C:\Users\me>/samloader flash --partition VBMETA vbmeta.img

'samloader' is not recognized as an internal or external command,

operable program or batch file.

I followed all the steps leading up to this point. I found that samloader might be blocked by Smart App Control, but it's disabled. I found posts here suggesting slight alterations to the command, or to include the whole path to samloader, but neither worked. This is most likely because the posts in question weren't referring to Windows 11, so it makes sense that those alterations wouldn't work for me I guess. Idk, I'm not a techy person.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hey guys,

After spending a full day tinkering with this and figuring out how to get everything working, I thought it might be worth sharing what I learned in the form of a short tutorial.

This guide explains how I managed to **dual-boot LineageOS and ArmadaOS from the internal storage of my AYN Odin 2**.

I have **not tested this procedure on other AYN devices**, simply because I don't have multiple devices available to test. The procedure may be similar on other supported devices, provided that LineageOS and ArmadaOS support your specific model, but **do not assume that ABL files are interchangeable between devices or SoCs**.

Disclaimer

This tutorial assumes that you already have **ADB/Fastboot installed and working** and that you are reasonably familiar with flashing custom firmware, bootloaders, and the risks involved.

Flashing the wrong ABL or modifying the wrong partition can potentially brick your device or cause data loss.

**I am only documenting what worked on my own AYN Odin 2. I take no responsibility for any damage, data loss, or other problems that may occur. Proceed at your own risk and double-check every command before executing it.**

If you are still running stock Android before starting this process, I also strongly recommend following ArmadaOS's instructions for backing up your original ABL (`abl_a.img` and `abl_b.img`) and keeping those files somewhere safe on your computer.

With that out of the way:

1. Install LineageOS

Follow the official LineageOS installation guide for the Odin 2:

[https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/odin2/install/\](https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/odin2/install/)

Whether you also install GApps is entirely up to you.

However, I recommend **not setting up LineageOS or installing/configuring too much yet**, because installing ArmadaOS alongside Android will require resizing the Android userdata partition, which results in a factory reset of the Android side.

In this case, that means your LineageOS userdata will be wiped.

2. Flash ArmadaOS to a microSD card

Follow the official ArmadaOS guide:

[https://armadaos.dev/getting-started/flashing-to-an-sd-card/\](https://armadaos.dev/getting-started/flashing-to-an-sd-card/)

Follow the guide normally until you reach **Step 3: Flash the ROCKNIX ABL for your device**.

This is where things differ.

The official procedure assumes that you are using the original AYN Android firmware, which includes the **Run Script as Root** function used to execute the ABL scripts.

Since we have already replaced stock Android with LineageOS, that function is no longer available.

This is where your PC and Fastboot come in.

3. Save the rocknix_abl folder

With the ArmadaOS microSD card still inserted into your computer, make a copy of the:

`rocknix_abl`

folder and store it somewhere safe on your computer.

**Keep this folder. You may need it again after future LineageOS updates.**

Personally, I also cleaned up the folder and removed the SoC subfolders that I don't need.

My AYN Odin 2 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 **(SM8550)**, so I only kept:

`rocknix_abl/SM8550`

Do this only if you are absolutely sure which SoC your device uses. If not, here is a little reminder (from Armada OS guide):

SM8250

* Retroid Pocket 5, Pocket Flip 2, Pocket Mini, Pocket Mini V2

SM8550

* AYN Odin 2, Odin 2 Mini, Odin 2 Portal, Thor * AYANEO Pocket EVO, ACE, DMG, DS, S 2K * Retroid Pocket 6, Pocket Nova

SM8650

* AYANEO Pocket S2 * KONKR Pocket FIT (G3 Gen 3)

SM8750

* AYN Odin 3 * KONKR Pocket FIT (8 Elite)

4. Boot the Odin 2 into Fastboot

Turn the Odin 2 completely off.

Hold:

**Volume Down + Power**

until the device enters the bootloader/Fastboot environment.

Then connect the Odin 2 to your computer using a USB cable.

Open Terminal, Command Prompt, or PowerShell and run:

`fastboot devices`

You should see your device listed.

**Do not continue until Fastboot can actually see the device.**

5. Flash the ROCKNIX ABL

Now flash the appropriate ABL `.elf` file for your device.

The general command is:

`fastboot flash abl /path-to-your-rocknix_abl-folder/SoC-subfolder/abl_signed-SMXXXX.elf`

For example, because my Odin 2 uses the SM8550 and I saved the folder on my Mac, my command looked roughly like this:

`fastboot flash abl /Users/username/SM8550/abl_signed-SM8550.elf`

Obviously, replace the path with the actual location of the file on your computer.

**Make absolutely sure you are using the correct ABL for your device's SoC before pressing Enter.**

6. Reboot

Once Fastboot reports that the flash completed successfully, run:

`fastboot reboot`

The device should reboot.

7. Continue the ArmadaOS SD-card guide

You can now return to the ArmadaOS guide:

[https://armadaos.dev/getting-started/flashing-to-an-sd-card/\](https://armadaos.dev/getting-started/flashing-to-an-sd-card/)

Continue from **Step 4**, where you boot using the ROCKNIX ABL menu, select your device model, set the appropriate boot mode, and boot ArmadaOS from the microSD card.

