Installing Armbian on Allwinner H6 Android TV Box (Tanix TX6)

#Linux #RaspberryPiAlternative #SingleBoardComputer #AllwinnerH6

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 TX6 I picked up on Amazon for $22.71 shipped. It sports a quad Core Allwinner H6 @ 1.5GHz and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM.
 
UPDATED 6/9/20 with direct links to the downloads used in the video
 
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Things You Will Need
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Downloads and Flashing to MicroSD
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   04. Run Balena Etcher
   05. Burn Armbian image to microSD card
   06. Safely remove microSD and re-insert
   07. Ignore/close the Windows dialogs to format the inserted microSD card
   08. Burn u-boot image to microSD card
   09. Safely remove microSD and re-insert
   10. 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. Comment out rk-3399 lines by adding #
      b. Uncomment aw h6 lines by removing #
         # aw h6
      c. Save
      d. Close
   07. Rename the following files, adding .orig to the filename
   08. Rename the following .aw files, removing the .aw extension
   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. You should see the Armbian terminal running startup scripts
   03. When prompted, login with username: root password: 1234
   04. Input a new root password
   05. Confirm the new root password
   06. When prompted, input a username
   07. Input a password for the new user
   08. Confirm the password for the new user
   09. Follow any additional the prompts
   10. Armbian will boot into the desktop environment
 
 

### Connect with me and others ###

[canallouvaremos]

There is no way to install another operating system like Windows, Linux, or any other system TV BOX TX6 Allwinner

[LuisAFigueroa]

Any way of completely replacing the original Android 9 installed internally with this OS?

[obrigadoamigo]

I have a tv box and I was trying to do this process, but when I put the SD card in it with Linux installed, the tv box does not turn on. But when I remove the card it turns on. Is it some security system? Who has a solution?

I installed the program according to this video. and found that the Wi-Fi was not displayed.
Is there a method or supported version?

[JasperPlays]

Hello
I've installed the debian buster desktop. I tried to install the bullseye version but there was no uboot file.
How can I upgrade from buster.

Thank you for your tutorial.
I have tried this approach on a H10 chip-based TV box. It can run the script but it stuck at the line "Begin: Running /scripts/local-premount ... Scanning for Btrfs filesystems"
How can I solve this

[vitorpinheiroferreira]

Hi, I followed your procedure exactly. However, the tv box tanix tx6s didn.t boot... Any suggestions? Best regards!

[horus]

What changes should i make to use armbian on allwiner h313 cpu?

[hk]

Hi @i12bretro, great tutorial. With your help I have using Armbian Buster on my Tanix TX6 AllWinner H6 box. As Debian Buster is bit old now, do you know where I can get link to download Debian Bookworm or Ubuntu Jammy 22.04 version for Tanix TX6 AllWinner H6 ? I have tried to search but no luck. Looking forward for your guidence

[rishabhyadavJP]

Thank You😘 installed successfully!!!
few more questions, will this os get support for onboard wifi and Bluetooth in future? I got wifi working using external dongle.

[covidhaxofficial]

i have Q+

current system firmware: Android 9
kernel version: 4.9.118
build: 2.1.17

specs:

- ARM Cortex-A53
- r0p4
- Mali-T720
- petrel_p1
- Allwinner
- sun50iw6p1
- 4gb ram
- 24gb storage

does the image file in your video applicable to my Q+?

[Papskang]

How to run Balena Etcher on Armbian OS focal version? There is no tutorial have been found. Im using allwinner h6 android tv box. I hope you make a video for it.

[deltasigyt]

Your video got me trying to boot Armbian since I got a TX6 lying around.
I noticed different versions listed and opted for the eoan desktop. The u-boot section did not have any 'aw' entries, so I assumed the boot.cmd etc are the 'aw' ones. Also, the uEnv.txt file did not have any rk339 entries, so I just uncommented the aw h6 line.
Tied to boot first time no response; then I keep reset button pressed, repower and release the button after 2-3 seconds. The box stays on with nothing displayed on the hdmi monitor. Any thoughts?

[nirobmon]

Where will Ambrian OS be installed? on emmc? Will Ambrian OS boot up only when the SD card is inserted? When the SD card is removed, will the Android boot up?

[Sfernan]

Im a bit confused, the files mentioned are not there in the latest image you provided. what do i do?

[tvbox]

I have a Beelink GT1 TV box. Can this work for that box?

[enredao_electronico]

Very informative. This will boot on emmc ? In my case I want to install on emmc ... no need of android... please advise

[linuxunion]

After burn uboot, there has no readable partition of the microSD card! why?

[MrDwadi]

Hi, I have question since I recently bought TV Box with same SoC. I have trouble finding way to install Magisk, I wanna use it to Play video's from Netflix & HBO etc... My box have Android 9.0 OS and I wanna replace old Play środę that this box have. I will be mode than a happy if you point me to some kind of solution.

[rishabhyadavJP]

Hi @i12b retro, Does this take away the capability of running android ? I have a Tanix tx6, But i need dual boot capability. Is it powerful enough to run chromium browser and playing youtube videos without lag ?
Is it capable to run libreoffice and gimp ? And does it overheat while doing so ?