Armbian

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Armbian is a lightweight Linux distribution built specifically for ARM chips, based on Debian/Ubuntu. The Armbian system is lean, clean, and 100% compatible with Debian/Ubuntu, inheriting its functionality and rich software ecosystem. It runs securely and stably on TF/SD/USB storage and the device's eMMC. This project preserves the integrity of the official Armbian system while extending support for unofficially supported devices such as TV boxes, and adds a set of convenient management commands. You can now replace the Android TV system on your TV box with Armbian, transforming it into a powerful server.

This project relies on many contributors to build the Armbian system for Amlogic, Rockchip, and Allwinner devices. It supports writing to eMMC, kernel updates, and other features. For detailed usage, see the Armbian User Documentation. The latest Armbian system can be downloaded from Releases. Welcome to Fork and customize. If this project is helpful, please click the Star button in the upper right corner to show your support.

Default Information for Armbian System

Supported Devices

⬆️ Models from each platform (Amlogic/Rockchip/Allwinner) are ranked by SoC performance from high to low.

[!TIP] At present, the s905 box can only be used with TF/SD/USB; other box models support writing to EMMC. For more information, refer to the ✅ Supported Device List. To add new device support, see Section 12.15 of the documentation: Adding New Supported Devices. Please read the Armbian User Documentation before use, as it provides solutions to common issues.

Installation and Upgrade Instructions for Armbian

Choose the Armbian system that matches your device model. Refer to the corresponding documentation for device-specific usage instructions.

• Install Armbian to EMMC

1. For Rockchip platform devices, refer to Chapter 8 of the documentation.

2. For Amlogic and Allwinner platform devices, use tools such as Rufus or balenaEtcher to write the system to a USB stick, then insert the USB stick into the device. Log in to the Armbian system (default user: root, default password: 1234) and enter the command:

armbian-install

Example: armbian-install -m yes -a no

• Update Armbian Kernel

Log in to the Armbian system and enter the command:

# Run as root user (sudo -i)
# If no parameter is specified, it will be updated to the latest version.
armbian-update

Example: armbian-update -k 5.15 -u stable -d deb

When specifying the kernel version via the -k parameter, you can provide an exact version number (e.g., armbian-update -k 5.15.50) or specify only the kernel series (e.g., armbian-update -k 5.15). When a series is specified, the latest version within that series will be used automatically.

During kernel updates, the currently running kernel is automatically backed up to the /ddbr/backup directory, retaining the 3 most recent versions. If the newly installed kernel proves unstable, you can restore a backup kernel at any time. If a kernel update renders the system unbootable, use armbian-update -s to restore the system kernel. For more details, see the Help Document.

• Replace Armbian Sources

Log in to the Armbian system and enter the command:

armbian-apt

Choosing the appropriate software source for your country or region can significantly improve download speeds. For more details, see the Help Document.

• Install Common Software

Log in to the Armbian system and enter the command:

armbian-software

The command armbian-software -u updates the local software center list. Based on user feedback in Issues, commonly used software has been gradually integrated with one-click install/update/uninstall support. This includes Docker images, desktop software, application services, and more. See the detailed instructions.

• Modify Armbian Configuration

Log in to the Armbian system and enter the command:

armbian-config

• Create Swap for Armbian

If you find the device's memory insufficient when running memory-intensive applications such as Docker, you can create a swap virtual memory partition to use a portion of disk space as additional memory. The parameter unit is GB, with a default value of 1.

Log in to the Armbian system and enter the command:

armbian-swap 1

• Control LED Display

Log in to the Armbian system and enter the command:

armbian-openvfd

Debug according to the LED Screen Display Control Instructions.

• Backup/Restore EMMC Original System

Supports backing up and restoring the device's EMMC partition via TF/SD/USB. Before installing Armbian on a new device, it is recommended to back up the original Android TV system for future restoration if needed.

Boot the Armbian system from TF/SD/USB and enter the command:

armbian-ddbr

Enter b at the prompt to back up the system, or r to restore.

[!IMPORTANT] Alternatively, the Android system can be flashed directly into eMMC via USB cable. Android system images are available in Tools.

• Compile the Kernel in Armbian

For kernel compilation instructions, see the Compile Kernel documentation. Log in to the Armbian system and enter the command:

armbian-kernel -u
armbian-kernel -k 6.6.12

• More Usage Instructions

To update all service scripts in the system to the latest version, log in to the Armbian system and enter the command:

armbian-sync

For common issues and their solutions when using Armbian, see documents.

Local Packaging

1. Clone the repository to local git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian.git

2. Install the necessary software packages (using Ubuntu 24.04 as an example)

Enter the ~/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian root directory, then run the installation command:

sudo apt-get update -y
sudo apt-get full-upgrade -y
# For Ubuntu-24.04
sudo apt-get install -y $(cat compile-kernel/tools/script/ubuntu2404-build-armbian-depends)

3. Enter the ~/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian root directory, create the build/output/images folder, and upload the Armbian image file (e.g., Armbian_21.11.0-trunk_Odroidn2_current_5.15.50.img) to the ~/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian/build/output/images directory. Retain the release version number (e.g., 21.11.0) and kernel version number (e.g., 5.15.50) in the original filename, as they will be used for naming the rebuilt Armbian system.

