X99 MAX + cannot boot CE from SD or USB

Help & Support Installation & Booting
1

Hello,

I’m trying to boot CoreElec from USB or SD on X99 MAX+ with no luck :confused:

I bought it from here:

I try to use rufus/LibreELEC.USB-SD.Creator.Win32 on USB 2.0/3.0/SDcard with:

  • CoreELEC-Amlogic-ng.arm-9.2.2-Generic.img
  • CoreELEC-Amlogic-ng.arm-9.2-nightly_20200430-Generic.img

and

  • sm1_s905x3_4g_1gbit.dtb
  • sm1_s905x3_4g.dtb
    or even
  • sm1_s905x3_4g_1gbit_slowsdio.dtb

but it still stuck on logo “X99+ MAX”. No CoreElec boot screen, whatever

I can enter Android Recovery by pressing repeatedly AV.

Some logs below from Android SSH Server:
ls -l /sys/block/
mount
dmesg|paste

https://pastebin.com/x09YN8Ji

I would like to use dualboot or if it can’t although pure CoreElec without Android.
Could you give me some hints what else I can try ?
TIA

2

Are you holding the reset button in for long enough, about 10 secs, then release.

you should see the device start to boot CE, then release the reset

3

I press button AV then plug power cord and still pressing up to 30 secs but no logo changes to CoreElec.

4

Interesting information regarding this box

EDIT : Damn X99 is your box.

5

OK. Some new infos.

I guess it is wrong DTB problem. I try to boot diffrent DTB from pic below (yellow)

2020-05-04 122238

As you can see only which boots ok is sm1_s905x3_odroid_c4.dtb
I don’t have vfd, remote, and only 2GB but it’s understandable at this moment.

I have SSH shell now so i will investigate it further.

dmesg|paste below:
http://ix.io/2kJ7

6

I have the same box and the same problem. Is there any way to boot with 4g/1gbit dtb? Thanks…

7

It’s likely the box has fake ram, so it only has 2GB of RAM.

8

How do I know it’s a fake ram? HW Info shows that the box has 4GB.

Screenshot_20200520-182318
Screenshot_20200520-1823181920×1080 149 KB

9

You wouldn’t be the first nor the last to get a box with fake ram…
Hw Info shows what operating system reports, and operating system can report anything a manufacturer/vendor puts in it.
A secure method is to read markings on memory chips, but that is also sometimes not possible, because it’s easy to erase/remove markings on the chips which some manufacturers do…

10

Thank you for answer. So is it ok to use sm1_s905x3_odroid_c4.dtb instead of sm1_s905x3_4g_1gbit.dtb for this box?

11

It’s OK if it works. Whichever works is OK. On one of my boxes I can use 3 different .dtb images with various results, but they all work.
Using a .dtb that does not work cannot brake anything, so you should not be afraid of braking something. The box will either boot and work, or it will not boot at all.

12

I made some configs for this box:
vfd_x99max-plus(x88pro-x3)-NEW.conf (1.2 KB) X99MAX_plus_remote (555 Bytes)

I’ve already opened it:

IMG_20200521_094412
IMG_20200521_0944121728×2304 1.22 MB

and it seems to be clone of X88PRO which problems are similar.
Example in this topic
X88 PRO X3, Choose DTB and Install to EMMC

1 Like
13

From the experience of another forum, it seems that CoreElec detects the correct amount of RAM in the 4/64 box.
With the 4/32 box, CE cannot correctly detect RAM and only works with dtb for 2GB ram.
It’s the same as the X88 box. :confused:

14

And are you completely sure that it’s not a 2gb ram? As Sholander mentioned that’s pretty common, having fake ram that in android shoes as 4gb and there’s only 2gb in reality.

15

Is it possible to find out from these photos?

20200521_155750
20200521_1557501080×2336 702 KB
20200521_162752
20200521_1627521080×2340 1 MB
20200521_163008
20200521_1630081080×2336 1.62 MB
20200521_163023
20200521_1630231080×2336 1.85 MB

16

K4B2G0446D: 2G bit DDR3 SDRAM * 8 modules ? = 2 GB ram ?

17

agree it’s only 2GByte DRAM.
K4B2G0446D-HYH9 is 2Gbit IC => 256MB per IC. Assuming you have 4 ICs on topside and another 4 ICs on bottomside, this results in 2GByte total memory.
BTW: the DRAMs are refurbished/reballed ICs from ~2012, that’s one of the reasons why they can offer such boxes that cheap (besides cheating with 4GB)

2 Likes
18

I examined the X99 max+ box and ram datasheet in even more detail, and according to him, it looks like it’s really 4GB.

obrazek
obrazek909×81 5.13 KB

The box contains an 8x memory module K4B2G0446D-HYH9, which should be 8 x 512MB, a total of 4GB. So why does CE dtb only work for 2GB?

19

You misses that organization is x4 bit not x8 bit. That’s why it is only 2GB in total with 8 modules.

20

So organization 512Mx4 doesn’t mean four 512MB modules? I apologize for the stupid question, but I’m not an expert on ram modules …