Debian/Ubuntu Netboot Installer

[brad]

Also, I am having a hard time getting the ubuntu installer going again to install a fresh 20.04 over the broken 20.04 currently installed on the eMMC.
It is just seems that the SD-card with the installer refuses to boot. I've seen this before, it seems perhaps the broken 20.04 on the eMMC somehow prevents the SD card from booting?

I get the petitboot, select the SD card of the installer. Window goes black, blue light blinks, but then... nothing.
I don't get anything on screen.

I'm now flashing another image to the SD-card, to boot with, to zero out the first parts of the eMMC. Will post back later.

I have just done an sd card install to sandisk extreame pro 64Gb, it is a uhs-ii device and fails to boot - mainline on N2 is not detecting it properly since 5.1 (but it was fine on C2). I believe is related to the type of card and my workaround for the moment to is to place it into sd to usb adaptor for N2.

[odroidn2user]

I have just done an sd card install to sandisk extreame pro 64Gb, it is a uhs-ii device and fails to boot - mainline on N2 is not detecting it properly since 5.1 (but it was fine on C2). I believe is related to the type of card and my workaround for the moment to is to place it into sd to usb adaptor for N2.

Hmm, interesting... I used a emmc-sd adapter to load the eMMC into the SD-slot another linux machine and 'dd if=/dev/zero' the emmc into submission
Worked. With the erased eMMC, the SD card worked again.

[brad]

I have just done an sd card install to sandisk extreame pro 64Gb, it is a uhs-ii device and fails to boot - mainline on N2 is not detecting it properly since 5.1 (but it was fine on C2). I believe is related to the type of card and my workaround for the moment to is to place it into sd to usb adaptor for N2.

Hmm, interesting... I used a emmc-sd adapter to load the eMMC into the SD-slot another linux machine and 'dd if=/dev/zero' the emmc into submission
Worked. With the erased eMMC, the SD card worked again.

Interesting, that implys 1 of 2 things from what I see

1) emmc arm trusted firmware is being used early in the boot process before petitboot (and when you wipe it it don't exist so get's skipped and we use spi uboot instead) - I had my emmc plugged in also when I had the sd problem
2) Petitboot (or it's hidden predecessor u-boot) is detecting the emmc's filesystem and changing the way sd card is set. By this I mean setting a UHS supported card to high speed mode (and lower 1.8 data voltage mode) causes the mainline kernel to be unable to reset when it starts.

I will do some some more checks when I have the chance with my SD. For the moment some more exciting features are on my list (and so is my day job lol)

[odroidn2user]

Well, got it all going again...

Did I just see an awesome new bootsplash with ubuntu logo during boot?
Wow, this image is already so much better than the official 4.9 / 18.04 image!

Audio over hdmi works, bootsplash, nice smooth gnome animations...

It doesn't do youtube at 1080p60 on my Odroid N2, with the Wayland / Mali driver things.
Still have to use h264ify to force Firefox to 1080p30 on some video's on youtube.

[tobetter]

Well, got it all going again...

Did I just see an awesome new bootsplash with ubuntu logo during boot?
Wow, this image is already so much better than the official 4.9 / 18.04 image!

Glad to know you finished yet another set up again.

For the bootsplash, I've disabled the console to UART debugging port and I realize that generic boot splash screen comes. One of the changes with Ubuntu 20.04 is to display OEM logo in the bootsplash but there is no bootsplash image on ODROID-N2 and don't know it displays. It's not major issue but sometime later maybe HK logo would come.

Code: Select all

$ cat /usr/share/flash-kernel/ubootenv.d/upstream/10-console 
# Default serial console
# setenv console "ttyAML0,115200n8"

# Default TTY console
setenv bootargs "${bootargs} console=tty1"

If you uncomment the line # setenv console "ttyAML0,115200n8" and run sudo update-bootscript, this will generate the boot script /boot/boot.scr and you will have many many boot messages on the screen while seeing spinning image.

[odroidn2user]

Oh, I kinda like the bootsplash with the ubuntu logo at the bottom. It looks sophisticated and professional. I don't care a whole lot about the individual messages, and a nice quiet bootsplash is a bonus to me! Looks all kinds of awesome to me.

I am a bit puzzled how you got 4k 60 fps on youtube on Firefox on the C4.
I can't manage 1080 at 60fps on the N2. Now, I have slow internet, but not that slow.
It seems to drop well over 10% of the frames at 1080p60...

