Booting Linux and Ubuntu issues on MINIX Neo Z83-4 mini PCs

[linuxium]

Hi, I still have the boot/HDMI issue on my Minix. I have checked the kernel version by executing uname -r and it shows 4.15.0-58-generic.
I tried to run the update/upgrade commands but nothing changes.
Can anyone help me please?

Assuming the upgrade command worked successfully can you run 'sudo update-grub' to see if it picks up the latest kernel? If this still doesn't work can you post what the command 'ls /boot/vmlinuz*' returns?

 

[smayze]

I am also facing this issue.
I have a NEO Z84-4 V2 Pro that had Windows 10 installed. I have followed the instructions in the other forum posts to take note of the Windows License Key etc.

I then used Rufas to create a boot stick using Z83-4U-Ubuntu_2018.04.01-20181029.iso
For this install, the workaround on this forum works in that I can access the desktop by going in via recovery mode. But that is where the story ends. I did apply the patch as described. It all seemed to go well, but the boot up is still not correct. I do wonder if it is to do with the kernel version - This seems to be using 4.15.0-99-generic (I am not Linux build expert so I am a bit out of my league with this issue).
I did try Z83-4U-Ubuntu_2018.04.03-20191104.iso but there is no activity on the screen what so ever - even when "trying Ubuntu before installing". It just stays blank and there is no purple screen.

In case it is useful, based on the posts above, for the Z83-4U-Ubuntu_2018.04.01-20181029.iso I checked the following ...

uname -r
4.15.0-99-generic

Before applying the patch
ls -l /boot/vmlinuz*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8257272 Mai 10 18:55 /boot/vmlinuz-4.15.0-29-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 8380056 Apr 22 20:32 /boot/vmlinuz-4.15.0-99-generic

After applying the patch


ls -l /boot/vmlinuz*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8257272 Mai 10 18:55 /boot/vmlinuz-4.15.0-29-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 8357664 Okt 1 2019 /boot/vmlinuz-4.15.0-65-linuxium
-rw------- 1 root root 8380056 Apr 22 20:32 /boot/vmlinuz-4.15.0-99-generic

Any advise or tips would be appreciated. Note that I was intending to use this mostly in a headless mode so with SSH setup, I could work with this if there is no immediate solution.

 

[linuxium]

I am also facing this issue

To clarify I understand your issue: having installed Z83-4U-Ubuntu_2018.04.01-20181029.iso from USB booting results in a purple screen and accessing Ubuntu via the recovery screen shows that the uname kernel release is 4.15.0-99-generic?

If so can you post the output from the command 'sudo dmidecode -t 1'.

 

[smayze]

Yes, you have summed it up correctly. Here are the results of your request...

sudo dmidecode -t 1

# dmidecode 3.1
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 3.0.0 present.

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
Manufacturer: MINIX TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
Product Name:
Version:
Serial Number: Default string
UUID: 03000200-0400-0500-0006-000700080009
Wake-up Type: Power Switch
SKU Number:
Family: NEO

 

[linuxium]

You have an earlier BIOS version which you will need to upgrade in order to successfully use Linux. I suggest you PM @MINIX - John and ask him for the 'CHT0C04001.bin' BIOS together with instructions on how to perform the update.

 

[smayze]

Thank you very much for your responses and time on this. I see that @Minix prefers that an email is sent to support@minix.com.hk so I have taken that avenue first.

Many thanks again.

 

[smayze]

I have contacted support@minix.com.hk and they were very helpful to identify and provide the BIOS I might need. The conversation over email indicated that the instructions for applying the BIOS are on the forum. I found the following post

instructions-for-updating-bios

This refers to running a command like

AfuEfix64.efi CHT0A180.bin /p /b /n /x

But in my case, the .efi file I have is fpt64bsw.efi which does not take any of the above options. I was wondering if there are any further details on how this should be executed?

 

[Villa]

Before you do anything, I would say the most important thing is to check in your BIOS is this...

It is extremely important to check if the "Project Version" in BIOS is started with "CAT0A".
If the "Project Version" starts with "CAT0C", then you can't use this BIOS, otherwise the device will become a brick, no reaction and cannot boot.

 

[smayze]

Thanks @Villa The Project version in my BIOS is CHT0C04-000 with a MINIX firmware version of CHT-T3 2017-03-30 0.5 The mail exchange with support@minix.com.hk had me send them a screen shot of my BIOS and from that a zip file was supplied. It is just the actual command steps I am missing to be able to apply this update as it does not match what I have been able to find on the forum.

 

[Villa]

Thanks @Villa The Project version in my BIOS is CHT0C04-000 with a MINIX firmware version of CHT-T3 2017-03-30 0.5 The mail exchange with support@minix.com.hk had me send them a screen shot of my BIOS and from that a zip file was supplied. It is just the actual command steps I am missing to be able to apply this update as it does not match what I have been able to find on the forum.

Can you post what that zip file contains?

 

[smayze]

@Villa, the ZIP_ file contains the following files

$ ls -l
total 12240
-rw-r--r-- 1 smayze 197121 8388608 May 21 13:00 CHT0C04001.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 smayze 197121 9248 May 21 13:00 fparts.txt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 smayze 197121 4128736 May 21 13:00 fpt64bsw.efi*
-rw-r--r-- 1 smayze 197121 1262 May 21 13:00 'Release Note.txt'

 

[Villa]

But in my case, the .efi file I have is fpt64bsw.efi which does not take any of the above options.

It is just the actual command steps I am missing to be able to apply this update as it does not match

I'm guessing you tried this!
fpt64bsw.efi CHT0C04001.bin /p /b /n /x

I reckon you should rename fpt64bsw.efi to AfuEfix64.efi

 

[smayze]

It has to be said that I am totally out of my league with this BIOS update state and why I am treading carefully and appreciate the assistance.

