Installing Armbian on Amlogic S805 Android TV Box (OttBox MXQ)
92#Linux #RaspberryPiAlternative #SingleBoardComputer
Full steps can be found at https://i12bretro.github.io/tutorials/0361.html
I love the idea of the Raspberry Pi, but there are some cheaper alternative single board computers that offer a similar experience for a fraction of the cost. While the community support isn't quite what it is for the Pi, there are a ton of projects you can accomplish on the cheap with these little hidden gems. Keep an eye on AliExpress and Amazon and you can find SBC's sporting quad core ARM process with 2-4 GB of RAM for under $30, including a power supply and IR remote control.
The box used in this video is a OttBox MXQ Mini I picked up used for $10 shipped. It sports a Quad Core Amlogic S805 @ 1..5GHz and 1 GB of DDR3 RAM.
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Things You Will Need
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- A microSD card at least 8 GB https://amzn.to/36CpShC | https://amzn.to/3CXJngt | https://amzn.to/3JqyxSP
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Downloads and Flashing to MicroSD
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01. Download Armbian https://yadi.sk/d/DnCkh3KBvAFES/Linux/Armbian/5.67/20181207
02. Download Balena Etcher https://www.balena.io/etcher/
03. Run Balena Etcher
04. Burn Armbian image to microSD card
05. Safely remove microSD and re-insert
06. Ignore/close the Windows dialogs to format the inserted microSD card
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Configure MicroSD Card for Armbian
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01. Open the readable partition of the microSD card in Explorer
02. Edit /euEnv.txt in a text editor
a. Update the FDT line to point to a working .dtb file for your device
FDT=/dtb/meson8b-mxq.dtb
b. Save
c. Close
06. Safely remove microSD
07. Insert microSD card to Android TV box
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Booting to Armbian for the First Time
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01. With an unfolded paperclip, press the reset button on the bottom of the device
02. While holding the reset button, plug the power adapter into the Android TV box
03. You should see the Armbian terminal running startup scripts
04. When prompted, login with username: root password: 1234
05. Input a new root password
06. Confirm the new root password
07. When prompted, input a username
08. Input a password for the new user
09. Confirm the password for the new user
10. Follow any additional the prompts
11. Armbian will boot into the desktop environment
Special thanks to the developers and forum members over at https://armbian.com for making this possible
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