[tobetter]

I've worked to enable bare minimal audio/video support on Ubuntu Desktop with a great help @brad, he sorted out the patches and changes. Obviously, this is possible due to the hard work by Amlogic mainline kernel team. Thanks a lot. One of my ODROID-N2 is stressfully loaded on Linux 5.7.0-rc3, it shows surprisingly reliable. Maybe the time when we can switch to a more upstream kernel than 5.4 is coming very soon. Even this week...I think.

So if anyone wants to try at your own risk, please follow the instruction. This instruction is based on you are running Linux 5.4 kernel from my build.

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$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt ugprade
$ sudo apt install linux-headers-5.7.0-odroid-arm64
$ sudo apt install linux-image-5.7.0-odroid-arm64 ubuntu-desktop
$ sudo reboot

Some of you may encounter an installation error with a particular package like libasound2*, in this case, you must remove the package. I've made a couple of packages for audio support and they have some mistake which is fixed today. Sorry for the difficulty if it is caused.

[m8kbv]

I am after kernel upgrade to 5.7 for testing. after starting the system and entering the password, the system hangs on the login screen and you can not do anything: -) but I am lucky ...

[tobetter]

I am after kernel upgrade to 5.7 for testing. after starting the system and entering the password, the system hangs on the login screen and you can not do anything: -) but I am lucky ...

I think that's just because of Mali driver, I had faced the issue.

Please do not log in at Gnome welcome screen, but press 'Ctrl-Atl-F1' or whatever opens a shell and log in from there.
Once login, check the kernel version with 'uname -r' if you have Linux 5.7.0-rc3. Do some commands more.

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$ sudo apt install linux-headers-5.7.0-odroid-arm64
$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dkms/mali-bifrost
$ sudo apt install --reinstall mali-bifrost-dkms

This should reinstall and build Mali driver and it should work after reboot if the commands do not give any error.

[m8kbv]

5.7.0-odroid-arm64
I did what you wrote but the screen was frozen.
there were no errors

[odroidn2user]

I've worked to enable bare minimal audio/video support on Ubuntu Desktop with a great help @brad, he sorted out the patches and changes. Obviously, this is possible due to the hard work by Amlogic mainline kernel team. Thanks a lot. One of my ODROID-N2 is stressfully loaded on Linux 5.7.0-rc3, it shows surprisingly reliable. Maybe the time when we can switch to a more upstream kernel than 5.4 is coming very soon. Even this week...I think.

So if anyone wants to try at your own risk, please follow the instruction. This instruction is based on you are running Linux 5.4 kernel from my build.

Code: Select all

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt ugprade
$ sudo apt install linux-headers-5.7.0-odroid-arm64
$ sudo apt install linux-image-5.7.0-odroid-arm64 ubuntu-desktop
$ sudo reboot

Some of you may encounter an installation error with a particular package like libasound2*, in this case, you must remove the package. I've made a couple of packages for audio support and they have some mistake which is fixed today. Sorry for the difficulty if it is caused.

So, I did this on a fully updated and configured 5.4 installation.
Went through without a hitch, except on the reboot part.
Petitboot shows, select 20.04 and only get a red led light. No blue led.
Nothing happens on screen.

(There is some good news though: the installer still boots, off to a fresh install.)

[m8kbv]

and can roll back the kernel to 5.4? + remove these drivers and inaetallate to the kernel 5.4? just what commands?

[tobetter]

and can roll back the kernel to 5.4? + remove these drivers and inaetallate to the kernel 5.4? just what commands?

Do you have 'boot.scr.bak' in the first partition and can see '5.4.0-odroid-arm64' in it? Then copy boot.scr.bak to boot.scr and try reboot. Sorry, I was too excited...

[odroidn2user]

Did a minimum install.
Update, upgrade, linux-headers-5.7.0, linux-image.5.7.0 (without the ubuntu-desktop).
Same result: reboot leads to petitboot leads to red led only, nothing on screen, no blue led.
(Installer still loads after that, off to a fresh install.)

I am using this installer: focal-odroid-n2_202004170306_arm64_netinst.img
(As-is, no changes in configuration.)

[tobetter]

Did a minimum install.
Update, upgrade, linux-headers-5.7.0, linux-image.5.7.0 (without the ubuntu-desktop).
Same result: reboot leads to petitboot leads to red led only, nothing on screen, no blue led.
(Installer still loads after that, off to a fresh install.)

I am using this installer: focal-odroid-n2_202004170306_arm64_netinst.img
(As-is, no changes in configuration.)

Power cycle does not make any difference? If you are using the Petitboot and stuck on it, no LED blinks, the Petitboot is not started for some reason.
I've just finished the fresh install with Netboot installer, no desktop, only console mode. after login I did these commands, then I could get into Linux 5.7.0-rc3.

