GT King Pro - Debian10 Buster & Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa Firmware

darkstar · Post time 2020-11-12 00:27:11

Edited by darkstar at 2020-11-12 00:38

spikerguy replied at 2020-11-11 03:16
I have a Manjaro ARM LInux image for testing but it will only run without android on emmc which will ...

I saw your thread @chewitt from libreelec project did good job about u-boot compilation.
I build mainline u-boot from his fip repo like you.
I am testing it but it is dangerous to overwrite official u-boot, I prefer to run Linux from sd/usb instead of emmc.

root@Lenovo:~/gtkingpro# ls -l
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1287024 Nov 11 08:13 u-boot.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1287536 Nov 11 08:13 u-boot.bin.sd.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 65536 Nov 11 08:13 u-boot.bin.usb.bl2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1221488 Nov 11 08:13 u-boot.bin.usb.tpl

Copy the Code

JFL · Post time 2020-11-12 17:36:56

darkstar replied at 2020-11-12 00:27
I saw your thread @chewitt from libreelec project did good job about u-boot compilation.
I build ma ...

Hi,

Does this means you are testing a new Mainline u-boot that can boot from SD/USB that does not have kernel panic?

Just using GT King Pro for Linux at the moment is not a good option for me for the time being, much prefer Linux or other OS to boot up from SD/USB.

darkstar · Post time 2020-11-12 18:02:06

JFL replied at 2020-11-12 17:36
Hi,

Does this means you are testing a new Mainline u-boot that can boot from SD/USB that does not ...

No, because U-Boot is the boot loader of the device it must be flashed to emmc.
If any error occur due to an unofficial U-Boot and you brick your device it will be out of warranty.

I build mainline U-boot for gt king pro from Libreelec's repo but I can not release it.
Mainline U-boot image must be released by @beelink. You can try Manjaro Arm Mainline released by @spikerguy but don't forget you have to erase your emmc.

spikerguy · Post time 2020-11-12 19:48:42

Edited by spikerguy at 2020-11-12 19:52

darkstar replied at 2020-11-12 18:02
No, because U-Boot is the boot loader of the device it must be flashed to emmc.
If any error occur ...

No it does not brick the device as all these SOC have an onboard flash rom which will start directly to upgrade mode.

Anytime user can flash the Android using the Burning tool.

Yes there is a risk of losing the warranty if you cannot get it back as I have bricked few Amlogic Hardwares before where amlogic claimed that it is not brickable as they have onboard flash rom, while in rare case if onboard flash rom have hardware issue then it ends up being bricked.

Currently I have flashed Manjaro Arm Linux on my GT King Pro eMMC and it is happily running since 3 days where I have compiled multiple kernel on it as it have the faster emmc of all the boards I have.

Screenshot:

JFL · Post time 2020-11-13 00:19:16

Edited by JFL at 2020-11-13 00:28

darkstar replied at 2020-11-12 18:02
No, because U-Boot is the boot loader of the device it must be flashed to emmc.
If any error occur ...

Am I correct to understand that the mainline u-boot you build can coexist with the Android and you can boot mainline linux from SD/USB. Good progress and a good solution.

Beelink Development Team should contact both you, Spikerguy and linux kernel developer to work out a solution for the Mainline U-Boot so that a new firmware Android U-Boot for GT King and GT King Pro can be released soon.

JFL · Post time 2020-11-13 00:27:33

spikerguy replied at 2020-11-12 19:48
No it does not brick the device as all these SOC have an onboard flash rom which will start directl ...

Like I mentioned earlier, Beelink Development Team should work with you, Darkstar and Linux Kernel Developers come out with a new Android U-Boot that works with mainline linux kernel.

Good progress.

darkstar · Post time 2020-11-13 03:10:55

spikerguy replied at 2020-11-12 19:48
No it does not brick the device as all these SOC have an onboard flash rom which will start directl ...

In theory it seems safe to update u-boot but in practice nobody can guarantee that it is %100 safe.

I can not erase my emmc because of game data, can you test youtube video performance for 1080p 60hz cpu usage (htop) and video drops.

I'm not in contact with Beelink, can ask to Beelink Team to update uboot to mainline branch?
If they update U-Boot we all will be safe with mainline linux kernel.

Thanks for your hard work.

spikerguy · Post time 2020-11-13 08:59:10

darkstar replied at 2020-11-13 03:10
In theory it seems safe to update u-boot but in practice nobody can guarantee that it is %100 safe ...

It's not an easy task, they might find the issue and fix it in their Android bsp uboot instead of using mainline uboot for Android.

I am in direct contact with them and chewitt from libreelec , he testing few bsp uboot to find the cause if the problem but as said its not easy to find the cause.

Hope we can get a solution soon.

darkstar · Post time 2020-11-13 14:39:34

Edited by darkstar at 2020-11-13 14:43

spikerguy replied at 2020-11-13 08:59
It's not an easy task, they might find the issue and fix it in their Android bsp uboot instead of ...

Thanks for the information.

Do you know if they work on Android 10 or Android 11 firmware or not?

spikerguy · Post time 2020-11-13 22:22:02

darkstar replied at 2020-11-13 14:39
Thanks for the information.

Do you know if they work on Android 10 or Android 11 firmware or not? ...

We cannot define Android Version from uboot source sorry.

Maybe you can ask them directly ;)