Pogoplug E02: Squeeze install not booting multiple USB

Total noob here--have hit a brick wall and have tapped out my limited knowledge. I'm stuck and in need of help. I attempted a Wheezy install based on the scripts on doozan.com but it failed at the Debootstrap stage. A bit (LOL!) of research revealed success in trying Squeeze first and then upgrading. I tried that and got what I thought was a functional Squeeze install. On reboot I logged in to what I assumed was my new Debian install, and after many hours of trying to find a way to manually install apt-get (as it was missing) in the limited space available (what? My USB key is 1GB!!) I learned my USB key wasn't booting and I had logged in to the Pogoplug instead.

Like I said--noob. ;)

So I chalked it up to a bad USB key (all I have are non-branded generics--no idea of make or manufacturer) and tried another, first with Wheezy. That failed at Debootstrap again. Nuked the partitions and redid them in fdisk and ran the Squeeze script. It took.

This time I ran fw_printenv before rebooting:

ethact=egiga0
bootdelay=3
baudrate=115200
mainlineLinux=yes
console=ttyS0,115200
led_init=green blinking
led_exit=green off
led_error=orange blinking
mtdparts=mtdparts=orion_nand:1M(u-boot),4M(uImage),32M(rootfs),-(data)
mtdids=nand0=orion_nand
partition=nand0,2
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
stderr=serial
rescue_installed=0
rescue_set_bootargs=setenv bootargs console=$console ubi.mtd=2 root=ubi0:rootfs ro rootfstype=ubifs $mtdparts $rescue_custom_params
rescue_bootcmd=if test $rescue_installed -eq 1; then run rescue_set_bootargs; nand read.e 0x800000 0x100000 0x400000; bootm 0x800000; else run pogo_bootcmd; fi
pogo_bootcmd=if fsload uboot-original-mtd0.kwb; then go 0x800200; fi
force_rescue=0
force_rescue_bootcmd=if test $force_rescue -eq 1 || ext2load usb 0:1 0x1700000 /rescueme 1 || fatload usb 0:1 0x1700000 /rescueme.txt 1; then run rescue_bootcmd; fi
ubifs_mtd=3
ubifs_set_bootargs=setenv bootargs console=$console ubi.mtd=$ubifs_mtd root=ubi0:rootfs rootfstype=ubifs $mtdparts $ubifs_custom_params
ubifs_bootcmd=run ubifs_set_bootargs; if ubi part data && ubifsmount rootfs && ubifsload 0x800000 /boot/uImage && ubifsload 0x1100000 /boot/uInitrd; then bootm 0x800000 0x1100000; fi
usb_scan=usb_scan_done=0;for scan in $usb_scan_list; do run usb_scan_$scan; if test $usb_scan_done -eq 0 && ext2load usb $usb 0x800000 /boot/uImage 1; then usb_scan_done=1; echo "Found bootable drive on usb $usb"; setenv usb_device $usb; setenv usb_root /dev/$dev; fi; done
usb_scan_list=1 2 3 4
usb_scan_1=usb=0:1 dev=sda1
usb_scan_2=usb=1:1 dev=sdb1
usb_scan_3=usb=2:1 dev=sdc1
usb_scan_4=usb=3:1 dev=sdd1
usb_init=run usb_scan
usb_device=0:1
usb_root=/dev/sda1
usb_rootfstype=ext2
usb_rootdelay=10
usb_set_bootargs=setenv bootargs console=$console root=$usb_root rootdelay=$usb_rootdelay rootfstype=$usb_rootfstype $mtdparts $usb_custom_params
usb_bootcmd=run usb_init; run usb_set_bootargs; run usb_boot
usb_boot=mw 0x800000 0 1; ext2load usb $usb_device 0x800000 /boot/uImage; if ext2load usb $usb_device 0x1100000 /boot/uInitrd; then bootm 0x800000 0x1100000; else bootm 0x800000; fi
bootcmd=usb start; run force_rescue_bootcmd; run ubifs_bootcmd; run usb_bootcmd; usb stop; run rescue_bootcmd; run pogo_bootcmd; reset
ethaddr=00:25:31:00:B4:85
arcNumber=2097

