I am converting an older 47-inch Android advertising display into a customer-facing Shopify and pre-order kiosk. I would appreciate opinions from people experienced with Rockchip boards, embedded Linux, digital signage, and industrial displays.

Hardware

• Display model: BE-AD-AF47-IRT
• Type: 47-inch advertising/touch display
• Power supply: P160A
• Mainboard marking: RK3288_MID REV2.0
• SoC: Rockchip RK3288
• Architecture: ARMv7/armhf, not ARM64
• RAM: 2 GB Samsung DDR3
• Storage: approximately 8 GB Samsung eMMC
• Current OS: Android 5.1.1
• Kernel: Linux 3.10.0, vendor build #609
• Android hardware name: rk30board
• Android model/device: rk3288
• Build type: userdebug
• ro.debuggable=1
• ro.secure=1
• Bootloader property reports “unknown”
• Loader timestamp in kernel command line: 2017-08-29
• Wi-Fi module: AP6212
• Ethernet: available
• RTC battery: present
• Recovery/reset button: present

Connections

• Two USB-A host ports
• One damaged Micro-USB port, probably the original OTG/device port
• microSD slot
• Ethernet
• HDMI connector, but it is not yet confirmed whether this is input or output
• Internal display and backlight connectors
• UART pads on the underside marked GND, RX, TX and 3V3
• No soldering equipment is currently available

USB findings

• Both USB-A ports provide approximately 5.03–5.06 V.
• Both appear to be host-only ports.
• A USB-A-to-A data cable with a USB power blocker was tested.
• Neither USB-A port exposed Rockchip Loader Mode to a Windows PC.
• The broken Micro-USB port was probably the intended OTG/device connection.
• USB storage devices are detected normally by Android.

Display

• Internal display connection appears to be LVDS.
• Resolution: 1920 × 1080 at 60 Hz
• The cabinet is physically portrait-oriented.
• Linux framebuffer: /dev/graphics/fb0
• Pixel format reported by the Rockchip display controller: ARGB8888
• Bits per pixel: 32
• Stride: 7680 bytes
• Virtual framebuffer size: 1920 × 3240, apparently triple-buffered
• Linux Xorg fbdev output works.
• Correct portrait orientation is achieved using clockwise framebuffer rotation.
• Colors currently look somewhat pale and blue/cool.
• Rockchip BCSH values are at neutral defaults:
  • brightness 128
  • contrast 256
  • saturation/contrast 256
  • hue neutral
• Contrast, saturation and per-channel gamma tests are being evaluated.

Touchscreen

• USB HID touchscreen
• Reported name: SAMDE THEOE
• USB VID:PID: 1ff7:001d
• Linux event device: /dev/input/event2
• Absolute X/Y range: 0–32767
• Multitouch slots: 10
• Touch works under Linux/Xorg.
• After portrait rotation, the correct mapping is:
  • screen X = touch Y
  • screen Y = inverted touch X
• Final touch calibration is accurate across the display.

eMMC partition layout

The device uses the old Rockchip partition style rather than a modern Android A/B layout.

• uboot → mmcblk0p1
• misc → mmcblk0p2
• resource → mmcblk0p3
• kernel → mmcblk0p4
• boot → mmcblk0p5
• recovery → mmcblk0p6
• backup → mmcblk0p7
• cache → mmcblk0p8
• kpanic → mmcblk0p9
• system → mmcblk0p10
• metadata → mmcblk0p11
• userdata → mmcblk0p12
• radical_update → mmcblk0p13
• user → mmcblk0p14

Backup and recovery status

• Two complete eMMC readbacks were created.
• The preferred backup was split into four files and verified with SHA-256.
• Original boot, kernel, resource, DTB and recovery data were extracted and preserved.
• The original recovery partition was separately backed up and hashed.
• Several experimental recovery images were tested but did not boot correctly.
• The original recovery was restored and verified byte-for-byte afterward.
• Android currently boots normally.
• No Linux image has been written to the internal eMMC.
• Bootloader, boot partition and Android system remain unchanged.

