Installing Armbian on Amlogic S912 Android TV Box (Nexbox A95x A2)
43#Linux #RaspberryPiAlternative #SingleBoardComputer
*** Updated 09/11/2023
Full steps can be found at https://i12bretro.github.io/tutorials/0185.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 Nexbox A95x A2 I picked up used on eBay for $21 shipped. It sports an Octa Core Amlogic S912 @ 2GHz and 2 GB of DDR3 RAM.
https://www.gearbest.com/refurbished-product/pp_009840550154.html?wid=1433363
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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://drive.google.com/open?id=10OkhOuke9JfgevCAjyJP4dP8x8HCIXbK
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. Rename the file u-boot-s905x-s912 to u-boot.ext
03. Edit /extlinux/extlinuxuEnv.conf in a text editor
a. Comment out rk-3399 lines by adding #
b. Uncomment aml s9xx FDT and APPEND lines by removing #
c. Update the FDT line to point to a working .dtb file for your device
# aml s9xxx
#FDT=/dtb/amlogic/meson-g12a-x96-max-no-cvbs.dtb
#FDT=/dtb/amlogic/meson-g12b-ugoos-am6-no-cvbs.dtb
#FDT=/dtb/amlogic/meson-g12b-odroid-n2.dtb
FDT=/dtb/amlogic/meson-gxm-q200.dtb
APPEND=root=LABEL=ROOTFS rootflags=data=writeback rw console=ttyAML0,115200n8 console=tty0 no_console_suspend consoleblank=0 fsck.fix=yes fsck.repair=yes net.ifnames=0
d. Save
e. Close
09. Safely remove microSD
10. Insert microSD card to Android TV box
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Booting to Armbian for the First Time
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01. Plug the power adapter into the Android TV box
02. If the device has never booted from external storage before the stock Android OS will load
03. In Android, navigate to the application drawer ≫ Run Update & Backup
04. Select Local ≫ Navigate to the microSD card ≫ aml_autoscript.zip
05. Select Update
06. The system will reboot twice and should then begin booting Armbian from the microSD card
07. You should see the Armbian terminal running startup scripts
08. When prompted, input a new root password
09. Confirm the new root password
10. When prompted, input a username
11. Input a password for the new user
12. Confirm the password for the new user
13. Follow any additional the prompts
14. 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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