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Install Debian on old GoFlex Home

Posted by valery 
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
March 03, 2019 02:16AM
--------------------------------
pigbone Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Navi ! Thanks your support me !
> At step 8: I still steal the usb to my laptop or
> plug in the goflex. Can you tell me more about
> this step ?
-------------------------------------------

Hi Pigbone,

You can remove the new debian rootfs USB Stick from your laptop and continue on to step 8. In step 8 you will flash the GoFlex_Home Box and install latest U-boot. After you are done with installing latest uboot, you will take the USB stick you created in step 7and insert it into GoFlex_home box, remove the SATA drive from GoFlex_home box and turn the device on. If everything went well then the device will take less than a minute to boot and will show a steady green light.

for step 8 make sure that, you write down the MAC address that your GoFlex Home box is reporting on the Network and that you have already downloaded and placed the needed files in your GoFlex_home box:
you will need following files:

i) uboot.2017.07-tld-1.goflexhome.bodhi.tar
ii) uboot.2016.05-tld-1.environment.bodhi.tar

copy above files to /tmp directory of stock OS and then untar them.

in addition to above files you should have already placed following files on your GoFlex_home box:

iii) busybox
iv) e2fsck
v) nanddump
vi) fw_printenv
vii) flash_erase
viii) nandwrite

Copy above files to /usr/loclal/bin or /usr/sbin of stock OS.

ix) fw_env.config

Copy above file to /etc directory of stock OS.


Now From your laptop you will ssh into GoFlex_Box and execute Step 8 Procedure.

Here is a printout of the commands I gave in step 8.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
bash-3.2# flash_erase /dev/mtd0 0 4
Erasing 128 Kibyte @ 60000 -- 100 % complete
bash-3.2# nandwrite /dev/mtd0 uboot.2017.07-tld-1.goflexhome.mtd0.kwb
Writing data to block 0 at offset 0x0
Writing data to block 1 at offset 0x20000
Writing data to block 2 at offset 0x40000
Writing data to block 3 at offset 0x60000
bash-3.2# ln -s fw_printenv fw_setenv
bash-3.2# fw_setenv arcNumber 3338
bash-3.2# fw_setenv machid
bash-3.2# fw_setenv ethaddr 'X00:00:00:00:00:00X'
bash-3.2# fw_setenv preboot_nc 'setenv nc_ready 0; for pingstat in 1 2 3 4 5; do; sleep 1; if run if_netconsole; then setenv nc_ready 1; fi; done; if test $nc_ready -eq 1; then run start_netconsole; fi'
bash-3.2# fw_setenv preboot 'run preboot_nc'
bash-3.2# fw_setenv ipaddr '192.168.x.xxx'
bash-3.2# fw_setenv serverip '192.168.x.xxx'
bash-3.2# fw_printenv
bootcmd_exec=run load_uimage; if run load..............

PS: Please note that above printout does not show commands I executed when implementing procedure in Step 8 a, b, c and d of https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,12381 "Flashing default u-boot envs image" But you will need to do that .(I executed those commands from separate terminal box and failed to save the output.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Regards,

Navi



Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2019 11:13AM by Navi.
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
March 04, 2019 11:39PM
Navi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> --------------------------------
> pigbone Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > Hi Navi ! Thanks your support me !
> > At step 8: I still steal the usb to my laptop
> or
> > plug in the goflex. Can you tell me more about
> > this step ?
> -------------------------------------------
>
> Hi Pigbone,
>
> You can remove the new debian rootfs USB Stick
> from your laptop and continue on to step 8. In
> step 8 you will flash the GoFlex_Home Box and
> install latest U-boot. After you are done with
> installing latest uboot, you will take the USB
> stick you created in step 7and insert it into
> GoFlex_home box, remove the SATA drive from
> GoFlex_home box and turn the device on. If
> everything went well then the device will take
> less than a minute to boot and will show a steady
> green light.
>
> for step 8 make sure that, you write down the
> MAC address that your GoFlex Home box is reporting
> on the Network
and that you have already
> downloaded and placed the needed files in your
> GoFlex_home box:
> you will need following files:
>
> uboot.2017.07-tld-1.goflexhome.bodhi.tar
> uboot.2016.05-tld-1.environment.bodhi.tar
>
> From your laptop you will ssh into GoFlex_Box and
> execute Step 8 Procedure.
>
> Here is a printout of the commands I gave in step
> 8.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> bash-3.2# flash_erase /dev/mtd0 0 4
> Erasing 128 Kibyte @ 60000 -- 100 % complete
> bash-3.2# nandwrite /dev/mtd0
> uboot.2017.07-tld-1.goflexhome.mtd0.kwb
> Writing data to block 0 at offset 0x0
> Writing data to block 1 at offset 0x20000
> Writing data to block 2 at offset 0x40000
> Writing data to block 3 at offset 0x60000
> bash-3.2# ln -s fw_printenv
> fw_setenv

