Can't boot Debian or Android from SD card or get UART to work

#1

I’ve been trying to boot Debian, but it just blinks blue forever. Same with Android. I have bought a new Sandisk 128GB card and that shouldn’t be the issue.

As for the FTDI chip, I have an FT232R. I couldn’t find an information on whether it supports 1500000 Bd. I read in another post that you need to install the FTDI drivers. I am on Arch an libftdi is installed. Any experiences with that converter?

As for the power supply I am using the one the Raspberry Pi 4 with 5V 3A, which should be sufficient, right? I also tried using my 20V Lenovo PSU, but the Rock 5 then makes squeaking noises and turns off after short time. Weird, since it should support up to 21V…

So yeah, basically nothing works here. Help please! :smiley:

#2

What version/release of Debian are you using?

#3

@Ian_Kester-Haney The official one from https://wiki.radxa.com/Rock5/downloads of course

#4

Seems to be my monitor. At least Debian works on my TV. Weird…

Android doesn’t work.

As for the UART connection, I have ordered another converter and will see how that goes

#5

Thanks for your report.
Regarding Android, me too. The boot device is uSD card. However, my FT232RL works well with pin6:GND, pin8:RX, pin10:TX, 1.5Mbps… As a result, the screen is black, the output from uart is totally 1882 lines. there are many errors. At last, it stopped at a prompt of #. It seems to be root prompt and the reboot command was accepted.
After reboot, the Debian 11 boots normally from NVMe SSD. Wiered.
Android starts just after power on.
Anyway, Android does not boot properlly.

#6

Guess we will still have to wait till next your for this board to become fun!

#7

Agree, this board gives us ‘fun’ (^O^).

#8

You mean pain? ^^

1 Like
#9

No, probably moderate stress.
Thanks.