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$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install linux-headers-5.7.0-odroid-arm64 linux-image-5.7.0-odroid-arm64
$ sudo reboot

[odroidn2user]

Power cycle does not make any difference? If you are using the Petitboot and stuck on it, no LED blinks, the Petitboot is not started for some reason.
I've just finished the fresh install with Netboot installer, no desktop, only console mode. after login I did these commands, then I could get into Linux 5.7.0-rc3.

Code: Select all

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install linux-headers-5.7.0-odroid-arm64 linux-image-5.7.0-odroid-arm64
$ sudo reboot

Nothing. Petitboot loads, but when I start 20.04, i just get a red light.

I've switched the SPI-switch to eMMC. Red led and Blue led (no blinking) but other than that, nothing.

But I'm downloading your most recent installer (0430) now, who knows...

[tobetter]

Power cycle does not make any difference? If you are using the Petitboot and stuck on it, no LED blinks, the Petitboot is not started for some reason.
I've just finished the fresh install with Netboot installer, no desktop, only console mode. after login I did these commands, then I could get into Linux 5.7.0-rc3.

Code: Select all

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install linux-headers-5.7.0-odroid-arm64 linux-image-5.7.0-odroid-arm64
$ sudo reboot

Nothing. Petitboot loads, but when I start 20.04, i just get a red light.

I've switched the SPI-switch to eMMC. Red led and Blue led (no blinking) but other than that, nothing.

But I'm downloading your most recent installer (0430) now, who knows...

Do you get red light only when Ubuntu Desktop? So you have Linux kernel 5.7 after Petitboot and can move the mouse around or can type in the screen or console? Did you install mali-bifrost-wayland-driver yet?
Previous Netboot Installer does not install U-boot to the memory card, so flipping the boot select switch to MMC does not make N2 boots.

[odroidn2user]

Do you get red light only when Ubuntu Desktop? So you have Linux kernel 5.7 after Petitboot and can move the mouse around or can type in the screen or console? Did you install mali-bifrost-wayland-driver yet?
Previous Netboot Installer does not install U-boot to the memory card, so flipping the boot select switch to MMC does not make N2 boots.

No, the red light indicating the kernel doesn't boot.
I choose the 20.04 option from petitboot, screen goes black, red light on, nothing else.
No boot, no GDM, no nothing.

On latest try I only did minimum install, than immediate update to kernel 5.7

Yeah, just tried again using this installer: focal-odroid-n2_202004301258_arm64_netinst.img
Did a minimal, console only install.
I noticed the cpufreq thing automatically got installed when doing the update / upgrade.
Then I installed the headers-5.7.0 and the image-5.7.0.
Reboot
Petitboot -> select 20.04 -> black screen / just the red light.
Nothing.

Did not install the mali driver yet.
I had it installed on my 5.4.0 yesterday. Got the same result this morning, no boot.

So either the update goes wrong or kernel 5.7.0 doesn't boot on my N2.

[tobetter]

Do you get red light only when Ubuntu Desktop? So you have Linux kernel 5.7 after Petitboot and can move the mouse around or can type in the screen or console? Did you install mali-bifrost-wayland-driver yet?
Previous Netboot Installer does not install U-boot to the memory card, so flipping the boot select switch to MMC does not make N2 boots.

No, the red light indicating the kernel doesn't boot.
I choose the 20.04 option from petitboot, screen goes black, red light on, nothing else.
No boot, no GDM, no nothing.

On latest try I only did minimum install, than immediate update to kernel 5.7

Yeah, just tried again using this installer: focal-odroid-n2_202004301258_arm64_netinst.img
Did a minimal, console only install.
I noticed the cpufreq thing automatically got installed when doing the update / upgrade.
Then I installed the headers-5.7.0 and the image-5.7.0.
Reboot
Petitboot -> select 20.04 -> black screen / just the red light.
Nothing.

Did not install the mali driver yet.
I had it installed on my 5.4.0 yesterday. Got the same result this morning, no boot.

So either the update goes wrong or 5.7.0 just doesn't boot.

Can you share the boot.scr in the first partition that you've installed?

[odroidn2user]

Can you share the boot.scr in the first partition that you've installed?

I sent a private message with a download url.

[tobetter]

Notice, the default kernel version is switched to currently 5.7.0-rc3. There were a problems that overclocked CPU frequency makes failure on some boards of a couple of users, that fix is reverted.

