MECOOL KI Pro EMMC Install

[martinlanger90]

I have a MECOOL KI Pro with CoreELEC installed onto EMMC.
Can I boot armbian from you from USB/SD/TF and install it onto EMMC right away?

Thank you.

[ophub]

https://m.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_629409.html

Is it this one? You can test the firmware of s905d.
If necessary, you can modify the value(meson-gxl-s905d-mecool-ki-pro.dtb) of dtb in /boot/uEnv.txt, which is the same as CoreELEC.

[martinlanger90]

Yes it is that one. But it doesn't boot from USB/TF (microSD Card).
Did the same as for CoreELEC. Stops at Mecool logo. CoreELEC is actually installed to EMMC.
Any advice how to boot armbian? changed uenv.txt to meson-gxl-s905d-mecool-ki-pro.dtb

[martinlanger90]

Okay, installed original Android again. Tried to boot from microSD card. Did not work either. Hangs at mecool logo.

[ophub]

Download the 5.4 kernel firmware and unzip it. Double-click the .img file, open uEnv.txt, and modify the name of the dtb file to meson-gxl-s905d-mecool-ki-pro.dtb. Change it and rewrite it to usb.
First turn on the USB debugging mode of the box in the Android system. Then plug in usb and power to start.

[ophub]

https://github.com/ophub/amlogic-s9xxx-openwrt/blob/main/router-config/README.md#1010-turn-on-the-usb-disk-boot-mode-of-the-amlogic-s9xxx-tv-box

[martinlanger90]

Thank you. Exactly that worked. Tried with 5.10 all the time. Didn't work... 5.4 worked via USB stick

[ophub]

Try to save u-boot-p201.bin as u-boot.ext

chmod +x u-boot.ext

[ophub]

Can the firmware of the 5.4 kernel be booted from usb?

[martinlanger90]

Yes. Now I'm using 5.4 with nothing changed besides the dtb in uEnv.txt and works flawlessly now. Trying to install to internal after configuring wifi

[ophub]

Use 5.10 kernel, Try to save u-boot-p201.bin as u-boot.ext and changed besides the dtb in uEnv.txt

[martinlanger90]

Okay, I'll try that in a second.

[martinlanger90]

Okay, works with 5.10 kernel as well. The key was to use USB Stick and remove CoreELEC from NAND as that changes the boot partition on mmcblk as it seems.
Using USB boot in Android and correct dtb (*ki-pro.dtb) with nothing works as well with 5.10.
Thank you for the great support.

[ophub]

According to my method, the 5.10 kernel can also be used?

u-boot-p201.bin as u-boot.ext
changed the dtb in uEnv.txt as meson-gxl-s905d-mecool-ki-pro.dtb

[martinlanger90]

Download the 5.4 kernel firmware and unzip it. Double-click the .img file, open uEnv.txt, and modify the name of the dtb file to meson-gxl-s905d-mecool-ki-pro.dtb. Change it and rewrite it to usb. First turn on the USB debugging mode of the box in the Android system. Then plug in usb and power to start.

Yes. that did it with 5.10.

[ophub]

Okay, it's okay to use 5.10 instead of 5.15.

I would like to ask you to try again: Is it possible to use u-boot.ext under the 5.4 kernel, so that u-boot.ext and .dtb can use the same one

[martinlanger90]

yes, it is possible with u-boot.ext under 5.4 kernel.

[ophub]

Thank you for your testing and sharing. I will record your contribution on the list of contributors.

[ophub]

Is this box a gigabit network card?

[martinlanger90]

Yes it is a gigabit nw card :)

[martinlanger90]

PHY [0.2009087f:00] driver [RTL8211F Gigabit Ethernet] (irq=51)
also plugged in and shows gigabit connection, speed is okay, around 25-35 MB/s sometimes more, but never over 50 MB/s

[ophub]

Brand Name: Hero Iand
GPU: Quad-core Mali-450
Ethernet: 1000M
Wireless: Yes
Bluetooth: Yes
CPU: Amlogic S905 Quad-core 64-bit
eMMC: 16GB
Memory: 2G DDR3

[ophub]

Thank you for sharing. I will add the box you share to the support list and record your contribution at the same time. Thank you.

[looun]

hello , i try to boot from SD but not work.
I have following this step:

1. write last image Armbian_24.2.0_amlogic_s905d_jammy_6.1.66_server_2023.12.08.img into microsd
2. on SD i have rename u-boot-p201.bin as u-boot.ext
3. on SD i have changed the dtb in uEnv.txt as meson-gxl-s905d-mecool-ki-pro.dtb.

power on -> boot in recovery mode but Hangs at mecool logo and than boot android.

thanks for help.

PS: CoreELEC work without any issue from microSD.