> bash-3.2# fw_setenv arcNumber 3338
> bash-3.2# fw_setenv machid
> bash-3.2# fw_setenv ethaddr
> 'X00:00:00:00:00:00X'
> bash-3.2# fw_setenv preboot_nc 'setenv nc_ready 0;
> for pingstat in 1 2 3 4 5; do; sleep 1; if run
> if_netconsole; then setenv nc_ready 1; fi; done;
> if test $nc_ready -eq 1; then run
> start_netconsole; fi'
> bash-3.2# fw_setenv preboot 'run preboot_nc'
> bash-3.2# fw_setenv ipaddr
> '192.168.x.xxx'
> bash-3.2# fw_setenv serverip
> '192.168.x.xxx'
> bash-3.2# fw_printenv
> bootcmd_exec=run load_uimage; if run
> load..............
>
> PS: Please note that above
> printout does not show commands I executed when
> implementing procedure in Step 8 a, b, c and d of
> https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,12381
> "Flashing default u-boot envs image" But you will
> need to do that .(I executed those commands from
> separate terminal box and failed to save the
> output.)

> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Regards,
>
> Navi

Thanks NAVI! I will try it, success will tell you.
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
March 04, 2019 11:53PM
First things first, do you have ssh access to your box? If not, we need to use serial port or feed the goflex home something to get ssh access. As far as I know, updated goflexhome won't give you root shell on serial port, nor the leaked password will work.
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
March 05, 2019 12:31AM
daviddyer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> First things first, do you have ssh access to your
> box? If not, we need to use serial port or feed
> the goflex home something to get ssh access. As
> far as I know, updated goflexhome won't give you
> root shell on serial port, nor the leaked password
> will work.


I can access the device's root permissions. Thank you for your support !
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
March 06, 2019 11:59AM
Hi Pigbone,

I have edited my post and added details of files that you should copy to GoFlex_Home box before executing the U-Boot flash. Please make a note of it as follows:


-----------------------------------------------------
for step 8 make sure that, you write down the MAC address that your GoFlex Home box is reporting on the Network and that you have already downloaded and placed the needed files in your GoFlex_home box:
you will need following files:

i) uboot.2017.07-tld-1.goflexhome.bodhi.tar
ii) uboot.2016.05-tld-1.environment.bodhi.tar

copy above files to /tmp directory of stock OS and then untar them.

in addition to above files you should have already placed following files on your GoFlex_home box:

iii) busybox
iv) e2fsck
v) nanddump
vi) fw_printenv
vii) flash_erase
viii) nandwrite

Copy above files to /usr/loclal/bin or /usr/sbin of stock OS.

ix) fw_env.config

Copy above file to /etc directory of stock OS.

Now From your laptop you will ssh into GoFlex_Box and execute Step 8 Procedure.
--------------------------------

Regards,

Navi
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
March 07, 2019 01:28AM
Hi Bodhi,

Just installed webmin on my GoFlexHome box by giving following commands as root:

sh -c 'echo "deb http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/webmin.list'
wget -qO - http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc | apt-key add -
apt-get update
apt-get install webmin

Installation took about 25 minutes. Webmin is working but is a bit sluggish. Webmin Dashboard shows that there are 45 updates available. Should I even care to apply these updates? Do you recommend any alternative to webmin that is not so resource intensive?

Screenshot of webmin Dashboard is attached.

Regards,

Navi
Attachments:
open | download - Screenshot (49).png (139.2 KB)
open | download - Screenshot updates.png (327.9 KB)
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
March 07, 2019 04:06AM
Navi,

> I even care to apply these updates? Do you
> recommend any alternative to webmin that is not so
> resource intensive?

I don't have any recommendation.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
August 11, 2022 03:56PM
bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Navi,
>
> > bash-3.2# fw_printenv ethaddr
> > Warning: Bad CRC, using default environment
> > ## Error: "ethaddr" not defined
> >
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> > Is it ok to continue with your instructions
> after
> > this error?
>
> That error is OK when you run fw_printenv in stock
> OS.
>
> Go ahead with the u-boot installation. After
> you've flashed new u-boot, that error should not
> occur.

