Pogoplug V4: Boot Kernel from NAND

I made a setup to boot my Pogoplug V4 kernel from NAND. The reason was that i wanted to attache a SATA multiplier, but when it is attached the Pogoplug cannot boot from it. It has to use either USB or SD card for the boot, which i don't like. This setup allowed me to boot from SATA with the multiplier attached.

WARNING

!!!! This is a destructive change! It will overwrite the content of the onboard FLASH! !!!

It is recommended to have serial access to the plug, otherwise it is hard to debug if it is not booting.

• 1 Boot to u-boot /w serial connection
• 2 modify u-boot variable

    mtdparts

  Original value:

    mtdparts=mtdparts=orion_nand:1M(u-boot),4M(uImage),32M(rootfs),-(data)

  New value:

    setenv mtdparts ‘mtdparts=orion_nand:1M(u-boot),-(data)’

  Save the change

    saveenv

  Reboot

    reset  

• 3 Login to the terminal after boot
  Erase and format the mtd1 partition

    flash_eraseall -j /dev/mtd1

  Setup the filesystem
  

  cd /boot ; mkdir flashkernel ; mount -t jffs2 /dev/mtdblock1 /boot/flashkernel/

• 4 Copy the kernel and dtb files to the new directory
  

   cp uImage ./flashkernel/ ; cp uInitrd ./flashkernel/ ; mkdir /boot/flashkernel/dts ; cp dts/kirkwood-pogoplug_v4.dtb ./flashkernel/dts 

• 5 test the setup
  Reboot to u-boot
  Issue the following commands:

chpart data
fsload $load_uimage_addr uImage
fsload $load_initrd_addr uInitrd
fsload $load_dtb_addr dts/kirkwood-pogoplug_v4.dtb
run set_bootargs
bootm $load_uimage_addr $load_initrd_addr $load_dtb_addr

• 5 If everything goes fine you can update your uboot boot script.

Here is my u-boot setup:

arcNumber=3960
bootargs=console=ttyS0,115200 root=LABEL=rootfs rootdelay=10 mtdparts=orion_nand:1M(u-boot),-(data)
bootcmd=run bootcmd_uenv; run scan_disk; run set_bootargs; if test "$bootdev" = "nand"; then run bootcmd_flash_exec; else run bootcmd_exec; fi
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_flash_exec=chpart data; run load_nand_uimage; if run load_nand_initrd; then if run_nand_dtb; then bootm 0x800000 0x1100000 0x1c00000; else bootm 0x800000 0x1100000; fi; else if run load_nand_dtb; then bootm 0x800000 - 0x1c00000; fi
bootcmd_uenv=run uenv_load; if test $uenv_loaded -eq 1; then run uenv_import; fi
bootdelay=10
bootdev=nand
device=0:1
devices=usb ide mmc
disks=0 1 2 3
dtb_file=/dts/kirkwood-pogoplug_v4.dtb
ethact=egiga0
ethaddr=00:25:31:XX:XX:XX
fileaddr=800000
filesize=1
if_netconsole=ping $serverip
init_ide=ide reset
init_mmc=mmc rescan
init_usb=usb start
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 $load_dtb_addr /boot$dtb_file
load_dtb_addr=0x1c00000
load_initrd=echo loading uInitrd ...; load $bootdev $device $load_initrd_addr /boot/uInitrd
load_initrd_addr=0x1100000
load_nand_dtb=echo loading DTB $dtb_file from nand...; fsload $load_dtb_addr $dtb_file
load_nand_initrd=echo loading uInitrd from nand...; fsload 0x1100000 uInitrd
load_nand_uimage=echo loading uImage from nand...; fsload 0x800000 uImage
load_uimage=echo loading uImage ...; load $bootdev $device $load_uimage_addr /boot/uImage
load_uimage_addr=0x800000
machid=f78
mainlineLinux=yes
mtdids=nand0=orion_nand
mtdparts=mtdparts=orion_nand:1M(u-boot),-(data)
partition=nand0,1
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
scan_ide=ide reset
scan_mmc=mmc rescan
scan_usb=usb start
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_loaded=0
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

You can add a line to /etc/fstab to mount the flash drive on boot

/dev/mtdblock1  /boot/flashkernel jffs2	defaults 0 1

Good luck!

Schnee



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2022 01:18PM by schnee.

Very nice Schnee!

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Added to the Wiki thread.

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Booting Debian on Pogoplug
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Booting Pogoplug V4 with Kernel from NAND

-bodhi
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