A10 LIME - Not booting with a flash SD card

[Fudoro]

Hi all !

I'm new here, i've followed what is explained on the official Olimex website but my A10 won't boot, i've flashed a sd but when a plug the electric supply, the ethernet port blink and a red light stay on but nothing appears in the screen (plugged via HDMI) and nothing happen at all.. i don't understand, any idea ?

i've juste flash the image " https://ftp.olimex.com/Allwinner_Images/A10-OLinuXino-LIME/Debian/sd/a10_Lime_mainline_uboot_debian_3.4.90_release_4.zip " on my SD with Win32DiskManager and plug her in my board. Maybe i've forgot something ?

Thanks for the help !

[LubOlimex]

Hello,

Try to prepare the card with the free version of balenaEtcher instead.

If the issue remains maybe better try the newest Olimage image. Download and extract the archive named "A10-OLinuXino-bullseye-base-20220928-143706.img.7z" from here:

https://images.olimex.com/release/a10/

For more information download and take a look at the manual for Olimage here:

https://github.com/OLIMEX/OLINUXINO/blob/master/DOCUMENTS/OLIMAGE/Olimage-guide.pdf

[Fudoro]

Thanks for your reply but it still doesn't work for me :/

we are ok that i dont need an android nand to boot ?
and i dont NEED to use the debug pins of the board, an HDMI cable to a screen is enough ?

[Fudoro]

is a energy supply of 5V and 1A is enough ? i can read the pdf you link that is recommended "5V and 2A at least"

[LubOlimex]

5V 1A is enough if you don't have extra peripherals attached to the board, tho do you apply it to the power jack?

[Fudoro]

Yep, i connect the power jack with a 5V 1A power supply but the ethernet just blink and a red light stay on, i've try to press the power button then the others but nothing make nothing happen.. i'm really out of idea right now, i've test with another a10 lime board and i get the same issues, i'm sure that i am the problem haha but i dont understand what i do wrong. Thanks again for the help !

[LubOlimex]

I think that maybe by default HDMI output is not enabled. I will test it probably tomorrow but meanwhile can you also test with this older Linux image:

https://ftp.olimex.com/Allwinner_Images/A10-OLinuXino-LIME/Debian/sd/a10_Lime_mainline_uboot_debian_3.4.90_release_4.zip

This test should show if the board is alright. Extract it again and download it to your card with free version of BalenaEtcher. Let me know how it goes with that Linux image.

[Fudoro]

Ok thanks !
(idk how to enable HDMI, i tell you just in case)

I've already try with this image, i've tried with like 10 differents images lol

[Fudoro]

Hi, did you have time to test it ?

[LubOlimex]

Yes, I did test A10-OLinuXino-LIME with the image from this archive:

https://images.olimex.com/release/a10/A10-OLinuXino-bullseye-base-20220928-143706.img.7z

Downloaded the image to the card using free version of BalenaEtcher (got it from here: https://www.balena.io/etcher).

Then inserted the card into the board, connected the board to HDMI display, and finally applied 5V power supply. The board booted into desktop and HDMI seems to work fine on first try, no need to even restart it.

My advice is to check if your monitor is set to HDMI input, sometimes screens are set to another input source. Maybe try another HDMI cable and finally maybe test with another display. Double check if your power supply is 5V, power supply should be applied to the power jack.

This is what I see after a minute or so on first boot:

[Fudoro]

Hello, i've try exactly the same things with the exact same steps from your last post but no, it doesn't work again.. i've tried with another A10 Lime board, with 3 differents screen with 3 different HDMI cable, i've triple check the input config of each screens, i've tried with 2 5V 1A different power supply on each of my 2 board, and absolutly nothing happens. like every other times, the ethernet port blink and a red light stay on but that's all, even after 2min, nothing happen, nothing moves and te screens are detected nothing. I'm pretty lost right now..
when the SD is flashed, i can't access to it with my windows but i thinks it's normal right ?

[LubOlimex]

You should consider using another debug medium first to confirm if the boards work. The three most popular alternatives are:

- just plain USB cable;
- USB-serial adapter;
- Ethernet cable.

Refer to the Olimage manual on how to get any of these three alternatives working:

https://github.com/OLIMEX/OLINUXINO/blob/master/DOCUMENTS/OLIMAGE/Olimage-guide.pdf

Let me know how it goes.

>  ...the ethernet port blink and a red light stay on but that's all,

This is not a bad sign. In fact red LED is a power good indicator, being turned on is better than being turned off.

> when the SD is flashed, i can't access to it with my windows but i thinks it's normal right ?

Yes, it is normal. The card is in Linux format. You can explore it only under Linux.

[Fudoro]

I've already tried to connect the board to my windows with the mini usb connector, and after with my fedora but in the two cases i don't know how to use it ? (putty dont connect to the board)

[LubOlimex]

The debug is on the mini USB connector. Refer to page 16, chapter 6.3 of the document I shared above.

[Fudoro]

Nothing's happen with two boards, the boards are not detected