SD Card booting without flashing your device

[aruangra]

hi ian thanks for your hard work, I got mk908iii and 908. mk908iii successful boot from sd card but to mk908 can not, I've tried using the instructions in https://plus.google.com/+IanMORRISON/posts/P6TNn3sisa2 but I have not been lucky.

I could get super stable Linux on MK908 v5 (Netxeon 2013.09.18). No reboot at all. The android kernel is used directly Steps are:

1. Get the Radxa rock package by Ian. The Radxa Rock boot image is compatible with MK908v5.

https://plus.google.com/109451178006683865932/posts/TTXkb7pX7SG

2. Get the finless ROM 1.7a for MK908 and unzip the file.

3. Replace kernel.img in Ian's package with kernel720vsync.img (from Finless ROM). Rename the file to kernel.img

4. Insert an sd card in your Linux PC and run ./create_sdcard

5. You will get an SD card that works with MK908v5.

There is no need to flash the MK908. Just insert the sd card and enjoy.

Best regards,
Anat

[G.Kos]

Beelink MK908ii works with the Rikomagic MK802ivNew image -- with sound problems and no AP mode

Thanks a lot to Ian and this community for your work.
I bought a Beelink MK908ii this March and I am still waiting for the completely working Linux on this gadget. (Earlier I flashed Picuntu 4.5 with Gorch's kernel.)
Let me share the results of my experiments.

Installing works. I wrote the Rikomagic mk802iv (new) image to an old 4GB card from my drawer. It booted up in 30 seconds. (It did not print the usual booting messages to the console.) I tried two more kernel variants (1080p and 720p); replacing the kernel was smooth.
The internal wifi works, but I could not switch it to Acess Point mode.
Hot-plugging USB drives work (including my luks encrypted flash drive).
Mali works after the necessary chmods.
External network adapters do not work. I tried two RK5730 based wifi adapters that work fine with the Raspberry PI and an SMC LAN700 based ethernet adapter. (Earlier I had a Gembird adatper that worked with Gorch's kernel, but I cannot find it...)
Normally sound does not work. But, I found that if a usb wifi dongle is connected to the stick before the power supply is swithed on, then sound works at the first boot. After a reboot, sound does not work anymore until the stick is switched off again.

Summary:
mk908ii works, but there are some kernel issues that should be fixed.

[conduisant]

I could get super stable Linux on MK908 v5 (Netxeon 2013.09.18). No reboot at all. The android kernel is used directly Steps are:

1. Get the Radxa rock package by Ian. The Radxa Rock boot image is compatible with MK908v5.

https://plus.google.com/109451178006683865932/posts/TTXkb7pX7SG

2. Get the finless ROM 1.7a for MK908 and unzip the file.

3. Replace kernel.img in Ian's package with kernel720vsync.img (from Finless ROM). Rename the file to kernel.img

4. Insert an sd card in your Linux PC and run ./create_sdcard

5. You will get an SD card that works with MK908v5.

There is no need to flash the MK908. Just insert the sd card and enjoy.

Best regards,
Anat

hi aruangra, i've got also a mk908 v5, i've followed these instructions, the making of sdcard under linux works well (no error message) and when i put the sd card into the mk908, the device boot into android (finless 1.8)...i've tried with another sdcard and the problem is the same...i've missed something ?

under linux, when script making the sdcard i don't see anything about copying the largest file "linuxium-ubuntu1304-lubuntu-desktop-rfs.img"...is normal ?

Can you help me ?

Thanks....

[aruangra]

hi aruangra, i've got also a mk908 v5, i've followed these instructions, the making of sdcard under linux works well (no error message) and when i put the sd card into the mk908, the device boot into android (finless 1.8)...i've tried with another sdcard and the problem is the same...i've missed something ?

under linux, when script making the sdcard i don't see anything about copying the largest file "linuxium-ubuntu1304-lubuntu-desktop-rfs.img"...is normal ?

Can you help me ?

Thanks....

In Ian's page, you may miss this:

Note:

The included SD card creation script only works on a machine that recognizes the drive as a HDD device (e.g. /dev/hda or /dev/sda). This has now been extended to support MMC (e.g. /dev/mmcblk0) devices and can be downloaded fromhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B99...3VZMzMtNGVHMkk

The file should first be unzipped and then run as root by running the command 'sudo ./create_sdcard'. It will prompt you with a suggested name of the device where the SD card is loaded (the default is 'sdc') and if this isn't correct the script will allow you to enter the actual device name. The script will automatically use the correct partition name (e.g. /dev/sdc1 or /dev/mmcblk0p1) as part of this updated version.

