via USB to recover the system in eMMC. For more instructions, see the help documentation.

• Install common software

Login in to armbian → input command:

armbian-software

Use the armbian-software -u command to update the local software center list. According to the user's demand feedback in the Issue, gradually integrate commonly used software to achieve one-click install/update/uninstall and other shortcut operations. Including docker images, desktop software, application services, etc. See more Description.

• Modify Armbian Config

Login in to armbian → input command:

armbian-config

• Create swap for Armbian

If you feel that the memory of the current box is not enough when you are using applications with a large memory footprint such as docker, you can create a swap virtual memory partition, Change the disk space a certain capacity is virtualized into memory for use. The unit of the input parameter of the following command is GB, and the default is 1.

Login in to armbian → input command:

armbian-swap 1

• Controlling the LED display

Login in to armbian → input command:

armbian-openvfd

Debug according to LED screen display control instructions.

• Backup/restore the original EMMC system

Supports backup/restore of the box's EMMC partition in TF/SD/USB. It is recommended that you back up the Android TV system that comes with the current box before installing the Armbian system in a brand new box, so that you can use it in the future when restoring the TV system.

Please login in to armbian → input command:

armbian-ddbr

According to the prompt, enter b to perform system backup, and enter r to perform system recovery.

• Compile the kernel in Armbian

For the usage of compiling the kernel in Armbian, see the compile-kernel documentation. please login in to armbian → input command:

armbian-kernel -u
armbian-kernel -k 5.10.125

• More instructions for use

To update all service scripts in the local system to the latest version, you can login in to armbian → input command:

armbian-sync

In the use of Armbian, please refer to documents for some common problems that may be encountered.

Local build instructions

1. Clone the repository to the local. git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian.git

2. Install the necessary packages (The script has only been tested on x86_64 Ubuntu-20.04/22.04)

sudo apt-get update -y
sudo apt-get full-upgrade -y
# For Ubuntu-22.04
sudo apt-get install -y $(cat compile-kernel/tools/script/ubuntu2204-build-armbian-depends)

3. Enter the ~/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian root directory, and then create the build/output/images folder, and upload the Armbian image ( Eg: Armbian_21.11.0-trunk_Odroidn2_current_5.15.50.img ) to this ~/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian/build/output/images directory. Please keep the release version number (e.g. 21.11.0) and kernel version number (e.g. 5.15.50) in the name of the original Armbian image file, It will be used as the name of the armbian system after rebuilding.

4. Enter the ~/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian root directory, and then run Eg: sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3 -k 5.10.125 to build armbian for amlogic s9xxx. The generated Armbian image is in the build/output/images directory under the root directory.

• Description of localized packaging parameters

Optional	Meaning	Description
-b	Board	Specify the Build system type. Write the build system name individually, such as -b s905x3 . Multiple system use _ connect such as -b s905x3_s905d . Use all for all board models. The model code is detailed in the BOARD setting in model_database.conf file.
-k	Kernel	Specify the kernel version, Such as -k 5.10.125 . Multiple kernel use _ connection such as -k 5.10.125_5.15.50 . The kernel version freely specified by the -k parameter is only valid for the kernel in the stable, and other kernels such as rk3588 are specified by the model_database.conf file.
-a	AutoKernel	Set whether to automatically adopt the latest version of the kernel of the same series. When it is true, it will automatically find in the kernel library whether there is an updated version of the kernel specified in -k such as 5.10.125 version. If there is the latest version of same series, it will automatically Replace with the latest version. When set to false, the specified version of the kernel will be compiled. Default value: true
-r	KernelRepo	Specifies the <owner>/<repo> of the github.com kernel repository, Such as -r ophub/kernel
-s	Size	Specify the ROOTFS partition size for the system. The default is 2560MiB, and the specified size must be greater than 2048MiB. Such as -s 2560
-t	RootfsType	Set the file system type of the ROOTFS partition of the system, the default is ext4 type, and the options are ext4 or btrfs type. Such as -t btrfs
-n	CustomName	Set the signature part of the system name. The default value is empty. You can add signatures such as _server, _gnome_desktop or _ophub as needed. Do not include spaces when setting custom signatures.
-g	GH_TOKEN	Optional. Set ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }} for api.github.com query. Default: None

• sudo ./rebuild: Use the default configuration to pack all TV Boxes.
• sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3 -k 5.10.125: recommend. Use the default configuration, specify a kernel and a system for compilation.
• sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3_s905d -k 5.10.125_5.15.50: Use the default configuration, specify multiple cores, and multiple system for compilation. use _ to connect.
• sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3 -k 5.10.125 -s 2560: Use the default configuration, specify a kernel, a system, and set the partition size for compilation.
• sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3_s905d: Use the default configuration, specify multiple system, use _ to connect. compile all kernels.
• sudo ./rebuild -k 5.10.125_5.15.50: Use the default configuration. Specify multiple cores, use _ to connect.
• sudo ./rebuild -k 5.10.125_5.15.50 -a true: Use the default configuration. Specify multiple cores, use _ to connect. Auto update to the latest kernel of the same series.
• sudo ./rebuild -t btrfs -s 2560 -k 5.10.125: Use the default configuration, set the file system to btrfs format and the partition size to 2560MiB, and only compile the armbian system with the kernel version 5.10.125.