Hi guys,

the above was, unfortunately, not true for me. After getting my device, which has been sitting on my shelf for many years, to be reachable following this tutorial, I did just the above and obviously managed to brick the thing. "No biggy", I thought, these boxes have JTAGs, I have my cables, let's go for it. But then, I have to realize that there are no JTAG pins on this PCB, just a bunch of holes to which I do ... what? I guess, I really have to solder a pinout to this and then it looks exactly like on the Dockstar, but not at the moment it doesn't.

Since I do not have a soldering iron readily at my disposal, I wanted to ask whether there is a better way to go about it. I can see in the picture in this post that this person did something (how was ground connected btw?), but other than that, instructions are a bit hard to find. So, I wanted to draw on the collective wisdom here and am, as always, thankful for any hints in the right direction ...

Cheers,

chessplayer

---
Standart ist der Standardfehler



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2022 05:12PM by chessplayer.
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
August 11, 2022 05:19PM
No biggy. This box supports kwboot. No jtag required. Just insert some stripped wires in the three holes.

https://cyanlabs.net/tutorials/recovering-a-seagate-goflex-via-serial/

https://wiki.beyondlogic.org/images/4/49/Consoleconnected.png



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2022 10:08PM by daviddyer.
Attachments:
open | download - goflex_home_uart.jpg (71.1 KB)
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
August 11, 2022 05:21PM
chessplayer,

I beleive all GF Home can be kwboot'ed (Some GF Net cannot).

Haha, ninja'ed by David.

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2022 05:22PM by bodhi.
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
August 11, 2022 05:35PM
David,

thanks. I probably use JTAG the wrong way, was aiming for the serial connection and kwboot (I am not an electronics person - otherwise I would, obviously, have a soldering iron ;-) ). Attached please find my current state of affairs. Now I will continue on the other end with a Nokia CA-42, with which I can connect individual wires.

Hoping for the best ...

Cheers,

chessplayer

P.S.: A quick google search had turned out the picture you attached to your post as well ...

---
Standart ist der Standardfehler
Attachments:
open | download - GFH_serial-V0.5.png (908.3 KB)
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
August 11, 2022 06:34PM
I guess these kirkwood boxes uses 3.3v i/o, so you can just use a raspberry pi's serial port and connect them directly. No ca-42 cable needed.

Or you can use another working kirkwood box and connect its serial port to the bad one. ( Ground-Ground, TX--RX, RX--TX)
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
August 11, 2022 06:45PM
Thanks guys!

chessplayer@cp-laptop:~$ nc -l -u -p 6666

U-Boot 2017.07-tld-1 (Sep 05 2017 - 00:21:31 -0700)
Seagate GoFlex Home
gcc (Debian 6.3.0-18) 6.3.0 20170516
GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Debian) 2.28
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  8 
 0 
GoFlexHome>

(hope you noticed that this is now netconsole ...). Now on to OpenWrt and finally having a real fallback for my trusted GoFlexHome, which still runs a system from many years ago, but faithfully so:

                               
         _sudZUZ#Z#XZo=_         DDDD   EEEEEE BBBB   IIIIII  AAAA   NN   NN
      _jmZZ2!!~---~!!X##wa       DD DD  EE     BB BB    II   AA  AA  NNN  NN
   .<wdP~~            -!YZL,     DD  DD EEEEE  BBBBB    II   AAAAAA  NNNN NN
  .mX2'       _%aaa__     XZ[.   DD DD  EE     BB  BB   II   AA  AA  NN NNNN
  oZ[      _jdXY!~?S#wa   ]Xb;   DDDD   EEEEEE BBBBB  IIIIII AA  AA  NN   NN
 _#e'     .]X2(     ~Xw|  )XXc 
.2Z`      ]X[.       xY|  ]oZ(   Linux Version 3.8.11-kirkwood-tld-3
.2#;      )3k;     _s!~   jXf`   Compiled #2 PREEMPT Fri Jun 14 07:51:05 PDT 2013
 1Z>      -]Xb/    ~    __#2(    One ARM  Processor, 128M RAM
 -Zo;       +!4ZwaaaauZZXY'      1191,00 Bogomips Total
  *#[,        ~-?!!!!!!-~        GFH-Mediastation
   XUb;.                       
    )YXL,,                     
      +3#bc,                   
        -)SSL,,                
           ~~~~~               
[Fr 12. Aug 01:41:59 CEST 2022]
Description:	Debian GNU/Linux 7.11 (wheezy)

