Kernel 5.6.14-olimex and NAND?

[Chris]

I installed the official debian image on my A10Lime-4GB from
http://images.olimex.com/release/a10/

uname -a shows me

Code Select Expand

Linux a10-olinuxino 5.6.14-olimex #081742 SMP Fri Jul 31 08:18:08 UTC 2020 armv7l GNU/Linux
Is that a Mainline kernel? I expected that I need a special sunxi kernel for NAND support (essential for me!), right? Could not find that release on https://github.com/linux-sunxi so where can the sources be downloaded from and how to enable NAND on that kernel?
I also need matching kernel headers, could not find them anywhere.

Thanks in advance!

[LubOlimex]

Mainline kernel doesn't work with NAND memories for several reasons. Your best bet is kernel 3.4.xxx. We published 3.4.xxx images here:

ftp://staging.olimex.com/Allwinner_Images/A10-OLinuXino-LIME/Debian/sd/

Notice that we didn't publish image featuring a script ready for installation for the A10 boards but I think I've seen several people over this forum that reported success in booting from the NAND.

[Chris]

Thanks, I'm used to work on (and even compile) the 3.4 sunxi kernel for years, inclusive booting from NAND.

I was just confused that you sell A10 boards inclusive NAND memory, which your actual images can't access.     
My hope was that you have a NAND patch for actual kernels (or sth. like this).

So A10 users (and buyers!) with NAND will ever stick to old kernel 3.4 and be excluded e.g. from device drivers that require an actual kernel. You'd better mention this on your website...

[LubOlimex]

The NAND was added for Android mainly. The original BSP provided for Allwinner for A10 boards was Android. We never advertised providing all the software tools to boot Linux off the NAND of the A10 board, in fact quite the opposite, page 44 from the user's manual:

Q: Is it possible to boot Linux from the NAND memory?

A: Yes, it is possible. Customers have been successful in booting from the NAND. At the time of writing this document, Olimex does not provide a suitable image, however. It would be up to you to do it.