ROCK 5B does not boot after update

ROCK 5 Series 5B/5B+
1

I’ve updated my ROCK 5B today and after restart it does not boot. Steps to reproduce:

  1. Flash SD card with https://github.com/radxa-build/rock-5b/releases/download/b39/rock-5b_ubuntu_jammy_cli_b39.img.xz
  2. sudo apt update;sudo apt -y dist-upgrade
  3. sudo reboot

There is no boot, no video output. Maybe the problem is in u-boot, which got updated?
How to recover?

2

Try other image: https://docs.radxa.com/en/rock5/alternative-os/5b-3rd-images

or: I made a Community Images Repository for rpi-imager

3

Well, I can try other image, but my old image is of this kind and I would like to make it work again.
Also, it’s the official image. I hope the problem will get sorted out soon.

4

Try others… Joshuas and Arch linux installer from Kwakiu are the best options right now.

1 Like
5

What is the indicator led showing? Is it blue or green? Is it blinking (fast or slow?)

Do you have a USB Serial Cable (or a microcontroller (esp32,rp2040,esp8266,etc) or other Pi ?)

6

I’d say it is solid blue. I have USB-Serial, I’ll try to see, what is on the serial console.

Connections are here, right? https://wiki.radxa.com/Rock5/dev/serial-console

1 Like
7

Maybe check your /extlinux/extlinux.conf and the parent directory of that boot partition to see if all the paths match?

8

I have the same issue with b39 build of ubuntu xfce

I also suspect it’s caused by u-boot update

Configuration file ‘/etc/default/u-boot’
==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
Y or I : install the package maintainer’s version
N or O : keep your currently-installed version
D : show the differences between the versions
Z : start a shell to examine the situation
The default action is to keep your current version.
*** u-boot (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?

I am trying the Debian xfce and NOT UPDATING the b-boot now.

I have done two solid hour of init work for a proof-of-concept and it’s gone to toilet…

9

— /etc/default/u-boot 2023-09-04 12:43:32.047680801 +0000
+++ /etc/default/u-boot.dpkg-new 2023-04-08 23:12:34.000000000 +0000
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@

#U_BOOT_ALTERNATIVES=“default recovery”
#U_BOOT_DEFAULT=“l0”
+#U_BOOT_PROMPT=“0”
#U_BOOT_ENTRIES=“all”
#U_BOOT_MENU_LABEL=“Debian GNU/Linux”
#U_BOOT_PARAMETERS=“ro quiet”
@@ -14,6 +15,3 @@
#U_BOOT_FDT_OVERLAYS=""
#U_BOOT_FDT_OVERLAYS_DIR="/boot/dtbo/"

-U_BOOT_TIMEOUT=“10”
-U_BOOT_PARAMETERS="$(cat /etc/kernel/cmdline)"
-U_BOOT_FDT_DIR="/usr/lib/linux-image-"

Configuration file ‘/etc/default/u-boot’

10

I see the difference in /etc/default/u-boot. I think, it’s not enough to correct it there. You’d need kind of uboot-update. Probably /usr/sbin/u-boot-update?

Is it fine to run it in a chroot? Or is there other way to correct the u-boot?

/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf looks fine to me, except there are missing lines like:

    fdtdir /usr/lib/linux-image-5.10.110-15-rockchip/

There is menu, linux, initrd, and append line. But the fdtdir line is missing after the update. I tried to add them by hand.

This solves the issue :slightly_smiling_face: