Can you flash/install from openwrt on NSA325 without serial connection?

Hi there, i've flashed my NSA325 a couple of years ago and managed to flash openwrt to it.

Since it has been such a long time ago, i could do with some refreshers.

I think i've installed the U-Boot flashing utilities and kwboot binary back then.
But i am not sure about that anymore. How to check?

I stil have the JTAG jumper cables coming out of the rear of the NSA but i did not label them(sT00pid) and at the moment I do not have the serial usb adapter.

So basically i'm asking:

is it possible to flash u-boot and/or install Debian from the openwrt setup without a serial connection?

And if so, should i then use the common how to's in this forum?

Please, thank you, sorry..

Disclaimer:
we fail to reliably express our precise thoughts & intentions using words.
consequently, you may fail to understand us. we apologize for the effects of such misunderstanding.

plusminus,

> Hi there, i've flashed my NSA325 a couple of years
> ago and managed to flash openwrt to it.

Which u-boot are you running this box with? is it one of my releases?

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,12381

If so, you can use netconsole and follow this how-to:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?4,86219

If you are still running stock u-boot, then that instruction won't work. Can you log in OpenWrt anymore or is it broken now?

You can install Debian rootfs if you can log in some running system.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2022 07:41PM by bodhi.

bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> plusminus,
>
> > Hi there, i've flashed my NSA325 a couple of
> years
> > ago and managed to flash openwrt to it.
>
> Which u-boot are you running this box with? is it
> one of my releases?
>
> https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,12381
>
> If so, you can use netconsole and follow this
Seems so..

root@NASi:/# nc
BusyBox v1.35.0 (2022-08-30 12:36:28 UTC) multi-call binary.

Usage: nc [IPADDR PORT]

Open a pipe to IP:PORT

> If you are still running stock u-boot, then that
> instruction won't work. Can you log in OpenWrt
> anymore or is it broken now?
Yes OpenWrt works fine in browser and ssh


> You can install Debian rootfs if you can log in
> some running system.
dmesg output after boot

BusyBox v1.35.0 (2022-08-30 12:36:28 UTC) built-in shell (ash)

