[Bug]: The U-Boot build process for Allwinner H313 based boards fails.

[userse31]

What happened?

Yeah I'm still trying to get that X96Q box to work, but this issue seems more.... General.

How to reproduce?

When the scripts do decide to build U-Boot from scratch (which seems random?) compilation fails.

The issue seems to arise from one of the C files for the scripts fails to build:

[🔨] scripts/dtc/pylibfdt/libfdt_wrap.c: In function ‘_wrap_fdt_next_node’:
[🔨] scripts/dtc/pylibfdt/libfdt_wrap.c:5581:17: error: too few arguments to function ‘SWIG_Python_AppendOutput’
[🔨] 5581 | resultobj = SWIG_Python_AppendOutput(resultobj, val);
[🔨] | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Man why did I go with computers instead of drawing or something when I was growing up?

Branch

other (only relevant in corner cases)

On which host OS are you running the build script and observing this problem?

Debian 13 Trixie

Are you building on Windows WSL2?

• Yes, my Ubuntu/Debian/OtherOS is running on WSL2

Relevant log URL

https://paste.armbian.com/hadihiqahu

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

[github-actions]

Jira ticket: AR-2785

[igorpecovnik]

but this issue seems more.... General.

Sorry, this is not general. Please do not open tickets for problems with tvboxes codebase.

[EvilOlaf]

Debian 13 Trixie

Unsupported build environment. Noble works just fine. https://docs.armbian.com/Developer-Guide_Build-Preparation/

[userse31]

but this issue seems more.... General.

Sorry, this is not general. Please do not open tickets for problems with tvboxes codebase.

But this very much looks like a problem with building U-Boot for the sun50 series of chips, not just the TV boxes.

[igorpecovnik]

We declare supported build host environment with a reason. Different (Python) (libraries) breaks compilation - which is the case here. Quite common on unsupported build host environments. It is already a nightmare and huge loss of personal time securing compilation on one host combo. And nobody can provide warranty for free opensource software. Support is always provided at best effort principle.

[tabrisnet]

Note that if you can run this on a machine with docker [note that you can force it to try with PREFER_DOCKER=yes, but it will use docker by default if available], it should then become a supported environment [by way of using noble inside the container].
@userse31 @coderabbitai

[coderabbitai]

Tip

For best results, initiate chat on the files or code changes.

@tabrisnet Thank you for providing this helpful workaround!

To summarize for @userse31: The U-Boot build failure you're experiencing on Debian 13 Trixie is due to Python library incompatibilities in an unsupported host environment. As mentioned by others, the Armbian build system officially supports specific host environments (documented here) to avoid exactly these kinds of issues.

The Docker solution:

• Running the build with Docker will use Ubuntu Noble inside the container, which is a fully supported environment
• Docker should be used automatically if available on your system
• You can explicitly force Docker usage by setting PREFER_DOCKER=yes
• This isolates the build from your Trixie host environment and its incompatible Python libraries

This approach should resolve your SWIG_Python_AppendOutput compilation error by ensuring the build runs in an environment with the correct library versions that the U-Boot build scripts expect.

---

🧠 Learnings used

Learnt from: amazingfate
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8419
File: lib/functions/host/prepare-host.sh:272-275
Timestamp: 2025-07-23T10:01:41.310Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, the design philosophy is to fail fast when host dependencies are not met rather than gracefully skipping unsupported architectures. This ensures build environment consistency and prevents silent failures. Host dependency checks should be explicit and non-negotiable.

---

Learnt from: tabrisnet
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8925
File: lib/functions/host/docker.sh:141-141
Timestamp: 2025-11-13T14:50:44.662Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, certain boards have U-Boot that doesn't build correctly on ubuntu:noble but works on ubuntu:jammy. For these boards, DOCKER_ARMBIAN_BASE_IMAGE can be set to "ubuntu:jammy" via an extension file loaded before docker_cli_prepare() runs, allowing legacy toolchains to work while the community works on proper fixes with limited resources.

---

Learnt from: rpardini
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8044
File: patch/u-boot/v2025.04/cmd-fileenv-read-string-from-file-into-env.patch:76-86
Timestamp: 2025-03-31T22:20:48.475Z
Learning: For the Armbian build project, maintaining consistency with existing patches across U-Boot versions (such as between 2025.01 and 2025.04) is prioritized over refactoring individual patches for code improvements.

---

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-09-29T14:02:41.821Z
Learning: AR-9999 is a placeholder Jira ticket reference used in the Armbian build repository and is not a real issue - it will return 404 responses.

---

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8328
File: lib/functions/compilation/patch/drivers_network.sh:542-545
Timestamp: 2025-06-24T10:08:40.313Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, when a PR removes build support for a specific kernel version, version check issues for that removed version become practically irrelevant even if they appear incorrect in isolation. Context about which kernel versions are being deprecated/removed is important for understanding the impact of version-related code changes.

---

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8298
File: extensions/https_proxy.sh:1-9
Timestamp: 2025-06-14T05:53:10.627Z
Learning: Armbian build framework extensions are NOT designed to run standalone but are called by the supervisor. The framework provides environment variables like USERPATCHES_PATH and SDCARD, and commands are executed with protection via run_host_command_logged and chroot_sdcard functions that use bash -e -o pipefail.

---

Learnt from: Grippy98
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8622
File: config/sources/families/k3.conf:66-66
Timestamp: 2025-09-12T19:28:38.491Z
Learning: In the Armbian k3 family build system (config/sources/families/k3.conf), builds do not fail when TIBOOT3_BOOTCONFIG is unset, even though tiboot3.bin is still listed in UBOOT_TARGET_MAP. The gating mechanism in pre_config_uboot_target__build_first_stage function works as intended to conditionally build/copy tiboot3.bin only when TIBOOT3_BOOTCONFIG is defined.

---

Learnt from: amazingfate
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8619
File: config/sources/families/rockchip.conf:222-230
Timestamp: 2025-09-14T06:32:29.806Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, the write_uboot_platform() function implementations follow different patterns across Rockchip family files. The newer standard (used in rockchip64_common.inc and rk3506) includes 'status=none' parameter in dd commands, while older implementations (rk3288, rk322x) use an older pattern without this parameter. The rk3506 implementation correctly follows the current Rockchip family standard.

---

Learnt from: djurny
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8272
File: config/bootscripts/boot-mvebu.cmd:182-186
Timestamp: 2025-06-04T23:45:38.860Z
Learning: In config/bootscripts/boot-mvebu.cmd, the `fdtfile` variable is mandatory for booting and is pre-set by U-Boot, but can be overridden via armbianEnv.txt. If `fdtfile` is empty, the subsequent device tree file search logic will eventually fail and trigger the critical error "Cannot find DT!" with proper error handling.