Can I install Tonido on a PogoPlug E02 running Debian?

I have a PogoPlug E02.
I also have an original TonidoPlug that has a Kirkwood version of the Tonido software installed.
For those that don't know, Tonido is similar to the PogoPlug software in that files can be served over the internet using apps on smartphones.
Both the TonidoPlug and the PogoPlug use the same Marvell Kirkwood 1.2GHz cpu.
I can pull the rootfs and the Tonido software off the TonidoPlug. Can those 2 be used to boot the PogoPlug and if not, can the Tonido software be transfered to a PogoPlug running Debian? I believe the TP originally used Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04.

As far as I can tell, Tonido does not offer an install package on their site for the Marvell Kirkwood cpu

Also another possibility below?

Here are instructions from Tonido Support that allows booting TonidoPlug from a USB drive.
included are instructions for copying the tonido software from the TP hardware to the USB drive.

https://www.tonido.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=209&start=10

This, I have done and it works. My TonidoPlug hardware boots off the USB drive.
It would be sweet if that USB stick would boot a pogoplug, it doesn't.

could it just be a matter of the mount point of the drive?

dchomak,

> I can pull the rootfs and the Tonido software off
> the TonidoPlug. Can those 2 be used to boot the
> PogoPlug and if not, can the Tonido software be
> transfered to a PogoPlug running Debian?

Might not be possible without jumping through some hoops. The Tonido binaries is most likely Debian squeeze or earlier. Which Debian version Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04 is built upon?. I think you will need to chroot into that in oder to run binaries. Most likely they cannot be run on Debian wheezy, stretch or buster (which are what I provided here).


> It would be sweet if that USB stick would boot a
> pogoplug, it doesn't.
>
> could it just be a matter of the mount point of
> the drive?

Not the mount point.

The Tonido u-boot is different from the Pogoplug u-boot. Most likely, they use different arcNumber and machid (the identifiers for an ARM machine) in old u-boot.

But a stock Pogoplug might boot this rootfs with some modifications to u-boot envs. Or might not.

If you want to run the old Tonido rootfs on Pogoplug

1. Connect serial console on the Tonido
2. Boot the Tonido
3. Interrupt u-boot and get some information (I'll guide you when you are at the u-boot prompt).


And then I'll give my assessment if it is possible. It is hopeful, but the most important component here is the kernel version on the Tonido plug rootfs. If it is built only for Tonido, not for general Kirkwood, then it won't work.

-bodhi
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2019 07:55PM by bodhi.

Thanks for the info, I will do that as soon as I get a 4 pin 1.25mm jst connector for the TP

OK, after getting the connector and replacing the power supply, I am ready to go!
I assume you want me to start a boot on the Tonido Plug from the USB stick I created.

dchomak,

> OK, after getting the connector and replacing the
> power supply, I am ready to go!
> I assume you want me to start a boot on the Tonido
> Plug from the USB stick I created.

Please remind me what you want to do first. So you have serial console on the Tonido now?

-bodhi
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yes.
I think you want me to log how the Tonido boots off of the USB drive so that I can try and modify it so that it will boot off a stock PogoPlug

dchomak,

> I think you want me to log how the Tonido boots
> off of the USB drive so that I can try and modify
> it so that it will boot off a stock PogoPlug

OK.

However, let me see if I can convince you to use the latest Debian rootfs and kernel on the Pogo E02.

- Is there any software on the Tonido stock that you cannot find in Debian distribution? or there is no equivalent package in Debian for those?
- I'm sure the Tonido plug is running on a really old kernel (most likely 2.6.x Debian Squeeze). If you use this box stock software now, you will have a lot of security vulnerabilities.

Regardless what you decided, it's good to see the full serial console log for the Tonido booting, so we know if it is possible to do what you wanted to do.