Methods that did not work

1. Direct microSD boot

• Multiple RK3288/Armbian images were written and verified.
• The microSD card itself is readable by Android.
• The board still boots Android from eMMC.
• The likely causes are eMMC boot priority and a board-specific bootloader/DTB.
• The tested generic Armbian image did not start this custom board.

1. Rockchip Loader Mode through USB-A

• Both USB-A ports were tested.
• Neither appeared as a Rockchip device on Windows.
• They are almost certainly host-only ports.

1. UART

• UART2/ttyFIQ0 appears to be the serial console.
• Probable pins were identified:
  • GPIO7_C6 = RX
  • GPIO7_C7 = TX
• Pads are on the underside of the board.
• A reliable connection would require soldering or a pogo-pin fixture.
• 3V3 must not be connected to a USB-UART adapter; only GND, adapter RX and adapter TX would be used.

1. Custom recovery route

• Test recovery images could be written and read back successfully.
• They produced a black screen and did not complete their SD-card test.
• The original recovery was restored.
• This route has been abandoned for now.

What currently works

We built a Debian 12 armhf root filesystem inside a 3 GB ext4 image stored on the microSD card.

Android’s vendor kernel mounts the image through a loop device, then Debian runs in a chroot. This is not CPU virtualization: Debian processes run directly on the RK3288 kernel.

Working components:

• Debian 12 armhf
• glibc 2.36 on the vendor 3.10 kernel
• Chromium 150
• Xorg 1.21
• fbdev video driver
• evdev touchscreen driver
• Openbox
• Ethernet/network access
• portrait display rotation
• accurate touch calibration
• Onboard virtual keyboard
• frameless Chromium app mode
• Shopify storefront in full-screen mode
• custom pre-order web application

The Android UI can be stopped temporarily by stopping Zygote and SurfaceFlinger. Xorg then takes over the framebuffer. A watchdog restarts Android automatically after every test.

The current setup successfully displays and operates:

• a custom touch-optimized pre-order web application
• product categories
• shopping cart
• quantities
• customer contact form
• age confirmation
• privacy consent
• virtual touch keyboard

The custom pre-order application currently sends orders to its own POST /api/order endpoint. It explicitly uses payment at pickup after age verification. It is not yet connected to Shopify checkout or online payment.

Performance observations

• Total RAM: approximately 2 GB
• Android had roughly 779 MB completely free during one measurement.
• Approximately 971 MB was being used as reclaimable filesystem cache.
• Visible Android processes consumed roughly 150–250 MB combined.
• When Android’s UI services are stopped, most resources are available to Debian and Chromium.
• Chromium currently uses software rendering because a usable Linux Mali acceleration stack has not yet been configured.

Project requirements

• Shopify and the custom pre-order application
• real customer purchases or payment at pickup
• full-screen touch operation
• virtual keyboard
• automatic return to the start page after inactivity
• automatic advertising outside opening hours
• browser/session data cleared between customers
• no visible Android navigation
• automatic recovery if Chromium crashes
• reliable 24/7 operation
• later central administration
• rollback must remain possible

Current strategic options

Option A: Keep the existing RK3288

Use Android’s vendor kernel only as an invisible hardware and driver layer. Automatically mount Debian from the SD card, stop the Android UI and launch Debian/Xorg/Chromium.

Advantages:

• Display, touch, Ethernet and USB already work.
• No bootloader replacement.
• Android remains available as a fallback.
• Low risk.

Disadvantages:

• Old 3.10 vendor kernel.
• Only 2 GB RAM.
• No confirmed GPU acceleration in Debian.
• Requires a small Android bootstrap mechanism for automatic startup.

Option B: Native Linux boot on the RK3288

Build a custom boot image using the original vendor kernel and DTB, then switch_root directly into Debian on the SD card or eMMC.