  _______                     ________        __
 |       |.-----.-----.-----.|  |  |  |.----.|  |_
 |   -   ||  _  |  -__|     ||  |  |  ||   _||   _|
 |_______||   __|_____|__|__||________||__|  |____|
          |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
 -----------------------------------------------------
 OpenWrt SNAPSHOT, r20450-90f55f5bf1
 -----------------------------------------------------
root@NASi:~# dmesg
[    0.000000] Booting Linux on physical CPU 0x0
[    0.000000] Linux version 5.10.139 (builder@buildhost) (arm-openwrt-linux-muslgnueabi-gcc (OpenWrt GCC 11.3.0 r20450-90f55f5bf1) 11.3.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.37) #0 Thu Sep 1 18:42:08 2022
[    0.000000] CPU: Feroceon 88FR131 [56251311] revision 1 (ARMv5TE), cr=0005397f
[    0.000000] CPU: VIVT data cache, VIVT instruction cache
[    0.000000] OF: fdt: Machine model: ZyXEL NSA325
[    0.000000] Memory policy: Data cache writeback
[    0.000000] Zone ranges:
[    0.000000]   Normal   [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000001fffffff]
[    0.000000] Movable zone start for each node
[    0.000000] Early memory node ranges
[    0.000000]   node   0: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000001fffffff]
[    0.000000] Initmem setup node 0 [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000001fffffff]
[    0.000000] On node 0 totalpages: 131072
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 1152 pages used for memmap
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 0 pages reserved
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 131072 pages, LIFO batch:31
[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: s0 r0 d32768 u32768 alloc=1*32768
[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: [0] 0 
[    0.000000] Built 1 zonelists, mobility grouping on.  Total pages: 129920
[    0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttyS0,115200
[    0.000000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes, linear)
[    0.000000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes, linear)
[    0.000000] mem auto-init: stack:off, heap alloc:off, heap free:off
[    0.000000] Memory: 509144K/524288K available (5991K kernel code, 599K rwdata, 1548K rodata, 1024K init, 211K bss, 15144K reserved, 0K cma-reserved)
[    0.000000] SLUB: HWalign=32, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=1, Nodes=1
[    0.000000] NR_IRQS: 16, nr_irqs: 16, preallocated irqs: 16
[    0.000000] clocksource: orion_clocksource: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 9556302233 ns
[    0.000007] sched_clock: 32 bits at 200MHz, resolution 5ns, wraps every 10737418237ns
[    0.000034] Switching to timer-based delay loop, resolution 5ns
[    0.000152] Calibrating delay loop (skipped), value calculated using timer frequency.. 400.00 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000000)
[    0.000177] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[    0.000326] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.000349] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.001097] CPU: Testing write buffer coherency: ok
[    0.002046] Setting up static identity map for 0x100000 - 0x10003c
[    0.002258] mvebu-soc-id: MVEBU SoC ID=0x6282, Rev=0x1
[    0.002437] dyndbg: Ignore empty _ddebug table in a CONFIG_DYNAMIC_DEBUG_CORE build
[    0.005097] clocksource: jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 19112604462750000 ns
[    0.005124] futex hash table entries: 256 (order: -1, 3072 bytes, linear)
[    0.005225] pinctrl core: initialized pinctrl subsystem
[    0.006533] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[    0.006842] DMA: preallocated 256 KiB pool for atomic coherent allocations
[    0.007649] thermal_sys: Registered thermal governor 'step_wise'
[    0.007734] cpuidle: using governor ladder
[    0.007989] Feroceon L2: Enabling L2
[    0.008025] Feroceon L2: Cache support initialised.
[    0.015874] No ATAGs?
[    0.051326] SCSI subsystem initialized
[    0.052316] libata version 3.00 loaded.
[    0.052489] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[    0.052529] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[    0.052566] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[    0.056754] clocksource: Switched to clocksource orion_clocksource
[    0.057361] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[    0.057537] IP idents hash table entries: 8192 (order: 4, 65536 bytes, linear)
[    0.058229] tcp_listen_portaddr_hash hash table entries: 512 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.058273] TCP established hash table entries: 4096 (order: 2, 16384 bytes, linear)
[    0.058317] TCP bind hash table entries: 4096 (order: 2, 16384 bytes, linear)
[    0.058367] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 4096 bind 4096)
[    0.058431] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.058454] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.058591] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[    0.058617] PCI: CLS 0 bytes, default 32
[    0.061977] workingset: timestamp_bits=14 max_order=17 bucket_order=3
[    0.064905] squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher
[    0.064920] jffs2: version 2.2 (NAND) (SUMMARY) (LZMA) (RTIME) (CMODE_PRIORITY) (c) 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
[    0.065500] Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 251)
[    0.067378] kirkwood-pinctrl f1010000.pin-controller: registered pinctrl driver
