Debian on GlobalScale Dreamplug

Anyone have a clue how to gain serial access to this without purchasing GlobalScale's expensive UART/JTAG module? The pin-out to the UART might be enough.

Ray

-----------------
Mod edit: change thread title to make it easier to find.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2017 07:34PM by bodhi.

The UART port is clearly labeled as such on the manual http://dreamplug.googlecode.com/files/DreamPlug%20User%20Guide_US_v1.1.pdf

and as the wiki says here, http://www.plugcomputer.org/Documentation/all-categories/categorydreamplug/dreamplug/
its pinout is the same as guruplug as the JTAG/UART thingy is the same.

so you can get all info about it from the other page of the same wiki http://www.plugcomputer.org/Documentation/all-categories/categoryguruplug/guruplug/#Serial

As for the pinout, grab a multimeter and figure out what is the power pin (3.3v or 5v) while the box is powered on.

Then you can simply try connecting the other pins until you find the right combination. Serial communication and ground pins don't damage the device (or the TTL dongle you are using) if reversed or placed wrong.

The only pin that can damage your device is the power pin, once that is isolated you can proceed.

In most cases you shouldn't need to connect the ground pin either during testing as the TTL dongle has a ground source already (the usb ground line).

If you cannot find easy sources of 4-pin tiny connectos you can also take 3-pin ones that seem to be more common, as you will need to connect only tx, rx and maybe ground, not 3.3v as the TTL dongle is powered by USB.

bobafetthotmail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The UART port is clearly labeled as such on the
> manual
> http://dreamplug.googlecode.com/files/DreamPlug%20
> User%20Guide_US_v1.1.pdf
>
> and as the wiki says here,
> http://www.plugcomputer.org/Documentation/all-cate
> gories/categorydreamplug/dreamplug/
> its pinout is the same as guruplug as the
> JTAG/UART thingy is the same.
>
> so you can get all info about it from the other
> page of the same wiki
> http://www.plugcomputer.org/Documentation/all-cate
> gories/categoryguruplug/guruplug/#Serial
>
> As for the pinout, grab a multimeter and figure
> out what is the power pin (3.3v or 5v) while the
> box is powered on.
>
> Then you can simply try connecting the other pins
> until you find the right combination. Serial
> communication and ground pins don't damage the
> device (or the TTL dongle you are using) if
> reversed or placed wrong.
>
> The only pin that can damage your device is the
> power pin, once that is isolated you can proceed.
>
> In most cases you shouldn't need to connect the
> ground pin either during testing as the TTL dongle
> has a ground source already (the usb ground
> line).
>
> If you cannot find easy sources of 4-pin tiny
> connectos you can also take 3-pin ones that seem
> to be more common, as you will need to connect
> only tx, rx and maybe ground, not 3.3v as the TTL
> dongle is powered by USB.

Looks like the 3 links you've posted are all dead links! has anybody tried those or just me?

-bodhi
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bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Looks like the 3 links you've posted are all dead
> links! has anybody tried those or just me?

Yep, the whole site is down and stuff was removed from google code too.

But with the powers granted me by the WABAC, I resurrect them here
http://wayback.archive.org/web/20160104002530/https://dreamplug.googlecode.com/files/DreamPlug%20User%20Guide_US_v1.1.pdf

http://wayback.archive.org/web/20160304093637/http://www.plugcomputer.org/Documentation/all-categories/categorydreamplug/dreamplug/

http://wayback.archive.org/web/20160611101911/http://www.plugcomputer.org/Documentation/all-categories/categoryguruplug/guruplug/#Serial

For those wondering: they are coming from the "wayback machine internet archive project" a large non-profit org that backups stuff from around the internet to save it from oblivion, and in the last decade grew to be pretty damn big.
These links shouldn't go dead again. :)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2016 03:13PM by bobafetthotmail.

The important part is as follows:

Serial

This is the smaller, 4-pin connector. The layout is:
Pin Line
1 GND
2 RX (pulled up to 3.3V)
3 TX
4 3.3V

What is meant by pulled up to 3.3V for RX? I have tried connecting to pins 1 thru 3 with the same PL2303 based USB Serial adapter I've used with multiple other Marvell based hardware and I get no output. I now have 3 DreamPlugs and a SMILE Plug that use this same connector, so it would be great to figure this out!

Ray

rayknight Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The important part is as follows:
>
> Serial
>
> This is the smaller, 4-pin connector. The layout
> is:
> Pin Line
> 1 GND
> 2 RX (pulled up to 3.3V)
> 3 TX
> 4 3.3V
>

Orientation? ie. rear facing, top looking down,..

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2016 05:56PM by bodhi.

bobafetthotmail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bodhi Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > Looks like the 3 links you've posted are all
> dead
> > links! has anybody tried those or just me?
>
> Yep, the whole site is down and stuff was removed
> from google code too.
>
> But with the powers granted me by the WABAC, I
> resurrect them here
> http://wayback.archive.org/web/20160104002530/http
> s://dreamplug.googlecode.com/files/DreamPlug%20Use
> r%20Guide_US_v1.1.pdf
>
> http://wayback.archive.org/web/20160304093637/http
> ://www.plugcomputer.org/Documentation/all-categori
> es/categorydreamplug/dreamplug/
>
> http://wayback.archive.org/web/20160611101911/http
> ://www.plugcomputer.org/Documentation/all-categori
> es/categoryguruplug/guruplug/#Serial
>
> For those wondering: they are coming from the
> "wayback machine internet archive project" a large
> non-profit org that backups stuff from around the
> internet to save it from oblivion, and in the last
> decade grew to be pretty damn big.
> These links shouldn't go dead again. :)

Thanks!

-bodhi
===========================
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I got the Dreamplug and will support this plug.

UART booting works fine with this box. It is a normal serial header, just get the right small JST header and it will work.

Serial consolse pinouts

Small 4-pin connector (I think it is on the left side)
Left-to-Right (outside looking in, the port is exposed as one of the connectors, no modd needed)
1 GND 	
2 RX

3 TX
4 3.3V

-bodhi
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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2017 01:27AM by bodhi.

bodhi,

I just got a Dream Plug, and I downloaded and decompressed your jessie rootfs on its micro SD card, and it booted
fine and all, but when I did an apt-get upgrade it made the rootfs unmountable, thus failed to boot afterwards
Any reason why? or how to recover from it?

apt-upgrade probably has generated a new initrd image. You can look at the /boot folder to see if it is true.

-bodhi
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Thanks for the reply. But no, /boot isn't and the first partition which holds the uImage is left untouched.
And my uboot doesn't load initrd.
I am very puzzled by this. Apt-get update on wheezy rootfs works fine though, but on the jessie rootfs makes
the rootfs unmountable.

Has anybody else tried it? (on dreamplug, I mean)

Raz

> Thanks for the reply. But no, /boot isn't and the
> first partition which holds the uImage is left
> untouched.

Now this is a hint where the problem might be. Do you have serial console? if you do post the log.

If you don't have serial console post the this log with the rootfs that working:

dmesg
mount
fw_printenv

It's easier to see the problem when you post more information!.

-bodhi
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bobafetthotmail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> If you cannot find easy sources of 4-pin tiny conn
> ectos you can also take 3-pin ones that seem to be
> more common, as you will need to connect only tx,
> rx and maybe ground, not 3.3v as the TTL dongle is
> powered by USB.

Anyone find a tiny connector for this. The one I have is too large, I removed the plastic ends and the pins are still to small and I am worried I may short the connection so don't want to try with what I currently have.

The connectors are called micro JST 1.25 (it's the distance between pins in mm).

They can be found on places selling parts for model cars/trains/aircraft or batteries, or on ebay from various sellers, especially from China.

See here http://www.ebay.it/itm/Micro-JST-1-25mm-GH-PH-4-Pin-Male-Female-Connectors-100mm-Wires-FreeP-P-UK-/132142131412

I have a whole bunch of these. They work right out of the box for the Dreamplug and HP T5325.

I'll find the ebay US link for you.

-bodhi
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BTW, I don't have enough blocks of free time to work on this yet, but here what I got a few months ago. I was almost done with the new u-boot.

Stock u-boot log:

U-Boot 2011.06-02334-g8f495d9-dirty (Aug 18 2011 - 02:09:07)
Marvell-DreamPlug

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6281_A0
CPU running @ 1200Mhz L2 running @ 400Mhz
SysClock = 400Mhz , TClock = 200Mhz 
DRAM:  512 MiB
SF: Detected MX25L1606 with page size 256, total 1 MiB
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0, egiga1
88E1318 Initialized on egiga0
88E1318 Initialized on egiga1
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
Marvell>> printenv
bootcmd=setenv ethact egiga0; ${x_bootcmd_ethernet}; setenv ethact egiga1; ${x_bootcmd_ethernet}; ${x_bootcmd_usb}; ${x_bootcmd_kernel}; setenv bootargs ${x_bootargs} ${x_bootargs_root}; bootm 0x6400000;
bootdelay=3
baudrate=115200
x_bootcmd_ethernet=ping 192.168.2.1
x_bootcmd_usb=usb start
x_bootcmd_kernel=fatload usb 0 0x6400000 uImage
x_bootargs=console=ttyS0,115200
x_bootargs_root=root=/dev/sda2 rootdelay=10
bootargs=console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/sda2 rootdelay=10
ethaddr=xxxxxxxxxxxx
eth1addr=xxxxxxxxxxxx
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
stderr=serial
ethact=egiga0