Yes, that was the only command I have attempted. When running that as a command, I get the following error and a listing of the command options for ht at ftp64bsw.efi

Error 200: Invalid parameter value specified by user. Use -? option to see help.


How I came to run this as the command was from the Forum Post for updating the BIOS:

https://theminixforum.com/index.php?threads/instructions-for-updating-bios.153

I saw that the AfuEfix64.efi was part of the update that was being demonstrated. I don't have that file in my update, only the fpt64bsw.efi. So my assumption was that was what I needed to execute.

If AfuEfix64.efi exists and is available and executable from within the BIOS UEFI (even though not being a part of the set of files in the update), then the "AfuEfix64.efi CHT0C04001.bin /p /b /n /x" should work. I just was not sure if this was even available to the UEFI shell as this file is not a part of the update that I have - I had not tried it before confirming that my steps are correct.

 

[linuxium]

@Villa, the ZIP_ file contains the following files

$ ls -l
total 12240
-rw-r--r-- 1 smayze 197121 8388608 May 21 13:00 CHT0C04001.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 smayze 197121 9248 May 21 13:00 fparts.txt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 smayze 197121 4128736 May 21 13:00 fpt64bsw.efi*
-rw-r--r-- 1 smayze 197121 1262 May 21 13:00 'Release Note.txt'

Please see below instructions:

1. Download the BIOS.
2. Unzip it and copy “fpt64bsw.efi” and “CHT0C04001.bin” to the root of a USB stick.
3. Insert the USB stick to your device, and attach a conventional wired keyboard, a screen and power cord to the NEO Z83-4 device.
4. Press the “F11” key on the keyboard when powering on the Z83-4. Choose the “UEFI: Built-in EFI shell”, then enter.
5. Input command fs3: to go into the root folder of the USB stick.
6. Input below command to execute updating BIOS process.
   fpt64bsw.efi /f CHT0C04001.bin
7. When this process is finished, the BIOS is updated successfully.

Please note, during the updating process, do NOT unplug the power adapter.

 

[smayze]

To close off my part of this thread, a big thank you to all who assisted. The Minix Support and the members of this forum are super.
The update went through without a hitch. I have restarted the machine a couple of times to be sure and it boots up into Linux without any extra intervention on my part.

 

[cxed]

Thanks so much to linixium for hunting this down. I have _two_ minix mini computers (I tried to buy a 2nd exactly like the first) - both work with Debian 9 but graphics fail with Debian 10 on only one of them. So something is definitely not right. Everything linixium has described matches my situation exactly. The problem with the offered solution is that I am not using Ubuntu. Though I did try Ubuntu, Arch, Manjaro, and compiling my own latest 5.7 kernel for Debian, none of those approaches worked and linixium's explanation is consistent with that.

Can you describe what kernel configuration changes (from major distro defaults) specifically cure/ameliorate this?

And then there is the BIOS. I'm encouraged that a firmware fix may exist that just gives me the usable computer I thought I was buying, but the process was very unnerving. If getting some randomish sequence of letters and numbers slightly wrong can brick the device, I'm thinking the procedures and documentation should be a little more explicit and careful. Currently they seem, well, nonexistent (for my exact model anyway). Can anyone provide more details about how to rehabilitate these machines with broken HDMI firmware? Where exactly do I find the firmware and verify it is correct? If the process to install it on my machine is different than described above, hints about that would be useful too.

Specifically, I have a Neo Z83-4 Plus V2 with the following details from the BIOS:
Core Version: 5.011
Compliancy: UEFI 2.4; PI 1.3
Project Version: CHT0C04-000
Build Date and Time: 06/26/2018 17:34:03
MINIX Firmware Version: CHT-T3 2017-03-30 0.5
Total Memory: 4096 MB (LPDDR3)
TXE FW Version: 02.00.05.3107

Thanks for any help!

 

[linuxium]

If you have two devices and one works with Debian 10 and one doesn't work with Debian 10 then I'd look at the BIOS on both machines and make sure it is the same. As both work with Debian 9 what is the output from each device for 'sudo dmidecode -t 1'?

 

[cxed]

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant that I had purchased a Minix mini computer last year, and it worked fine so this year I tried to buy one exactly like it. But of course they've changed in small ways - unfortunately cutting off Linux being one of them. Let's ignore the older machine which works fine. The new one, which has the HDMI problem with Linux, produces the following.

# dmidecode 3.2 Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs. SMBIOS 3.0.0 present. Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes System Information Manufacturer: MINIX TECHNOLOGY LIMITED Product Name: Version: Serial Number: Default string UUID: 03000200-0400-0500-0006-000700080009 Wake-up Type: Power Switch SKU Number: Family: NEO

 

[linuxium]

It is the same situation as for @smayze above: you have an earlier BIOS version which you will need to upgrade in order to successfully use Linux. I suggest you PM @MINIX - John and ask him for the 'CHT0C04001.bin' BIOS. Note that instructions on how to perform the update are posted above at #36.

 

[cxed]

Thanks for the clarification on what exact BIOS is needed and the procedure to install it. I am not quite sure what "PM @Minix" means or how to do that. I tried sending email to support@minix.com.hk but did not hear back. Thanks for your help!

Edit: I think I figured out how to do this. For anyone else unclear on this process that is probably obvious to normal people -
"MINIX - John" is a single user name on this forum. It is tagged with "Administrator" rank, so that is encouraging.
I clicked on "Members" in the top forum menu. Find this user in "MINIX Staff". Click on the user (or hover) and click "Start Conversation".