[    0.068305] mvebu-pcie mbus@f1000000:pcie@82000000: host bridge /mbus@f1000000/pcie@82000000 ranges:
[    0.068341] mvebu-pcie mbus@f1000000:pcie@82000000:      MEM 0x00f1040000..0x00f1041fff -> 0x0000040000
[    0.068361] mvebu-pcie mbus@f1000000:pcie@82000000:      MEM 0xffffffffffffffff..0x00fffffffe -> 0x0100000000
[    0.068375] mvebu-pcie mbus@f1000000:pcie@82000000:       IO 0xffffffffffffffff..0x00fffffffe -> 0x0100000000
[    0.068519] mvebu-pcie mbus@f1000000:pcie@82000000: PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00
[    0.068535] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [bus 00-ff]
[    0.068546] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem 0xf1040000-0xf1041fff] (bus address [0x00040000-0x00041fff])
[    0.068555] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem 0xe0000000-0xefffffff]
[    0.068564] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [io  0x1000-0xeffff]
[    0.068650] pci 0000:00:01.0: [11ab:6282] type 01 class 0x060400
[    0.069628] PCI: bus0: Fast back to back transfers disabled
[    0.069641] pci 0000:00:01.0: bridge configuration invalid ([bus 00-00]), reconfiguring
[    0.069750] pci 0000:01:00.0: [1033:0194] type 00 class 0x0c0330
[    0.069783] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x00001fff 64bit]
[    0.069904] pci 0000:01:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D3hot
[    0.069942] pci 0000:01:00.0: 2.000 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth, limited by 2.5 GT/s PCIe x1 link at 0000:00:01.0 (capable of 4.000 Gb/s with 5.0 GT/s PCIe x1 link)
[    0.070792] PCI: bus1: Fast back to back transfers disabled
[    0.070805] pci_bus 0000:01: busn_res: [bus 01-ff] end is updated to 01
[    0.070946] pci 0000:00:01.0: BAR 8: assigned [mem 0xe0000000-0xe00fffff]
[    0.070959] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0xe0000000-0xe0001fff 64bit]
[    0.070978] pci 0000:00:01.0: PCI bridge to [bus 01]
[    0.070990] pci 0000:00:01.0:   bridge window [mem 0xe0000000-0xe00fffff]
[    0.071032] pci 0000:00:01.0: enabling device (0140 -> 0142)
[    0.071047] pci 0000:01:00.0: enabling device (0140 -> 0142)
[    0.071687] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 16 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
[    0.072894] printk: console [ttyS0] disabled
[    0.072966] f1012000.serial: ttyS0 at MMIO 0xf1012000 (irq = 26, base_baud = 12500000) is a 16550A
[    0.670046] printk: console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.674746] Loading iSCSI transport class v2.0-870.
[    0.683137] nand: device found, Manufacturer ID: 0x92, Chip ID: 0xf1
[    0.689544] nand: Eon NAND 128MiB 3,3V 8-bit
[    0.693828] nand: 128 MiB, SLC, erase size: 128 KiB, page size: 2048, OOB size: 64
[    0.701445] Scanning device for bad blocks
[    0.710367] Bad eraseblock 100 at 0x000000c80000
[    0.719759] Bad eraseblock 200 at 0x000001900000
[    0.763509] 3 fixed-partitions partitions found on MTD device orion_nand
[    0.770249] Creating 3 MTD partitions on "orion_nand":
[    0.775406] 0x000000000000-0x0000000c0000 : "uboot"
[    0.782090] 0x0000000c0000-0x000000140000 : "uboot_env"
[    0.787809] 0x000000140000-0x000008000000 : "ubi"
[    0.802723] mv643xx_eth: MV-643xx 10/100/1000 ethernet driver version 1.4
[    0.812625] mv643xx_eth_port mv643xx_eth_port.0 eth0: port 0 with MAC address e8:37:7a:2d:e8:b6
[    0.821573] i2c /dev entries driver
[    0.826134] orion_wdt: Initial timeout 21 sec
[    0.839504] marvell-cesa f1030000.crypto: CESA device successfully registered
[    0.847387] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[    0.853520] Segment Routing with IPv6
[    0.857289] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[    0.861789] bridge: filtering via arp/ip/ip6tables is no longer available by default. Update your scripts to load br_netfilter if you need this.
[    0.874934] 8021q: 802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8
[    0.882887] UBI: auto-attach mtd2
[    0.886231] ubi0: attaching mtd2
[    1.059246] ubi0: scanning is finished
[    1.073942] ubi0: attached mtd2 (name "ubi", size 126 MiB)
[    1.079476] ubi0: PEB size: 131072 bytes (128 KiB), LEB size: 129024 bytes
[    1.086376] ubi0: min./max. I/O unit sizes: 2048/2048, sub-page size 512
[    1.093113] ubi0: VID header offset: 512 (aligned 512), data offset: 2048
[    1.099935] ubi0: good PEBs: 1012, bad PEBs: 2, corrupted PEBs: 0
[    1.106048] ubi0: user volume: 3, internal volumes: 1, max. volumes count: 128
[    1.113303] ubi0: max/mean erase counter: 2/1, WL threshold: 4096, image sequence number: 1630448408
[    1.122484] ubi0: available PEBs: 0, total reserved PEBs: 1012, PEBs reserved for bad PEB handling: 18
[    1.132093] ubi0: background thread "ubi_bgt0d" started, PID 468
[    1.138895] block ubiblock0_1: created from ubi0:1(rootfs)
[    1.144408] ubiblock: device ubiblock0_1 (rootfs) set to be root filesystem
[    1.157242] VFS: Mounted root (squashfs filesystem) readonly on device 254:0.
[    1.167359] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1024K
[    1.172104] Run /sbin/init as init process
[    1.176216]   with arguments:
[    1.176219]     /sbin/init
[    1.176222]   with environment:
[    1.176225]     HOME=/
[    1.176227]     TERM=linux
[    1.462044] init: Console is alive
[    1.465628] init: - watchdog -
[    1.796123] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    1.845896] ehci_hcd: USB 2.0 'Enhanced' Host Controller (EHCI) Driver
[    1.857867] ehci-fsl: Freescale EHCI Host controller driver