Anat

[knawnd]

I could get super stable Linux on MK908 v5 (Netxeon 2013.09.18). No reboot at all. The android kernel is used directly

aruangra, did I understand you right: you could boot linux with android kernel? Does hardware decoding via VPU work in your setup?

[aruangra]

aruangra, did I understand you right: you could boot linux with android kernel? Does hardware decoding via VPU work in your setup?

Yes. The android kernel works with Linux. It is the only stable kernel I found. I have never used hardware decoding in my device. But the needed modules are loaded properly.

Best regards,
Anat

[knawnd]

Yes. The android kernel works with Linux. It is the only stable kernel I found. I have never used hardware decoding in my device. But the needed modules are loaded properly.

Best regards,
Anat

Anat (aruangra), thanks a lot for instant (!!!) reply! That sounds inspiring!

[conduisant]

mk908v5 it don't boot on linux

In Ian's page, you may miss this:

Note:

The included SD card creation script only works on a machine that recognizes the drive as a HDD device (e.g. /dev/hda or /dev/sda). This has now been extended to support MMC (e.g. /dev/mmcblk0) devices and can be downloaded fromhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B99...3VZMzMtNGVHMkk

The file should first be unzipped and then run as root by running the command 'sudo ./create_sdcard'. It will prompt you with a suggested name of the device where the SD card is loaded (the default is 'sdc') and if this isn't correct the script will allow you to enter the actual device name. The script will automatically use the correct partition name (e.g. /dev/sdc1 or /dev/mmcblk0p1) as part of this updated version.
Anat

Thanks for your help, but i follow well these steps ( 'sudo ./create_sdcard...) and when i put sdcard into mk908v5 it don't boot on linux but only android...i've tried with 2 differents sd card...into the script "create-sdcard" i don't see anything about image file "linuxium-ubuntu1304-lubuntu-desktop-rfs.img"...when this image file is copying on the sdcard ?

[aruangra]

Thanks for your help, but i follow well these steps ( 'sudo ./create_sdcard...) and when i put sdcard into mk908v5 it don't boot on linux but only android...i've tried with 2 differents sd card...into the script "create-sdcard" i don't see anything about image file "linuxium-ubuntu1304-lubuntu-desktop-rfs.img"...when this image file is copying on the sdcard ?

You can download the sd card image file from my drive

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSuv91xWggRFF4WTFKa19rTFE/edit?usp=sharing

Unzip and write it on a micro sd card (>=8GB). I recommend Sandisk Class10.

Best regards,
Anat

[knawnd]

Thanks for your help, but i follow well these steps ( 'sudo ./create_sdcard...) and when i put sdcard into mk908v5 it don't boot on linux but only android...i've tried with 2 differents sd card...into the script "create-sdcard" i don't see anything about image file "linuxium-ubuntu1304-lubuntu-desktop-rfs.img"...when this image file is copying on the sdcard ?

I faced with similar issue. But manual execution commands from the script "create_sdcard" did the trick although I don't know why that worked.

[conduisant]

You can download the sd card image file from my drive

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSuv91xWggRFF4WTFKa19rTFE/edit?usp=sharing

Unzip and write it on a micro sd card (>=8GB). I recommend Sandisk Class10.

Best regards,
Anat

thanks again Anat for the image file, i'm very unlucky : i try download 4 times the file, and each time the download ends with "failed", not understand why ???

[knawnd]

Thanks for your help, but i follow well these steps ( 'sudo ./create_sdcard...) and when i put sdcard into mk908v5 it don't boot on linux but only android...i've tried with 2 differents sd card...into the script "create-sdcard" i don't see anything about image file "linuxium-ubuntu1304-lubuntu-desktop-rfs.img"...when this image file is copying on the sdcard ?

conduisant, does created sdcard have a valid partition table after create_sdcard script execution (one can check by executing e.g. 'parted -l' command on linux machine with flashed sdcard inserted)?

[conduisant]

thanks knawnd, here screenshot after running the script on a 32GB SDCARD on sdc

[knawnd]

thanks knawnd, here screenshot after running the script on a 32GB SDCARD on sdc

sdcard partition table seems OK.

[conduisant]

mk908 v5

for my mk908 v5, impossible to boot on the sdcard with the method of Anat...i stop the investigation...is there a way to flash the .img on the NAND ?

i've tried this method on my mk908 v5 (http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...-install/page4), linux boots well but the screen is flickering...

Any ideas ?