Linux Kernel for Minix Neo X7

[Plokko]

My minix x7 is quite unstable with this distro. I'm not able to upgrade to 13.10 unless doing that under ssh. It seems that the ssh is the only way to use linux in a confortable manner without occasionally reboots.
I really hope you can develop a stable mali400 driver.
Thanks for your work

You mean sceen flashing or rebooting?
I'm sure this linux is stable even after the 13.10 update (i use linuxium-Xubuntu, lubuntu was less stable);
of course the monitor is unusable, in DVI it works better but it's zoomed in and keep flashing so l'm using it on SSH.

I even tested with ab (apache benchmark) something like 99999 request on 10 thread, left an entire night on and it didn't reboot! (also a lot of phoronix phpbench)

I'm using the last recovery kernel (post #15) with Finless 1.7; just remember to follow my guide for flashing.

I'll give kernel compiling a shot if i'll have some time to spare because mali drivers are needed to make it usable, for now this release is perfect for server use;
if we find someone that can lend us an hand it will be appreciated.

[grzmrc]

I mean rebooting.... luckily I have not notice screen flashing.
I'm starting to thinking that the minix x7 hardware could be different per units
My minix X7 was quite unstable even after issuing ctrl-alt-f1, but I notice that after unplugging my multimedia usb keyboard the system become stable.

It's not the first time I faced a USB issue on my X7. There is a known incompatibility issue with the tronsmart TSM-01 airmouse (that I bought...), so android randomly reboots when TSM-01 is connected to USB port.

may be a issue related to minix x7 usb ports?

[Plokko]

I mean rebooting.... luckily I have not notice screen flashing.
I'm starting to thinking that the minix x7 hardware could be different per units
My minix X7 was quite unstable even after issuing ctrl-alt-f1, but I notice that after unplugging my multimedia usb keyboard the system become stable.

It's not the first time I faced a USB issue on my X7. There is a known incompatibility issue with the tronsmart TSM-01 airmouse (that I bought...), so android randomly reboots when TSM-01 is connected to USB port.

may be a issue related to minix x7 usb ports?

I also have the TSM-01 and in android works perfectly;
i didn't try on linux because i use it only on ssh.

Try to test the stability of your device on android (if you have multiboot).

[baxxtor]

Hi All:


Since phjanderson post the android kernel source of Minix Neo X7, and with his great kernel compiling tool called marvin, I try to build the linux kernel for Minix Neo X7 to support Ethernet and WiFi.

Based on T428 linux configuration with default CPU/DDR speed,

Here is the kernel image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/oexklp2sj4...vin_neo_x7.img

Here is the recovery kernel image:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3a777coscj...7_recovery.img

Here is the .config and modification which I did:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m2o6awrvg6...odified.tar.gz

To enable WiFi, please sudo insmod /lib/modules/rkwifi.ko

It is quite amazing that I could play 720p video without hardware acceleration, even some 1080p video could also play.

Thanks for all contributions from so many people. So we could run Linux on RK3188.

Hi Chenac,

Would it be possible to modify your kernel so it boots Linux / Picuntu from the internal flash instead of from the sdcard? If so, would you be able to upload this modified kernel?

Thanks for all your help!

[baxxtor]

To load the rkwifi.ko at startup it's really simple:

Edit /etc/rc.local

$sudo nano /etc/rc.local

and add the commad BEFORE the exit 0 like so (other text may differ in your version):

#....
chmod o+rw /dev/snd/[c-t]*

[COLOR=#ff0000][I][B]sudo insmod /lib/modules/rkwifi.ko[/B][/I][/COLOR]

exit 0

My minix x7 is really stable, i'm using the recovery kernel on post #7 with Finless 1.07 and linuxium-Xubuntu;
i tried using lubuntu but i suffered some lag.

I left it an entire night on (with apache and other services active)and it's still working without any reboot but i didn't load the wifi module (if it may be the problem).

I'm still working on having a decent monitor support (some 1080p screens remains black, 4:3 screens flashes and the image is cropped)but for now i'm using it on ssh.

I also updated to 13.10 without errors (all the tests were done before the upgrade).

Did you check the ext4 partition on the SD?
My ext4 was corrupted so i could allocate only 2.5gb out of 16gb, i don't think it's your case but check it just to be sure.

PS: are you sure linux reboots? it may be a case of black screen (i get them a LOT); try to access via ssh to be sure of the machine status.

I have encountered the same on xubuntu, libuntu and picuntu, the system is very stable until I enable the wifi module. Is there a wifi usb stick available that is supported by this kernel? I am really in need of stable working wifi.

Thanks for any help.

[knawnd]

nfsv{3,4}-server on linux kernel

I wonder if somebody managed to run nfsv3 or even nfsv4-server on any linux kernel for Minix Neo x7. On kernel mentioned in post #15 I was able to run only nfsv2 server (at least nfs-client couldn't connect neither on v4 or v3 protocol versions and mount shows vers=2).

