Hi, I am the unfortunate owner of rock 5b+ who is struggling to get a working ATV firmware for my 5b+.
When I bought it 2 months before there were no 5b+ with eMMC Module on board installed available.
Now I am struggling to install Firmware onto nvme while the radxa team has abandoned us with Software Support and no matter what they refuse to react and help us with Software.
Now I want to try to retrofit/ install eMMC Module onto my 5b+ to just try few available Firmwares.
I want to know is it possible to install eMMC Module onto 5b+ ? If yes where to buy it and which company?
How easy it is to install this eMMC Module on 5b+ ?
Anyone succeed in installing eMMC Module onto 5b+ ?
Please share your thoughts and experiences regarding this…
What OS are You installing? If it’s anything else than radxa os, why You ask them for support? They can’t cover any os build on net…
Installing Armbian on nvme is just about to run one command and confirm several things. For 5B series it’s just about to upload right spi image, u-boot or edk2 are obvious choices.
Isn’t swapping sd card easier?
There is ton of that on ali, just search for BGA153 EMMC5.1 and desired size,
like those KLMBG2JETD-B041 KLMBG2JETD (32GB)
Or just browse arace or allnet, zoom in emmc photos and find same BGA chip.
Depends on Your skills, You will need heating gun, some small amount of flux and some ipa to clean everything. You may practice on something else first to confirm Your experience. Many bga chips comes with solder balls already on chip so it’s not that hard to solder it.
Hi Dominik, thanks for your detailed reply.
I have 5b+. I want to try ATV firmware from mo123 on my nvme SSD but I couldn’t succeed with his old images and I am eagerly waiting for his new image for 5b+. So far he has cooked only for 5b .
When I bought my 5b+ there was no eMMC version available and I also had nvme in hand , that’s why I bought it without waiting/looking further . Now the big problem is to get ATV firmware installed onto nvme while 5b+ is tricky in getting this firmware installed. SD card gives me poor performance that’s why I didn’t try it till now.
If the eMMC Module is not costly and soldering it onto 5b+ is not that difficult (I have never tried to solder till now) I can buy it and try .
It’s just because I want to use 5b+ as my android tv box purely because of it’s Hardware performance, but now I am realizing it how bad their software support is. What is so difficult to provide just one working firmware for every user ? Be it Android/ Linux ??? I don’t understand. They want to sell hardware but forget software for those to whom they have already sold the hardware ? What kind of business is that ???
It doesn’t bring much if I keep whining here. I thought to move on.
May be can you help me in installing a working ATV firmware for 5b+ onto my nvme . Is there a one such firmware? Can you guide me on how to install it properly pls ?
5b images should be mostly compatible, some will not support second m.2 slot, but they should boot.
Either way - for particular image - ask his author
SD card may not be fastest one, but for sure it’s the one that is easy to replace and test. Also it’s quite easy to boot kernel from it and switch to nvme. This works always when no nvme boot support is yet included. Basically You get slightly slower boot from sd card and everything else works on nvme.
Practice on something different than Rock 5B+, you can easily get USB-eMMC adapters with same bga layout, if You solder chip there - probably You will do that on Rock board
There are many working images, but not every one support nvme or something specific that You may need.
Radxa is hardware company, to small to build own system, so they need to rely on parts vendor (rockchip, allwinner, cix). Same thing happens in x86 world, ie. buying asrock/asus motherboard and using intel supplied drivers for system.
You are not forced to buy anything and still free to choose x86 (better support) or something from apple (with their specs, support, agreement.
I never was interested in android on those boards and such use case,
I also saw it on the tech spec page radxa that only 5b has inbuilt eMMC module.
I don’t have it. If I buy one on AliExpress, will I be able to solder it ? I have no experience in soldering.
To that I should also buy eMMC to usb adapter right ???
Practice first on something else first, i/e get this pcb for tests or this one
BGA soldering is not something super easy, but on the other hand with some practice its possible at home and using simple construction heat gun. If You don’t have to reball chip then half of work is already done. Still rest of work require some skills, but You will never know that until You try.
Also You can try on something that is not that expensive, ie some electronics, when You can desolder and solder something back to learn it.
Still worth to check out local repair shops, some have pro BGA station with controlled temperature and of course all needed skills and materials. This is not rocket science today and probably there is someone near that can do that for You.
So yet again - soldering is not that super easy, but not impossible at home, You will never know not trying to do that, just start with something cheaper
So then I give up on eMMC balling and get a faster SD card like sandisk microsd express… Problem solved till mo123 cooks a nvme firmware for 5b+. After researching on the internet about eMMC performance it’s not worth that risk…the above said SD card reaches a write speed up to 480mbps !!! of course in theory but…
Good job radxa in selling this hardware as it is…
Not here,
Probably You are talking about UHS-III sd cards, RK3588 supports UHS-I and it’s little more than 100MB/s on good cards). Compared to good HS400 eMMC it’s about 400MB/s. So yep eMMC is significantly faster on Rock 5. SATA and nvme on pcie 2.1 is still faster (abut 550MB/s) and nvme on top.
