Please make GT-king Pro compatible with armbian ..

gtkingpro.ac2n

Salvation,
Today I quickly tested the @darkstar slackware firmware, I was able to start it directly after flashing on a usb key. Nice, thank you @darkstar ..
So I wanted to try to start Armbian_22.02.0_Aml_s922x_bullseye_5.10.88_2021.12.28.1538.img using u-boot.ext taken in the slackware firmware and it starts but with a black screen, I however have access in ssh .. So I ran "armbian-update 5.15.12" and everything worked on reboot I had my screen again ..

Thanks again @darkstar ..

darkstar

gtkingpro.ac2n replied at 2022-01-02 22:21
Salvation,
Today I quickly tested the @darkstar slackware firmware, I was able to start it directly  ...

I used ophubs ext build but it causes to kernel panic, I m sorry I did not had much time previously to test it.
Today I made some tests with ophubs 5.10 kernel, but I gave up after 3 kernel panics during Desktop Envirement installation, u-boot.ext  is not stable...
Slackware runs stable with same u-boot.ext my favorite distro impressed me again.

We are back at previous u-boot.ext build by balbes150.

JFL

Tried the following chainloader u-boot-xxxx.bin from https://github.com/ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian/tree/main/build-armbian/amlogic-u-boot: to boot up Manjaro-Arm-Gnome-linux-khadas-5.16-rc2-1 on my GT King Pro Rev A.  The results are all negative.
u-boot-gtking.bin – will not boot
u-boot-gtkingpro.bin – will not boot
u-boot-odroid-n2.bin – Infinite Boot Loop

Edti: 2022-01-07
u-boot-gtkingpro.bin – will not boot (Edit: Correction Did boot up Manjaro-Arm-Gnome-linux-khadas-5.16-rc2-1 2 times out of 10 tries so far).
Did not try u-boot-gtking.bin or u-boot-odroid-n2.bin again.

gtkingpro.ac2n

Hi @JFL and @darkstar

We are back at previous u-boot.ext build by balbes150.

Today I tried to install ophub kernel 5.15.12 firmware on my 128G SD card. but impossible to start with the u-boot.ext from Balbes, surprised I reconnect my USB key which also has the ophub kernel 5.15.12 and u-boot.ext firmware from Balbes and there I start without worries if I am connected to the USB OTG input, cannot boot with other USB ports ...
@darkstar can you explain what is wrong ..?

Ophubs fstab file is little bit weird you need to modify-change /etc/fstab file to mount boot partition properly.

    root@HP-250-G7:~# cat /mnt/loop1/etc/fstab  
    /dev/root       /       ext4    defaults,noatime,errors=remount-ro  0 1
    LABEL=BOOT      /boot   vfat    defaults                            0 0
    tmpfs           /tmp    tmpfs   defaults,nosuid                     0 0

I will modify and share new fstab on weekend.

JFL

gtkingpro.ac2n replied at 2022-01-06 16:52
Hi @JFL and @darkstar

Today I tried to install ophub kernel 5.15.12 firmware on my 128G SD card. bu ...

Hi @gtkingro.ac2n,
So it is good news  that you can boot up using USB stick on OTG Port.  Is it stable? @darkstar seems to have stability issue when he tried to install DE.

surprised I reconnect my USB key which also has the ophub kernel 5.15.12 and u-boot.ext firmware from Balbes and there I start without worries if I am connected to the USB OTG input, cannot boot with other USB ports ...
@darkstar can you explain what is wrong ..?