 01:41:59 up 4 days, 21:11,  1 user,  load average: 0,16, 0,05, 0,06
USER     TTY      FROM             LOGIN@   IDLE   JCPU   PCPU WHAT
root     pts/0    cp-laptop.fritz. 01:41    1.00s  0.06s  0.02s w

Dateisystem                 Größe Benutzt Verf. Verw% Eingehängt auf
rootfs                       4,0G    847M  3,0G   23% /
udev                          10M       0   10M    0% /dev
/dev/disk/by-label/HDD-Root  4,0G    847M  3,0G   23% /
/dev/sda1                    504M     20M  460M    4% /boot
/dev/sda4                    5,5T    4,8T  576G   90% /data
root@GFH-Mediastation ~ $


And just so you know what I meant concerning the cable I am using, I attach another photo - quite the contraption, I would say ... Maybe this warrants an honorary mention in this thread ;-)

Cheers,

chessplayer

---
Standart ist der Standardfehler
Attachments:
open | download - GFH_serial-V1.png (627.7 KB)
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
August 11, 2022 06:53PM
> I guess these kirkwood boxes uses 3.3v i/o, so you
> can just use a raspberry pi's serial port and
> connect them directly. No ca-42 cable needed.

IIRC, the rasPi has the Prolific PL3xxx chip built in. The Mirabox also has it.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
December 28, 2024 07:32PM
Looks like I am a little late to the party. Before I go down this rabbit hole and totally screw things up I thought I would pass along this bit of info that most already know. I just purchased a 2Tb Goflex Home that had the reset button pressed. As normal all I could get to was the screen that said Seagate server was not found and could not go any further. I removed the drive from the base and connected it directly to my computer. I found files there and deleted all personal appearing data. Putting the drive back on the GF base and fired it up. Watching TV that night I noticed that the GF showed up in the media servers available. I again attached the drive to my computer and loaded several videos. I found that the videos were available on the TV. So either upload my video library this way or continue down the rabbit hole to install Debian.
So down the rabbit hole I go, wish me luck. Im sure I will have questions.
Thanks for this thread.
wment
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
May 30, 2025 01:49PM
Hi Bodhi,

Hope all is well. To make a long story short, my GoFlexHome home ran into a problem about a year ago. Since I was booting from SATA, the Sata HDD conked out and the GoFlexHome went into disuse. Few days ago I thought of reviving the old beast and ordered a 4TB Seagate SkyHawk Sata HDD. Now that I have the hard drive in my hand I have no idea how to proceed! I have forgotten all the handwork I did migrating my GoFlex Home from Stock to your flavor of Debian! I have lost the original USB pen drive that I did my conversion from!

Now I just want to do a fresh install and start using the new 4TB SATA SEAGATE SKYHAWK HDD. Here is the plan I have come up with:

1) Since I already have your UBoot (2017-07) installed, I plan on using your latest rootfs (Debian-6.5.7-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2) to make a fresh boot-able USB.
2) This time I plan to keep booting from USB pen drive and use the new HDD just for DATA. I will also make a clone copy of the USB pen drive for emergency use.

Therefore the Questions I have are:

(1) Since I already have your UBoot (2017-07) installed, can I just download your latest rootfs and burn it on to a USB pen Drive to get a booting GoFlexHome?
(2) Can GoFlexHome handle a 4TB Drive?
(3) How Should I partition the new 4TB Drive? Should I create one 4TB EXT3 partition or EXT4 partiton?
(4) Will the revived GoFlexHome booting from USB pen drive Recognize the new partitioned drive out of the box or will I have to make some more configuration changes?

Thanks in advance for your time and guidance in this matter.

--Navi



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2025 02:12PM by Navi.
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
May 30, 2025 02:29PM
Hi Navi,

Welcome back, hope all is well too!

> 2) This time I plan to keep booting from USB pen
> drive and use the new HDD just for DATA. I will
> also make a clone copy of the USB pen drive for
> emergency use.

That's how I run my GF Homes for many years.

> Therefore the Questions I have are:
>
> (1) Since I already have your UBoot (2017-07)
> installed, can I just download your latest rootfs
> and burn it on to a USB pen Drive to get a booting
> GoFlexHome?

Yes.

> (2) Can GoFlexHome handle a 4TB Drive?
> (3) How Should I partition the new 4TB Drive?
> Should I create one 4TB EXT3 partition or EXT4
> partiton?

I'd use EXT4 since it is a data drive.

