Hello,
I buy more X96Max+ devices and want to install CoreElec.
Is the correct DTB file in the stable version image? Or need to use one attached in this thread?
Best regards.
You need to use dtb from build you are going to install
Hello:
I tried to “install to internal” CoreELEC 9.2.2 (stable version) to a X96 Max+ (S905X3, 64 GB EMMC / 4 GB of memory / Gigabit)
My steps:
- Run Android in TV-Box. I installed “reboot to CoreELEC”.
- I used “reboot to CE” to start TV-Box from SD with CoreELEC 9.2.2.
- One at CoreELEC 9.2.2 from SD, with ssh:
ceemmc -x - Option 3 (only CE, no Android)
- The installation started… and finished (4 or 5 minutes), NO errors.
After that, in SSH I could read a message like:
“Turn off CE, retire your SD card and boot from MMC” (someting like that). - OK; I do that. Tunn off CE 9.2.2 from SD, SD out of the TV-Box… and start the TV-Box from its remote control…
The problem now is that the TV-Box “tries to start” from MMC, I see X96Max+ logo, and, after some seconds… the TV-Box re-starts again… and I see again X96Max+ logo… and re-starts again, etcetera.
When I use again the CE 9.2.2 from SD Card, it starts CE 9.2.2 from SD card.
If I do this from ssh:
ceemmc -x
the message is:
Starting CoreELEC eMMC installation tool…
System is not supported: sm1_s905x3_4g_1gbit!
There is NO official support by Team CoreELEC
if you continue to run this tool!
Continue? [y]: y
eMMC size: 0x000e8f800000 [64GB]
Existing CoreELEC single boot installation found on eMMC
Renew current CoreELEC single boot installation on eMMC
Use CoreELEC data from
[1] current used SD or USB device
[2] existing backup on current used SD or USB device
[3] Make a backup of current CoreELEC single boot installation on eMMC to current used SD or USB device
Please choose one option? [1/2/3]:
Any kind of solution for this?
You need to use nightly!
There are some devices, like yours, isn’t supporting HS400 eMMC speed as of low quality eMMC hardware used. Best is to boot nightly from uSD and then renew flash partition installation on eMMC by option 1.
I hope this will solve your issue.
Please, confirm me if I understand it or correct me if I’m wrong (probably).
I want to use this TV-Box as a TVHeadend server (I configured this in CE 9.2.2 in SD), so I want to use a stable CE version in “internal” eMMC.
Now it’s supposed that the TV-Box has a CE on eMMC, but it does not starts.
So that… with these “start conditions”, if I want stable 9.2.2 CE version, shold I…?
- Install a nightly in a new internal SD card
- Trying to install CE nightly “above” the CE installation (that does not start) that I have in eMMC at this moment
- If the process is OK and nighly now starts from eMMC, then can I update to stable version putting “CoreELEC-Amlogic-ng.arm-9.2.2.tar” in Update folder?
- Supposing that previous steps are right… if I use the backup that I have in my SD for CE 9.2.2 stable version… would it work in eMMC or not (because paths are different)?
Kind regards
No:
Step 3 will not work.
Step 4 is unnecessary, because the installation transfers all your data to the eMMC.
Well… finally I dit this:
- Flash an Android image from SD card.
- Install the last nightly in an SD and restore a backup of the previous 9.2.2.
- Install this to internal (ceemmc -x ; option 3)
- OK; it is into eMMC.
- “Update” to 9.2.2 stable on eMMC.
- But… it seems that I have some problems of performance (comparing to nightly), some problems using “entware”… so…
- Back to “nigthly”
Really it was not my intention at all to put a nightly in eMMC, but I’m not satisfied with performance and some problems when I changed to 9.2.2, so I’m using nightly at the moment.
I hope the next stable will be ready soon and shows more performance in eMMC (in SD works really fine). At this moment, for my X96 Max+, if I want it in eMMC (and I want), is the nightly.
Kind regards
I run every single nightly that comes along and although there are the occasional bugs and glitches, I tend to find them as rock solid as the stable releases, with the added benefits of being closer to the bleeding edge of development, so I would not treat nightly as being potentially automatically likely to be unstable as for the vast majority of the time they will work extremely well and if you do come across a nightly with a bug that adversely affects your box performance or stability, you can simply go back to a previous working one and await appropriate modifications and fixes.
I have to add: If you are really experiencing a bug in the nightlies, it’s very important to report it, so we are able to locate and fix it as soon as possible.
Well… I don’t really “have” noghing against the nihtlies.
I have been using them for a X96 Max+ (S905X3) some months until the 9.2.2 stable was realeased with no significative problems at all.
But, in this case, I want to use this TV-Box as a TVHeadend server, in a place that is quite far from my home, and I’ll go to his place once a month, more or less… so, if, for example, I had some problem after an update, I could not solve it in several days or weeks.
For this reason I prefer clearly the stable version for this particular case.
If I used this TV-Box at home, it would not be a problem for me.
Anyway, I will use nightly in eMMC for this TV-Box, and probably I will not have problems until a new stable version will be released.
Thanks for your fantastic job and kind regards!
We absolutely agree, that a stable release should be preferred over a nightly one, especially in such use cases.
But for the moment you have no other choice, because the last stable isn’t prepared for your hardware yet.
Please be patient for a little more time.
As soon as the next stable is released, you can switch to it, of course.
By the way… using now stable 9.2.3 in this Tv-Box.
Excellent.
Fantastic job.
Just wondering which version of CE you’re running on the X96 MAX+? Is a firmware upgrade needed for CE to work from internal or is it safe to move to internal with the standard firmware? Also does dual boot work OK?
Seems that installing CE on this box is complicated which is a shame as it seems quite a good box for the price.
I really can not recommend this box as it get sometimes sold with different SoC and also with lowest quality of internal eMMC.
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Thanks for the warning.
I use the dtb file “sm1_s905x3_4g_1gbit”, and burn the img to my usb flash disk with etcher successful. login into shell and ceemmc -x successful. My coreelec version is 9.2.3. Maybe you can have a try.
Just wanted to say, install to emmc worked on my X96 Max+
dual boot CE or Android
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That’s exactly why I’m here - to get this information. Thank’s! 
Do you have a new link for this firmware?
Today I successfully installed CoreElec version 19.2-Matrix_rc3 (Stable) on my X96max + … in SINGLE BOOT mode
Thanks to everyone for working on CoreElec !!! 