Allnet China holding Rock5b hostage. Radio silence from both them and Radxa

#1

For the first weeks none of the images worked with my power supplies and emmc. Since a week or two my device no longer bootloops, actually has output on HDMI, but it freezes after 8 seconds. This happens every time, with every recent image I try. They all stop on the same message.

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Each of the chargers that didn’t work before now have this result. The 65W brick from Allnet, Anker Nano III, Anker 10.000mAh slim PD powerbank, my phone, dumb Samsung charger. I’ve contacted Allnet about it, but they just sent me here for help. I’d like to know if there’s something I’m doing wrong, as the same setup that works for others does this for me.

Edit:
Allnet said the PMC is faulty, and some solder pads have fallen off. This explains the power-related log messages, as well as no HDMI output on one of the HDMI ports. Allnet replaced the PMC and says solder pads can’t be fixed so the HDMI is still faulty. They want me to pay a load to send it back a partially faulty Rock5b, which they are currently keeping hostage.

As a customer located in the EU I have the legal right to a free repair/replacement for a product that is faulty upon arriving, even if the seller is in China. I already paid for shipping, and I refuse to pay even more for a still faulty unit. I find it sad an authorised Radxa retailer does not adhere to EU law. As well as @radxa and @ALLNET_DE not willing to provide me with any answers.

Directive (EU) 2019/771on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019L0771

Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32011L0083

Dutch Consumer Protection Enforcement Act - Wet Handhaving Consumentenbescherming (Whc) –
https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0020586/2024-04-01

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#2

Such an amazing looking board. I was so excited 8 months or so ago when I first came across the Rock5b and the amazing rk3588 soc. I literally bypassed every other board with the rk3588 that was set to come out in 2022 in favor of the Rock5b. I have no regrets just a bunch of questions. The main one being- what the heck is the deal with all the complications involving operating systems installation? Anyway I hope everything works out soon as I know these things take time.

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#3

There are no complications if you use the SD card or eMMC. You just write an image to the memory card.

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#4

Does “every recent image” includes Armbian?

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#5

Armbian, dietpi, Debian minimal cli server and xfce, Ubuntu minimal cli server and xfce, image from the Discord with panfork and graphics libraries, Android, all freeze after 8 seconds on the same message (not sure about Android, as it freezes on the splash screen), openfyde doesn’t do anything.

#6

Then why do I have complications using eMMC?

#7

I had these hanging problems too. Here is what I did to solve it.

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#8

I find it amusing and sad how @Jack still claims there are no issues with PD lmao. “ROCK 5B uses a fusb302 chip connects to the USB C port to communication with the power adapter.” communication my hiney. Know if there’s any way to lock a certain voltage to prevent it from communicating and use the default PD setting? I kinda don’t feel like buying an extra pile of power supplies just in the hopes of finding one that works. I wish they just fixed these issues in the main release as they were already present in the dev boards.

#9

We all wish this.

#10

A fixed voltage, for instance 12V 5A, adapter will solve all power related problems.

2 Likes
#11

I have had similar booting problems with the 5B so you are not alone. Although it appears that people have found different solutions that achieve the same result, I will share the one that worked for me:

  1. Radxa Power PD 30W x 2: I purchased this adapter from AllNetChina after trying different power adapters that nominally provide the same current and voltage requirements of the 5B (both smart and dumb devices). The boot loop problems disappeared once I started using this manufacturer’s device. I too have a small yet growing mountain of accumulated power supplies for every imaginable gadget. I suspect that Radxa originally intended to draw upon these mobile device chargers because they are ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive. However, the devil is always in the details since these active chargers can only work with the device that they are intended to manage. My advice on this issue is simply to buy the Radxa charger that is specifically designed to support the 5B.
  2. Armbian 22.11.2 Cinnamon Legacy and SanDisk Ultra SD A1: After much distro hopping, I have found to date that this combination of os and storage medium produces the best success. Cinnamon desktop was not my first choice but I could not get XFCE to boot into desktop. The official Debian os booted sucessfully on the first attempt but failed all subsequent tries. Read closely the detailed advice from Armbian about the importance of chosing the right sd card and power supply - it is spot on correct!
  3. eMMc flashing using armbian-install: I finally suceeded in writing Armbian onto the 64GB card but it involved much trial and error. The official Radxa instructions were too vague for me to follow and get it right the first time. However, I’m happy to say that it does work! The key for me was to select the right option after launching armbian-install. By selecting “boot from eMMc/NAND, system on eMMc/NAND”, the Armbian os (which was on the SD card that I was booted on) was copied onto the eMMc card in several minutes. I powered off, removed the SD card, and powered back on. The performance improvement is quite noticable.
    I hope my experience helps out. Good luck :^)
#12

I still have been unable to use my Rock5. All the latest OSes fail. All power supplies fail. All cables fail. EMMC and SD fail. Allnet refuses to help me and sends me here. I’ve been looking forward to use this product for months when I’ve pre-ordered it. When it came out it didn’t work. Now it doesn’t work. I wish someone would help fix this issue. I spent too much money on this for it to just be a paperweight.

#13

If you have uart cable check the ouput of it
If you have type-c voltmeter check what does it shows

#14

Once you fix the power supply your irritation will just shift to the sw instead :grinning:

The 5B is dead. OPi 5 plus is cheaper, offers a variety of officially supported os, has proper documentation and does not seem to have the booting issues.

Rationale

#16

Ah, yes, the power supply. I’ve tried some of the same that have been working fine for others. So how do you suggest me to “fix” the power supply? I’m not interested in buying 5 more just because Radxa can’t get their shit to work as promised.

#17

The common way is that the manufacturer or re-seller provide support for the product they take to the market.

I have no idea why you have a non-working board. I beleive all possible solutions have been presented in this thread already.

Make a claim to the re-seller/manufacturer that your product dont work.

If you dont get any response, no one else will come to your rescue.

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#18

Except that it’s simple doesn’t have type-c PD. Instead its 5V input. Which is even more BS.

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#19

[quote=“Eric_Woudstra, post:10, topic:14027, full:true”
A fixed voltage, for instance 12V 5A, adapter will solve all power related problems.
/quote] Try a Rpi 4 fixed psu. I havent had a single issue even with booting from nvme ssd.

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#20

That is a fixed 5V supply isn’t it?

I’m sure it works fine, but technically you are better off with something a bit higher in voltage. With 5V supply, voltage dips will not stop at the step-down converter build-in the rock5b, but the entire board will see voltage dip, as the output of the step-down converter should also be 5V

When you supply the step-down converter with something higher in voltage, then the step-down converter can compensate for a dip in, for instance 12V to 11V. It cannot compensate a dip 5V to 4V back to 5V as it is only a step-down converter.

#21

RPI 5v 3A fixed supply is very stable though not the best but for troubleshooting its the go to psu.

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