R36S V20 2025-05-18 — Unknown Panel / Black Screen After Splash on All DTB Types
Device: R36S Clone, board version V20, manufacture date 2025-05-18
Firmware tested: ArkOS4Clone (latest release 20260305), K36 Community Firmware (latest)
MicroSD: Samsung 256GB
Problem Description
The original microSD card died and the firmware was lost. I have been trying to find a working firmware/DTB combination for 3 days without success.
The device successfully shows the splash screen on both ArkOS4Clone and K36, which means U-Boot and the bootloader are working correctly. However, the screen goes black immediately after the splash — the backlight stays on but nothing is displayed. The LED indicator does not light up.
I have tried all 8 Clone R36s types available in dtb_selector_win32:
- Clone Type 1 With Amplifier
- Clone Type 1 Without Amplifier
- Clone Type 1 Without Amplifier And Invert Right Joystick
- Clone Type 2 Without Amplifier
- Clone Type 2 With Amplifier → no splash at all, red LED (wrong type entirely)
- Clone Type 3 → splash appears, then black screen
- Clone Type 4 → splash appears, then black screen
- Clone Type 5 → splash appears, then black screen
I also tried the DTB files shared in issue #110 (rk3326-rg351mp-linux.dtb and gameconsole-r36s.dtb) with the correct boot.ini (using root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 and load mmc 1:1) — neither worked.
Current boot.ini (working bootloader, broken display init)
odroidgoa-uboot-config
setenv bootargs "root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait rw fsck.repair=yes net.ifnames=0 fbcon=rotate:0 console=/dev/ttyFIQ0 quiet splash plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles consoleblank=0"
setenv loadaddr "0x02000000"
setenv initrd_loadaddr "0x01100000"
setenv dtb_loadaddr "0x01f00000"
load mmc 1:1 ${loadaddr} Image
load mmc 1:1 ${initrd_loadaddr} uInitrd
load mmc 1:1 ${dtb_loadaddr} rk3326-r36s-type3-linux.dtb
booti ${loadaddr} ${initrd_loadaddr} ${dtb_loadaddr}
Conclusion
Based on the behavior (splash works, all known DTB types fail at display init), this board appears to have a new panel variant not yet covered by any existing DTB. This is similar to the situation described in issue #110.
The DTB Identify Tool returns no match for this board, which confirms the panel is unknown.
Request
Could you please advise whether there is a new DTB available for this panel, or provide guidance on how to dump/identify the panel type from the hardware itself? Any help would be greatly appreciated — I have been stuck on this for 3 days.
Thank you!
R36S V20 2025-05-18 — Unknown Panel / Black Screen After Splash on All DTB Types
Device: R36S Clone, board version V20, manufacture date 2025-05-18
Firmware tested: ArkOS4Clone (latest release 20260305), K36 Community Firmware (latest)
MicroSD: Samsung 256GB
Problem Description
The original microSD card died and the firmware was lost. I have been trying to find a working firmware/DTB combination for 3 days without success.
The device successfully shows the splash screen on both ArkOS4Clone and K36, which means U-Boot and the bootloader are working correctly. However, the screen goes black immediately after the splash — the backlight stays on but nothing is displayed. The LED indicator does not light up.
I have tried all 8 Clone R36s types available in
dtb_selector_win32:I also tried the DTB files shared in issue #110 (
rk3326-rg351mp-linux.dtbandgameconsole-r36s.dtb) with the correctboot.ini(usingroot=/dev/mmcblk0p2andload mmc 1:1) — neither worked.Current boot.ini (working bootloader, broken display init)
Conclusion
Based on the behavior (splash works, all known DTB types fail at display init), this board appears to have a new panel variant not yet covered by any existing DTB. This is similar to the situation described in issue #110.
The DTB Identify Tool returns no match for this board, which confirms the panel is unknown.
Request
Could you please advise whether there is a new DTB available for this panel, or provide guidance on how to dump/identify the panel type from the hardware itself? Any help would be greatly appreciated — I have been stuck on this for 3 days.
Thank you!