I am planning to buy eMMC module and try to do reballing onto my 5b+. But once I do the reballing I don’t know how I can take out this eMMC module to flash firmwares? Should I have to take eMMC module out of 5b+ to flash firmware or I can only use rkdevtool to write firmware?
Which company eMMC is best in terms of speed and reliability? Samsung/SanDisk/ hynix or any other best known brand ???
Any videos on how to do easy reballing methods? What all Materials do I need ? Step by step guide would be highly appreciated including videos…
Thanks
Just read Radxa docs on how to program the eMMC. It’s just like an SD card. I found it easiest to boot from SD and flash something using dd (although I have the board with removable eMMC). Of course once you solder it, you don’t remove it
Once it’s installed You don’t need to take it out. You can program it using maskroom and rkdevtool mode or as @incognito said just boot sd card (usually higher prio) and do whatever is needed.
there was thread here with tests, as far as I remember I got best results with sandisk, but it was just few percentage. Reliability is about the same or there are no good tests for that.
First from search: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15RFI9wKHq8
You will need just bga flux and some tools, something to heat up board and chip. Later at least ipa to clean up flux.
Hi Bro, I searched few eMMC module based on your suggestion on AliExpress. I got many different products. But nowhere on AliExpress store it mentions clearly about the eMMC module size. I am bit unsure which one exactly should I buy. As I am ordering the necessary tool kit for reballing and soldering eMMC onto my 5b+, I would like to know which one exactly to buy. I also referred to data sheet on radxa for compatible eMMC module for 5b+, there only 64gb eMMC modules are tested and verified.
can you please tell me which one exactly to buy ? As I am ordering the necessary tools for soldering which costs double the price of the eMMC module what I am ordering, I want to be double sure that I order the correct one . That’s why I am asking you here for your help… As per my understanding I think I need 2uul flux, ppd solder paste 183°c grade and DIY eMMC 123 metal Stencil and also hot gun blower. I guess that’s more than enough for trying to solder right ??
As 5b+ board is ready to accept the eMMC I don’t have to prepare it, I will just do the reballing of eMMC module with PPD solder paste and once it dries after heat gun, I use 2uul Flux fluid to put eMMC module onto 5b+ and then heat again… I guess I understood the procedure correctly after watching few YouTube videos . Correct me if I am wrong.
Thanks in advance for your support.
This is easy to check, just google for chip ID and You will get quick answer, sometimes some digits indicate its size,
All HS400 eMMC should be fine, I never seen any in different package than 11x13 in this layout,
hot air?
Probably because of variants that come from factory,
I used few with 5B, up to 256G, all worked perfectly, it should be the same on 5B+.
Get bga chips with solder balls, so half od work is already done, check out quoted video - solder balls were not replaced. So You don’t need solder paste or stencil, just bga flux and hot air. Maybe You can get capon tape (as wide as You need) to secure near elements,
Don’t reball chip if it’s not needed. This is hardest part and You need few more things. Those are ready to solder into board.
Just put flux on pads, as small as possible to make them wet. Then position chip (pay attention to pin 1), preheat everything to at least 180-210’c (depending on what it’s on board, to high temperature can melt plastic). Then apply heat to just eMMC chip, at least 250’C and 300’C is bit better, balls should melt at about 220’C. When chip goes down (solders) touch it gently to be sure that all sides melted. That’s all, cool down, inspect it and try. Clean flux with ipa.
as it was said earlier: practice on something cheaper. eevblog have done his work on super cheap sd to emmc board, get something like that or the usb version. Get more emmc chips to try, they are still cheaper than Rock 5
Thanks for your detailed reply. That’s a good tip in ordering few eMMC module just incase one gets damaged then I have another one. Will do it. Can I use hairdryer as heat gun or soldering specific heat gun is a must ?
One last question what is this ipa? You said last clean flux with ipa in your last reply …
Hairdryer is probably bad idea, I never tried with it, but I’m sure that it would blow too much air and it’s temperature is rather lower. Market heat guns are better, most have temperature control, some comes with smaller tips for more precise work.
For BGA usually hot-air gun is used. This is designed for such stuff, allows You to control temperature and airflow. When You reach right temperature tin melts and it’s easy to blow off something near.
IPA is ok, turpentine is bit better,
any pcb cleaner should do the work, KT-5 is more aggressive and has best results, of course something more to wipe dirt like cosmetic pads,