4. Enter the ~/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian root directory and run sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3 -k 6.6.12 to generate the Armbian image for the specified board. Output files are saved in the build/output/images directory.

• Local Packaging Parameter Description

• sudo ./rebuild: Use default configuration to package all device models.
• sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3 -k 6.6.12: Recommended. Build with default configuration for the specified kernel.
• sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3 -k 6.1.y: Build with default configuration, using the latest kernel in the 6.1.y series.
• sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3_s905d -k 6.6.12_5.15.50: Build with default configuration for multiple kernels simultaneously. Use _ to join multiple kernels.
• sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3 -k 6.6.12 -s 2560: Build a single kernel and model with default configuration; ROOTFS partition size set to 2560 MiB.
• sudo ./rebuild -b s905x3_s905d: Build all kernels for multiple models with default configuration. Use _ to join multiple models.
• sudo ./rebuild -k 6.6.12_5.15.50: Build all models with default configuration and multiple specified kernels. Use _ to join kernels.
• sudo ./rebuild -k 6.6.12_5.15.50 -a true: Same as above, with automatic upgrade to the latest kernel within each series.
• sudo ./rebuild -t btrfs -s 2560 -k 6.6.12: Build all models with btrfs filesystem, 2560 MiB ROOTFS, and kernel 6.6.12.

Use GitHub Actions for Compilation

1. Workflow configuration files are located in the .github/workflows/ directory.

2. Fresh Build: On the Actions page, select Build Armbian server image to use the build-armbian-arm64-server-image.yml workflow. You can choose from Ubuntu series (e.g., resolute) or Debian series (e.g., trixie). Click Run workflow to start the build.

3. Rebuild: If Releases already contains compiled Armbian_.*-trunk_.*.img.gz files and you only need to repackage for other boards, skip the source compilation step and use build-armbian-using-releases-files.yml for secondary builds.

4. To use other Armbian systems (e.g., the odroidn2 image from the official armbian.tnahosting.net download site), simply reference this repository's script in the workflow file build-armbian-using-official-image.yml for Armbian restructuring to support other devices. Example:

- name: Build Armbian
  uses: ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian@main
  with:
    build_target: armbian
    armbian_path: build/output/images/*.img
    armbian_board: s905d_s905x3_s922x_s905x
    armbian_kernel: 6.12.y_6.18.y

• GitHub Actions Input Parameter Description

These parameters correspond to the local packaging command options described above.

• GitHub Actions Output Variable Description

Uploading to Releases requires Workflow read and write permissions for the repository. See the usage instructions for details.

Build Armbian Docker Image

For creating Docker images of the Armbian system, refer to the armbian_docker build script.

Compiling Kernel Using GitHub Actions

For kernel compilation instructions, see compile-kernel.

- name: Compile the kernel
  uses: ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-armbian@main
  with:
    build_target: kernel
    kernel_version: 6.12.y_6.18.y
    kernel_auto: true
    kernel_sign: -yourname

Armbian Contributors

First and foremost, thanks to 150balbes for the outstanding contributions and the solid foundation laid for running Armbian on Amlogic TV boxes. The Armbian system compiled here uses the latest official source code for real-time builds. The development approach is inspired by tutorials from authors such as ebkso. Thanks to everyone's dedication and sharing, enabling Armbian to run on an ever-growing range of devices.

The u-boot, kernel, and other resources used in this system are primarily sourced from the unifreq/openwrt_packit project. Some files have been contributed by users through Pull Requests and Issues in projects such as amlogic-s9xxx-openwrt, amlogic-s9xxx-armbian, luci-app-amlogic, u-boot, and kernel. To acknowledge these pioneers and contributors, all contributions since the repository's creation (2021-09-19) are recorded in CONTRIBUTORS.md. Thanks again to everyone for breathing new life and purpose into these devices.

Other Distributions

• The amlogic-s9xxx-openwrt project provides the OpenWrt system for TV boxes, also applicable to Armbian-supported devices.
• The fnnas project provides the FnNAS system for TV boxes, also applicable to Armbian-supported devices.
• unifreq has created OpenWrt systems for a wide range of Amlogic, Rockchip, and Allwinner devices, serving as a benchmark project in the community. Highly recommended.
• Scirese has tested the build, installation, and usage of Arch Linux ARM / Manjaro systems on Android TV boxes. See his repository for details.
• 7Ji has published articles on reverse engineering and development for the Amlogic platform, covering topics such as installing ArchLinux ARM and analyzing the Amlogic boot mechanism. His ampart project provides a partition tool for reading and editing Amlogic eMMC partition tables and DTB partitions, enabling 100% utilization of eMMC space. The amlogic-s9xxx-archlinuxarm project provides build and usage instructions for Arch Linux ARM. The YAopenvfD project offers an alternative openvfd daemon implementation.
• 13584452567 is the pioneer for Rockchip device support in this repository. Through his contributions, support was expanded for numerous Rockchip devices including EAIDK-610, King3399, TN3399, Kylin3399, ZCube1-Max, tvi3315a, xiaobao, and more. He also maintains specialized kernels for Allwinner devices such as TQC-A01, and has provided extensive technical support and solutions in Discussions and Issues, making significant contributions to the community.
• cooip-jm shares many guides on Armbian, LXC, Docker, AdGuard, and other applications in his wiki. Recommended reading.

Links

• armbian
• unifreq
• kernel.org

License

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