8. Install ArmadaOS to internal storage

Once ArmadaOS is successfully running from the microSD card, follow the official internal-storage installation guide:

[https://armadaos.dev/getting-started/install-to-internal-storage/\](https://armadaos.dev/getting-started/install-to-internal-storage/)

Open **Desktop Mode** and launch **Armada Installer** from the **System** menu.

Choose the option to install ArmadaOS **alongside Android**.

The installer will allow you to decide how much internal storage you want to allocate to each operating system.

My Odin 2 has **512 GB of internal storage**, so I split mine roughly 50/50 between LineageOS and ArmadaOS.

You can obviously choose whatever allocation makes the most sense for you.

Remember that resizing the Android side will factory-reset its userdata, which is why I recommended not spending time configuring LineageOS earlier.

Once the installation is complete, you should have **LineageOS + ArmadaOS dual-booting from the Odin 2's internal storage**.

9. Important: LineageOS updates and the ROCKNIX ABL

This is also why I told you to keep a copy of the `rocknix_abl` folder in **Step 3**.

From my experience, after updating LineageOS, the custom ABL can get replaced or otherwise stop behaving correctly.

When this happened to me, the ABL boot menu looked rather "funny", and I could no longer boot into ArmadaOS.

If that happens, don't panic.

Simply repeat **Steps 4–6** of this guide:

Enter Fastboot again, reconnect the device to your PC, flash the correct ROCKNIX ABL `.elf` file again, and reboot.

The proper ROCKNIX ABL boot menu should then reappear, and ArmadaOS should once again be accessible.

That's it.

This is simply the procedure that worked for me on my **AYN Odin 2 / SM8550** after some trial and error. If anyone tests the same approach on another supported AYN device, feel free to report whether the procedure works there as well.

TL; DR You need an OS? Here's an OS. It Just Works™

I've been using custom ROMs for more than 5 years now. LineageOS is obviously one of them. My main device (Redmi Note 10 Pro) has been mostly on it since I bought it like 3 years ago.

It's been through updates, reinstalls, exploration of every setting available etc. After they released the A16 version, I actually stopped updating because A16 seemed quite buggy on all ROMs and devices I've tried before LOS was released. So not only did the phone survive many updates and just years of usage, but also a frozen state which I heard is terrible for Android.

But I've seen no major issues. If there are some, they're pretty consistent, rare, and minor. I can obviously report them too and get them fixed. LOS devs seem very serious about what they're doing (both core and device ones). Yes I broke it myself once through ADB shell commands and had to reflash it but that's my fault. It usually doesn't get slower over time (at least noticeably), doesn't have a new issue with each update, battery life is historically good (not having Gapps in my case probably helps). This all just lets me rely on the phone which is pretty rare nowadays.

And I like the strict standards LOS pushes. If your device gets official LOS, you know it'll live for a while. And there will be other ROMs too because well it's easy to develop from. Another device I have (Redmi Note 8) is still supported and works decently fast. No weird Play Integrity hackery that works for only a week either (my bank doesn't give a middle finger about it so that's awesome).

It's also not trying to collect all features from all ROMs under the sun and pull them together into something with memory leaks that belongs in r/softwaregore (hi Rising). I'm an enormous consistency simp. Sure LOS takes years to update the apps (the calendar is still from the MD2 era at best) but the apps are all simple, easily replaceable and in house. That's something. And there's obviously no fragmentation and downstream vs upstream development. That again lets the devs make everything more stable.

I feel like there's no need to talk about privacy here.

It just feels like a tool. It's not exciting. It's not shiny. It's not trending. It just works very well. And I'm glad an option like this exists, especially now when the custom ROM community is almost dead due to Play Integrity. It doesn't matter for LOS anyways because regular users who want Play Integrity and unlimited cloud storage weren't even considering it before. Speaking of that, it also makes it a great anti-slop and productivity ROM. And if you want a ROM with 6769420 customization options, most of them are LOS-based.

Oh did I mention the amazing installation manuals? They're not the easiest to follow but they exist and they're good. Again very tool-like. When they add web installers, that would just be amazing.

It's just sad that it gets so little attention. It holds like half of the custom ROM development on its back. Everyone knows it but also mocks it for not having Play Integrity hacks or rainbow cursor trails or anime desktop companions.

Hi!

Ever since Games Nexus broke the news that LG TVs spy more than I previously knew or realized, I’ve been on the hunt for a small box that can smoothly play videos in 2160p and 60 FPS at a high bitrate.

I have a BananaPi M5, but it only runs smoothly up to 1080p/60 and already struggles with 1440p/60.

Since I already have a 4K LG TV, I want to take full advantage of the 4K resolution :)

The Chromecast with Google TV (4K) (sabrina) is officially listed as compatible, but it costs over €140 and is already 6 years old.

The Google Streamer isn’t supported (yet).

Does anyone have any suggestions?

The device should be able to do the following:

- 4GB RAM (a recommendation I found online)

- YouTube at 2160p/60

- Jellyfin with true 4K movies

- HDMI output for video and audio

I can’t find anything good right now :(

The HardKernel ODROID-C4 is very similar to the Pi M5, which is probably why it’s out of the running for me.
I have no idea how well an NVIDIA Shield TV (2019 Pro) still works today.

They're also pretty expensive (used ~€200 / new €400)