And I had read hours of this forum to learn that using netconsole is invaluable to seeing what is going on. Set up the monitoring variables and this is what I get when I boot:

U-Boot 2011.12 (Feb 20 2012 - 21:21:59)
Pogoplug E02
arm-none-linux-gnueabi-gcc (Sourcery G++ Lite 2009q3-67) 4.4.1
GNU ld (Sourcery G++ Lite 2009q3-67) 2.19.51.20090709
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
(Re)start USB...
USB:   Register 10011 NbrPorts 1
USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
       scanning bus for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found
Loading file "/rescueme" from usb device 0:1 (usbda1)
** File not found /rescueme
reading /rescueme.txt

** Unable to read "/rescueme.txt" from usb 0:1 **
Creating 1 MTD partitions on "nand0":
0x000002500000-0x000008000000 : "mtd=3"
UBI: attaching mtd1 to ubi0
UBI: physical eraseblock size:   131072 bytes (128 KiB)
UBI: logical eraseblock size:    129024 bytes
UBI: smallest flash I/O unit:    2048
UBI: sub-page size:              512
UBI: VID header offset:          512 (aligned 512)
UBI: data offset:                2048
UBI: attached mtd1 to ubi0
UBI: MTD device name:            "mtd=3"
UBI: MTD device size:            91 MiB
UBI: number of good PEBs:        726
UBI: number of bad PEBs:         2
UBI: max. allowed volumes:       128
UBI: wear-leveling threshold:    4096
UBI: number of internal volumes: 1
UBI: number of user volumes:     0
UBI: available PEBs:             715
UBI: total number of reserved PEBs: 11
UBI: number of PEBs reserved for bad PEB handling: 7
UBI: max/mean erase counter: 1/1
UBIFS error (pid 0): ubifs_get_sb: cannot open "ubi:rootfs", error -19
Error reading superblock on volume 'ubi:rootfs'!
Loading file "/boot/uImage" from usb device 0:1 (usbda1)
** File not found /boot/uImage
** Block device usb 1 not supported
** Block device usb 2 not supported
** Block device usb 3 not supported
Loading file "/boot/uImage" from usb device 0:1 (usbda1)
** File not found /boot/uImage
Loading file "/boot/uInitrd" from usb device 0:1 (usbda1)
** File not found /boot/uInitrd
Wrong Image Format for bootm command
ERROR: can't get kernel image!
stopping USB..
### JFFS2 loading 'uboot-original-mtd0.kwb' to 0x800000
Scanning JFFS2 FS:   read_nand_cached: error reading nand off 0x500000 size 8192
 bytes
........ done.
### JFFS2 load complete: 524288 bytes loaded to 0x800000
## Starting application at 0x00800200

There are simply too many errors here for me to tackle alone. Could someone help me interpret them? Is this indeed a USB brand issue, or something else? From my limited research it seems it's not finding (or erroring?) out on a portion of the NAND too?

I'm confused because people are directed to troubleshoot this by installing Rescue System V2--but I tried that and of course it won't let me do that from within the Pogoplug OS/Limited Debian and says I have to boot off USB.

But that's the exact problem I'm having. How do I install Rescue System V2 to fix my USB booting issue, if it requires booting off USB?

My head is spinning! I am able to follow directions, and have had to cross-reference four installation "walkthroughs" and multiple threads on this forum just to get this far. I'm a critical thinker. I hope I'm not coming here missing something horribly obvious, but that's entirely possible.

The pressure's on for me to get this up and running as a baby monitor. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

PS I don't have access to a dedicated Linux box, though I could set up a LiveCD (suggestions?) if that's something required to get this working...

@ HDgaming42,

> My head is spinning!

We've all been there :)

The only problem you have here:

> Loading file "/boot/uImage" from usb device 0:1
> (usbda1)
> ** File not found /boot/uImage
> Loading file "/boot/uInitrd" from usb device 0:1
> (usbda1)
> ** File not found /boot/uInitrd

So somehow the installation failed to make these 2 images for you USB stick (in /boot directory).