I have not tried ophub armbian but I can share my experience with the chainloader u-boot.ext (from balbes or from LibreElec) on GT King Pro.  With this chainloader u-b00t.ext it can only boot up on GT King Pro OTG port or if you insert the USB stick with bootable OS on USB 3.0 Hub connected on any one of USB 3.0 Port it will also boot provided NO other USB drive is connected on any of the USB 3.0 Ports or on the USB 3.0 Hub.
If you use this chainloader u-boot.ext on SD Card (at least with Balbes150 Armbian 20.10 images, Ubuntu mainline images build by @tripole and Manjaro-Arm) it can boot up even with USB drive connected on any of the USB OTG or USB 3.0 Ports.  The only images I have tried that somehow cannot boot with this chainloader u-boot.ext on SD Card are darkstar earlier Ubuntu and Debian mailine with kernel 5.12 and 5.14.y/5.15.1-darkstar builds.

I had documented this on https://forum.manjaro.org/t/manj ... ic-tv-box/34662/548 and https://forum.manjaro.org/t/manj ... ic-tv-box/34662/748 a while ago.

gtkingpro.ac2n

u-boot-gtkingpro.bin – will not boot (Edit: Correction Did boot up Manjaro-Arm-Gnome-linux-khadas-5.16-rc2-1 2 times out of 10 tries so far).

I found that I could more easily start from my sd card with the remote control receiver plugged into the usb otg and nothing on the other usb, with u-boot-gtkingpro.bin as u-boot.ext..
Unfortunately the startup was not successful each time and moreover it seems that it varies depending on what is plugged into the USB ports because if I try without anything in usb otg the boot freeze but with the remote control receiver in otg it works better, on the other hand if I add my bluetooth receiver for my dinovo keyboard on another usb port it also freezes ..
I will do my yunohost install under ophub kernel 5.4.y where there is no need for u-boot.ext to boot and which accepts that the USB ports be used by my hard drives ...

JFL

gtkingpro.ac2n replied at 2022-01-08 02:27
I found that I could more easily start from my sd card with the remote control receiver plugged int ...

I will do my yunohost install under ophub kernel 5.4.y where there is no need for u-boot.ext to boot and which accepts that the USB ports be used by my hard drives ...

Good to know kernel 5.4.y can boot up on GT King Pro without the need of chainloader u-boot.ext and if it runs stable without Kernel Panic and if it also supports Panfrost on amlogic G52 GPU then it will be great.

JFL

Hi @gtkingpro.ac2n and @darkstar,

Just burn Armbian_22.02.0_Aml_s922x_bullseye_5.4.171_2022.01.12.0851.img.gz from https://github.com/ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian/releases using balena etcher - according to etcher it is successful but the SD Card is not recognised at all by MS Windows or Linux.  As such I cannot get this ophub Armbian Bullseye image to boot up as there is not way.



Any tips on how to get the SD Card to be recognised by Linux?  Will try to use rufus to burn the image instead to see whether it makes any difference.



Edit:  Re-image SD Card with Rufus.  The SD Card still cannot be recognized by Manjaro-Arm-XFCE or Ubuntu-Focal.  Using "gparted" try to mount the SD Card  basically unsuccessful as the SD Card unallocated.  

1. [jfl@MNJROGTKPRO ~]$ lsblk
   
2. NAME         MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
   
3. sda            8:0    1  28.7G  0 disk
   
4. ├─sda1         8:1    1 213.6M  0 part /boot
   
5. └─sda2         8:2    1  28.4G  0 part /
   
6. mmcblk1      179:0    0  57.6G  0 disk
   
7. mmcblk1boot0 179:32   0     4M  1 disk
   
8. mmcblk1boot1 179:64   0     4M  1 disk
   
9. mmcblk0      179:96   0  59.6G  0 disk
   
10. zram0        252:0    0   5.5G  0 disk [SWAP]
    
11. [jfl@MNJROGTKPRO ~]$ mount mmcblk1
    
12. mount: mmcblk1: can't find in /etc/fstab.
    
13. [jfl@MNJROGTKPRO ~]$

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Tried "mount mmcblk1" also unsuccessful -- "mount: mmcblk1: can't find in /etc/fstab."