If you have running with Linux kernel 5.4.0, please do follow the commands. Some may meet an error while running the commands.

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$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt remove -f linux-image-odroid-generic linux-headers-odroid-generic odroid-alsa
$ sudo apt upgrade
$ sudo apt install linux-image-generic linux-image-headers ubutu-desktop

This installation will enable HDMI audio by default, lowest CPU freq will set as 1GHz. I've checked a video file can be played with 'mpv' and 'smplayer', 'vlc' and 'kodi' are not working...

Thank you to Amlogic kernel maintainers and @brad/@odroidn2user helped me a lot for debugging.

[odroidn2user]

I do notice a green line on the left side of the screen, top to bottom...

[m8kbv]

I installed the new 20.04 5.4 minimal from your Tobetter link, updated to 5.7 through:
sudo apt install linux-headers-5.7.0-odroid-arm64 linux-image-5.7.0-odroid-arm64.

uname -r 7.0-odroid-arm64


odroid @ focal-minimal: ~ $ sudo apt install linux-image-generic linux-image-headers ubuntu-desktop
Reading package lists ... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information ... Done
E: Unable to locate package linux-image-headers

I don't have sound. After updating to 5.7, bluetooth started without drivers on rtl8812bu what was not on 5.4

[tobetter]

I installed the new 20.04 5.4 minimal from your Tobetter link, updated to 5.7 through:
sudo apt install linux-headers-5.7.0-odroid-arm64 linux-image-5.7.0-odroid-arm64.

uname -r 7.0-odroid-arm64


odroid @ focal-minimal: ~ $ sudo apt install linux-image-generic linux-image-headers ubuntu-desktop
Reading package lists ... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information ... Done
E: Unable to locate package linux-image-headers

I don't have sound. After updating to 5.7, bluetooth started without drivers on rtl8812bu what was not on 5.4

Sorry, I made a typo. Please do use this and check if odroid-alsa is also installed after this command.

Code: Select all

$ sudo apt install linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic ubuntu-desktop

If you have odroid-alsa but still does not have a sound, or cannot see audio device in the Settings, do run $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure odroid-alsa and reboot it.

[tobetter]

I do notice a green line on the left side of the screen, top to bottom...

I also noticed it, but not tried to fix it...yet.

[tobetter]

Notice: new Netboot Installer for ODROID-N2 is uploaded and it will install Linux kernel 5.7 by default.

Download this install image and flash to SD card or eMMC, boot from it after attaching USB keyboard and HDMI display. You can also change the values in 'boot.ini' at the first partition with your PC after flashing, This Netboot Installer will help you to install Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 to your storage, including USB SSD/HDD, attached to ODROID-N2.

If you use the Petitboot and its version is after 20200224, do run this command from the shell in the Petitboot. Then the Petitboot will show you the Netboot Installer on the Petitboot menu, you can start it.

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pb-event url@/net/eth0 url=http://ppa.linuxfactory.or.kr/installer/pxeboot/ODROID-N2/default

[istanbulls]

Notice: new Netboot Installer for ODROID-N2 is uploaded and it will install Linux kernel 5.7 by default.

Download this install image and flash to SD card or eMMC, boot from it after attaching USB keyboard and HDMI display. You can also change the values in 'boot.ini' at the first partition with your PC after flashing, This Netboot Installer will help you to install Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 to your storage, including USB SSD/HDD, attached to ODROID-N2.

If you use the Petitboot and its version is after 20200224, do run this command from the shell in the Petitboot. Then the Petitboot will show you the Netboot Installer on the Petitboot menu, you can start it.

Code: Select all

pb-event url@/net/eth0 url=http://ppa.linuxfactory.or.kr/installer/pxeboot/ODROID-N2/default

I thank everyone who contributed to this beautiful work.
I ran Netboot Installer with Petitboot.
Chromium does not work, 1080p mkv performance is very good, Firefox 1080p 30fps is very good, sound is very good.
Beautiful days are waiting for us in the near future.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong

[tobetter]

Linux kernel 5.7.0-rc4 for ODROID-N2 is uploaded
https://github.com/tobetter/linux/tree/odroid-5.7.y

Code: Select all

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade
$ sudo reboot

[bright_plastik]

Another noob question:

is there a way in the preseed.ini of Netboot Installer to install in the free space of a disk, instead of the whole disk? I only see these choices:
disk=/dev/mmcblk0
;disk=/dev/mmcblk1
;disk=/dev/sda
;disk=/dev/sdb
;disk=/dev/sdc
;disk=/dev/sdd
This would be useful if you already have things installed on your mmc, and don't want to make an image to restore after ubuntu unstallation.