[    1.867337] ehci-orion: EHCI orion driver
[    1.871507] orion-ehci f1050000.ehci: EHCI Host Controller
[    1.877070] orion-ehci f1050000.ehci: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[    1.884853] orion-ehci f1050000.ehci: irq 30, io mem 0xf1050000
[    1.916771] orion-ehci f1050000.ehci: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[    1.923283] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    1.927520] hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected
[    1.935872] ehci-platform: EHCI generic platform driver
[    1.950863] sata_mv f1080000.sata: version 1.28
[    1.951170] sata_mv f1080000.sata: slots 32 ports 2
[    1.960027] scsi host0: sata_mv
[    1.964096] scsi host1: sata_mv
[    1.967477] ata1: SATA max UDMA/133 irq 32
[    1.971606] ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 irq 32
[    2.216765] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using orion-ehci
[    2.309454] ata1: SATA link down (SStatus 0 SControl F300)
[    2.418686] hub 1-1:1.0: USB hub found
[    2.422737] hub 1-1:1.0: 4 ports detected
[    2.806771] ata2: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl F300)
[    2.817538] ata2.00: ATA-8: Hitachi HUA723030ALA640, MKAOA800, max UDMA/133
[    2.824533] ata2.00: 5860533168 sectors, multi 0: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32)
[    2.837990] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    2.842552] scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      Hitachi HUA72303 A800 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    2.851619] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] 5860533168 512-byte logical blocks: (3.00 TB/2.73 TiB)
[    2.860187] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[    2.865007] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[    2.865082] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[    2.924876]  sda: sda1 sda2
[    2.928562] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
[    2.940616] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
[    2.945922] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
[    2.953607] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: hcc params 0x014042cb hci version 0x96 quirks 0x0000000000000004
[    2.967269] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    2.971462] hub 2-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[    2.975784] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
[    2.981069] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
[    2.988516] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: Host supports USB 3.0 SuperSpeed
[    2.995370] usb usb3: We don't know the algorithms for LPM for this host, disabling LPM.
[    3.003904] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    3.008142] hub 3-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[    3.017653] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    3.035190] init: - preinit -
[    3.740077] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    3.826254] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    4.021635] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    6.324572] UBIFS (ubi0:2): Mounting in unauthenticated mode
[    6.355859] UBIFS (ubi0:2): background thread "ubifs_bgt0_2" started, PID 661
[    6.388981] UBIFS (ubi0:2): recovery needed
[    6.514570] UBIFS (ubi0:2): recovery completed
[    6.519123] UBIFS (ubi0:2): UBIFS: mounted UBI device 0, volume 2, name "rootfs_data"
[    6.526997] UBIFS (ubi0:2): LEB size: 129024 bytes (126 KiB), min./max. I/O unit sizes: 2048 bytes/2048 bytes
[    6.536962] UBIFS (ubi0:2): FS size: 117024768 bytes (111 MiB, 907 LEBs), journal size 5806080 bytes (5 MiB, 45 LEBs)
[    6.547628] UBIFS (ubi0:2): reserved for root: 4952683 bytes (4836 KiB)
[    6.554273] UBIFS (ubi0:2): media format: w5/r0 (latest is w5/r0), UUID 17CDB3DF-9431-4DAF-A838-974F9E4F74B9, small LPT model
[    6.569802] mount_root: switching to ubifs overlay
[    6.581055] urandom-seed: Seeding with /etc/urandom.seed
[    6.654805] procd: - early -
[    6.658268] procd: - watchdog -
[    7.262246] procd: - watchdog -
[    7.266339] procd: - ubus -
[    7.331514] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    7.338925] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    7.348620] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    7.357032] procd: - init -
[    7.935720] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[    8.023427] urngd: v1.0.2 started.
[    8.044483] rtc-pcf8563 0-0051: registered as rtc0
[    8.056987] rtc-pcf8563 0-0051: setting system clock to 2022-09-03T01:11:39 UTC (1662167499)
[    8.082113] xt_time: kernel timezone is -0000
[    8.153801] random: crng init done
[    8.157249] random: 26 urandom warning(s) missed due to ratelimiting
[    8.190305] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2
[    8.200933] NET: Registered protocol family 24
[    8.231225] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[   13.680214] br-lan: port 1(eth0) entered blocking state
[   13.685472] br-lan: port 1(eth0) entered disabled state
[   13.690934] device eth0 entered promiscuous mode
[   16.664088] mv643xx_eth_port mv643xx_eth_port.0 eth0: link up, 1000 Mb/s, full duplex, flow control enabled
[   16.674306] br-lan: port 1(eth0) entered blocking state
[   16.679589] br-lan: port 1(eth0) entered forwarding state
[   16.698981] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): br-lan: link becomes ready