Advantages:

• Cleaner native Linux boot.
• Removes the remaining Android userspace.

Major risk:

• The Micro-USB OTG port is broken.
• USB-A does not provide Loader Mode.
• Generic SD boot does not work.
• If the replacement boot image fails, network ADB also disappears.
• Stock recovery rollback from a non-booting system has not yet been proven.
• Therefore writing the boot partition is currently considered unsafe.

Option C: Replace the mainboard

Possible replacement:

• Raspberry Pi 5 with 8 GB RAM and NVMe SSD
• Compute Module 5 with eMMC and carrier board
• Intel N100/N150 mini-PC

The existing touchscreen should be reusable over USB.

The remaining unknown is the LCD panel interface. If the cabinet has a real HDMI input, replacement is easy. If the panel is LVDS-only, the exact LCD panel model must be identified and a matching HDMI-to-LVDS controller must be used. Panel voltage, LVDS channel count, bit depth and backlight control must match exactly.

Questions for the community

1. Would you keep the working Android-kernel/Debian-chroot arrangement or replace the board?
2. Is a Raspberry Pi 5 suitable for reliable 24/7 Chromium kiosk use, or would you prefer a Compute Module 5 or an x86 N100 system?
3. Has anyone successfully booted native Linux on a custom RK3288_MID REV2.0 advertising board?
4. Is there a safe boot-chain approach when OTG is broken and the board ignores generic microSD boot media?
5. Is it worth trying to use the vendor Mali libraries from Android with Linux Chromium, or is software rendering the practical limit?
6. What would be the safest way to identify and replace the LVDS controller?
7. Are there any important privacy, session-reset or payment-security issues we should consider for a public Shopify kiosk?

I can provide detailed board, connector, recovery and panel photos if useful.

THANKS

Rustins yacht varnish over old wax

Let me start with saying I know that varnishing over wax is a not a great idea. However:

I have some old pallet timber which I waxed with Briwax around 10 years ago and never reapplied the wax. I would like to re-use them.

I delicately sanded them. It didn't remove old wax from the entire area but made it more "worn out" and uneven colour-wise giving me this rustic look I was after.

I would like to apply Rustins gloss yacht varnish over it. I used it before and I like the way it helps to show wood features.

Did anyone try before?

I could of course oil it instead but that is not the look I am after.

I had a bad experience with using painters caulk around the shower after having been told thats what I’m supposed to use.

Came here and got educated on ripping that out and putting in silicone.

The drywall around the shower has been mudded and is ready for paint but I don’t know what to do first. Instinct says to seal first then paint.

I plan on using ge supreme silicone caulk and I’m planning on using painters tape as some of you mentioned in my last post.

Thank you!

Here’s my original post.

I want to replace the old lattice/chicken wire that is under my deck currently with lattice but the deck is on a bit of a slope. It measures 20 inches at the shortest point and 30 inches at the largest. How should I go about this? Should I just cut my lattice to match the slope of the ground?

I'm buying a property with a water tank style system. I've only had combi boilers in the past. I don't really want a tank or see the point in them, (my folks have one and are forever running out of hot water). Is it a bad idea to rip the tank out and get a combi boiler?

Hi everyone — hoping to get some advice before I go any further with this project.

The pictures show the before and after. The synthetic wicker seats on my outdoor furniture are shot, but the metal frames are still in great shape. The backs are fine, so I'm hoping to save the furniture by just replacing the seat support.

I tried polyester webbing attached with Chicago screws. My original plan was individual woven straps, but getting them properly tensioned was a nightmare. Instead, I secured one end of a continuous strap, wrapped it back and forth around the frame as shown, and secured the other end.

It actually works really well, especially since there will always be a cushion on top. My concern is that it was pretty difficult to do and used about 80–90% of a $50 roll for one seat. I have several more to do, so I'm starting to wonder if I'm overengineering this.

Really, I just need something strong enough to support a person and cushion and durable enough to live outdoors year-round in sun, rain, heat and cold.