[tobetter]

Another noob question:

is there a way in the preseed.ini of Netboot Installer to install in the free space of a disk, instead of the whole disk? I only see these choices:
disk=/dev/mmcblk0
;disk=/dev/mmcblk1
;disk=/dev/sda
;disk=/dev/sdb
;disk=/dev/sdc
;disk=/dev/sdd
This would be useful if you already have things installed on your mmc, and don't want to make an image to restore after ubuntu unstallation.

Do you have free space that can be allocated by the partition table? If so, change the value di_auto=true to di_auto=false. This will let you install OS manually, you have to answer to the Netboot Installer. The major difficult part of the installation step is partitioning. You will be asked if you are going to install the OS to whole memory storage or to the rest free space.

[bright_plastik]

Thanks for the answer!
Yes, the di_auto=false method is what I'm doing since the beginning, and in partman I indicate "biggest contiguous space"
I was curious to know if another method was possible to achieve the same result with di_auto=true and maybe something set in boot.cmd...
That preseed.ini is well useful, by the way. If you can use it!

[tobetter]

Thanks for the answer!
Yes, the di_auto=false method is what I'm doing since the beginning, and in partman I indicate "biggest contiguous space"
I was curious to know if another method was possible to achieve the same result with di_auto=true and maybe something set in boot.cmd...
That preseed.ini is well useful, by the way. If you can use it!

AFAIK, it's feasible if you use your custom preseed config. Please refer to my preseed config used by my Netboot Installer. By changing the values in the fields with 'partman-auto', you can do this, but it would be worth trying if you are doing for many boards, not for your own, IMO.
http://ppa.linuxfactory.or.kr/installer ... inimal.cfg

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# Alternatively, you may specify a disk to partition. If the system has only
# one disk the installer will default to using that, but otherwise the device
# name must be given in traditional, non-devfs format (so e.g. /dev/sda
# and not e.g. /dev/discs/disc0/disc).
# For example, to use the first SCSI/SATA hard disk:
#d-i partman-auto/disk string /dev/sda
# In addition, you'll need to specify the method to use.
# The presently available methods are:
# - regular: use the usual partition types for your architecture
# - lvm:     use LVM to partition the disk
# - crypto:  use LVM within an encrypted partition
d-i partman-auto/method string regular

# If one of the disks that are going to be automatically partitioned
# contains an old LVM configuration, the user will normally receive a
# warning. This can be preseeded away...
d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm boolean false
# The same applies to pre-existing software RAID array:
d-i partman-md/device_remove_md boolean false
# And the same goes for the confirmation to write the lvm partitions.
d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true

# For LVM partitioning, you can select how much of the volume group to use
# for logical volumes.
#d-i partman-auto-lvm/guided_size string max
#d-i partman-auto-lvm/guided_size string 10GB
#d-i partman-auto-lvm/guided_size string 50%

# You can choose one of the three predefined partitioning recipes:
# - atomic: all files in one partition
# - home:   separate /home partition
# - multi:  separate /home, /var, and /tmp partitions
d-i partman-auto/choose_recipe select atomic

# Or provide a recipe of your own...
# If you have a way to get a recipe file into the d-i environment, you can
# just point at it.
#d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe_file string /hd-media/recipe

# If not, you can put an entire recipe into the preconfiguration file in one
# (logical) line. This example creates a small /boot partition, suitable
# swap, and uses the rest of the space for the root partition:
#d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string                         \
#      boot-root ::                                            \
#              40 50 100 ext3                                  \
#                      $primary{ } $bootable{ }                \
#                      method{ format } format{ }              \
#                      use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext3 }    \
#                      mountpoint{ /boot }                     \
#              .                                               \
#              500 10000 1000000000 ext3                       \
#                      method{ format } format{ }              \
#                      use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext3 }    \
#                      mountpoint{ / }                         \
#              .                                               \
#              64 512 300% linux-swap                          \
#                      method{ swap } format{ }                \

[bright_plastik]

You got a solution for everything, Tobetter. Amazing.
I'll try, for fun, on a spare usb drive.

[tobetter]

You got a solution for everything, Tobetter. Amazing.
I'll try, for fun, on a spare usb drive.

Thanks, actually that's already in Debian Netboot Installer guide. The preseed configuration comes from my server only. If you want to test the preseed your own, you will need to change 'boot.scr' in order to change the preseed server.

[bright_plastik]

Hello gentlemen,
I reinstalled a fresh build of 20.04 with last netboot, to have 5.7 kernel.
I thought the audio through HDMI was enabled by default, but it isn't.


