Running Armbian on Amlogic S905x3 Android TV Box (Tanix TX3)

#Armbian #S905x3 #RaspberryPiAlternative

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 Tanix TX3 I picked up on AliExpress for about $35 shipped. It sports a Quad Core Amlogic S905x3 @ 1.9GHz and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM.
 
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Things You Will Need
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Downloads and Flashing to MicroSD
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   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
      a. Update the FDT line to point to a working .dtb file for your device
      b. Save
      c. Close
   07. Safely remove microSD
   08. 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
   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, enter and confirm a root password
   05. Select a default system shell
   06. Input a username
   07. Enter and confirm a password for the new user
   08. Follow any additional the prompts
   09. Armbian will boot into the desktop environment
 
 

### Connect with me and others ###

[michaelrobson]

Thanks for your content! I was going to use a Raspberry Pi for OctoPrint but ended up using it for OpenWRT. Your videos are clear and helpful—great job and Surpiced I did not find it sooner alot of your topics are things i have done tried or researched! Thanks again :)

[juliandersonsantossa]

Great job! I'm researching a TV box to buy and found the X96 Max+ with the s905x4. Would you know if there is support for this CPU? I have experience using the Armbian system on an X96 Mini with the Amlogic s905w, and it worked really well, but I wanted to try this box because it has a slightly better configuration.

[De.Ja.]

Hi, I have X96 Air. For this, should be the same Uboot file and .dtb as yours, but for me does not boot. With the reset button pressed i got a boot loop showing X96 Air Logo. Any idea?

[XavierOsorio]

Hi, it looks easy to do on my TV Box. Does this erase all the data in my box? I just wanna give a try without losing anything.

[edmgameshop]

i have box golden interstar g-200 pro, chip s905x3, but cant install armbian, you know how to fix ? pls help me

[lhapiyeneh]

Itu bisa install aethersx2 gk kak, butuh info test game ps2 disini kak hehe

[phuongma]

Help, my balena etcher is doing in DD image mode which i cant modify

[alexfernandesportrai]

Is there a generic dtb for all S 905X3 boxes? I have a beelink gt1 mini2.

[leucnguyen]

Can you show me how to install lastest Armbian for S912 chip set?thask u so much

[thucnguyen]

I'm having problems installing armbian on Android TVbox tx3 mini plus running S905W2 chips ! can you post a video tutorial to help me?

[UrsalaPorponio]

how to install internal emmc armbian latest v 25

[pinguin]

tox3 s905x4 supports armbian installation?

[mizuha]

Help, when i install xfce desktop environment, my mouse and keyboard not working on login screen

[dividead]

Can this be used to install armbian on the internal storage?

[Canoneosmiami]

Ok, what ever Arubian supposed to be thanks for explanation…