Got a faulty dead Rock 5b, sent it back for repair, and after i recieved it back it was still buggy and dead

So i bought prebooked rock 5b when it got released, so got a coupon, and one of the few people to order it when it was released,
after i got the board, i tried multiple power supplies, wasted so much money for power supplies, and even bought the official radxa power supply and tried booting it,
and that too failed.

after reaching out to the allnetchina for this issues, they wanted me to ship the board back to china, which was quite impossible, and there is no way i can send it from my country.

i had travelled to china for some work visit, and i took the board with me to china and then shipped it locally to allnetchina office, and they took good amount of time and found that there was a faulty ic and they assured me that it is fixed and shipped me the board, after i received the board, i tried booting most of the images that were available and none of them booted, only radxa image that was then available booted. none of the other images boot on my rock 5b.

i tried reaching the allnetchina team for their support and they arent responding.

these boards are capable, but when the manufacturer makes a mistake by sending untested dead board to customers, why should i a customer face all the trouble to get it fixed, and when i took the long way to send it back for rma, they screw me again, they sent back a faulty board, they didnt even replace the whole board and give me a working one instead.i am totally vexed with this board.

this is the serial out that i am getting when trying to boot armbian, if any one can help please do.
Welcome to minicom 2.8

OPTIONS: I18n 
Port /dev/serial0, 22:36:39

Press CTRL-A Z for help on special keys

DDR 9fffbe1e78 cym 24/02/04-10:09:20,fwver: v1.16
LPDDR4X, 2112MHz
channel[0] BW=16 Col=10 Bk=8 CS0 Row=16 CS1 Row=16 CS=2 Die BW=16 Size=2048MB
channel[1] BW=16 Col=10 Bk=8 CS0 Row=16 CS1 Row=16 CS=2 Die BW=16 Size=2048MB
channel[2] BW=16 Col=10 Bk=8 CS0 Row=16 CS1 Row=16 CS=2 Die BW=16 Size=2048MB
channel[3] BW=16 Col=10 Bk=8 CS0 Row=16 CS1 Row=16 CS=2 Die BW=16 Size=2048MB
Manufacturer ID:0x6
CH0 RX Vref:29.3%, TX Vref:23.8%,23.8%
CH1 RX Vref:28.8%, TX Vref:23.8%,24.8%
CH2 RX Vref:27.9%, TX Vref:24.8%,23.8%
CH3 RX Vref:29.3%, TX Vref:21.8%,21.8%
change to F1: 528MHz
change to F2: 1068MHz
change to F3: 1560MHz
change to F0: 2112MHz
out                                                                             
INFO:    Preloader serial: 2                                                    
NOTICE:  BL31: v2.3():v2.3-682-g4ca8a8422:derrick.huang, fwver: v1.45           
NOTICE:  BL31: Built : 10:11:21, Dec 27 2023                                    
INFO:    spec: 0x1                                                              
INFO:    code: 0x88                                                             
INFO:    ext 32k is not valid                                                   
INFO:    ddr: stride-en 4CH                                                     
INFO:    GICv3 without legacy support detected.                                 
INFO:    ARM GICv3 driver initialized in EL3                                    
INFO:    valid_cpu_msk=0xff bcore0_rst = 0x0, bcore1_rst = 0x0                  
INFO:    l3 cache partition cfg-0                                               
INFO:    system boots from cpu-hwid-0                                           
INFO:    disable memory repair                                                  
INFO:    idle_st=0x21fff, pd_st=0x11fff9, repair_st=0xfff70001                  
INFO:    dfs DDR fsp_params[0].freq_mhz= 2112MHz                                
INFO:    dfs DDR fsp_params[1].freq_mhz= 528MHz                                 
INFO:    dfs DDR fsp_params[2].freq_mhz= 1068MHz                                
INFO:    dfs DDR fsp_params[3].freq_mhz= 1560MHz                                
INFO:    BL31: Initialising Exception Handling Framework                        
INFO:    BL31: Initializing runtime services                                    
WARNING: No OPTEE provided by BL2 boot loader, Booting device without OPTEE iniK
ERROR:   Error initializing runtime service opteed_fast                         
INFO:    BL31: Preparing for EL3 exit to normal world                           
INFO:    Entry point address = 0x200000                                         
INFO:    SPSR = 0x3c9                                                           

thanks

So the board is working, right?


You boot log showed only the rkbin output. Have you tried to clear the SPI flash? There might be something left there: https://wiki.radxa.com/Rock5/install/spi#Additional:_erase_the_SPI_NOR_flash

Flashing Images:

  • Use rkdevtools on Windows.
  • If connecting the type-C cable shuts down your laptop, restart it while keeping the cable connected to enter maskrom mode without pressing the small button.

Image Preparation

  • :point_right: Decompress Images: Use WinRAR to decompress .img.xz files to .img, not the Windows ‘Extract All’ option.

  • Tick ‘Write by Address’

Rockchip Boot Loader SPL File


:point_right:t3: For SPI / select SPINOR and use the SPI Image

the problem is the board isnt booting and none of the images which are working for others are for this board, i tried flashing all available bootloader files, and then too it doesnt boot, and now i am unable to find the radxa image which worked

1 Like

I’ve been there with the first ones. Sent my board back twice. Expensive ship. It appears to be fine now.

@ChenJaly please review this issue when you have time.

Hi, please try to use https://github.com/radxa-build/rock-5b/releases/download/rsdk-b5/rock-5b_bookworm_kde_b5.output.img.xz and after flashing change the value of “/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf” file’s property loglevel to 7, in order to provide more information for my analysis.