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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 Amlogic chip with the Armbian system, making it a powerful server. This project builds Armbian system for Amlogic s9xxx TV box. including install to EMMC and update related functions. Support Amlogic s9xxx TV Boxes are a311d, s922x, s905x3, s905x2, s905l3a, s912, s905d, s905x, s905w, s905, etc. such as Belink GT-King, Belink GT-King Pro, UGOOS AM6 Plus, X96-Max+, HK1-Box, H96-Max-X3, Phicomm-N1, Octopus-Planet, Fiberhome HG680P, ZTE B860H, etc. Please refer to the Armbian Documentation for the usage method.

The latest version of the Armbian firmware 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 warehouse to show your support.

💡Tip: The current s905w series of TV Boxes only support the use of the 5.4.y/5.15.y kernel, Other types of TV Boxes can use optional kernel versions. Currently s905 TV Boxes can only be used in TF/SD/USB, other types of TV Boxes also support writing to EMMC. Please refer to the instructions for dtb and u-boot of each device.

Choose the corresponding firmware according to your box. 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. Common for all Amlogic s9xxx TV Boxes.

• Install Armbian to EMMC

Login in to armbian (default user: root, default password: 1234) → input command:

armbian-install

The mainline u-boot is not installed by default, you can choose to install it, specify it in the first input parameter, such as armbian-install yes

• 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

If there is a set of kernel files in the current directory, it will be updated with the kernel in the current directory (The 4 kernel files required for the update are header-xxx.tar.gz, boot-xxx.tar.gz, dtb-amlogic-xxx.tar.gz, modules-xxx.tar.gz. Other kernel files are not required. If they exist at the same time, it will not affect the update. The system can accurately identify the required kernel files). If there is no kernel file in the current directory, it will query and download the latest kernel of the same series from the server for update. You can also query the optional kernel version and update the specified version: armbian-update 5.10.125. The optional kernel supported by the device can be freely updated, such as from 5.10.125 kernel to 5.15.50 kernel. When the kernel is updated, By default, download from stable kernel version branch, if you download other version branch, please specify according to the branch folder name in the 2 parameter, such as armbian-update 5.10.125 dev . The mainline u-boot is not installed by default (some devices can get better support after installation), if you choose to install it, please specify it in the 3 input parameter, such as armbian-update 5.10.125 stable yes

• 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-led

Debug according to LED screen display control instructions.

• Use Armbian in TF/SD/USB

To activate the remaining space of TF/SD/USB, please login in to armbian → input command:

armbian-tf

According to the prompt, enter e to expand the remaining space to the current system partition and file system, and enter c to create a new third partition.

# 1. Confirm the name of the TF/SD/USB according to the size of the space. The TF/SD is [ `mmcblk` ], USB is [ `sd` ]
Command: Enter [ fdisk -l | grep "sd" ]

# 2. Get the starting value of the remaining space, Copy and save, used below  (E.g: 5382144)
Command: Enter [ fdisk -l | grep "sd" | sed -n '$p' | awk '{print $3}' | xargs -i expr {} + 1 ]

# 3. Start allocating unused space (E.g: sda, mmcblk0 or mmcblk1)
Command: Enter [ fdisk /dev/sda ] Start allocating the remaining space
Command: Select [ n ] to create a partition
Command: Select [ p ] to specify the partition type as primary partition
Command: Set the partition number to [ 3 ]
Command: The start value of the partition, enter the value obtained in the second step, E.g: [ 5382144 ]
Command: End value, press [ Enter ] to use the default value
Command: If there is a hint: Do you want to remove the signature? [Y]es/[N]o: Enter [ Y ]
Command: Enter [ t ] to specify the partition type
Command: Enter Partition number [ 3 ]
Command: Enter Hex code (type L to list all codes): [ 83 ]
Command: Enter [ w ] to save
Command: Enter [ reboot ] to restart

# 4. After restarting, format the new partition
Command: Enter [ mkfs.ext4 -F -L SHARED /dev/sda3 ] to format the new partition

# 5. Set the mount directory for the new partition
Command: Enter [ mkdir -p /mnt/share ] to Create mount directory
Command: Enter [ mount -t ext4 /dev/sda3 /mnt/share ] to Mount the newly created partition to the directory

# 6. Add automatic mount at boot
Command: Enter [ vi /etc/fstab ]
# Press [ i ] to enter the input mode, copy the following values to the end of the file
/dev/sda3 /mnt/share ext4 defaults 0 0
# Press [ esc ] to exit, Input [ :wq! ] and [ Enter ] to Save, Finish.

• 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 -update
armbian-kernel -d -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 armbian-docs for some common problems that may be encountered.

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 firmware after rebuilding.

4. Enter the ~/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian root directory, and then run Eg: sudo ./rebuild -d -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

• sudo ./rebuild -d: Use the default configuration to pack all TV Boxes.
• sudo ./rebuild -d -b s905x3 -k 5.10.125: recommend. Use the default configuration, specify a kernel and a firmware for compilation.
• sudo ./rebuild -d -b s905x3_s905d -k 5.10.125_5.15.50: Use the default configuration, specify multiple cores, and multiple firmware for compilation. use _ to connect.
• sudo ./rebuild -d -b s905x3 -k 5.10.125 -s 2560: Use the default configuration, specify a kernel, a firmware, and set the partition size for compilation.
• sudo ./rebuild -d -b s905x3 -v dev -k 5.10.125: Use the default configuration, specify the model, specify the version branch, and specify the kernel for packaging.
• sudo ./rebuild -d -b s905x3_s905d: Use the default configuration, specify multiple firmware, use _ to connect. compile all kernels.
• sudo ./rebuild -d -k 5.10.125_5.15.50: Use the default configuration. Specify multiple cores, use _ to connect.
• sudo ./rebuild -d -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 -d -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 firmware with the kernel version 5.10.125.

1. Workflows configuration in .yml files. Set the armbian SOC you want to build in Rebuild Armbian for amlogic s9xxx.

2. New compilation: Select Build armbian on the Actions page, According to the OS version officially supported by Armbian, In RELEASE, you can choose Ubuntu series: jammy, or Debian series: bullseye, etc., Click the Run workflow button.

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 armbian of different soc. Select Use Releases file to build armbian on the Actions page. Click the Run workflow button.

4. Use other Armbian firmware, such as odroidn2 provided by the official Armbian firmware download site armbian.tnahosting.net, only by introducing the script of this repository in the process control file .yml for Armbian reconstruction, it can be adapted to the use of Amlogic S9xxx series 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 .yml, set the load path of the rebuild file through the armbian_path parameter. code show as below:

- name: Rebuild the Armbian for Amlogic s9xxx
  uses: ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian@main
  with:
    build_target: armbian
    armbian_path: build/output/images/*.img
    armbian_soc: s905d_s905x3_s922x_s905x
    armbian_kernel: 5.10.125_5.15.50

• 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.

• GitHub Actions Output variable description

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

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

- name: Compile the kernel for Amlogic s9xxx
  uses: ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian@main
  with:
    build_target: kernel
    kernel_version: 5.10.125_5.15.50
    kernel_auto: true
    kernel_sign: -ophub

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 Armbian system in the Amlogic s9xxx TV 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.

• 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.
• rockchip-armbian provides the method of making, installing and using Rockchip's Armbian system.
• 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.

• armbian
• unifreq
• kernel.org

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