You will need another Linux box to fix this.

Either fix the current USB stick, or get a ready-made rootfs like the one I provided:
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096

1. To fix the current USB stick, mount it on another Linux box (or Live-CD) and then look at the /boot directory to see what files are there currently, may be the installation did create these 2 files, but somehow did not name them correctly,... if you're not sure then list them and post the output here
ls -l /media/sda1/boot/ (assuming the USB stick was mounted as /media/sda1)

OR

2. Try the rootfs I mentioned above (put it on a different USB stick, per instruction). And boot with this. Once you're in Debian, it is much easier to fix your installation stick.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
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@ bodhi

Thanks for your reply! I think I'm going to pursue option #1 first, as I'm not actually sure what fixing my installation entails at this point. =)

I'll burn a Live-CD and take a look at what's there and what's not. Will report back. I appreciate the help!

Alright, after a rather disasterous trip in and out of a Live-CD* that made my Win7 install very unhappy upon reboot, I ran Ext2Read instead of flailing around in the dark. Probably not what you were hoping for**, but perhaps sufficient at this stage...

Contents:

System.map-2.6.32-5-kirkwood
config-2.6.32-5-kirkwood
initrd.img-2.6.32-5-kirkwood
vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-kirkwood

*USB loaded as sbd with what looked like errors. ls just claimed there was no such directory...
**I'm currently downloading a KDE Live-CD. Not sure why I thought I was up to fumbling my way through a bare bones "standard" Live-CD at this stage. When all else fails--I'm not too proud to touch the mouse. ;)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2013 11:49AM by HDgaming42.

OK, I actually tried your second suggestion. Seems to have worked and it boots.

U-Boot 2011.12 (Feb 20 2012 - 21:21:59)
Pogoplug E02
arm-none-linux-gnueabi-gcc (Sourcery G++ Lite 2009q3-67) 4.4.1
GNU ld (Sourcery G++ Lite 2009q3-67) 2.19.51.20090709
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
(Re)start USB...
USB:   Register 10011 NbrPorts 1
USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
       scanning bus for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found
Loading file "/rescueme" from usb device 0:1 (usbda1)
** File not found /rescueme
reading /rescueme.txt

** Unable to read "/rescueme.txt" from usb 0:1 **
Creating 1 MTD partitions on "nand0":
0x000002500000-0x000008000000 : "mtd=3"
UBI: attaching mtd1 to ubi0
UBI: physical eraseblock size:   131072 bytes (128 KiB)
UBI: logical eraseblock size:    129024 bytes
UBI: smallest flash I/O unit:    2048
UBI: sub-page size:              512
UBI: VID header offset:          512 (aligned 512)
UBI: data offset:                2048
UBI: attached mtd1 to ubi0
UBI: MTD device name:            "mtd=3"
UBI: MTD device size:            91 MiB
UBI: number of good PEBs:        726
UBI: number of bad PEBs:         2
UBI: max. allowed volumes:       128
UBI: wear-leveling threshold:    4096
UBI: number of internal volumes: 1
UBI: number of user volumes:     0
UBI: available PEBs:             715
UBI: total number of reserved PEBs: 11
UBI: number of PEBs reserved for bad PEB handling: 7
UBI: max/mean erase counter: 1/1
UBIFS error (pid 0): ubifs_get_sb: cannot open "ubi:rootfs", error -19
Error reading superblock on volume 'ubi:rootfs'!
Loading file "/boot/uImage" from usb device 0:1 (usbda1)
1 bytes read
Found bootable drive on usb 0:1
Loading file "/boot/uImage" from usb device 0:1 (usbda1)
2191504 bytes read
Loading file "/boot/uInitrd" from usb device 0:1 (usbda1)
6483936 bytes read
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 00800000 ...
   Image Name:   Linux-3.10.4-kirkwood-tld-1
   Image Type:   ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
   Data Size:    2191440 Bytes = 2.1 MiB
   Load Address: 00008000
   Entry Point:  00008000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
## Loading init Ramdisk from Legacy Image at 01100000 ...
   Image Name:   initramfs-3.10.4-kirkwood-tld-1
   Image Type:   ARM Linux RAMDisk Image (gzip compressed)
   Data Size:    6483872 Bytes = 6.2 MiB
   Load Address: 00000000
   Entry Point:  00000000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
   Loading Kernel Image ... OK
OK

Starting kernel ...

