Unable to boot Armbian on new RockPro64

[mooseball]

I'm new to Pine64 things.

I have new a RockPro64 4GB.

I flashed the appropriate Armbian using dd to my SD Card, I place it in the RockPro64, add HDMI monitor and power (using a non-official 5volts, 3A output supply), and the device doesn't boot.

U-Boot starts running, but we never make it to the actual booting process.

It hangs at:

"## Flattened Device Tree blob at 01f00000
Booting using the fdt blob at 0x1f00000".

I searched that message online and the only thing I found was a long since squashed bug.

At the very beginning of the boot process it says: "Warning - bad CRC, using default environment".

I tried to use the pine64-installer from github, but it won run for me, and there are multiple issues in the repo saying the same for other users.

The SD Card is not new, I used it for a year or so in an RPi with no problems.

Any pointers appreciated.

PS: i can't work out how to search on this forum, so I haven't searched for my issue here. Apols if it has already come up. I did look through the first boot threads though.

[mooseball]

I tried flashing etcher and usbimager.

Then tried another new sd card, same problem.

The cards I'm using are SanDisk A1.

My model is RockPro64, v2.1.

Armbian is current: the file is Armbian_22.02.2_Rockpro64_bullseye_current_5.15.31. I have verified the download integrity, and tried flashing both .img and img.xz.

[...]

Update: I tried using an older armbian build and it boots.

[TRS-80]

Your first message in OP seems to me like it was not booting the OS (stopping after bootloader).

Eventually you covered all the basics by the end of your second post (sd cards, etc.).

The fact that an older version boots would seem to indicate your hardware is good.

Therefore it seems like maybe some regression in newer version. But no one from Armbian will see it over here, maybe make a forum post over at Armbian. In fact, there may be one already (I did not look).

[galexand]

i had this same problem and found a comment in another thread https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...#pid109310

the comment says to try disconnecting USB devices...and that worked for me. it is able to boot if i unplug the USB hub & keyboard i've got on it. updating doesn't seem to fix it, so the problem remains.

but i tried plugging the devices into the USB3 port instead of one of the USB2 ports, and that seems to have fixed it.

i'm tempted to get to the bottom of it, but honestly i'll probably never think about it again

[TRS-80]

i had this same problem and found a comment in another thread https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...#pid109310

the comment says to try disconnecting USB devices...and that worked for me.  it is able to boot if i unplug the USB hub & keyboard i've got on it.  updating doesn't seem to fix it, so the problem remains.

but i tried plugging the devices into the USB3 port instead of one of the USB2 ports, and that seems to have fixed it.

i'm tempted to get to the bottom of it, but honestly i'll probably never think about it again

Sounds power related.  There is not enough power to run the board and the USB hub (which also draws power).  I bet if you hook up a more substantial power supply, it may work.

OTOH, USB3 spec provides for more power than USB2 (which is only 500 mA) so maybe not.

Power and sd card related issues are the vast majority of problems with SBC.  See here for more detail.

[rockjonn]

I regret this inconvenience. I advise contacting the Armbian community or their help channels if you're having trouble launching Armbian on your new RockPro64. They will be able to provide you detailed instructions and troubleshooting techniques to fix the issue.

If you're experiencing difficulties launching Armbian on your RockPro64, I recommend reaching out to the Armbian community or seeking help through their dedicated channels. They will be knowledgeable and equipped to provide you with specific instructions and effective troubleshooting techniques to resolve the issue.