NSA325 - 5.5.1 kernel update problems

Dear all,

I have been running Debian on my NSA325 for a while now (latest uBoot installed).

I recently updated from Strech to Buster using Bodhis rootfs with Kernel 5.2.9. This works like a charm; I didn't have to change any uBoot settings and was able to boot and run it.

However, updating the Kernel to 5.5.1 renders the machine unbootable. I followed bodhis instructions for the kernel update precisely (option 4a, with DTB file).

This never happened before (I conducted 5+ kernel updates under Stretch).

Any idea what I might have done wrong? Or has anyone else experienced issues with NSA325 and kernel 5.5.1?

Thank you in advance!

dpw,

It should work fine. My NSA325 has been running for a few weeks now since I released 5.5.1-kirkwood-tld-1.

Do you have serial console? if you do post the serial boot log.

If you don't have serial console, then create a new USB rootfs with Debian-5.2.9-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2, plug this in and remove your rootfs, power up and it should boot. After that you can insert your rootfs back in (is it on HDD or USB?) and fix it or down grade it to 5.2.9-kirkwood-tld-1.

-bodhi
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Dear bodhi,

thank you for your swift response.

I played around a bit for the last few days. Updating the kernel on a fresh rootfs works, but with my "productive" system, the update consistently fails and doesn't boot anymore (rapidly flashing yellow LED).

The only steps I have taken so far on my "productive" system form your rootfs is

-> switching from init to systemd
-> installing OpenMediaVault 5 and
-> updating Debian (apt-get update / upgrade).

Could any of this have anything to do with the kernel update issues?

So far, I have not yet disassembled my box and reattached my JTAG interface for a serial connection. If no obvious solution comes up, this would be my next step.

Any idea?

Thanks!

dpw,


> I played around a bit for the last few days.
> Updating the kernel on a fresh rootfs works, but
> with my "productive" system, the update
> consistently fails and doesn't boot anymore
> (rapidly flashing yellow LED).

This means the kernel has not finished booting until the init system is running.

>
> The only steps I have taken so far on my
> "productive" system form your rootfs is
>
> -> switching from init to systemd
> -> installing OpenMediaVault 5 and
> -> updating Debian (apt-get update / upgrade).
>
> Could any of this have anything to do with the
> kernel update issues?

Not kernel update.

>
> So far, I have not yet disassembled my box and
> reattached my JTAG interface for a serial
> connection. If no obvious solution comes up, this
> would be my next step.

Turn off systemd. Since you have the latest u-boot, you can do this with uEnv.txt. Try this before having to open the box, and installing serial console.


Take your rootfs (hope that it is on USB then it is easy) to another Linux box. Log in a root user. And mount the USB rootfs. Assuming it is mounted at /media/sdb1.

cd /media/sdb1/boot
echo "set_bootargs=setenv bootargs console=ttyS0,115200 root=LABEL=rootfs rootdelay=10 $mtdparts" > uEnv.txt
sync

And then bring the USB rootfs back to the NSA325 and power up. Watch the system LED and if it is not booting into Debian, post back here what is the behavior of the LEDs.

-bodhi
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Not really a problem with the new kernel, but an issue that might be simply rectified? I've been successfully running an older Debian release for a few years now on an old v1(I think) NSA325. The box has two 2TB hard drives installed and the original OS was installed on one of them. As - like many others! - I've got time on my side, and so I decided to update the kernel to 5.5.1 and put it on a 16GB USB stick in one of the two USB-2 ports on the back panel. The box has latest U-Boot on and the update went very easily and well. I've set up a Samba server, and have the drives mounted as /mnt/disk1 and mnt/disk2. I then have a shared folder in the home directory - /home/mike/share - and this contains symbolic links to the various backed-up files on the two HDD. Then, in Windows 10, I set up a network connection to 'Z' and I can read from, or write to, the Zyxel box seamlessly. Great!

However - and here's the (very minor!) rub. In Windows, my Z drive always shows the free space available as being what is obviously the free space on the USB stick - '11.8GB free of 14GB'. Now, I know I have about 2.5TB free of the installed 4TB. Is there a - simple - way I can get Z to show the actual free space in the system as opposed to the free space on the USB stick? Just seems that a solution to this, while really not that important, is beyond my pay-grade!

Thanks - Mike

mike,


> However - and here's the (very minor!) rub. In
> Windows, my Z drive always shows the free space
> available as being what is obviously the free
> space on the USB stick - '11.8GB free of 14GB'.
> Now, I know I have about 2.5TB free of the
> installed 4TB. Is there a - simple - way I can get
> Z to show the actual free space in the system as
> opposed to the free space on the USB stick? Just
> seems that a solution to this, while really not
> that important, is beyond my pay-grade!
>

This is apparently a common problem using Windows. I have the solution just written here for other forum member. Let me find that for you.

-bodhi
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Mike,

Here it is:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,28485,98789#msg-98789

-bodhi
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Thanks Bodhi - very much appreciated! I guessed there would either be a simple fix - or none at all. Thankfully, it looks like the first option.

Regards

Mike

Dear bodhi,

thank you for your advice. I've played around with this issue for a few days and the result was this:

Booting of my "productive" system kept failing (both systemd and init), always with a flashing yellow LED. Same with your new kernel 5.6.5, always precisely following your install instructions.

However, when I created a fresh install on a different thumb drive, I was able to update to 5.5.1 and 5.6.5 without problems, just by following the install instructions as usual.

When I copied the uImage and uInitrd files from the fresh system to my productive system, the productive system was booting without any problems as well.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Yours,
dpw

dpw,

> However, when I created a fresh install on a
> different thumb drive, I was able to update to
> 5.5.1 and 5.6.5 without problems, just by
> following the install instructions as usual.
>
> When I copied the uImage and uInitrd files from
> the fresh system to my productive system, the
> productive system was booting without any problems
> as well.
>

Flashing yellow LED means the kernel files uImage and uInitrd on your productive system were bad. U-Boot could not load them. And we are not sure what happened during the 5.5.1 installation.

So to make sure you have a clean system, you should downgrade it to the rootfs original 5.2.9 (copy the uImage and uInitrd). Reboot.

Log in, and then remove all traces of kernel 5.5.1

dpkg --purge linux-image-5.5.1-kirkwood-tld-1

And then install 5.5.1 or skip it and install 5.6.5.

-bodhi
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