安装Installing Armbian on Amlogic S805 Android TV Box (OttBox MXQ)

I love the idea of the Raspberry Pi, but there are some cheaper alternative single board computers that offer a similar experience for a fraction of the cost. While the community support isn't quite what it is for the Pi, there are a ton of projects you can accomplish on the cheap with these little hidden gems. Keep an eye on AliExpress and Amazon and you can find SBC's sporting quad core ARM process with 2-4 GB of RAM for under $30, including a power supply and IR remote control.

The box used in this video is a OttBox MXQ Mini I picked up used for $10 shipped. It sports a Quad Core Amlogic S805 @ 1..5GHz and 1 GB of DDR3 RAM.

Things You Will Need

A microSD card at least 8 GB https://amzn.to/36CpShC | https://amzn.to/3CXJngt | https://amzn.to/3JqyxSP

Downloads and Flashing to MicroSD

Download Armbian Download
Download Balena Etcher Download
Run Balena Etcher
Burn Armbian image to microSD card
Safely remove microSD and re-insert
Ignore/close the Windows dialogs to format the inserted microSD card

Configure MicroSD Card for Armbian

Open the readable partition of the microSD card in Explorer
Edit /euEnv.txt in a text editor
1. Update the FDT line to point to a working .dtb file for your device
  FDT=/dtb/meson8b-mxq.dtb
2. Save
3. Close
Safely remove microSD
Insert microSD card to Android TV box

Booting to Armbian for the First Time

With an unfolded paperclip, press the reset button on the bottom of the device
While holding the reset button, plug the power adapter into the Android TV box
You should see the Armbian terminal running startup scripts
When prompted, login with username: root password: 1234
Input a new root password
Confirm the new root password
When prompted, input a username
Input a password for the new user
Confirm the password for the new user
Follow any additional the prompts
Armbian will boot into the desktop environment

Special thanks to the developers and forum members over at Armbian.com for making this possible