-bodhi
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I would love to run Tonido with the latest Debian. AFAIK there is no Tonido software that will run on both Debian AND the Marvel Kirkwood cpu.
I searched thru www.archive.org going all the way back to the beginning of TP and couldn't find anything.
That's why I was hoping to get that bootable USB for TP to boot on a PogoPlug E02
I also have a PogoPlug Pro, although I think it would be less likely to work.
So how do I get that console log info that you need?

dchomak,

> I would love to run Tonido with the latest Debian.
> AFAIK there is no Tonido software that will run on
> both Debian AND the Marvel Kirkwood cpu.

Yes there is. You've come to the right forum! The Tonido plug is just a variation of the Sheevaplug. So see my release thread:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096

You could just use Sheevaplug and I think it will work. But serial console log will confirm this.

> I also have a PogoPlug Pro, although I think it
> would be less likely to work.

We've been running this plug for years here:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,16044

> So how do I get that console log info that you
> need?

Connect the serial console, and on your Linux host (that where the serial converter module is plugged in), run

picocom --b 115200 --f n --p n --d 8 /dev/ttyUSB0

And then power up the Tonido plug.

Note that picocom is same as minicom, just better. On MAC OS you would run screen. On Windows you would run putty. The parameters are: baud rate 11520, no parity, 8 bit, 1 stop bit.

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2019 09:56PM by bodhi.

This is a copy of the console window in PuTTY as my Tonido Plug boots from the USB drive

This is indeed a Sheevaplug clone. So you can run the Tonido plug kernel on the Pogo E02.

You can also install the latest Sheevaplug uboot and kernel from my release threads. But if you do this, try UART booting to see if it can load the latest sheevaplug uboot with kwboot. See uboot release thread for UART booting info. If you are not sure about something, post question before attempt to flash uboot.

-bodhi
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I can see that installing Debian is possible, but then how would I install Tonido?
I have never seen an install file for the Marvell Kirkwood cpu on Tonidos website, even going back in time via archive.org.
That is why I am hoping to be able to boot directly from the boot USB that I made from my Tonido Plug.
Tonido supplies the rootfs file on their website, but not the Tonido software. For that they give instructions on how to copy it off the Tonido Plug

7. Now stop tonido and copy the tonido directory from your existing internal flash disk.
CODE: SELECT ALL

# initctl emit tstop
# cp -dpr /root/app/ /media/usb0/root/


I presume the switches on the copy command preserves the paths of all associated files. I am pretty sure that these paths would not work coping over to a Debian install, The paths would be wrong.

As far as I know, this is the only way to get Tonido software for the Marvel Kirkwood cpu, copy the files separately from a previous install



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2019 07:45PM by dchomak.

dchomak,

> I can see that installing Debian is possible, but
> then how would I install Tonido?
> I have never seen an install file for the Marvell
> Kirkwood cpu on Tonidos website, even going back
> in time via archive.org.

Sounds like you are not familiar with what we are doing here. These plugs are very old and discontinued by the manufacterer. We basically want to erase what is on these plugs and replace those old FWs with a system that is completely new, with the modern kenel and Debian.

What I provided in the Debian rootfs is the full Linux system for all Kirkwood boxes (6281, 6192, 6282 SoCs). And also u-boots for the most popular Kirkwood plugs.

So when you install Debian rootfs, and possibly new u-boot, you will be running a new system for Tonido plug (nothing to do with stock Tonido FW anymore).

Now the issue is whether the new Debian rootfs and u-boot will work on the Tonido? I would say most likely, since it is a clone of Sheevaplug.

-bodhi
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Don't forget that ultimately what I am trying to do is get Tonido software to run on a PogoPlug E02, which happens to use the same cpu as the SheevaPlug and the TonidoPlug.

From my original post, I asked whether this could be done in one of 2 ways.

1. Install Debian on a PogoPlug, and somehow install Tonido software (there is no separate install files available AFAIK)
or
2. Use a bootable USB stick that Tonido allows owners of their TonidoPlug to create so that they can play around and hack their TonidoPlug without altering, and possibly bricking their hardware. Use that USB stick to boot a PogoPlug E02 into the Tonido software.