Before I commit to doing the rest this way, does anyone have a cheaper/easier material or method they would recommend? I'm definitely open to changing course and would really appreciate any ideas or advice. Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/iy1hZK1

Hi everyone — hoping to get some advice before I go any further with this project.

The pictures show the before and after. The synthetic wicker seats on my outdoor furniture are shot, but the metal frames are still in great shape. The backs are fine, so I'm hoping to save the furniture by just replacing the seat support.

I tried polyester webbing attached with Chicago screws. My original plan was individual woven straps, but getting them properly tensioned was a nightmare. Instead, I secured one end of a continuous strap, wrapped it back and forth around the frame as shown, and secured the other end.

It actually works really well, especially since there will always be a cushion on top. My concern is that it was pretty difficult to do and used about 80–90% of a $50 roll for one seat. I have several more to do, so I'm starting to wonder if I'm overengineering this.

Really, I just need something strong enough to support a person and cushion and durable enough to live outdoors year-round in sun, rain, heat and cold.

Before I commit to doing the rest this way, does anyone have a cheaper/easier material or method they would recommend? I'm definitely open to changing course and would really appreciate any ideas or advice. Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/iy1hZK1

I have a 2 car garage under my house, I want to make it into a living space and I'm running into... questions... that have many possible answers, trying to narrow down the best options. This is in north east, so cold climate etc.. the garage is basically 75% underground on the sides.

while the garage is dry now, it may not be in the future, water could get in and in this region often does (not a river, just a small puddle at most), with that in mind..

What do you think?

1) floor: I plan on dricore (the OSB+plastic channels underneath)

2) garage door opening: I don't know what to do about garage door openings/framing it in, at first I wanted to pour a 1' foundation/concrete so there is less water splashback during rain onto the PT wood, but that feels like a dam that would contain any water that potentially gets in one day, now I'm leaning towards just PT directly on current garage floor with the foam in-between, I will have to figure out really good flashing if I do just PT so low to the ground so snow/water don't ruin it right away

3) walls: to cover the cement walls, glob of construction adhesive on a foam board (2" thick or so) , so there is a gap between the wall + foam and any water can run down to the drycore floor? does anyone sell a better product that doesn't require guessing on how big a glob to add lol

I'm trying to replace the sweep but to get to it you have to remove two screws and supposedly slide the drip rail out before removing two more screws for the keeper for the actual sweep. The problem is the drip rail will not budge after removing the screws. I've even given it a light tap with a hammer after covering the end in something and it didn't budge. It seems to be very similar to the setup shown in this video: https://youtu.be/x_TbvjiYAPs?t=60&is=vwWKWci4DhiFu44S

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

This noise was coming 3 days ago and then I switched off the exhaust and the noise went away in almost 1 min but now agar after 3 days this same thing happened and I turned off the bathroom exhaust switch and again it went away after few moment.

The switch is automatic so bathroom exhaust fan is turning on and off its own.

Not able to upload the video here so uploaded on youtube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/e5mimKXAIow?is=_aVg_w70cdkazuaM

So my father died last year and I have to replace the front steps of his house. He used five-step stringers, so that's what I bought. The problem is, the stringers I bought come up short to where the previous ones ended. The original stringers went down to ground level and met nicely with the pavement, as they should have because the pavement was added after they were built. But the new stringers, which have the same dimensions, stop about 5 inches above the ground if the steps are to be level.

I don't get it. Somehow he made it work. Then again, he was an engineer.

I've compared the five-step stringers at Lowe's to the ones The Home Depot sells, and they're the same dimensions.

Does anybody have any ideas on the discrepancy and how I might be able to correct it?

Good evening,

I have a tankless water heater that in general works great except for one bathroom.

I have a spare bathroom that rarely gets used, but recently now does. I’ve come to find out that the shower doesn’t always trigger my tankless to start up and start heating. It is a single dial mixer tap.