> (4) Will the revived GoFlexHome booting from USB
> pen drive Recognize the new partitioned drive out
> of the box or will I have to make some more
> configuration changes?

Debian-6.5.7-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 will boot without any modification with my u-boot 2017.07.

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2025 02:58PM by bodhi.
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
May 30, 2025 04:33PM
And remember to do this so the USB rootfs will not wear out prematurely.

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,13702,13704#msg-13704

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
June 01, 2025 02:21AM
bodhi Wrote:
...
> All look good.
>
> Remember to label the rootfs partition
> rootfs, to ensure correct system booting.

Thanks for your prompt reply Bodhi. I struggled with the process of making a bootable usb! It took me 4 tries before I succeeded. The problem was that I was not setting the bootable flag on the USB. Once I figured that out, the problem was solved. Below I am giving the step by step instructions I followed to make a bootable USB for my GoFlexHome device, I hope these commands and process will be of help to other not so expert linux users and of course it will also definitely be of help to future me :) again thanks for your timely advice!

--------Commands to prepare and write Bodhi's Rootfs to a USB drive--------------------------
On any Linux Machine do the following:
01) login as root or use
Sudo -i
(*turns the $ prompt into # prompt indicating root login)

02)
lsblk
(*use to identify target usb drive, i.e. /dev/sdb ,sda, sdc etc.). IMPORTANT: in each of the commands below make sure you identify what name your target usb is assigned and change the sdb to that assigned name. Mine was sdb

03)
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1 conv=notrunc
(*Optional, only use if the drive has previous partitions that need to be deleted)

04)
fdisk /dev/sdb
(First enter
n
in FDISK Prompt and select defaults, then enter
a
in FDISK prompt to set bootable flag, then enter
w
in FDISK prompt to write changes)

05)
mkfs.ext3 -L rootfs /dev/sdb1
(*Format the Drive with ext3 file system and enter the label)

06)
tune2fs -L rootfs /dev/sdb1
(*Optional, Only use if you do not use -L rootfs flag to set label in previous command)

07)
tune2fs -l /dev/sdb1 | head
(*Confirm the Label)

08)
mkdir /media/usb
(*Make new directory to mount the drive)

09)
mount /dev/sdb1 /media/usb
(*Mount the target USB drive)

10)
cd /media/usb
(*Change the directory to mounted target drive)

11)
tar -xjf /Debian-6.5.7-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2
(*Download, save in top level directory, and Write/extract Bodhi's rootfs to the target USB drive)

12)
Boot the GoFlexHome device from USB
(*Done, You should see a constant green light after half a minute or so)
---------------------------END of Process------------------------------

Regards,

Navi



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2025 01:55PM by Navi.
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
June 01, 2025 02:37AM
Bodhi,

Did the following:

Completed
apt-update
and
apt-upgrade

busybox-syslogd
was also automatically installed during the upgrade.

Used
apt-get install dphys-swapfile
command and then adjusted the swap factor in
/etc/dphys-swapfile
to 4.
CONF_SWAPFACTOR=4


I am not sure if I need to configure
busybox-syslogd
any more than what automatic installation did. Any pointers will be appreciated.

Please recommend any thing else that is important to implement to ensure longevity of the boot USB drive.

Thanks,

--Navi
Re: Install Debian on old GoFlex Home
June 01, 2025 04:37PM
Navi ,

>
> busybox-syslogd
>
> was also automatically installed during the
> upgrade.

Yes. It's already installed in the basic rootfs.

> Used
> apt-get install dphys-swapfile
>
> command and then adjusted the swap factor in
>
> /etc/dphys-swapfile
>
> to 4.
> CONF_SWAPFACTOR=4
>

This box is too low in memory, only 128MB. I've recently discovered that the swap factor is best to set at 8x RAM. OTOH, if RAM is 512MB then x4 should be used.

I'll need to modify the tutorial to reflect that.

> I am not sure if I need to configure
> busybox-syslogd
>
> any more than what automatic installation did.
> Any pointers will be appreciated.

No need to. The circular log buffer for busybox-syslogd is default to 128K. You could use more if you'd like, but I'd just keep using 128K.

> Please recommend any thing else that is important
> to implement to ensure longevity of the boot USB
> drive.

Follow the instruction I posted above (it's in the Wiki):
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,71289,139825#msg-139825

And from time to time after you install new packages, run iotop to see if there are disk access when the system is idle. That's the hint there is logging to disk.

Quote

5. Use iotop command to watch frequent disk IOs (to figure out which log files needed to be moved or overmounted).
iotop -o -b -qqq

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