Disclaimer:
we fail to reliably express our precise thoughts & intentions using words.
consequently, you may fail to understand us. we apologize for the effects of such misunderstanding.

To find out which u-boot version

grep -a --null-data U-Boot /dev/mtd0ro

But you can still log into OpenWrt, then you would could do sysupgrade to install new version. You can do that using the web page.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> To find out which u-boot version
>
>

> grep -a --null-data U-Boot /dev/mtd0ro
>

I think its is the one of your releases , had to remove the --null-byte option
>

# grep U-Boot /dev/mtd0ro
U-Boot BUG at %s:%d!
** Invalid partition type "%.32s" (expect "U-Boot")
U-Boot.arm
?'??MU-Boot EFI: Relocation at %p is out of range (%lx)
U-Boot
UBIFS: only ro mode in U-Boot allowed.
U-Boot 2017.07-tld-1 (Sep 05 2017 - 00:42:03 -0700)

> But you can still log into OpenWrt, then you would
> could do sysupgrade to install new version. You
> can do that using the web page.

So i can just drop the .tar/.tar.xz/tar.bz,all sysupgrade compatibles in to the Flash new firmware option?

Disclaimer:
we fail to reliably express our precise thoughts & intentions using words.
consequently, you may fail to understand us. we apologize for the effects of such misunderstanding.

> U-Boot 2017.07-tld-1 (Sep 05 2017 - 00:42:03-0700)

Yes. It is my latest release.

> So i can just drop the .tar/.tar.xz/tar.bz,all
> sysupgrade compatibles in to the Flash new
> firmware option?

No, don't do that. You should download the NSA325 version you want to your PC. And then connect to the OpenWrt local web page (on the NS325) while the system is running, using the PC browser.

This might be necessary now because the NSA325 memory might not be enough (other Kirkwood boxes which has 256MB no longer works using command line sysupgrade). But it may work running on the ssh sesion, since this box has 512MB. I found the web page sysupgrade is robust and does not cause problem. So why taking chance that it could corrupt the system?

And then on that web page navigate to the upgrade menu, and choose the file on your PC download folder.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

ok i'm going to check that..

Thank you very much!!!

Disclaimer:
we fail to reliably express our precise thoughts & intentions using words.
consequently, you may fail to understand us. we apologize for the effects of such misunderstanding.

Can i use the sysupgrade page to install debian as well?

Disclaimer:
we fail to reliably express our precise thoughts & intentions using words.
consequently, you may fail to understand us. we apologize for the effects of such misunderstanding.

> Can i use the sysupgrade page to install debian as
> well?

No. sysupgrade is for OpenWrt only.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

so i need to connect thru serial if i want to install "Linux Kernel 5.19.2 Kirkwood package and Debian"?