But the interesting part is I managed to boot up the SD Card (Image using Rufus) successfully the first try!  It uses the chainloader u-boot.ext (default is u-boot-gtkingpro.bin).  Pure luck I think.  The SD image created by Etcher did not boot the first try most likely also by chance NOT boot up.

After boot up, did an update & upgrade with dpkg warnings but presume upgrades was successful.

Then proceed to expand the SD Card using:

1. armbian-tf

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Expanded but also with some warnings.

Based on earlier @gtkingpro.ac2n experience that kernel 5.4.y do NOT require u-boot.ext to boot.  So proceeded to rename:

1. sudo mv u-boot.ext u-boot.ext-none

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Reboot and rebooted successfully.


Next is to learn how to install GNOME 41 Desktop (minimal if possible not the full blown Gnome-Desktop) on this Bullseye Server Image.  I am not well verse on TTY commands.  

Guidance is much appreciated.  I have successfully installed Gnome 41 on balbes Armbian-Bullseye-XFCE image before but that is with XFCE Desktop as a start.

Edit2:  Managed to install Gnome 41 by edit the /etc/apt/sources.list to include "unstable" and /etc/apt/preferences with the appropriate Pin-Priority for gnome related modules or apps and:

1. sudo apt -t unstable install gnome-session gnome-shell gnome-backgrounds gnome-applets gnome-control-center mutter gjs gdm3

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But the issue is the keyboard and mouse are not recognized so cannot log in at all.  So basically the SD Card with kernel 5.4.17 is NOT usable.  Unplug and replug mouse or keyboard does not make any difference.  

Before installing Gnome 41 on the boot up on tty, there is Error: "Failled ...keymap and mouse.." or something like that during booting process.  

But on tty the keyboard is functioning.  Now I cannot even go back to TTY mode with "ctl+alt+F1" or "ctl+alt+F2".

darkstar

JFL replied at 2022-01-12 22:21
Hi @gtkingpro.ac2n and @darkstar,

Just burn Armbian_22.02.0_Aml_s922x_bullseye_5.4.171_2022.01.12.0 ...

I think you are making a mistake.
/dev/mmcblk1 must be internal mmc device where android was installed.

generally linux mounts sd/usb cards as /dev/sda or /dev/sdb.
please check it.

JFL

Hi @darkstar,

I think you are making a mistake.
/dev/mmcblk1 must be internal mmc device where android was installed.

generally linux mounts sd/usb cards as /dev/sda or /dev/sdb.
please check it.

I think you are most likely correct.  But the burn image SD Card is not being recognized as far as I can tell and might the reason it is labeled as mmcblk1.

• [jfl@MNJROGTKPRO ~]$ lsblk
• NAME         MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
• sda            8:0    1  28.7G  0 disk
• ├─sda1         8:1    1 213.6M  0 part /boot
• └─sda2         8:2    1  28.4G  0 part /
• mmcblk1      179:0    0  57.6G  0 disk
• mmcblk1boot0 179:32   0     4M  1 disk
• mmcblk1boot1 179:64   0     4M  1 disk
• mmcblk0      179:96   0  59.6G  0 disk
• zram0        252:0    0   5.5G  0 disk [SWAP]
• [jfl@MNJROGTKPRO ~]$ mount mmcblk1
• mount: mmcblk1: can't find in /etc/fstab.
• [jfl@MNJROGTKPRO ~]$
  

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lsblk
sda - USB Flash
mmcblk1 - according to Gparted is Samsung SD Card
mmcblk0 - must be the internal Emmc.


The interesting part I use SD Card formatter to reformat the Samsung SD Card and it says successful but still MS Windows and Linux does not recognise the newly formatted SD Card.  I thought the SD Card is damaged but this is a fairly new SD Card just one or two monhts old.


Today burned a backup image that I created a few days ago on the same SD Card with /boot FAT16 and Rootfs EXT4.  Rufus indicated success but again MS Windows does not recognised the SD Card.


BUT the SD Card boot up just fine and I use "Disks" to expand the rootfs partition.  Really interesting.