Recent posts

#21

A20 / Best practices to optimize A20...

Last post by jeffreestar - September 05, 2025, 05:27:42 AM

Hello everyone,

I've been experimenting with the Olimex A20 board (Cortex-A7, Dual Core, 1 GHz, DDR3 1 GB, 4 GB NAND, HDMI, SATA, Gigabit Ethernet, LCD, GPIOs) for some projects, and I would like to hear your experiences and tips.

Specifically, I'm interested in: that's not my neighbor

Best Linux distributions (Armbian, Debian, etc.) that run most stably on A20.

Performance tuning tricks for SATA speed and Gigabit Ethernet throughput.

Recommended approaches for GPIO usage in custom applications.

Any issues you faced with HDMI output or LCD integration, and how you solved them.

I'm currently testing with Debian-based images, but I wonder if others here have found better performance with specific kernels or custom builds.

Looking forward to your advice, benchmarks, and any insights that could help the community make the most out of the A20 boards!

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

#22

A13 / A13-OlinuXino disagling debug ...

Last post by Davide - September 04, 2025, 02:49:36 PM

Hi!

I am trying to disable kernel messages over UART1 (ttyS0).

What I tried so far:
- removed env variables for 'console' and 'loglevel' and put on 'uEnv.txt' `console=tty1 loglevel=0`
- got rid off the `[uart_para]` section, the one with the debug settings, from 'script.bin'
- uncommented `kernel.printk = 3 4 1 3' from '/etc/sysctl.conf'
- tried to add 'boot.scr' with 'console' and 'loglevel' as above (before I wasn't using any 'boot.scr')

The output from '/proc/cmdline', `console=tty1 loglevel=0 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait panic=10`, shows the correct values and I actually see printings on my display. However, messages are sent over ttyS0 too.

The image I am using is "A13_debian_34_90_WIFI_RALINK_GCC_GPIO_X_I2C_100KHz_UVC_TS_FTDI_3G_video_accell_release_10", taken from https://ftp.olimex.com/Allwinner_Images/A13-OLinuXino/2.legacy_images_kernel_3.4.x

Thanks to anyone who will answer!

#23

A20 / Re: Old olinuxino a20 kernel i...

Last post by marcohani - September 03, 2025, 06:29:10 PM

I am trying to boot from SPI flash an old kernel image 3.4 series in an Olinuxino A20 board.
There use to be a file called migrate_to_SPI_eMMC_boot.txt, but I cannot find it anymore.
Anyone can point me to the right information?

Regards

Lu

Check the Olimex GitHub repo, specifically the A20 software section. The file might have been deprecated, but the SPI boot instructions are in the Linux-A20 repository.

#24

RK3188 / Re: [RK3328-SOM-EVB] Using UA...

Last post by cybernox - September 03, 2025, 03:03:14 PM

No one can help us?

#25

ESP32 / Re: can not flash olimex esp32...

Last post by LubOlimex - September 03, 2025, 08:00:46 AM

Thank you for the update.

About the board with the blown capacitor you might be able to repair it if you have a soldering iron. If the board is broken and you have the will I guess nothing to lose if you try. Refer to the schematic and identify the blown capacitor and get similar one unsolder old on from under the board and then place the new one, make sure it is properly oriented capacitors have long leg and short leg. Let me know if you need further directions in that regard. Maybe provide a picture of the blown capacitor.

Consider that if it is capacitor responsible for the PoE powering, the board might still work fine on USB or Li-Po powering (just the PoE powering would be affected).

#26

ESP32 / Re: can not flash olimex esp32...

Last post by RobLatour - September 02, 2025, 06:37:33 PM

So I got the other board to work too

What I did:

1. Erased the exiting flash

python -m esptool --chip esp32 --port COM5 erase-flash

2. Used with Ardunio 1.8.19 ( thanks LubOlimex )

3. Used board manager: esp32 by Espressif Systems board library v3.3.0

4. Used:

Board: "OLIMEX ESP32-POE-ISO"
Upload Speed: "921600"
Flash Frequency: "80MHz"
Flash Mode: "QI0"
Flash Size: "4MB (32Mb)"
Partition Scheme: "Default 4MB with ffat (1.2MB APP/1.5MB FATFS)"
Core Debug Level: "None"
PSRAM: "Disabled (WROOM)"
Erase All Flash Before Sketch Upload: "Disabled"

Hope this will be of help to others, and again with thanks to LubOlimex

#27

ESP32 / Re: can not flash olimex esp32...

Last post by RobLatour - September 02, 2025, 05:07:27 PM

Thanks for your help.

I got it to work on one board.  Will post back here later with explanation if I can get it to work on the other as well. 

#28

ESP32 / Re: can not flash olimex esp32...

Last post by RobLatour - September 02, 2025, 03:34:20 PM

so I tried 1.8.19 but got the same results as in my original post.

#29

ESP32 / Re: can not flash olimex esp32...

Last post by RobLatour - September 02, 2025, 02:54:58 PM

Thank you I will give 1.8.19 a try and post back here with the results.

Also, yes, I tried both DIO and QIO, and a different partition scheme. 

Additionally, I tried googling for "esp_core_dump_flash: Core dump flash config is corrupted! CRC=0x7bd5c66f instead of 0x0" but recommended solutions from others - like trying DIO and erasing the flash didn't help.

#30

A64 / Re: HDMI: A64 Board not detect...

Last post by LubOlimex - September 02, 2025, 08:45:52 AM

Hard to tell what is wrong or what has to be done without doing it, probably there is something wrong with the script that doesn't save the auto detection option. The script is supposed to save the configuration you've selected.

Automate the changes to apply on start up like you did maybe add a cronjob so it does it automatically on startup.