Is this still required?

sudo addgroup $USER audio
sudo addgroup $USER pulse
sudo -s
amixer sset 'FRDDR_A SINK 1 SEL' 'OUT 1'
amixer sset 'FRDDR_A SRC 1 EN' 'on'
amixer sset 'TDMOUT_B SRC SEL' 'IN 0'
amixer sset 'TOHDMITX I2S SRC' 'I2S B'
amixer sset 'TOHDMITX' 'on'

amixer sset 'FRDDR_B SINK 1 SEL' 'OUT 2'
amixer sset 'FRDDR_B SRC 1 EN' 'on'
amixer sset 'TDMOUT_C SRC SEL' 'IN 1'
amixer sset 'TOACODEC I2S SRC' 'I2S C'
amixer sset 'TOACODEC I2S OUT EN' 'on'
amixer sset 'TOACODEC Lane Select' '0'
amixer sset 'ACODEC' '255'

alsactl store
reboot

[tobetter]

Hello gentlemen,
I reinstalled a fresh build of 20.04 with last netboot, to have 5.7 kernel.
I thought the audio through HDMI was enabled by default, but it isn't.

Please do run sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop and reboot.
If this does not help you, please do sudo apt install odroid-alsa and reboot.

[bright_plastik]

I answer to last post.
Launching $ sudo apt install linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic ubuntu-desktop installs audio, available on reboot in Settings.
Problem: a long list of internal problems arise.



Do you know how to solve this?

[bright_plastik]

Please do run sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop and reboot.
If this does not help you, please do sudo apt install odroid-alsa and reboot.

Ahahaha...too late. I'm always ready to f*ck up my mmc. I guess I'll start from scratch, again!

Bright_plastik wishes you have fun watching "Chronicles of a Noob"

[odroidn2user]

Please do run sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop and reboot.
If this does not help you, please do sudo apt install odroid-alsa and reboot.

Ahahaha...too late. I'm always ready to f*ck up my mmc. I guess I'll start from scratch, again!

Bright_plastik wishes you have fun watching "Chronicles of a Noob"

Yeah, been there, done that. The benefits of living on the cutting edge
Luckily tobetter's installer gets the job done quickly and cleanly.
And you get better and better at setting up the prefered basics after that.
I can almost blindly change all Firefox settings now (and you do need to change almost all of them), for example.
It is worth it though.

[bright_plastik]

I can almost blindly change all Firefox settings now (and you do need to change almost all of them), for example.
It is worth it though.

Do you mean that Firefox needs to be tweaked to do better? I tested a video on YT. Well...it is quite disappointing. Refuses to play any 4K. Fair enough. But doesn't even play smoothly on 720p!
Any advice to improve? The box is a winner on Coreelec! I'm sure there's something to be done on ubuntu, but what? Wayland installed and selected on login. What else?
Thanks!

[istanbulls]

Do you mean that Firefox needs to be tweaked to do better? I tested a video on YT. Well...it is quite disappointing. Refuses to play any 4K. Fair enough. But doesn't even play smoothly on 720p!
Any advice to improve? The box is a winner on Coreelec! I'm sure there's something to be done on ubuntu, but what? Wayland installed and selected on login. What else?
Thanks!

Yes, I need help with this ...

------
Also,

The sound settings have 5.1 and 7.1 options.
5.1 is active in avr when 5.1 is selected, 5.1 is active when 7.1 is selected.
The audio channels are in the wrong place, the left and right front are in the correct position. Center, sub and rear sounds are not in the correct position.
Right rear center, sub right rear, left back sub. )

Is there a way to fix them?
I won't have to turn on coreelec to watch 1080p series

[tobetter]

Do you mean that Firefox needs to be tweaked to do better? I tested a video on YT. Well...it is quite disappointing. Refuses to play any 4K. Fair enough. But doesn't even play smoothly on 720p!
Any advice to improve? The box is a winner on Coreelec! I'm sure there's something to be done on ubuntu, but what? Wayland installed and selected on login. What else?
Thanks!

Yes, I need help with this ...

------
Also,

The sound settings have 5.1 and 7.1 options.
5.1 is active in avr when 5.1 is selected, 5.1 is active when 7.1 is selected.
The audio channels are in the wrong place, the left and right front are in the correct position. Center, sub and rear sounds are not in the correct position.
Right rear center, sub right rear, left back sub. )

Is there a way to fix them?
I won't have to turn on coreelec to watch 1080p series

Well...actually having multimedia supports like CoreELEC or any other OS based on Linux 4.9 is way too long. The video was not enabled even a week before with Linux 5.4 kernel but switched to 5.7 since it has more code for the multimedia. They will be fixed, crossfinger, by upstream maintainers or building a new package, it won't happen very near future like tomorrow or next week. I am checking and testing the patches at home whenever I have time, they will be fixed whenever new patch is discovered and tested.