So I guess I am now able to fix my installation stick. Should I just attempt to create my installation USB key from scratch following these directions/scripts (Squeeze) again, now that I am in a proper Debian environment? Or should I first try to install the Rescue System V2 while I have the chance?

Awaiting instructions (thank you!).



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2013 03:15PM by HDgaming42.

HDgaming42,

Some users had problem in installing Rescue System lately, so it could bring you more headache. Since you have netconsole, there is less need for Rescue System (for recovery purpose). Rescue system mainly used when you can't boot the system because the rootfs has errrors. But if you take precaution such as backup, and use EXT3 file system, then chance is that you will never see the Rescue system booting.

You have Debian system running now with my 3.10.4 rootfs. It's perfectly fine to continue using it (I created it for this purpose). Or if you like to build your own system from scratch, then fix your rootfs as following:

- Boot up your system with the 3.10.4 stick, log in to Debian as root user.
- Plug your USB stick in, it will become /sdb1. And mount it to /media/sdb1 (or wherever you like). If /media does not exists, then create it first.

mkdir /media
mkdir /media/sdb1

mount /dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1

- Create uImage and uInitrd manually:

cd /media/sdb1/boot

mkimage -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 0x00008000 -e 0x00008000 -n Linux-2.6.32-5-kirkwood -d /media/sdb1/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-kirkwood /media/sdb1/boot/uImage 
mkimage -A arm -O linux -T ramdisk -C gzip -a 0x00000000 -e 0x00000000 -n initramfs-2.6.32-5-kirkwood -d  /media/sdb1/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-kirkwood  /media/sdb1/boot/uInitrd

cd /media
sync
umount /media/sdb1

- Shutdown system
shutdown -h now

- Power on with your USB installation stick only.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
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bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But if you take precaution
> such as backup, and use EXT3 file system, then
> chance is that you will never see the Rescue
> system booting.

Didn't do a backup, and I used EXT2. Is this something I should address before going any further? (and how?)

> You have Debian system running now with my 3.10.4
> rootfs. It's perfectly fine to continue using it
> (I created it for this purpose). Or if you like to
> build your own system from scratch, then fix your
> rootfs as following:

So the USB key I created with your rootfs is not a "full" Debian install, whereas if I built another key from scratch then the end result would be?

My end goal here is to install and run ffmpeg and motion to use a PS3eye as a baby monitor. Could I do that with your rootfs USB key do you think?

Thanks for the step-by-step code(s). It is appreciated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2013 07:06PM by HDgaming42.

HDgaming42,

Ext3 file system will be more resilient with power outage. Ext2 is not. So if this is a concern then Ext2 is not appropriate to use, because the rootfs will be corrupted when that happens. If you use Ext2, be sure to backup the USB very regularly. But in either cases, keep an image backup (i.e. clone) of the USB so you can just swap it whenever you experience booting problem.

My rootfs is basically the same as a pristine newly installed Debian system using Jeff's scipt, with the addition of later kernel that can boot most Kirkwood plugs, and some useful packages preinstalled. When you first install Debian using Jeff's script, it is a bare-bone system with no extra. This is the preferred starting point, since you will install what ever packages you need. It's a learning experience! If a "fully loaded" Debian system is preferred, then people usually start with Ubuntu (but Ubuntu is too big for these plugs).

The packages you require will need to be installed with apt-get (Debian packages management). So after you got the base Debian running, you will need to look for the information about how to install those packages from others (Google will turn up info). The kernel on my rootfs already has the drivers for your purpose, but the utilities/tools must be installed.

