Installing Armbian on Amlogic S912 Android TV Box (Nexbox A95x A2)

#Linux #RaspberryPiAlternative #SingleBoardComputer

*** Updated 09/11/2023

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.
 
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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. 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
      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
   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
 
 

### Connect with me and others ###

[MuhammadAnwar-rgdq]

#ask

on my stb there is no apk update&backup [android 7.2], how to solve it?

[Andersonk]

mine is asking for a password, how can I solve it????

[guongthongminh]

please help me
I'm always getting error message in recovery:

Supported API: 3
charge_status 2, charged 1, status SUCCESS, capacity 100
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
E:Block map file is too short: 3
E:Map of '@/cache/recovery/block.map' failed
E:failed to map file
Installation aborted.

[mikemorgan]

did you make 2 primary partitions in the sd? also fat32? I see you have disk F:/, G:/ can you give details please?

[SwayzeHomestead]

As an aside, all the files for the amlogic are gone from mega. Happened yesterday.

[ЕвгенийПоляков-ти]

I have problem to download, stopping in starting 5-20 minutes ago...

[juniormemel]

my great friend, how can i install on the Beelink GT1 Ultimate (S912, 3gb ram, 64gb rom)? I'm struggling to get it. help me please!

[moment]

hello I get this error in "console" to update /etc/sudo.config is owned by uid 1023, should be 0

[grandpaseed]

very cool booted on my Km8 pro but no Wi-Fi any thoughts ?

[vitorpinheiroferreira]

Hi ! Could you suggest other model of tv box with more ram memory that supports armbian OS? Tank you !

[josephj]

Hello sir. I enjoy all your videos related to armbian and TV boxes. I have a question, is there any way to make armbian look like Windows 10? I have seen some YouTube videos that make Linux look like Windows 10 but doesn't work on armbian (or at least I'm doing something wrong). If there's some way, can you put a tutorial?

[P_ablo]

YOU WILL NOT LEAVE THE CORRESPONDING MEGA-LINK.

[SwayzeHomestead]

Confirmed working on T95Z Plus. *Edit* NOT working on T95Z Plus. Wifi disabled.

[antonioperrone]

Can i install this OS on yoka kb2 pro?

[FolkerHQ]

How to install OUYA-OS on these devices? :D Kind regards, Xaby here.