Can't boot Debian, Arch boots fine (SATA)

Hey all,

I got a pink pogoplug (b04 I guess) with a bricked nand and was wondering if I can boot Debian from SATA like I do with Arch? I tried replacing the rootfs on the hdd but this didn't do the trick.
The reason why I want to switch to Debian is that I need a newer Kernel for the STK1160 driver.
The Pogoplug boots from SATA exclusively and netconsole isn't working either...
Help would be appreciated, thank you :)

crckmc

Have a look at this:
https://github.com/ingmar-k/Pogoplug_V3_Emdebian_Debian

BUT, please read the instructions and the comments in the settings-file VERY carefully.
If you have questions, just ask.

I already tried that but the problem is it won't boot from my usb stick and arch is running on the sata hdd. I don't remember exactly what happened to the plug but I guess there is something wrong with the nand. I tried reverting it to the original uBoot but after that it still did nothing.
Is the created filesystem bootable via sata?
Edit: Nervermind too stupid to scroll down the instructions page sorry :)
Thanks

crckmc



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2013 02:05PM by crckmc.

No worries! If you have any good points, for example where the descriptions needs to be clearer or something like that, let me know.

If you write the software yourself, you often forget to explain some things, because they are obvious to you. So input would be welcome.

Hey ingmar,

thanks to your script the pogo picks up the ssd with Debian installed on. Can I replace the Kernel like described in bodhis thread?

I had a bit of a problem with the script as distribution should be wheezy but it didn't work till i put wheezy-grip in there

Thanks again

crckmc

Good to hear. Your problems at first with Debian were simply caused by the Arch kernel being too old.
I don't know which of bodhi's threads you mean. Care to post a link?
The usual method for a kernel update for NON-SATA boot is described here (section "Flashing and testing a new kernel"):
https://github.com/ingmar-k/Pogoplug_V3_Emdebian_Debian/blob/master/README.md

Concerning the necessary "-grip" suffix, that should not happen. I will have to look into this. Normally the scripts already check for the necessary files and create a symlink to solve exactly that problem.
Might it be that you put in "Wheezy", instead of "wheezy" (mind the capital "W")?
At the moment I think I am only checking for lower case versions.

Oh and BTW: You know that the "-grip" suffix is Emdebian specific, right? I don't know if you really wanted to install Emdebian. For Debian the versions won't ever need a suffix.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2013 06:07AM by ingmar_k.

I tried both with wheezy and wheezy-grip and I also changed build-target to "debian". I guess I forgot to edit the mirror url so it grabbed the emdebian packages (?!). I have to go to university now and will start over tonight with a new mirror-url.

The thread I was refering to is http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096 the top sticky in this board.

Thanks again for your great help! Will post back with my results this evening

Edit: had to try it right away and indeed this was the problem. Your script is working fine I just had to edit the mirror url now I'm running debian and just have to update the kernel

crckmc



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2013 06:46AM by crckmc.

Nice! I thought I had that problem covered and luckily enough, it works.

About the thread you linked to:
BIG MISTAKE! "Kirkwood" is the codename of a CPU, as is "OXNAS". Now you obviously have a Pogoplug V3 (for example B04). This unit uses a PLX 7821, a.k.a OXNAS 820 a.k.a OX820 CPU.
Kirkwood is the codename of a CPU made by Marvell. You can't ever use a kernel that was compiled for a Kirkwood CPU, on another CPU, like the OX820.

So in short: No you cannot follow the instructions in the thread you have linked to. If you do, it won't work in the best case scenario, or you willl brick your device in the worst case. So be careful with things like that.

Hello again,

thanks for the clarification. Does this mean I have to build the new kernel myself?

Also I found another "error" in your script which I almost forgot to mention. In the package dependencies you list qemu-system-arm but there is no such packet. I changed it to qemu-system (which includes qemu-system-arm) and it worked.

Edit: I found your kernels under http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~ingmar_k/Pogoplug_V3/kernels/ can I use this 3.1.10-Pogoplug_v3-nonpro-1.9_1362751903?
crckmc



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2013 09:47AM by crckmc.

You are right, for "older" versions of either Debian or Ubuntu "qemu-system-arm" does not exist. It does however for all new Ubuntu versions and debian (starting with sid). I will probably change this soon. At least for Debian. Thanks for the hint!

About the kernel:
It is not that easy. The Kernels with version number 3.1.10 are suboptimal, to say the least.
The best kernel at the moment, for the Pogoplug V3 classic is this one:
http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~ingmar_k/Pogoplug_V3/kernels/2.6.32-ppv3-classic-zram-1.1_ARMv6k.tar.bz2

HOWEVER, before you can use this kernel, you have to change one of the Uboot Environment settings. Important: The setting for the uboot in NAND, NOT the one that the SATA drive boots from. Those are not the same!

The kernel should be used with a EXT4 formatted rootfs. And this needs to be set in the "bootargs", as the option "rootfstype=ext4". Otherwise the system won't be able to boot. At least not from nand. It will be able to boot from SATA nonetheless.
So, you can flash the kernel that I linked to above to nand, but before that you should change the bootargs option.
That should be done by connecting a USB to serial converter to the Pogoplug. If you do not have access to the serial console on the Pogoplug, it is harder to mess with these settings. And you should probably consider getting one anyway. With any embedded device a USB to serial converter can (and probably will) come in handy one day.
There is the option of using netconsole, but I never tried that on the Pogoplug.

Thanks again for the info that is kind of sad to me as I was just trying to get my STK1160 video grabber to work with the plug :)
I think the driver was incorporated in newer kernel versions. Is there anything I could try or am I out of luck?

crckmc

You could wait. There is some development going on. An effort of the OpenWRT community to get kernel version 3.12 working on the PLX7821 devices.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2013 03:00PM by ingmar_k.

Guess this is a rather easy thing to do :)
Thanks anyway you are a really good help!

crckmc

If you are impatient, you can be one of the first to try the new kernel. There is also a slightly different, previous version available. It is based on kernel 3.1.11.
Have a look here:
https://github.com/kref/linux-oxnas
There are different branches for 3.1.11 (branch oxnas) and 3.12 (branch 3.12).

Hello again,

I tried compiling the kernel yesterday but was overwhelmed by the number of menus when I run "make menuconfig". I have no idea what I need to check in the menus theres a lot of stuff I never heard of.
I don't know if it is too much to ask but would you help me with this?

Thanks crckmc

Yesterday evening I did compile a test kernel (v3.12) for the Pogoplug V3 Classic and Pro. I will test the kernels today and upload them, if they work. Did want to try the new version anyway.

That sounds really nice! I guess this is the better way as you seem to know what you're doing :)

Waiting for your report and maybe even the kernel...

Thanks again

crckmc

ingmar_k,

This is a very exciting development :) it is Debian right? did you cross compile or native? so we will just flash it in the same NAND partition and use Arch or stock uBoot?

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

I'm experiementing with it at the moment. It seems like we need a newer Uboot version first to handle the new 3.12 kernel. At least my stock uboot couldn't load any of the test kernels yesterday.
Others already have it working, so it nearly has to be the old Uboot version.

And yes I am still testing with Debian. In this case with Debian Jessie/Ttesting to be precise.
Will run more tests today and the coming days.
Will keep you updated,