UART booting:

./kwboot-tool/kwboot -t -B 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0 -b uboot.2016.05-tld-4.dreamplug.mtd0.kwb -p

Sending boot message. Please reboot the target.../
Sending boot image...
  0 % [......................................................................]

 95 % [......................................................................]
 97 % [......................................................................]
 99 % [....................................]
[Type Ctrl-\ + c to quit]


U-Boot 2016.05-tld-4 (Nov 26 2016 - 02:18:18 -0800)
Marvell-DreamPlug

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6281_A1
SPI:   ready
DRAM:  512 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
SF: Detected MX25L1605D with page size 256 Bytes, erase size 64 KiB, total 2 MiB
*** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
Error: egiga0 address not set.
, egiga1
Error: egiga1 address not set.

88E1116 Initialized on egiga0
88E1116 Initialized on egiga1
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
=> printenv 
baudrate=115200
bootcmd=setenv ethact egiga0; ${x_bootcmd_ethernet}; setenv ethact egiga1; ${x_bootcmd_ethernet}; ${x_bootcmd_usb}; ${x_bootcmd_kernel}; setenv bootargs ${x_bootargs} ${x_bootargs_root}; bootm 0x6400000;
bootdelay=3
ethact=egiga0
stderr=serial
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
x_bootargs=console=ttyS0,115200
x_bootargs_root=root=/dev/sda2 rootdelay=10
x_bootcmd_ethernet=ping 192.168.2.1
x_bootcmd_kernel=fatload usb 0 0x6400000 uImage
x_bootcmd_usb=usb start

Environment size: 496/4092 bytes
=>

Serial console

This is the smaller JST 4-pin connector. The layout is:

Left-to-Right (UART port)
1 GND: 	Red

2 RX: 	Black

3 TX: 	Yellow
4 3.3V:	Green

-bodhi
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Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2017 05:03PM by bodhi.

Sweet. I have one that works now booting stock but two others that are not booting up. I get the green power led but dont know what is going on inside yet.
Let me know when you want suckers to test. ;)

Just follow this guide to update to Debian Jessie on the Dreamplug: http://www.cyrius.com/debian/kirkwood/sheevaplug/install/. You can also update the u-boot following this guide. Used it and everything good :)

bobafetthotmail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The connectors are called micro JST 1.25 (i
> t's the distance between pins in mm).
>
> They can be found on places selling parts for mode
> l cars/trains/aircraft or batteries, or on ebay fr
> om various sellers, especially from China.
>
> See here http://www.ebay.it/itm/Micro-JST-1-25mm-G
> H-PH-4-Pin-Male-Female-Connectors-100mm-Wires-Free
> P-P-UK-/132142131412

Thanks for the info. I tried a couple of local hobby stores but came up empty so I ordered some online and expect them early next week. Can't remember off the top of my head if it was a multi pack or not but if I have extras I will post and if anyone needs one I can send.
Turns out I have 2 bad micro sdcards. I am going to see if I can fix them but if not I have a few 16gb ones I was going to use for my pizero project that I can copy my backup of the working one to an see if that works.

Dekkar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just follow this guide to update to Debian Jessie on the Dreamplug: >http://www.cyrius.com/debian/kirkwood/sheevaplug/install/. You can also update the u-boot >following this guide. Used it and everything good :)

Thanks, will give it a go if my above plan doesn't work.
I had found something similar but it is good to have a confirmed working solution to fall back on.

feas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sweet. I have one that works now booting stock but
> two others that are not booting up. I get the gree
> n power led but dont know what is going on inside
> yet.
> Let me know when you want suckers to test. ;)

Thanks, I'll definitely will :)

The green LED imost likely indicates that it has booted into stock OS.

-bodhi
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bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> feas Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sweet. I have one that works now booting stock b
> ut
> > two others that are not booting up. I get the gr
> ee
> > n power led but dont know what is going on insid
> e
> > yet.
> > Let me know when you want suckers to test. ;)
>
> Thanks, I'll definitely will :)
>
> The green LED imost likely indicates that it has b
> ooted into stock OS.

It is just a power indicator. As soon as I plug it in it is on.

