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Rock960c won't boot from eMMC or SD card - always goes into maskrom - Rock960 - 96Boards Forum

Rock960c won't boot from eMMC or SD card - always goes into maskrom

Products Support Rock960
#1

I’m using the provided debian, ubuntu and android images from the downloads section, but the board won’t boot from any medium that I give it. I’ve tried two eMMC modules and a variety of microSD cards.

I’m using either dd or etcher to write to the SD cards.

For the eMMC, I’m loading a GPT image through rkdeveloptool:

$ lsusb -d 2207:330c                     
Bus 001 Device 026: ID 2207:330c Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Company RK3399 in Mask ROM mode
$ rkdeveloptool db rk3399_loader_v1.12.112.bin
Downloading bootloader succeeded.
$ lsusb -d 2207:330c                     
Bus 001 Device 027: ID 2207:330c Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Company RK3399 in Mask ROM mode
$ rkdeveloptool ul rk3399_loader_v1.12.112.bin
Upgrading loader succeeded.
$ rkdeveloptool wl 0 rock960c_debian_stretch_lxde_armhf_20180920-gpt.img
Write LBA from file (100%)
$ rkdeveloptool rd
Reset Device OK.
$ lsusb -d 2207:330c
Bus 001 Device 028: ID 2207:330c Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Company RK3399 in Mask ROM mode
#2

Try to boot the sdcard with the eMMC removed.

#3

$ rkdeveloptool ul rk3399_loader_v1.12.112.bin
Upgrading loader succeeded.

You don’t need this, please refer our how-to on the documents.

Linux Host Installation for ROCK960 - 96Boards

#4

I removed the eMMC and powered the board with a freshly burnt SD card as the only boot medium. Went into maskrom. (repeated 3 times on different cards of varying brands and speeds)

Cool, I saw in some places the documentation says I could use ul, not sure if it made a difference.

I tried again (I repeated these steps with 2 different eMMC modules and 3 different USB controllers):

$ lsusb -d 2207:330c
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 2207:330c Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Company RK3399 in Mask ROM mode
$ rkdeveloptool ld
DevNo=1 Vid=0x2207,Pid=0x330c,LocationID=501    Maskrom
$ rkdeveloptool db rk3399_loader_v1.12.112.bin 
Downloading bootloader succeeded.
$ lsusb -d 2207:330c
Bus 005 Device 004: ID 2207:330c Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Company RK3399 in Mask ROM mode
$ rkdeveloptool wl 0 rock960c_debian_stretch_lxde_armhf_20180920-gpt.img 
Write LBA from file (100%)
$ rkdeveloptool rd
Reset Device OK.
$ lsusb -d 2207:330c
Bus 005 Device 005: ID 2207:330c Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Company RK3399 in Mask ROM mode

After rd, the device stays in maskrom mode, but even so, I can’t run the db command again until I power cycle the board. So, while the device number increments, it doesn’t feel like it fully resets.

#5

The steps look right. Can you attach a serial and check the output when writing with the rkdeveloptool?

Serial Console - 96Boards

#6

Here’s the serial output. It only spits out data after the running the db command.

There is this set of messages near the end of it:

mmc: ERROR: Tuning procedure failed, falling back to fixed sampling clock
mmc: ERROR: tuning execution failed
emmc reinit
mmc: ERROR: Tuning procedure failed, falling back to fixed sampling clock
mmc: ERROR: tuning execution failed
emmc reinit
mmc: ERROR: Tuning procedure failed, falling back to fixed sampling clock
mmc: ERROR: tuning execution failed

I tested it with the two eMMC modules I have and got the same messages, so I’m not sure if it’s the eMMC modules or the board’s bringup.

#7

If you boot from SDcard and attach the empty eMMC, do you have /dev/mmcblk1 device?

#8

I’ve tried all three OS images (Android, Debian and ubuntu) on multiple SD cards and on power up the board immediately goes into maskrom mode.

#9

It’s highly like a hardware issue. I suggest you ask the distributor for an RMA.

#10

I would suggest just one more experiment before declaring it hardware defective.
Follow these instructions PRECISELY:

  1. Remove eMMC module and unplug EVERYTHING EXCEPT HDMI from rock960C.
  2. insert microsd card in your WORKSTATION and run following;
$ wget https://github.com/96rocks/manifests/releases/download/ROCK960-RK3399-android9-20190723_1429/rock960-model-c-rk3399_box-android9-20190723_1429_aa0834e-gpt.zip
$ unzip rock960-model-c-rk3399_box-android9-20190723_1429_aa0834e-gpt.zip
$ su
# umount /dev/mmcblk0p*
# dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M status=progress if=rock960-model-c-rk3399_box-android9-20190723_1429_aa0834e-gpt.img

** Substitute as appropriate for /dev/mmcblk0 if the sdcard appears as something else on your system.

  1. When the command completes, move sdcard to rock960, and power it up.

What you SHOULD observe is;
a) rockchip kernel splash screen,
b) a circle with a label “erasing” (could last a few minutes if your sdcard is very large),
c) rockchip kernel splash screen again,
d) 4 dots bootanimation (this will last a few minutes),
e) blank screen for several seconds,
f) Android TV launcher.

If following those instructions precisely doesn’t work, then your board must be defective.

#11

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

I unplugged everything except the HDMI cable and tried that image on a couple of cards (modifying the commands as appropriate), however nothing came through the HDMI video.

I’ll look to get an RMA.

Thanks again.