Disclaimer:
we fail to reliably express our precise thoughts & intentions using words.
consequently, you may fail to understand us. we apologize for the effects of such misunderstanding.

You can boot into OpenWrt, so most likely you can install u-boot or Debian or both, from SSH. But to verify that there is no artificial restriction imposed by OpenWrt, get some info while in SSH session,

dmesg
cat /proc/mtd
cat /etc/fw_env.config
fw_printenv

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

dmesg output:

[    0.000000] Booting Linux on physical CPU 0x0
[    0.000000] Linux version 5.4.188 (builder@buildhost) (gcc version 8.4.0 (OpenWrt GCC 8.4.0 r16554-1d4dea6d4f)) #0 Sat Apr 16 12:59:34 2022
[    0.000000] CPU: Feroceon 88FR131 [56251311] revision 1 (ARMv5TE), cr=0005397f
[    0.000000] CPU: VIVT data cache, VIVT instruction cache
[    0.000000] OF: fdt: Machine model: ZyXEL NSA325
[    0.000000] Memory policy: Data cache writeback
[    0.000000] On node 0 totalpages: 131072
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 1152 pages used for memmap
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 0 pages reserved
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 131072 pages, LIFO batch:31
[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: s0 r0 d32768 u32768 alloc=1*32768
[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: [0] 0 
[    0.000000] Built 1 zonelists, mobility grouping on.  Total pages: 129920
[    0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttyS0,115200
[    0.000000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes, linear)
[    0.000000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes, linear)
[    0.000000] mem auto-init: stack:off, heap alloc:off, heap free:off
[    0.000000] Memory: 510588K/524288K available (5165K kernel code, 179K rwdata, 832K rodata, 1024K init, 210K bss, 13700K reserved, 0K cma-reserved)
[    0.000000] SLUB: HWalign=32, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=1, Nodes=1
[    0.000000] NR_IRQS: 16, nr_irqs: 16, preallocated irqs: 16
[    0.000000] random: get_random_bytes called from 0xc0800b9c with crng_init=0
[    0.000000] clocksource: orion_clocksource: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 9556302233 ns
[    0.000006] sched_clock: 32 bits at 200MHz, resolution 5ns, wraps every 10737418237ns
[    0.000028] Switching to timer-based delay loop, resolution 5ns
[    0.000097] Calibrating delay loop (skipped), value calculated using timer frequency.. 400.00 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000000)
[    0.000112] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[    0.000274] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.000290] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.001017] CPU: Testing write buffer coherency: ok
[    0.001743] Setting up static identity map for 0x100000 - 0x10003c
[    0.001952] mvebu-soc-id: MVEBU SoC ID=0x6282, Rev=0x1
[    0.004764] clocksource: jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 19112604462750000 ns
[    0.004783] futex hash table entries: 256 (order: -1, 3072 bytes, linear)
[    0.004882] pinctrl core: initialized pinctrl subsystem
[    0.005794] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[    0.006071] DMA: preallocated 256 KiB pool for atomic coherent allocations
[    0.006825] cpuidle: using governor ladder
[    0.007092] Feroceon L2: Enabling L2
[    0.007122] Feroceon L2: Cache support initialised.
[    0.009957] No ATAGs?
[    0.023406] SCSI subsystem initialized
[    0.023888] libata version 3.00 loaded.
[    0.024054] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[    0.024091] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[    0.024125] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[    0.025927] clocksource: Switched to clocksource orion_clocksource
[    0.026428] thermal_sys: Registered thermal governor 'step_wise'
[    0.026608] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[    0.026732] IP idents hash table entries: 8192 (order: 4, 65536 bytes, linear)
[    0.027405] tcp_listen_portaddr_hash hash table entries: 512 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.027430] TCP established hash table entries: 4096 (order: 2, 16384 bytes, linear)
[    0.027480] TCP bind hash table entries: 4096 (order: 2, 16384 bytes, linear)
[    0.027527] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 4096 bind 4096)
[    0.027587] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.027606] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.027722] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[    0.027744] PCI: CLS 0 bytes, default 32
[    0.029674] workingset: timestamp_bits=14 max_order=17 bucket_order=3
[    0.033631] squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher
[    0.033641] jffs2: version 2.2 (NAND) (SUMMARY) (LZMA) (RTIME) (CMODE_PRIORITY) (c) 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
[    0.034397] Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 251)
[    0.037070] kirkwood-pinctrl f1010000.pin-controller: registered pinctrl driver
[    0.037741] mvebu-gpio f1010140.gpio: IRQ index 3 not found
[    0.038026] mvebu-pcie mbus@f1000000:pcie@82000000: PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00
[    0.038039] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [bus 00-ff]
[    0.038047] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem 0xe0000000-0xefffffff]
[    0.038054] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [io  0x1000-0xeffff]
[    0.038136] pci 0000:00:01.0: [11ab:6282] type 01 class 0x060400
[    0.038162] pci 0000:00:01.0: reg 0x38: [mem 0x00000000-0x000007ff pref]
[    0.039092] PCI: bus0: Fast back to back transfers disabled
[    0.039103] pci 0000:00:01.0: bridge configuration invalid ([bus 00-00]), reconfiguring
[    0.039195] pci 0000:01:00.0: [1033:0194] type 00 class 0x0c0330
[    0.039236] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x00001fff 64bit]
[    0.039356] pci 0000:01:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D3hot
[    0.039389] pci 0000:01:00.0: 2.000 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth, limited by 2.5 GT/s x1 link at 0000:00:01.0 (capable of 4.000 Gb/s with 5 GT/s x1 link)
[    0.040300] PCI: bus1: Fast back to back transfers disabled
[    0.040312] pci_bus 0000:01: busn_res: [bus 01-ff] end is updated to 01
[    0.040448] pci 0000:00:01.0: BAR 8: assigned [mem 0xe0000000-0xe00fffff]
[    0.040458] pci 0000:00:01.0: BAR 6: assigned [mem 0xe0100000-0xe01007ff pref]
[    0.040469] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0xe0000000-0xe0001fff 64bit]
[    0.040485] pci 0000:00:01.0: PCI bridge to [bus 01]
[    0.040495] pci 0000:00:01.0:   bridge window [mem 0xe0000000-0xe00fffff]
[    0.040535] pci 0000:00:01.0: enabling device (0140 -> 0142)
[    0.040551] pci 0000:01:00.0: enabling device (0140 -> 0142)
[    0.040890] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 16 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
[    0.042124] printk: console [ttyS0] disabled
[    0.042189] f1012000.serial: ttyS0 at MMIO 0xf1012000 (irq = 26, base_baud = 12500000) is a 16550A
[    0.572013] printk: console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.576669] Loading iSCSI transport class v2.0-870.
[    0.583000] nand: device found, Manufacturer ID: 0x92, Chip ID: 0xf1
[    0.589412] nand: Eon NAND 128MiB 3,3V 8-bit
[    0.593699] nand: 128 MiB, SLC, erase size: 128 KiB, page size: 2048, OOB size: 64
[    0.601315] Scanning device for bad blocks
[    0.610230] Bad eraseblock 100 at 0x000000c80000
[    0.619612] Bad eraseblock 200 at 0x000001900000