About backing up the USB stick. If you have Windows PC, then Acronis is the best tool, IMO, for this purpose. If you use Mac OSX, it has Disk Utilities. On Linux the 'dd' command, or 'cp -aR' command are usually used for back up. There are other great Linux tools to do this, too.

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



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2013 12:52AM by bodhi.

@ bodhi,

thanks once again. I've made a new key with ext3 which I will back up when I have a working web-cam setup.

this is indeed a learning experience, and it's getting easier. Had to add the usbutil package to troubleshoot my PS3eye and half-ways felt like I knew what I was doing! ;) Of course--that's when things get dangerous!

web-cam still not working even after installing ffmpeg and motion with no errors. did a reboot. ran apt-get update and apt-get upgrade. did a reboot.

the camera is listed under lsusb, but does not seem to connect to dev/video0. of course I'm following instructions meant for the Pi, so I don't really know what the Debian equivalent of "run rpi-update" would be, if there even is one (that's how people have got their camera to work).

I might be leaping to conclusions here, but perhaps support was added in the 3.2+ kernels, and that's why "updating the Pi firmware" resolved their issues?

Man--I'm reading through all the threads regarding Uboot and kernels beyond 3.2. whoah.

lots. to. learn.

edit: just realized your rootfs is higher than 3.2, so I doubt that's it...(read it as 3.1, not 3.10.

=)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2013 04:58PM by HDgaming42.

You could ask people who got it working on the Pi to get a list of modules with
lsmod
and see if yours is missing any relevant modules for the Psp3 eye.
It's possible that I didnot have them compiled in the kernel.

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2013 07:48PM by bodhi.

Thanks for the info to the guys who posted in this thread. I had the exact same issue with my Pogoplug-E01 after trying 4 different brands of flash media and going through Jeff's instructions to the letter 4 times through, thinking I was missing something stupid. One time booting with the dumped filesystem and poof, "debian" shows up in my dhcp list! Is there any good explanation as to why this is? Did something change on the lastest rev of pogo OS to make the squeeze script not set up the right boot files? In the spirit of open source I would like to get to the bottom of it to be of more help to anyone else who comes along.

joebob2000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the info to the guys who posted in this
> thread. I had the exact same issue with my
> Pogoplug-E01 after trying 4 different brands of
> flash media and going through Jeff's instructions
> to the letter 4 times through, thinking I was
> missing something stupid. One time booting with
> the dumped filesystem and poof, "debian" shows up
> in my dhcp list! Is there any good explanation as
> to why this is? Did something change on the
> lastest rev of pogo OS to make the squeeze script
> not set up the right boot files? In the spirit of
> open source I would like to get to the bottom of
> it to be of more help to anyone else who comes
> along.

Do you have the installation log when it seems everything went ok, but the images were missing? I'd happy to take a look.

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

Is there an auto-generated install log file and is there any chance it is put onto the flash drive? I have the flash drives with the bad install on them still, but i don't think i can recreate the issue to log it manually because i already put the recovery image on the plug so the original OS is gone. I will try later today to do the same squeeze install from the recovery image, just to see what happens.

I have a pogo-pro still with the original os, but i doubt that would be of any use since the process is different (and I will probably be back to post about whatever other adventures I uncover on that).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2013 08:57AM by joebob2000.

joebob2000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there an auto-generated install log file and is
> there any chance it is put onto the flash drive?
> I have the flash drives with the bad install on
> them still, but i don't think i can recreate the
> issue to log it manually because i already put the
> recovery image on the plug so the original OS is
> gone. I will try later today to do the same
> squeeze install from the recovery image, just to
> see what happens.
>
> I have a pogo-pro still with the original os, but
> i doubt that would be of any use since the process
> is different (and I will probably be back to post
> about whatever other adventures I uncover on
> that).

joebob,

There is no auto-generated log during installation. So you'll need to save the log from your ssh session.

For Pogo Pro, see these threads:
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,6336,page=1
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,13694

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
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