Use GitHub Actions to build

1. Workflows configuration in build-armbian.yml file.

2. New compilation: Select Build armbian on the Actions page, According to the OS version officially supported by Armbian, you can choose Ubuntu series: jammy, or Debian series: bullseye, etc., Click the Run workflow button. More parameter setting methods can be found in the official document of Armbian.

3. Compile again: If there is an Armbian_.*-trunk_.*.img.gz file in Releases, you do not need to compile it completely, you can directly use this file to build amlogic armbian of different board. Select Use Releases file to build armbian on the Actions page. Click the Run workflow button.

4. Use other Armbian system, such as odroidn2 provided by the official Armbian system download site armbian.tnahosting.net, only by introducing the script of this repository in the process control file rebuild-armbian.yml for Armbian reconstruction, it can be adapted to the use of other TV Boxes. In the Actions page, select Rebuild armbian, and enter the Armbian network download url such as https://dl.armbian.com/*/Armbian_*.img.xz, or in the process control file rebuild-armbian.yml, set the load path of the rebuild file through the armbian_path parameter. code show as below:

- name: Rebuild Armbian
  uses: ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian@main
  with:
    build_target: armbian
    armbian_path: build/output/images/*.img
    armbian_board: s905d_s905x3_s922x_s905x
    armbian_kernel: 5.10.125_5.15.50
    gh_token: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}

• GitHub Actions Input parameter description

For the related settings of GitHUB RELEASES_TOKEN, please refer to: RELEASES_TOKEN. The relevant parameters correspond to the local packaging command, please refer to the above description.

Optional	Defaults	Description
armbian_path	None	Set the path of the original Armbian file, support the file path in the current workflow such as build/output/images/*.img, and also support the use of the network download address such as: https://dl.armbian.com/*/Armbian_*.img.xz
armbian_board	all	Set the board of the packaged TV Boxes, function reference -b
armbian_kernel	6.1.1_5.15.1	Set kernel version, function reference -k
auto_kernel	true	Set whether to automatically use the latest version of the same series of kernels, function reference -a
kernel_repo	ophub/kernel	Specifies the <owner>/<repo> of the github.com kernel repository, function reference -r
armbian_size	2560	Set the size of the system ROOTFS partition, function reference -s
armbian_fstype	ext4	Set the file system type of the system ROOTFS partition, function reference -t
armbian_sign	None	Set the signature part of the system name, function reference -n
gh_token	None	Optional. Set ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}, function reference -g

• GitHub Actions Output variable description

To upload to Releases, you need to add ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} and ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }} to the repository and set Workflow read and write permissions, see the instructions for details.

Parameter	For example	Description
${{ env.PACKAGED_OUTPUTPATH }}	out	OpenWrt system storage path
${{ env.PACKAGED_OUTPUTDATE }}	04.13.1058	Packing date(month.day.hour.minute)
${{ env.PACKAGED_STATUS }}	success	Package status: success / failure

Armbian system default information

Name	Value
Default IP	Get IP from the router
Default username	root
Default password	1234

Compile the kernel using GitHub Actions

For the compilation method of the kernel, see compile-kernel

- name: Compile the kernel
  uses: ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian@main
  with:
    build_target: kernel
    kernel_version: 5.15.1_6.1.1
    kernel_auto: true
    kernel_sign: -yourname

Armbian Contributors

First of all, I would like to thank 150balbes for his outstanding contributions and a good foundation for using Armbian in the Amlogic TV Boxes. The Armbian system compiled here directly uses the latest official source code for real-time compilation. The development idea of the program comes from the tutorials of authors such as ebkso. Thank you for your dedication and sharing, so that we can use the Armian system in more boxes.

The kernel / u-boot and other resources used by this system are mainly copied from the project of unifreq/openwrt_packit, Some files are shared by users in Pull and Issues of amlogic-s9xxx-openwrt / amlogic-s9xxx-armbian / luci-app-amlogic / kernel and other projects. To thank these pioneers and sharers, From now on (This source code repository was created on 2021-09-19), I have recorded them in CONTRIBUTORS.md. Thanks again everyone for giving new life and meaning to the TV Boxes.

Other distributions

• The amlogic-s9xxx-openwrt project provides the OpenWrt system used in the box, which is also applicable to the relevant devices that support Armbian.
• unifreq has made OpenWrt system for more boxes such as Amlogic, Rockchip and Allwinner, which is a benchmark in the box circle and is recommended for use.
• Scirese tested the production, installation and use of Arch Linux ARM / Manjaro system in the Android TV boxes, please refer to the relevant instructions in his repository for details.
• 7Ji published some articles on reverse engineering and development on the Amlogic platform in his blog, such as installing the ArchLinux ARM system in the way of ArchLinux, and introducing the startup mechanism of the Amlogic platform. In his ampart project, he provided a partitioning tool that supports reading and editing Amlogic's eMMC partition table and DTB partitions, and can make 100% use of the eMMC space. The method of making and using Arch Linux ARM is provided in amlogic-s9xxx-archlinuxarm project. Yet Another openvfd Daemon is provided in YAopenvfD project.

Links

• armbian
• unifreq
• kernel.org

License

The amlogic-s9xxx-armbian © OPHUB is licensed under GPL-2.0