[    0.663376] 3 fixed-partitions partitions found on MTD device orion_nand
[    0.670111] Creating 3 MTD partitions on "orion_nand":
[    0.675268] 0x000000000000-0x0000000c0000 : "uboot"
[    0.680673] 0x0000000c0000-0x000000140000 : "uboot_env"
[    0.686372] 0x000000140000-0x000008000000 : "ubi"
[    0.695969] mv643xx_eth: MV-643xx 10/100/1000 ethernet driver version 1.4
[    0.704389] mv643xx_eth_port mv643xx_eth_port.0 eth0: port 0 with MAC address e8:37:7a:2d:e8:b6
[    0.713336] i2c /dev entries driver
[    0.717696] orion_wdt: Initial timeout 21 sec
[    0.726342] marvell-cesa f1030000.crypto: CESA device successfully registered
[    0.734219] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[    0.740042] Segment Routing with IPv6
[    0.743773] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[    0.748289] bridge: filtering via arp/ip/ip6tables is no longer available by default. Update your scripts to load br_netfilter if you need this.
[    0.761416] 8021q: 802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8
[    0.768156] UBI: auto-attach mtd2
[    0.771488] ubi0: attaching mtd2
[    0.943987] ubi0: scanning is finished
[    0.958417] ubi0: attached mtd2 (name "ubi", size 126 MiB)
[    0.963924] ubi0: PEB size: 131072 bytes (128 KiB), LEB size: 129024 bytes
[    0.970844] ubi0: min./max. I/O unit sizes: 2048/2048, sub-page size 512
[    0.977583] ubi0: VID header offset: 512 (aligned 512), data offset: 2048
[    0.984397] ubi0: good PEBs: 1012, bad PEBs: 2, corrupted PEBs: 0
[    0.990519] ubi0: user volume: 3, internal volumes: 1, max. volumes count: 128
[    0.997775] ubi0: max/mean erase counter: 2/1, WL threshold: 4096, image sequence number: 1630448408
[    1.006948] ubi0: available PEBs: 0, total reserved PEBs: 1012, PEBs reserved for bad PEB handling: 18
[    1.016827] block ubiblock0_1: created from ubi0:1(rootfs)
[    1.022339] ubiblock: device ubiblock0_1 (rootfs) set to be root filesystem
[    1.029344] hctosys: unable to open rtc device (rtc0)
[    1.034693] ubi0: background thread "ubi_bgt0d" started, PID 488
[    1.044993] VFS: Mounted root (squashfs filesystem) readonly on device 254:0.
[    1.055116] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1024K
[    1.059822] Run /sbin/init as init process
[    1.316746] init: Console is alive
[    1.320266] init: - watchdog -
[    1.577752] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    1.675662] ehci_hcd: USB 2.0 'Enhanced' Host Controller (EHCI) Driver
[    1.686224] ehci-fsl: Freescale EHCI Host controller driver
[    1.695438] ehci-orion: EHCI orion driver
[    1.699629] orion-ehci f1050000.ehci: EHCI Host Controller
[    1.705169] orion-ehci f1050000.ehci: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[    1.712975] orion-ehci f1050000.ehci: irq 30, io mem 0xf1050000
[    1.745944] orion-ehci f1050000.ehci: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[    1.752422] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    1.756357] hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected
[    1.764251] ehci-platform: EHCI generic platform driver
[    1.777735] sata_mv f1080000.sata: version 1.28
[    1.777919] sata_mv f1080000.sata: slots 32 ports 2
[    1.785051] scsi host0: sata_mv
[    1.788866] scsi host1: sata_mv
[    1.792145] ata1: SATA max UDMA/133 irq 32
[    1.796282] ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 irq 32
[    2.001797] random: fast init done
[    2.045936] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using orion-ehci
[    2.128537] ata1: SATA link down (SStatus 0 SControl F300)
[    2.247803] hub 1-1:1.0: USB hub found
[    2.251848] hub 1-1:1.0: 4 ports detected
[    2.625943] ata2: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl F300)
[    2.636711] ata2.00: ATA-8: Hitachi HUA723030ALA640, MKAOA800, max UDMA/133
[    2.643709] ata2.00: 5860533168 sectors, multi 0: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32)
[    2.657170] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    2.661727] scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      Hitachi HUA72303 A800 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    2.670710] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] 5860533168 512-byte logical blocks: (3.00 TB/2.73 TiB)
[    2.678777] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[    2.683588] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[    2.683659] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[    2.731726]  sda: sda1 sda2
[    2.735393] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
[    2.746645] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
[    2.751913] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
[    2.759607] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: hcc params 0x014042cb hci version 0x96 quirks 0x0000000000000004
[    2.772604] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    2.776541] hub 2-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[    2.780842] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
[    2.786125] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
[    2.793568] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: Host supports USB 3.0 SuperSpeed
[    2.800119] usb usb3: We don't know the algorithms for LPM for this host, disabling LPM.
[    2.808619] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    2.812554] hub 3-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[    2.823893] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    2.834013] init: - preinit -
[    3.335419] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    3.397212] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    3.593909] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    6.709113] mv643xx_eth_port mv643xx_eth_port.0 eth0: link up, 1000 Mb/s, full duplex, flow control disabled
[    6.719030] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
[    7.844747] UBIFS (ubi0:2): Mounting in unauthenticated mode
[    7.850475] UBIFS error (ubi0:2 pid 674): 0xc02a0f0c: 'compressor "zstd" is not compiled in
[    7.859537] mount_root: failed to mount -t ubifs /dev/ubi0_2 /tmp/overlay: No error information
[    7.868505] mount_root: overlay filesystem has not been fully initialized yet
[    7.875833] mount_root: switching to ubifs overlay
[    7.880740] mount_root: switching to ubifs failed - fallback to ramoverlay
[    7.889762] urandom-seed: Seed file not found (/etc/urandom.seed)
[    7.943868] procd: - early -
[    7.947237] procd: - watchdog -
[    8.512182] procd: - watchdog -
[    8.554204] procd: - ubus -
[    8.611516] procd: - init -
[    9.044375] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[    9.111472] rtc-pcf8563 0-0051: registered as rtc0
[    9.143834] xt_time: kernel timezone is -0000
[    9.187096] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2
[    9.198759] NET: Registered protocol family 24
[    9.234739] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[    9.265615] urngd: v1.0.2 started.
[    9.375744] crng init done
[    9.378482] random: 7 urandom warning(s) missed due to ratelimiting
[   19.866239] br-lan: port 1(eth0) entered blocking state
[   19.871493] br-lan: port 1(eth0) entered disabled state
[   19.876949] device eth0 entered promiscuous mode
[   22.899236] mv643xx_eth_port mv643xx_eth_port.0 eth0: link up, 1000 Mb/s, full duplex, flow control enabled
[   22.909063] br-lan: port 1(eth0) entered blocking state
[   22.914311] br-lan: port 1(eth0) entered forwarding state
[   22.920793] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): br-lan: link becomes ready

