These instructions explain how to install and boot CoreELEC on Banana Pi SBCs from µSD Card by use of a Windows PC. The instructions can easily be adapted for other Operating Systems.

• BPI-M2 Pro
• BPI-M5

• PC with Microsoft Windows
• Android mbox variant ui image (release 2021-05-20, Android 9.0 kernel 4.9.113)
• AML USB Burning Tool v 2.2.3.3
• Jackpal Terminal for Android
• USB Charge and Sync Cable
• USB Remote Controller (ex: MX3 Air Mouse) or other USB controlling device (keyboard, mouse)
• USB Flash Drive (for file transfer)
• µSD Card (for CoreELEC)
• Memory Card Reader

• Download Jackpal Terminal Emulator for Android and copy the file to the USB Flash drive
• Download the Android mbox variant ui image for BPI-M5 & M2 Pro (at the time of writing release 2021-05-20, Android 9.0 with kernel 4.9.113)
• Download and install the Amlogic USB Burning Tool

• Extract the BPI-M5 firmware archive
• Start Amlogic USB Burning Tool
• Import aml_upgrade_package.img (file / import image)
• Ensure only erase flash and erase bootloader are checked and normal erase is selected
• Press start
• Press and hold the SW4 button
  
  

• Connect the SBC with the USB Cable to the PC
• Once the eMMC module is detected, release the SW4 button

Upon successful completion

• Press stop
• Disconnect USB Charge and Sync Cable from PC

• Visit the CoreELEC website
• Select a version to download
• The Download Helper will pop up
• Select Skip that and just show me all download options
• Download the generic image (CoreELEC-Amlogic-ng.arm-xxx-Generic.img.gz)
• Write the downloaded image to a μSD Card
• Copy the device tree from the device tree folder on the µSD card to the root of the µSD Card
• Rename the device tree dtb to dtb.img

• Insert Remote Controller USB Adapter
• Reconnect USB Charger Cable to PC USB slot
• The SBC should boot into Android

Once booted into Android:

• Insert USB Flash drive with Jackpal Terminal Emulator apk
• Insert µSD Card with CoreELEC
• Install Jackpal Terminal Emulator
• Start Jackpal Terminal Emulator
• Type reboot update in the terminal and hit the enter key
• The SBC should restart from µSD Card and start expanding the storage partition

Allow for the CoreELEC pre-installation script to finish.

For situations where it is desirable to run CoreELEC in dual boot with Android or as a stand-alone JeOS:

• SSH into the device and execute ceemmc -x

In dual boot mode: to return to Android, choose reboot from eMMC from the power menu.

For support unrelated to CoreELEC, please refer to the Banana Pi User Support Forums.

The above instructions also can be used to create a bootable USB Flash Drive.