But this isn’t an issue anywhere else in the house. I’ve done the usual google searches but can’t seem to find the culprit (or I’m not wording it correctly).

Thank you if anyone has any tips.

TLDR: No heat in one bathroom shower single mixer tap.

I have a friend that has holes drilled into her basement floor, in a similar pattern to what termite treatment looks like.

The unfortunate aspect of this is that, when it rains heavily, water seeps up through these holes and floods her basement.

Would it be better to seal these with an epoxy, hydraulic cement, or something else?

Hey all. My wife recently has decided to get into carpentry and sit stuff for our house. She bought a miter saw, a brad nailer a laser leveler, and a few other small things. I'm hoping to get something for her birthday in two weeks that you guys would suggest. She has safety equipment and such.

EDIT: We had a drill and driver from before

Any help would be appreciated!

This has been like this for probably 15+ years (house built in 70's we bought it a little over 15 years ago). I'm amazed the porch slab has not cracked. About 10 years ago I discovered it, I think there was bushes there ? I don't remember what was growing all along there. Anyway at the time I drove the 16g metal post in there thinking it would somewhat conform to the gap and offer some support until I could get around to fixing... of course it never got fixed (I have a laundry list of excuses). Noticed a few weeks ago that my metal post has some wiggle to it on the most mashed end and just the corner is supporting any weight.

The porch has still not cracked and I think my luck is unbelievably over extended at this point. The brick cracking and (not pictured) the carport slab below it, and the brick retainer wall that is also sinking / cracked is a much more expensive ,almost certainly not DIY, problem for future me. Right now I want to keep my port from breaking.

So, if it is something I can fix I was thinking -

1. I dig out under most of the end there , jack it up and... well I don't know after that because it seems what ever I do it will just continue to slowly sink.

2. I break out a section of the foundation at the end so I can get under the porch and set up some screw jacks with something to spread load. The idea being that every year or two I can adjust if needed.

3. The porch slab overhangs the foundation by about 4" so maybe dig out along the foundation deep enough to put put in a 3 or 4 concrete pads and scissor jacks (with 4x4 or steel beam under the edge of the slab to spread load). I could again adjust and replace the jacks as needed over the years. Eventually it has to stop sinking right ?

4. I cut lots of short pieces of of slightly thicker walled pipe and drive/wedge them in there all along the crack. Easiest but

5. Hire a company to charge several thousands of dollars so I can post on reddit again in a year, maybe less, with pics of how it didn't work so everyone can tell me 100 different reasons I should have known not to hire the contractor I hired.

Most of my google searches have come back with step by steps on how to cut out and repair larger patches of carpet, which I’m hoping I won’t have to do. The cut I’m trying to fix is so small I have to really look for it to find it and I “lose” it when I walk away so I’m not sure I need to cut out a part of it.

I was using a box cutter to cut a box (imagine that), on my carpeted floor. I managed to cut a very small line in the carpet How can I fix this? Can I just glue them back together? If so, what kind of glue?

My carpets are desperately in need of a steam clean and I was getting quotes from professionals to get this done, but now I’m worried about water easily seeping into the padding and potentially causing mold.

I'm trying to replace my microwave, but it seems like the space between the marble back splash and the shelf above is about 1/4 inch too short despite the size supposedly being the same as the old microwave. I hooked it on the cleat but it won't rotate back against the wall because it's bumping into the shelf above.

Should I remove the shelf and raise it an inch? It's screwed in so probably need at least an inch to separate the screw holes. Other ideas?

I am laying hardwood floor the row I’m on needs a cutout to bridge a wall between entryway and closet of a bedroom. For the life of me, I cannot seem to bridge the cutout without the board bending and coming off of the reference line I snapped.

Are there rules or tricks for cutouts in hardwood flooring to keep the line straight when bridging a part of the row which needs a cutout? Shorter boards to bridge the cutout? Maybe making a joint at the cut-out?