[grzmrc]

Hi,
where can I found a t428 kernel for the recovery partition?
Linux is very unstable on my poor minix x7 in GUI mode, and I'd like to try some other kernel.
thanks

[Martin1]

For the monitor problems, It is beyond my capability to include Mali support in the Linux kernel. I only use Minix Neo X7 for 1080p monitor, so I enable the 1080p option in the kernel config. If anyone like, it is quite easy to compile a kernel for 720p only.

Do you think it's possible to compile a 720p recovery and post it here. I dont know how to it. Would really appreciate it

[billgatos]

Hi all.

I'm using the hybrid 3.1 rom and guess what if i burn the recovery file to my hybrid T428 it no longer boot's up.

Is that normal.

I burn the recovery without erasing nand and using the bootloader v.2.03


the rom link http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...1-by-lewy20041

[grzmrc]

X chenac
Hi,
I installed your recovery kernel but on my poor minix x7 I experienced too much randomly reboot.
Finally I tryed the old t428 recovery kerne+wifil(http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...ntal-Firmwares) and it works greet on my machine. Wifi works well , ethernet does not work but now, my minix is up and running on ubuntu 13.10 from 3 days and I have not seen any reboot.
Is it possible that there is some hardware difference in minix x7 sold?
I can show you a pic of my minix x7:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/30/g7pt.jpg/

[billgatos]

In my t428 using the also the old linux kernel at recovery i only get the 5 penguins at boot nothing more.
Do i have to burn my sd card again with the image again.....

[grzmrc]

Mini How to

To run Linux, I used "Minix Neo X7 - Finless 1.6" ROM as the base, and flash either normal linux kernel or recovery linux kernel, and prepare a SD card with linux root.

1: The two kernels are provide for different purpose, that is
a) normal kernel is used to replace android kernel, so you will boot into linux directly, no android any more.

b) the recovery kernel is used to be placed on recovery partition, and you will boot into android first. Then use reboot app and choose "reboot to recovery" to boot linux.

2: To prepare linux root on SD card, just
sudo dd if=./linuxium-ubuntu1304-lubuntu-desktop-rfs.img of=/dev/sdx1 bs=1M , please make sure the sdx1 is right (like sdb1, sdc1 or sdd1). The side effect is that it need to resize later.

Hope this will help.

this is exactly what I did. I prefer xubuntu instead lubuntu,but it's the same.
Billgatos, had you resized the sd with gparted?

gnome classic won't start. I can use only xfce.
xrdp won't work correctly, but I think it's related to gnome.

[billgatos]

To grzmrc and all others.

Last night i put the microsd on the adapter and connect it to my laptopt.
I use linux mint on virtualbox using windows 8.1 as host and over linux i grab the usb sdcard and the shared folder where i had the img image of my linuxium file of almost 3GB.
So the commands i use on my linux virtual guest was:

mount -t ext4 /dev/sdb /media/sdcard

in the middle of this i mount my external shared folder on linux as folder inside of course.

dd if=minipc/linuxium...img of/dev/sdb

it took hours on a class 10 microsd card sandisk brand, normaly only a few minutes.
sudo sync

and now it boots..... my sd hasn't being correctl burn using dd and i don't even know why...


now the password for root changes does anyone nows the 'p' password is only for basic stuff....
This image is from Ian

[knawnd]

mount -t ext4 /dev/sdb /media/sdcard
dd if=minipc/linuxium...img of/dev/sdb

pay attention to /dev/sdX. The image needs to be flashed to partition (/dev/sdXN, where X is the letter corresponding to device and N is a partition number, e.g. /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, /dev/sdb1, etc...). So /dev/sdX is the whole device but /dev/sdX1 is its first partition. For more info on devices and partitions indexes in linux see e.g. here.

[DNSound]

Hey all,
i'm new to this forum , but i would like to share with you all my kernel for minix neo x7
it is made for linux on nand, you have to copy a rfs to the nand(specifically /dev/mtdblock3)with kernelSDINT.img kernel first with rk30xxnand.ko support.(kernelSDINT boot the root filesystem from sd card, WIFIFOFUM.img is the one that boots from internal NAND, install it only once you have formatted /dev/mtdblock3 as ext4 and copied into it a valid rootfs)
It also use /dev/mtdblock2 (1GB partition) as a swap disk...
Using Linux3188 as source code , I've tried to optimize all the settings in it, only thing not working is wifi
and obviously mali accel ...
I've also uploaded in the rar file the tools you need to flash the rom, you only need to find a nice armhf fs
i'm not a BIG expert, but feell free to ask if in need

Link : https://www.dropbox.com/s/ozcmjgh08w...-Linux3188.rar

EDIT: I made wifi work too...Here's the link to the updated kernel...(It boot from nand, so you still need to copy the rfs to /dev/mtdblock3)... For inserting the wifi module at boot, edit your rc.local and add this line :

sudo insmod /lib/modules/rkwifi.koLink for the kernel is https://www.dropbox.com/s/9e17bi23cxdbwli/kernel-x7-Linux3188-wifi-nand.img