Armbian Buster
mainline based kernel 4.19.y
Armbian Bionic
mainline based kernel 4.19.y
- manual flashing to latest u-boot is mandatory! Download the right boot flash for your board: 512,1G,2G, number of RAM chips (if your board is older than a few months it has two RAM chips – one on each side of the PCB opposite to each other. Recent 1GB models have only one chip at the bottom) and appropriate memory speeds. You can obtain numbers from the current boot prompt. Also choose right memory: ddr3 are for V3-V5 EspressoBin’s (i.e. V5, 1g-2cs) and ddr4 images are for v7 EspressoBin’s. Insert ‘ddr3’ or ‘ddr4’ into the bubt command string. Copy this
flash-image-ddr3/ddr4-MEM-RAM_CHIPS-CPU_DDR.bin
to your FAT formatted USB key, plug it into USB3.0 port and execute from u-boot prompt:bubt flash-image-ddr3/ddr4-MEM-RAM_CHIPS-CPU_DDR.bin spi usb
In case you experience instability reflash boot loader with lower CPU speed values!
- Updated u-boot needs new default boot environment and new boot script (overwrite the one on your /boot media – needed only if you upgrade from < v5.59). This is what you need to copy/paste into u-boot prompt:
env default -a setenv fdt_addr 0x6000000 setenv kernel_addr 0x7000000 setenv loadaddr 0x8000000 setenv initrd_size 0x2000000 setenv initrd_addr 0x1100000 setenv scriptaddr 0x6d00000 setenv initrd_image uInitrd setenv image_name Image setenv boot_targets 'usb sata mmc1 mmc0' setenv boot_prefixes '/ /boot/' setenv bootcmd_mmc0 'setenv devnum 0; setenv boot_interface mmc; run scan_dev_for_boot;' setenv bootcmd_mmc1 'setenv devnum 1; setenv boot_interface mmc; run scan_dev_for_boot;' setenv bootcmd_sata 'setenv devnum 0; scsi scan; scsi dev 0; setenv boot_interface scsi; run scan_dev_for_boot;' setenv bootcmd_usb 'setenv devnum 0; usb start;setenv boot_interface usb; run scan_dev_for_boot;' setenv bootcmd 'for target in ${boot_targets}; do run bootcmd_${target}; done' setenv scan_dev_for_boot 'for prefix in ${boot_prefixes}; do echo ${prefix};run boot_a_script; done' setenv boot_a_script 'ext4load ${boot_interface} ${devnum}:1 ${scriptaddr} ${prefix}boot.scr;source ${scriptaddr};' saveenv # Including this line to make sure saveenv is executed.
- Boot priority with this script is: 1. USB, 2. SATA, 3. SD card, 4. eMMC
- If you manage to crash your SPI flash, get appropriate files and proceed with one of the rescue options: SATA, UART,
- UART console is broken on legacy kernel 4.14.y
- if you need USB2 port on your mPCI slot (for Bluetooth or 4G/LTE modems) you need to move both jumpers near to the USB2 port. Position for this function is: away from the port.
Specifications
1000tx 2 core 2GB 64bit docker eMMC i2c mpci sata spi spi flash switch usb3 wireguard Marvell A3700
* Specifications differ from hardware revision, model and software support level
FAQs
- no active software development (mainline u-boot and kernel)
- no support from the vendor (hardware samples, documentation, software packages)
- never was sold, only samples in small quantities were available
- hardware design flaws don’t allow using these devices without stability issues
- images are stable but we don’t test updating,
- images are provided with no support,
- most images have frozen kernel and u-boot packages to prevent their upgrades.
dpkg -i linux-image-[branch]-family.deb linux-dtb-[branch]-family.deb
. In that process you can enforce many customization. To the kernel or user space. Read more. Tested 3rd party hardware

2.5" drive
anyNo limits

3.5" drive
anyNo limits

External enclosure
JMS567USB3.0

4G/LTE modem
Huawei ME909s150d/50u Mbps

UART
μUSBcable only

SD card
A132GB

USB Bluetooth
CSRUSB2.0 / v4.0

USB Ethernet
ax88179USB3.0 1000Mbps

USB Ethernet
RTL8153USB3.0 / 1000Mbps

USB WiFi AC
8811auUSB2.0 / 433Mbps

USB WiFi AC
8812AUUSB3.0 / 876Mbps

USB WiFi AC
8814AUUSB3.0 / 1300Mbps

USB WiFi AC
8814AUUSB3.0 / 1300Mbps

USB WiFi
ar9271USB2.0 / 150Mbps

USB WiFi
RT3572 RT5572USB2.0 / 300Mbps

mPCI SATA x 4
marvellSATA controller

mPCI WiFi AC
QCA9882876Mbps

mPCI WiFi AC
QCA98901300Mbps

mPCI WiFi AC
QCA99941733Mbps

mPCI WiFi
ar9380450Mbps

mPCI WiFi
AR9382300Mbps
All download options
Variant | Supported | Kernel | Mirrors | Size | Last modified | |
Bionic server | ![]() | 4.19 | 197 Mb | 2019-11-20 | ||
Bionic server | ![]() | 4.14 | 197 Mb | 2019-11-20 | ||
Buster server | ![]() | 4.19 | 313 Mb | 2019-11-20 | ||
Buster server | ![]() | 4.14 | 314 Mb | 2019-11-20 | ||