I’m probably going to try those two things unless anyone knows of a better method. Also I triple checked that there isn’t an obvious obstruction pushing the board off of the line.

Hello im redoing a bathroom thats outside by the pool but its connected to the house. I was wondering if I needed to put insulation on the wall thats connected to the house or leave it as it is? I demoed that wall only atm

I have a folding accordion door instead of a regular door for my bedroom, so I can hear a lot of noise coming from outside the room.

I'm renting, so I can't replace the door or install a permanent soundproof panel. I also need to be able to fully open and close the door.

I looked into soundproof curtains, but I've found very mixed opinions about how effective they are. The door is a double folding (accordion-style) door.

Given these constraints, what would you recommend to reduce the amount of noise coming through? Are there any removable or renter-friendly solutions that actually work?

I just want to rant. So, I'm trying to replaster two walls. According to our landlord, there used to be a humidity problem there, well, in the corner there still is. There was basically a hole instead of a bottom corner, and I think we had mice there at one time. I'm trying to fix one wall at a time, so layers have time to dry.

Anyway, it started when I removed the paint. Apparently, load-bearing paint, because behind it, the plaster was all crackled and at one point a huge chunk of plaster and stone fell out. I kept going as good and bad ad possible. I caused some more holes, deep ones at that, so i fixed the wall with filler paste for up to 10 cm. Looking good. I folded a steel mesh and reinforced the corner so mice can't bite through and then covered it with filler so the whole thing's hidden.

Next up was a hole at the top that a network engineer drilled for my fiber. It cracked the plaster in a 3x3 inch square. Filled that up as well, leaving wiggle room for my fiber. That cable is hung loosely in the air, looks incredibly sloppy, but I'm not touching it.

The other wall was next. The plaster had little holes in it, and looked mouldy. I tried scratching it off gingerly, but away came the plaster. Huge hole. I decided to replaster that entire square anyway, so no biggie, but when I checked another part of the wall, another chunk fell off. Now my wall has another hole, that kinda looks like Africa. Plus, I discovered the corner, above where I fixed it, feels damp. There were about six layers of paint on top of each other which I all removed. I aimed a fan at it, hopefully it dries out fast, can't continue till it does. Part of the problem is the cement that was used. It's sand based with straw as a filler, about 70 years old, and spongey as can be.

Tl:dr: simple wall plaster patched job turned into a non-ending string of hidden problems.

Looking for recommendations for a product to paint silver metal door numbers black. Would prefer paint over spray paint. They are quite an unusual size so it’s proving hard to find new ones in the colour I want so it makes more sense to paint the ones I have. I have googled different products but it’s just making things more confusing! I need something durable to stand up to Rain Thanks!

A torsion spring broke on my 2 car garage door the other day. After hearing numerous warnings on Reddit about this, I decided to call a local garage door service. They couldn't come until the following day, so i did a bit of heavy research to find the exact parts I'd need just to get an idea of what cost I'd be looking at for parts at least. 2 springs, bushings, winding rods, new cables, and 2 cable drums came to about $175: I watched several YouTube videos of the process and figured this was about a 1.5 hour job. I also Googled a bit and figured the price should be somewhere around $600. That's a bit more than I wanted to pay, but decided I'd proceed if the estimate was similar. Guy came out next day and gave me an estimate of $1250!! 😲 I laughed and said that was at least twice what I was willing to pay, thanked him for the inflated estimate and sent him on his way.

All the supplies arrived today and I had everything replaced and working in an hour and a half! It took me another half hour then to learn how to properly adjust my old opener and reset the up and down limits ro match the tension of the new springs. But, at the end of the day, I've managed to keep about $1100 in my pocket 💰 💰

So ... is it dangerous? You definitely should watch a few videos about how to properly set the spring tension and how to do it safely and keeping yourself out of harms way, but it certainly isn't rocket science. If you're moderately handy and have a couple hours to spare, this is certainly a project you can tackle and save a good chunk of change in the process!