cat /proc/mtd output:

dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 000c0000 00020000 "uboot"
mtd1: 00080000 00020000 "uboot_env"
mtd2: 07ec0000 00020000 "ubi"

cat /etc/fw_config.env output:

/dev/mtd1 0x0 0x20000 0x20000

fw_printenv output:

arcNumber=4495
baudrate=115200
bootcmd=run setenv bootargs; ubi part ubi; ubi read 0x800000 kernel; bootm 0x800000
bootcmd_exec=run load_uimage; if run load_initrd; then if run load_dtb; then bootm $load_uimage_addr $load_initrd_addr $load_dtb_addr; else bootm $load_uimage_addr $load_initrd_addr; fi; else if run load_dtb; then bootm $load_uimage_addr - $load_dtb_addr; else bootm$load_uimage_addr; fi; fi
bootcmd_uenv=run uenv_load; if test $uenv_loaded -eq 1; then run uenv_import; fi
bootdelay=10
bootdev=usb
console=console=ttyS0,115200
device=0:1
devices=usb ide
disks=0 1 2 3
dtb_file=/boot/dts/kirkwood-nsa325.dtb
ethact=egiga0
ethaddr=E8:37:7A:2D:E8:B6
if_netconsole=ping $serverip
ipaddr=192.168.0.231
led_error=orange blinking
led_exit=green off
led_init=green blinking
load_dtb=echo loading DTB $dtb_file ...; load $bootdev $device $load_dtb_addr $dtb_file
load_dtb_addr=0x1c00000
load_initrd=echo loading uInitrd ...; load $bootdev $device $load_initrd_addr /boot/uInitrd
load_initrd_addr=0x1100000
load_uimage=echo loading uImage ...; load $bootdev $device $load_uimage_addr /boot/uImage
load_uimage_addr=0x800000
mainlineLinux=yes
mtdids=nand0=orion_nand
mtdparts=mtdparts=orion_nand:0x00c0000(uboot),0x80000(uboot_env),0x7ec0000(ubi)
partition=nand0,2
preboot_nc=run if_netconsole start_netconsole
scan_disk=echo running scan_disk ...; scan_done=0; setenv scan_usb "usb start";  setenv scan_ide "ide reset";  setenv scan_mmc "mmc rescan"; for dev in $devices; do if test $scan_done -eq 0; then echo Scan device $dev; run scan_$dev; for disknum in $disks; do if test $scan_done -eq 0; then echo device $dev $disknum:1; if load $dev $disknum:1 $load_uimage_addr /boot/uImage 1; then scan_done=1; echo Found bootable drive on $dev $disknum; setenv device $disknum:1; setenv bootdev $dev; fi; fi; done; fi; done
serverip=192.168.0.220
set_bootargs=setenv bootargs console=ttyS0,115200 root=LABEL=rootfs rootdelay=10 $mtdparts $custom_params
start_netconsole=setenv ncip $serverip; setenv bootdelay 10; setenv stdin nc; setenv stdout nc; setenv stderr nc; version;
stderr=serial
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
uenv_addr=0x810000
uenv_import=echo importing envs ...; env import -t $uenv_addr $filesize
uenv_init_devices=setenv init_usb "usb start";  setenv init_ide "ide reset";  setenv init_mmc "mmc rescan"; for devtype in $devices; do run init_$devtype; done;
uenv_load=run uenv_init_devices; setenv uenv_loaded 0; for devtype in $devices;  do for disknum in 0; do run uenv_read_disk; done; done;
uenv_read=echo loading envs from $devtype $disknum ...; if load $devtype $disknum:1 $uenv_addr /boot/uEnv.txt; then setenv uenv_loaded 1; fi
uenv_read_disk=if test $devtype -eq mmc; then if $devtype part; then run uenv_read;  fi; else if $devtype part $disknum; then run uenv_read; fi;  fi
usb_ready_retry=15

Disclaimer:
we fail to reliably express our precise thoughts & intentions using words.
consequently, you may fail to understand us. we apologize for the effects of such misunderstanding.

plusminus,

During the OpenWrt installation, the bootcmd was not set correctly. So without modification, you can only boot OpenWrt.

bootcmd=run setenv bootargs; ubi part ubi; ubi read 0x800000 kernel; bootm 0x800000

The correct envs are a bit more. Several envs must be set so you can boot both Debian and OpenWrt. This post shows the correct set of envs:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?4,86219

fw_setenv partition 'nand0,0'
fw_setenv set_bootargs_owrt 'setenv bootargs console=ttyS0,115200'
fw_setenv bootcmd_owrt 'run set_bootargs_owrt; ubi part ubi; ubi read 0x800000 kernel; bootm 0x800000'
fw_setenv bootcmd 'run bootcmd_uenv; run scan_disk; run set_bootargs; run bootcmd_exec; run bootcmd_owrt'

So with the correct bootcmd, you can create USB rootfs using Debian-5.13.6-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 . And just plug in this USB rootfs, it will boot into Debian.

But don't do that yet. See my explanation below.

======

So here is part about what to do, and what precaution to take.

Current setup for this OpenWrt system allow you modify the u-boot envs. However, be aware that if you change bootcmd, and mistake was made either by my instruction or your typo... (or something wrong occurs such as power outage), it will semi-brick the box, and then you need to connect serial console to recover.

Do a test,

fw_setenv test_set_env yes

And then reboot, log back into OpenWrt and list the envs again to see that it was saved.

fw_printenv

or

fw_printenv test_set_env

So at this point, you can be confident that the envs can be set OK. And make a decision to accept some risk. And do

fw_setenv partition 'nand0,0'
fw_setenv set_bootargs_owrt 'setenv bootargs console=ttyS0,115200'
fw_setenv bootcmd_owrt 'run set_bootargs_owrt; ubi part ubi; ubi read 0x800000 kernel; bootm 0x800000'
fw_setenv bootcmd 'run bootcmd_uenv; run scan_disk; run set_bootargs; run bootcmd_exec; run bootcmd_owrt'

And then plug in the Debian rootfs you've just created. And reboot. It will boot to Debian, and you can find in in the network (as explained in the rootfs installation instruction).

So the bottom line is I'd strongly recommend a serial console connection before you change u-boot envs.


UPDATE: I've modied the envs set a bit

-bodhi
===========================
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2022 02:50AM by bodhi.