My thinking is that the easiest way would be #2, if some changes were made to the USB stick
In your first response to this thread you said

The Tonido u-boot is different from the Pogoplug u-boot. Most likely, they use different arcNumber and machid (the identifiers for an ARM machine) in old u-boot.

But a stock Pogoplug might boot this rootfs with some modifications to u-boot envs. Or might not.

If you want to run the old Tonido rootfs on Pogoplug

1. Connect serial console on the Tonido
2. Boot the Tonido
3. Interrupt u-boot and get some information (I'll guide you when you are at the u-boot prompt).


And then I'll give my assessment if it is possible. It is hopeful, but the most important component here is the kernel version on the Tonido plug rootfs. If it is built only for Tonido, not for general Kirkwood, then it won't work.

You are right, I am not trying to do what everybody else here is doing, but I will when I get around to the 4 PogoPlug Pros I have because of their internal SATA ports.

dchomak,

> 1. Install Debian on a PogoPlug, and somehow
> install Tonido software (there is no separate
> install files available AFAIK)

You need to do a lot of preparation in order to run Tonido applications on Pogo E02 running Debian. This is not worth it. IMO.

> 2. Use a bootable USB stick that Tonido allows
> owners of their TonidoPlug to create so that they
> can play around and hack their TonidoPlug without
> altering, and possibly bricking their hardware.
> Use that USB stick to boot a PogoPlug E02 into the
> Tonido software.

My assessment is it is possible to do this. But you will need to change some u-boot envs to make it happen. So you will boot the USB with Tonido rootfs on it, interrupt serial console and modify some envs (don't save them until you know that it works).

=====

OTOH, Debian already provides all application that you will ever need to use. So trying to squeeze the old software into another box is not a good solution.

-bodhi
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What I would like to endup with is a Plug computer that will serve up mp3's over the internet to my smart phone using an app that also contains an mp3 player. Both Tonido and PogoPlug have those apps.
PogoPlug is defunct, and Tonido is still around. I presently use the Tonido software on an eeeBox running Ubuntu Server 16.04.
Works great, and is low power. The gold standard for me would to be able to do the same with a Plug computer.

If there is an application that can run on a Plug based computer (PogoPlug) that serve the files AND a corresponding app for a smartphone that will play the mp3's, I would happy with that. PogoPlug was much much more capable than just that, but playing the mp3's would be, at minimum, great.

Does this exist?

I never really understood why the PogoPlug never achieved mainstream success. I suppose they folded because they couldn't monetize it.

> If there is an application that can run on a Plug
> based computer (PogoPlug) that serve the files AND
> a corresponding app for a smartphone that will
> play the mp3's, I would happy with that. PogoPlug
> was much much more capable than just that, but
> playing the mp3's would be, at minimum, great.
>
> Does this exist?

Yes. It's Debian and its packages that you can install.

> I never really understood why the PogoPlug never
> achieved mainstream success. I suppose they
> folded because they couldn't monetize it.

It never did because the software on these plugs were pretty bad. That's why we can buy them for less than $US 20 after they discontinued the plugs.

What success they have were actually after they were discontinued: because these plugs were modified by Linux community to run mainline Debian, Arch, and OpenWRT.

-bodhi
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> Yes. It's Debian and its packages that you can install.


Before I came here I tried Arch, but could not figure out which package to serve up files over the internet and which smartphone app to play them.
Playing thru a browser is not convenient

Ok I will install Debian,
Which package would you recommend to serve files over the internet and which app for a smart phone to play mp3's

BTW, thanks for you patience and help so far with this. my presuppositions on how to do something sometimes gets in the way.

There are tutorials and examples about Media Streaming in the Wiki thread.

Quote

Media Streaming

OpenMediaVault
Streaming music from Kirkwood plugs to IOS devices via WiFi
Create Your Own In-Home Radio Station Using a Pogoplug Mobile
Install Logitech Media Server on Debian wheezy
Install Logitech Media Server on Debian jessie
Install Logitech Media Server with nightly build (WIP)
Plex media server on PogoPlug
Airplay on a Pogoplug

And I am sure quite a few users on this forum have done this too.

-bodhi
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