Well I got them all working. The sdcards on the two bad ones are toast but the plugs work fine with the new cards and the backup image I made.

Will look into upgrading when I get the serial cable.

Been doing some reading on the dreamplug and keep running into dead links with plugcomputer.org but found it on the wayback machine. It does have some dead links still but here it is

https://web.archive.org/web/20150322042153/http://www.plugcomputer.org/

You may know but you can travel thru time in it also by selecting different dates.

FYI, all software references are quite dated but hoping I can find an idiots guide to cross compiling u-boot for it.

feas,

That has been mentioned by bobafethotmail . I got the User's Manual from those links, very useful.

I plan to start developing this uboot next week.

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bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> feas,
>
> That has been mentioned by bobafethotmail . I got
> the User's Manual from those links, very useful.
>
Yeah I have those too and they are great but this will allow the rest of the site and forums etc...

> I plan to start developing this uboot next week.

Cool, I am just messing around since I can't do much else at this time with my other projects. So I hope you aren't thinking I am prodding you into it. I would be doing this even if you had everything chugging along perfectly.

There are a lot of options in u-boot which really surprises me for some reason and lots of rabbit holes to dig down into. Having fun trying to learn different things, hopefully something will stick.

I know others will chuckle but I am stoked I was able to use kwboot and ckermit to talk to it. Still need to look into openocd yet also. But not sure if I have to use the JTAG port or if the UART will work with it.

The serial interface with this box seems pretty touchy though, had a tough time with ckermit getting a connection to it, but of course it could be my prison style looking soldering job of the usb-serial cable and the JST cable.

> but of course it could be my p
> rison style looking soldering job of the usb-seria
> l cable and the JST cable.

That reminded me of that "Inmates built computers..." article :)) ...and it might be the case (I don't have any problem with the eBay-$2.5 CP2xx serial converter connecting to the micro JST heaer).

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bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> That reminded me of that "Inmates built computers.
> .." article :)) ...and it might be the case

But theirs worked ;)

Got it working again, wires on gnd were breaking. resoldered with wires side-by-side vs in line. Looks like less stress that way.

feas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> The serial interface with this box seems pretty to
> uchy though, had a tough time with ckermit getting
> a connection to it, but of course it could be my p
> rison style looking soldering job of the usb-seria
> l cable and the JST cable.

For soldering tiny and frail cables I usually solder them on a tiny board and wrap some metallic wire downstream to move the stress point from the solder job to the actual cable (which is far more resistant). In this case I also used a header because it was convenient for connection to various other dongles.

I've attached some pics of the JST cable I made for the hp thinclient thing, as it's easier to explain with images.

bobafetthotmail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> feas Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > The serial interface with this box seems pretty
> to
> > uchy though, had a tough time with ckermit getti
> ng
> > a connection to it, but of course it could be my
> p
> > rison style looking soldering job of the usb-ser
> ia
> > l cable and the JST cable.
>
> For soldering tiny and frail cables I usually sold
> er them on a tiny board and wrap some metallic wir
> e downstream to move the stress point from the sol
> der job to the actual cable (which is far more res
> istant). In this case I also used a header because
> it was convenient for connection to various other
> dongles.
>
> I've attached some pics of the JST cable I made fo
> r the hp thinclient thing, as it's easier to expla
> in with images.

Thanks! I really like the header idea, that would have allowed me to keep the usb-serial cable unmolested and perhaps allow me to glue the plastic of the header to the case to just leave the JST in place.

feas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Thanks! I really like the header idea, that would
> have allowed me to keep the usb-serial cable unmol
> ested and perhaps allow me to glue the plastic of
> the header to the case to just leave the JST in pl
> ace.


For a permanent solution that looks professional I recommend drilling a hole in the case (or punch it with the soldering iron to melt a hole) and use audio jacks (female on the case, male on the usb-serial side).
Most of my kirkwoods have an external audio jack so I can connect serial without having to disassemble the thing ever again.

bobafetthotmail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> For a permanent solution that looks professional I
> recommend drilling a hole in the case (or punch it
> with the soldering iron to melt a hole) and use au
> dio jacks (female on the case, male on the usb-ser
> ial side).
> Most of my kirkwoods have an external audio jack s
> o I can connect serial without having to disassemb
> le the thing ever again.

Another great idea. Do you have a brand you like to use?

Most of my audio jacks seem to have play and I end up having to
jiggle them to get and keep stereo which could cause connection
issues with the serial comms.
I would need to take it apart again and look closer but going from
memory I think I would need to route the wire and female audio
connection to the opposite side for clearance.