Sorry, if this OS build does not meet your expectation but this is the reality when playing with the mainline kernel for the baby SoC.

[Sav]

Thanks tobetter for all your hard work. I tought I could help to test your builds, but it turned out that this lockdown was more troubled than I anticipated (I had to find a way to work, while staying at home with my family and keeping occupied my little children).

As for the the recently developments, I'd like to post this Chewitt's post from the LibreElec forum:

Linux 5.7 doesn't really fix anything - it's just another incremental step in the journey. I've been working with it for a month now and need to rework audio support as the upstream maintainers rejected yet-another idea that I had to simplify adding new devices - so I need to revert back to a previous approach (aka doing it the hard way). Once that's done I'll push some device support upstream and then think about making a general 5.7 update to LE master. There are still some known glitches for audio support on GX hardware and while there has been some effort with ffmpeg V4L2m2m we still have issues with draining which impacts end of stream and seeking. No public code for HEVC yet either. Apart from that, things are stable.

As any of you can see, all the multimedia upgrades in the latest main line kernel are in an early development stage. So now there is no way to have only one system running (for example ubuntu) to suit all the use cases.

[bright_plastik]

Sorry, if this OS build does not meet your expectation but this is the reality when playing with the mainline kernel for the baby SoC.

Maestro, your build EXCEEDS expectations.
I knew well, before purchasing, it would mean witnessing to development of this board. Same as what happened with XU4, but more appealing, because of the specs. If only I was a bit more accustomed, I would lend you support, finding and solving problems.
What it does, it does it so smoothly that you start thinking "oh wow, this is basically like a pc!", but it is not, and the cababilities are already amazing.
Side note: I visited the other threads, dedicated to other OSes. Yours is the most advanced build proposed to users to date. Full mark.

[odroidn2user]

Have done some researching... Fully accelerated desktop Linux is surprisingly hard to realize on ARM. In fact, given the state of things, its near impossible.

But due to endless hours of volunteer work tobetter comes pretty close indeed. Now, it is not perfect, but it is all kinds of awesome already. And given how far behind mainline kernels really are, it is miraculous the way things now works with this image.

So many thanks from me! And many thanks for everyone contributing to debugging, patching, mainlining, creating images. You are make ARM SBCs fun for all of us. You guys rock.

[odroidn2user]

I can almost blindly change all Firefox settings now (and you do need to change almost all of them), for example.
It is worth it though.

Do you mean that Firefox needs to be tweaked to do better? I tested a video on YT. Well...it is quite disappointing. Refuses to play any 4K. Fair enough. But doesn't even play smoothly on 720p!
Any advice to improve? The box is a winner on Coreelec! I'm sure there's something to be done on ubuntu, but what? Wayland installed and selected on login. What else?
Thanks!

Yeah, no, meant privacy stuff, all the normal features. YouTube does need some polishing, and it is being worked on. Patience...

That said, I remember there is a way to have mpv stream youtube video, using youtube-dl.
So, if you run across a youtube-video that doesn't quite go right, you might try mpv.

I've not tested this yet, but start like:

Code: Select all

mpv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWLMow_o3us 

So, you know, from youtube, copy the url. Alt+F2, type 'mpv ' and paste in the url.

You probably have to install youtube-dl from somewhere for this to work.
And you probably want to install it with the pip3 package, then use that to install a fresh copy of youtube_dl:

Code: Select all

pip install youtube_dl

Perhaps something to play around while stuff is being worked on some more.

Also, Youtube sometimes likes to play 60 frames per second video, and no way that's going to fly on these types of ARM devices. There is a Firefox addon called 'h264ify', which has an option to disable 60fps video's, limit it to 30. A must have add-on for ARM devices.

[bright_plastik]

@odroidn2user, thank you very much for the info!
These are the kind of things I like to discover. My test on youtube was just to see the actual capabilities, and in the same manner I'll try your suggestions.
Highly appreciated!

[CoolGames]

Trouble shooting sound


Using alsa-utils
Do aplay -l shows sound card list.

odroid@odroid:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 0: SPDIF-B-dit-hifi dit-hifi-0 []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 1: TDM-C-T9015-audio-hifi T9015-audio-hifi-1 []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 2: SPDIF-dit-hifi dit-hifi-2 []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
odroid@odroid:~$

I am not finding the right sound and dmesg says...

