Need help installing debian from an archlinux unusable goflex home

Hello,

I have been busting my head against this for a few weeks now with no real result so now in desperation I am just hoping someone would point me in the right direction, since I am lost on the forums.

So I have a GoFlex Home with one 1TB drive attached to it. I hacked it and installed archlinuxarm using this guide:
http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv5/seagate-goflex-home

All worked fine until at some point in time I lost control over it while trying to update packages. I could not regain SSH access. So I followed this guide and now I can boot the device using a USB stick:
http://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3312&p=19207#p19207

And here is my problem: after booting from the usb, I would like to install debian on my device in the NAND flash. How do I go about doing that? I tried following this guide:
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,72
but I received an error while executing the install script. The problem is that the install script is destroying the data on the usb stick, from which I booted. Any suggestions of how I could go around this?

Thank you in advance

How about installing rescue system on the Goflex flash by using usb boot first? Then remove USB, boot from rescue and install Debian on you hard disc.

I used the same route when I screwed up my install. I used Davygravy's image on a usb stick. (Link somewhere on this forum) and also installed his rescue version 2.85.

BTW If you are good with a soldering iron, install serial headers and invest in a USB/Serial cable too. Then you get direct access to the console.

Both are really handy when you are screwing around (I mean Improving ;-) ) your installation.

Hi metric,

Thank you very much for your reply and advice. I will follow it, ofcourse, but in the meantime I spent yesterday half the day trying to "improve" my goflex home with a serial cable. After burning two of my wife's nails I think I managed to do a decent job, but the cable seems to be dead, so I will have to try with a different adapter today. I will get back with a report or more questions after I have the serial/USB connection up and running.

Ok so I solded three wires where all the guides and pictures pointed to, however when I connect through putty I am getting some garbled chars like below. I connected my com with 115200 baud, data bits 8, stop bits 1, parity none and flow control none. Is there anything that I am doing wrong or are the cables messed up?



ÿþþ¿¯s5;¿¿¿k533¿w!!Û
!¿£ =#¿=#7¿_55y=/=5'åëåëY!y¿¿¿i-¿s'åëa¿¿¿5'åëu¿¿¿5'åë¬ÓÑìûûMLKLOy =ì¬u¿m#--='-
57¿!#¿51-1=åë^£Sº-#1¿--!#¿!#¿»#=#7»å륿¿»%7
åëU¯kìëº=9/-#1¿%7-9='¿55;'!9)¿-
5åëU{m¿%=''5¿3'=/¿m¡a¿#-¿¿¿¿åëU{m¿;¥=15¿-
5¿¿¿¿ 5¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ëU{m¿Smw¿/5=75!335¿¿¿¿¿¿ ¿¿¿¿¯='-1#57¿åëU{m¿7==¿!335¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿åë µµý5¿='-7=5A59A/7¿;=7¿Smw¿/5=75!33 5¿§¿55957¿ëU{m¿5¿='-7=5A59A/7¿;=7¿uy¿/5=75ëU{m¿5¿;-A='-7¿;!!¿75-95¿««åëy½«STº¿mw u¿{¿¿¤º¿==-'=;'5¿¿{¿¿¤º¿==-'=;'5¿¿åëµµÛõ7¿=--!#¿=-#1¿%!75¿såëu¯#!¿m[]­¿75¿¿;')¿¿ =¿3åë««¿y=#±¿=7¿375-95¿¿««åëåë««¿U#=;'5¿!¿5¿-75¿3='!=7¿««åë¬úû«åëy½µµk;--'5#±½åë 5-#1¿%!75¿såëu¯#!¿m[]­¿75¿¿;')¿¿=¿3åë««¿y=#±¿=7¿375-95¿¿««åëåë««¿U#=;'5¿!¿5¿-75¿ 3='!=7¿««åëµµÛõ7¿=--!#¿=-#1¿%!75¿såëu¯#!¿m[]­¿75¿=7¿375-95¿3='!=7¿««åë¬úûu=7-#1¿ 5-#1¿%!75¿åëu=7-#1¿5'!9)¿!#¿!'%5¿±;-%7-)±½åëU¯keý#!¿%!#57§¿5¿;-3¿%!#¿!¿%!#¿!'%5¿ 3-åëYO£¢ÓÒÒ¿

Have you tried swapping RXD / TXD?

Hi bodhi, thanks for your answer. Yes, at first I connected pins 2 and 3 to pins 2 and 3 on the port and nothing was happening. Then I switched the pins on the port and now am getting this.

Iancu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi bodhi, thanks for your answer. Yes, at first I
> connected pins 2 and 3 to pins 2 and 3 on the port
> and nothing was happening. Then I switched the
> pins on the port and now am getting this.

Your settings is good so I'm not sure. FWIW, I've seen the similar behavior when GND is not well connected. Which cable are you using?

FYI, I'm using this module, it's less than US$ 3:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-2-0-to-TTL-UART-6PIN-Module-Serial-Converter-CP2102-STC-PRGMR-Free-cable-/170895253016?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ca269e18

Here are two photos:
Overall view:
http://i.imgur.com/yW9qS.jpg

Detail on the board:
http://i.imgur.com/6z8qo.jpg

I followed the post here while working:
http://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3397#p19695

From the rs232 port I connect through a rs232 - usb adapter that just works (tested on other devices, like routers and such).
Now it is a possibility that my soldering isn't top - is there a way to verify it with a multimeter?

Sorry, don't know. I never use one for this purpose. Anybody?

I have never used the interface that you are using, but I had better luck cutting off CA-42 cable mentioned on the Arch linux link that you mentioned.

Yeah I bought one of those but it was dead on arrival (the usb port), that's why I went with this lower level solution.

I had the same problem. Ebay vendor was nice and he sent me another cable that worked.
in your picture, is the black GND cable solder touching the pad in the next row? (Or the mounting hole?)

When you say you tested RS-232, is it 5 volts or 3.3 Volts? Goflex uses 3.3 volts. Did you check the voltage?

I have never connected using putty. I use Linux screen command. I am not sure about the flow control. If you are on windows, try hyperterminal. (Do they still have it on new windows?) Or use any Linux live CD like ubuntu without installing it.

BTW You are lucky to have a wife that helps you in your hacking projects.

Ok,

So in order to close this thread - I have tried times again to solve my problem - resoldered the cables, changed the rs232 port, checked the chip that is doing the rs232 - usb conversion, used a multimeter - everything seems to be fine and to check out, however I can't connect to the goflex home through putty or hyperterminal. Unfortunately I don't have time to dedicate to this project anymore, so it will be shelved for a while.

Thanks for taking some of your time to try and help me.

You can find the solution here: http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,6954,7371