Not completely. In theory wiping /dev/userdata and formatting to EXT4 format would allow to use storage partition on eMMC. But I never tried that because reflashing device is too annoying. Also in case something goes wrong makes device broken.
This would make single boot possible - maybe. Dual boot will never be supported.
Is there some crossover solution possible like the way FireTV Cube uses the internal data partition for STORAGE?
setenv rootopt “BOOT_IMAGE=kernel.img boot=FOLDER=/dev/data disk=FOLDER=/dev/data”
No, because userdata partition is encrypted can’t be mounted. I tried but failed. Maybe someone finds the solution 
And wouldn’t a direct copy with DD work either? In the worst-case scenario, I’d have to use the Amlogic Burning Tool again, right? Or is it likely to completely brick the TV box if all the partitions are deleted?
I’ll try the DD method in a couple of hours and see what happens.
maybe, but you’re going to have to take full responsibility
my CE devices are all dedicated CE so loss of android wouldn’t bother me
i’m interested if you can do this so don’t forget to report back any success or failure
DD copies 2 partitions but userdata is just one. That’s why formating it to EXT4 would be better. If then still boots CE from USB you can proceed with next chapter.
This was used on Homatics with old Android where mounting the partition was possible:
servidor:~ # mkdir -p /media/data
servidor:~ # mount /dev/userdata /media/data
mount: /var/media/data: special device /dev/userdata does not exist.
dmesg(1) may have more information after failed mount system call.
servidor:~ # mount /dev/data /media/data
mount: /var/media/data: special device /dev/data does not exist.
dmesg(1) may have more information after failed mount system call.
servidor:~ # lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
loop0 7:0 0 344.8M 1 loop /
sda 8:0 0 10.9T 0 disk
\xe2\x94\x94\xe2\x94\x80sda1 8:1 0 10.9T 0 part /var/media/12TB
sdb 8:16 0 12.7T 0 disk
\xe2\x94\x94\xe2\x94\x80sdb1 8:17 0 12.7T 0 part /var/media/14TB
mmcblk0 179:0 0 58.2G 0 disk
mmcblk1 179:32 0 116.5G 0 disk
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80mmcblk1p1 179:33 0 512M 0 part /flash
\xe2\x94\x94\xe2\x94\x80mmcblk1p2 179:34 0 116G 0 part /storage
mmcblk0boot0 179:64 0 4M 1 disk
mmcblk0boot1 179:96 0 4M 1 disk
servidor:~ #
After reboot: dmesg | paste
servidor:~ # dmesg | paste
https://paste.coreelec.org/WannaSummary
just 1 addition and it works for me on my rocktek
before modifying config.ini
mount -o remount,rw /flash
never tried this before, thank you very much
Try again with latest nighty because you are using 5.15.170 linux.
[ 1.136219] [mmcblk0p31] userdata offset 0x0000f7f00000, size 0x00064fb00000 adding
ervidor:~ # mkdir -p /media/data
servidor:~ # mount /dev/userdata /media/data
mount: /var/media/data: special device /dev/userdata does not exist.
dmesg(1) may have more information after failed mount system call.
servidor:~ # mount /dev/data /media/data
mount: /var/media/data: special device /dev/data does not exist.
dmesg(1) may have more information after failed mount system call.
servidor:~ # lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
loop0 7:0 0 346.3M 1 loop /
mmcblk1 179:0 0 29.8G 0 disk
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80mmcblk1p1 179:1 0 512M 0 part /flash
\xe2\x94\x94\xe2\x94\x80mmcblk1p2 179:2 0 29.3G 0 part /storage
mmcblk0 179:32 0 58.2G 0 disk
mmcblk0boot0 179:64 0 4M 1 disk
mmcblk0boot1 179:96 0 4M 1CoreELEC (official): 22.0-Piers_nightly_20260429 (Amlogic-no.aarch64)
Machine model: Amlogic
CoreELEC dt-id: s7d_s905x5m_4g_1gbit
Linux version: 5.15.196 (docker@20080e3e85ea) #1 Wed Apr 29 01:28:51 IDT 2026
Kodi compiled: 2026-04-28 18:38:13 -0500servidor:~ # dmesg | paste
https://paste.coreelec.org/GliderShrek
on clean nightbuild
Seems we lost partitions from eMMC. WIll chech it tomorrow.
Oh wait, in the last attempt to install using ceemmc I think it asked me if I wanted to force partition deletion, or I think I deleted it… since we’re in this state, wouldn’t the dd command work with the deleted partitions?
You have messed up device then? 
Well, hard to tell what to do. Not sure if device will boot from eMMC if you just use dd from USB to it.
Also don’t know if this device needs any file from Android. Seems not if there is no partitions visible.
I will not say anything how to proceed to not be blamed for anything. There is firmware available for device and I assume recovery is always possible with aml tool. But I’m not familiar much in this area.
“messed up” wouldn’t be the right word, since, as I said in another post, I’m not interested in Android. Since then, I’ve only been using CoreELEC from a microSD card. I’ll try the hard drive thing if something goes wrong… that’s life. 
With “messed up” I meant we don’t know what exactly is current status.
DD of whole emmc is very bad idea because u-boot will be overwritten and device will not boot.
I would suggest to restore device with aml tool and then use only userdata partition.
Copying everything with dd doesn’t work, the screen is just a flickering black screen… the TV box is dead, I’m reinstalling Slimbox right now. If I only use the userdata partition, would I still need the microSD card to boot, or for CoreELEC?
Yes, only for booting. Then it runs from ram and eMMC.
Perfect, do you know if there’s a guide or something to start with? I already have all the partitions.
servidor:~ # lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
loop0 7:0 0 346.3M 1 loop /
mmcblk1 179:0 0 29.8G 0 disk
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80mmcblk1p1 179:1 0 512M 0 part /flash
\xe2\x94\x94\xe2\x94\x80mmcblk1p2 179:2 0 29.3G 0 part /storage
mmcblk0 179:32 0 58.2G 0 disk
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80reserved 179:33 0 64M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80env 179:34 0 8M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80frp 179:35 0 2M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80factory 179:36 0 8M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80vendor_boot_a 179:37 0 64M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80vendor_boot_b 179:38 0 64M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80bootloader_a 179:39 0 8M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80bootloader_b 179:40 0 8M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80tee 179:41 0 32M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80logo 179:42 0 8M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80misc 179:43 0 2M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80dtbo_a 179:44 0 2M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80dtbo_b 179:45 0 2M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80cri_data 179:46 0 8M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80param 179:47 0 16M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80odm_ext_a 179:48 0 16M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80odm_ext_b 179:49 0 16M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80oem_a 179:50 0 32M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80oem_b 179:51 0 32M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80boot_a 179:52 0 64M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80boot_b 179:53 0 64M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80init_boot_a 179:54 0 8M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80init_boot_b 179:55 0 8M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80metadata 179:56 0 64M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80vbmeta_a 179:57 0 2M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80vbmeta_b 179:58 0 2M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80vbmeta_system_a 179:59 0 2M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80vbmeta_system_b 179:60 0 2M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80super 179:61 0 3.1G 0 part
\xe2\x94\x9c\xe2\x94\x80rsv 179:62 0 64M 0 part
\xe2\x94\x94\xe2\x94\x80userdata 179:63 0 54.4G 0 part
mmcblk0boot0 179:64 0 4M 1 disk
mmcblk0boot1
EDIT: I already found the information in one of your previous answers.
Thanks for all your time.
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