[ 36.145174] hdmi-audio-codec hdmi-audio-codec.4.auto: Not able to map channels to speakers (-22)
[ 36.145193] hdmi-audio-codec hdmi-audio-codec.4.auto: ASoC: can't set i2s-hifi hw params: -22
[ 36.145203] axg-sound-card sound: ASoC: PRE_PMU: be.dai-link-4-playback event failed: -22
[ 36.172071] hdmi-audio-codec hdmi-audio-codec.4.auto: Not able to map channels to speakers (-22)
[ 36.172086] hdmi-audio-codec hdmi-audio-codec.4.auto: ASoC: can't set i2s-hifi hw params: -22
[ 36.172095] axg-sound-card sound: ASoC: PRE_PMU: be.dai-link-4-playback event failed: -22

Code: Select all

leetdavy@cooldroidn2:~/bin$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: G12BODROIDN2 [G12B-ODROID-N2], device 0: fe.dai-link-0 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: G12BODROIDN2 [G12B-ODROID-N2], device 1: fe.dai-link-1 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: G12BODROIDN2 [G12B-ODROID-N2], device 2: fe.dai-link-2 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

[tobetter]

Trouble shooting sound


Using alsa-utils
Do aplay -l shows sound card list.

odroid@odroid:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 0: SPDIF-B-dit-hifi dit-hifi-0 []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 1: TDM-C-T9015-audio-hifi T9015-audio-hifi-1 []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 2: SPDIF-dit-hifi dit-hifi-2 []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
odroid@odroid:~$

I am not finding the right sound and dmesg says...

[ 36.145174] hdmi-audio-codec hdmi-audio-codec.4.auto: Not able to map channels to speakers (-22)
[ 36.145193] hdmi-audio-codec hdmi-audio-codec.4.auto: ASoC: can't set i2s-hifi hw params: -22
[ 36.145203] axg-sound-card sound: ASoC: PRE_PMU: be.dai-link-4-playback event failed: -22
[ 36.172071] hdmi-audio-codec hdmi-audio-codec.4.auto: Not able to map channels to speakers (-22)
[ 36.172086] hdmi-audio-codec hdmi-audio-codec.4.auto: ASoC: can't set i2s-hifi hw params: -22
[ 36.172095] axg-sound-card sound: ASoC: PRE_PMU: be.dai-link-4-playback event failed: -22

Code: Select all

leetdavy@cooldroidn2:~/bin$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: G12BODROIDN2 [G12B-ODROID-N2], device 0: fe.dai-link-0 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: G12BODROIDN2 [G12B-ODROID-N2], device 1: fe.dai-link-1 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: G12BODROIDN2 [G12B-ODROID-N2], device 2: fe.dai-link-2 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

The sound setup on Ubuntu 20.04 is slightly different due to the different kernel. Please refer to the link,
viewtopic.php?p=291611&sid=1aba8c919ff6 ... fe#p291208

[odroidn2user]

@odroidn2user, thank you very much for the info!
These are the kind of things I like to discover. My test on youtube was just to see the actual capabilities, and in the same manner I'll try your suggestions.
Highly appreciated!

Well, youtube is a problem. Not just because all of the ugly censorship, spying analytics and viewer manipulation, but because of the technology involved as well.

That said, get and use the Mali driver from tobetter, setup the MOZ_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1 environment variable to enable Wayland (see elsewhere in this thread) support on Firefox, add the h264ify addon and disable 60fps and you should be able to play youtube 720p en 1080p in a way that's worth watching.

If you do use h264ify, you'll probably have to install some extra codecs, I usually just go for the whole lot with:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras

It is a little overkill, but gets the job done.

Also, for MPV you'll have to restrict the Youtube video quality a bit. You can do that with a /home/username/.config/mpv/mpv.conf file with the contents of:

Code: Select all

ytdl-format=bestvideo[height<=?1080][fps<=?30][vcodec!=?vp9]+bestaudio/best

Firefox is just not very optimized for streaming video on hardware, in fact, far from. But given the above, you should get something going quite ok and quite watchable indeed.

For the video's that just don't want to go, use youtube-dl and mpv, and download or stream from youtube directly to a video player. It gets some better results, but not all that user friendly. As an added bonus: no ads. But using the setup described, you should not really need it.

Until Firefox gets some normal decent hardware support, and reduces their overhead... that's what it is.