Table of Contents
CoreELEC for Banana Pi
These instructions explain how to install and boot CoreELEC on Banana Pi SBC's from µSD Card by use of a Windows PC. The instructions can easily be adapted for other Operating Systems.
These Single Board Computers come without an Operating System pre-installed.
Prior to installing CoreELEC, the Android firmware has to be flashed to the SBC.
Instructions how to flash the firmware are included in this document.
Supported Devices
- BPI-M5
- BPI-M2 Pro
Requirements
- 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 A-Male to Micro B Data Cable (M2 Pro)
- USB A-Male to USB C cable (M5)
- 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
Preparation
Firmware
- Download Jackpal Terminal Emulator for Android and copy the file to the USB Flash drive.
- Download the Abdroid mbox variant ui image for BPI-M5 (at the time of writing release 2021-05-20, Android 9.0 with kernel 4.9.113)
- Download and install the AML Usb Burning Tool
CoreELEC
- 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
| Device | Edition | DTB | SoC |
|---|---|---|---|
| BPI-M2 Pro | 2G | sm1_s905x3_bananapi_m2pro | S905X3 |
| BPI-M5 | 4G | sm1_s905x3_bananapi_m5 | S905X3 |
Flashing the firmware
- 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
- Connect the SBC with the corresponding USB Cable to an available USB slot on the PC.
Upon successful completion
- Press stop
- Disconnect USB Charger Cable from PC
First boot
- Insert Remote Controller USB Adapter
- Reconnect USB Charger Cable to PC USB slot
- The SBC should boot into Android
Install CoreELEC
Once booted into Android:
- Insert USB Flash drive with Jackpal Terminal Emulator apk
- Insert µSD Card with CoreELEC
- Install Jackpal terminal with apk installer (under Android aps)
- Start Jackpal terminal
- Type
update rebootin the terminal and hit the enter key. - The SBC should restart from SD Card and start expanding the storage partition. Allow for the CoreELEC pre-installation script to finish.
Install CoreELEC to eMMc
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
Reboot to Android
In dual boot mode: to return to Android, choose reboot from eMMc from the power menu.