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        <title>Installing Armbian on Amlogic S905x3 Android TV Box (Tanix TX3)</title>
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            <h1>Installing Armbian on Amlogic S905x3 Android TV Box (Tanix TX3)</h1>
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          <p>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&#39;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&#39;s sporting quad core ARM process with 2-4 GB of RAM for under $30, including a power supply and IR remote control.</p>

<p>The box used in this video is a Tanix TX3 I picked up on AliExpress for about $35 shipped. It sports a Quad Core Amlogic S905x3 @ 1.9GHz and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM.</p>

<h2>Things You Will Need</h2>

<ul>
	<li>A microSD card at least 8 GB <a href="https://amzn.to/36CpShC" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/36CpShC</a> | <a href="https://amzn.to/3CXJngt" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3CXJngt</a> | <a href="https://amzn.to/3JqyxSP" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3JqyxSP</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>Downloads and Flashing to MicroSD</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Download Armbian <a href="https://www.armbian.com/amlogic-s9xx-tv-box/" target="_blank">Download</a></li>
	<li>Download Balena Etcher <a href="https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/releases/latest" target="_blank">Download</a></li>
	<li>Run Balena Etcher</li>
	<li>Burn Armbian image to microSD card</li>
	<li>Safely remove microSD and re-insert</li>
	<li>Ignore/close the Windows dialogs to format the inserted microSD card</li>
</ol>

<h2>Configure MicroSD Card for Armbian</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Open the readable partition of the microSD card in Explorer</li>
	<li>Rename the appropriate file from below to u-boot.ext on the root of the SD card, u-boot-s905x3 in this example</li>
	<li>Edit /extlinux/extlinux.conf in a text editor
	<ol start="1" style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
		<li>Update the FDT line to point to a working .dtb file for your device
		<div class="codeBlock">fdt /dtb/amlogic/meson-sm1-x96-air.dtb</div>
		</li>
		<li>Save</li>
		<li>Close</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Safely remove microSD</li>
	<li>Insert microSD card to Android TV box</li>
</ol>

<h2>Booting to Armbian for the First Time</h2>

<ol>
	<li>With an unfolded paperclip, press the reset button</li>
	<li>While holding the reset button, plug the power adapter into the Android TV box</li>
	<li>You should see the Armbian terminal running startup scripts</li>
	<li>When prompted, enter and confirm a root password</li>
	<li>Select a default system shell</li>
	<li>Input a username</li>
	<li>Enter and confirm a password for the new user</li>
	<li>Follow any additional the prompts</li>
	<li>Armbian will boot into the desktop environment</li>
</ol>

<p>Special thanks to the developers and forum members over at <a href="https://armbian.com" target="_blank">Armbian.com</a> for making this possible</p>          </div>
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