(Solved) GoFlex Home - IDE Reset powers off device

Resolution Summary
Very old bad GoFlex power supply needed replacing.


Appears to be a great community and knowledge base on this forum which has helped a lot over the last few weeks.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The Issue
As the GoFlex Home boots I get an intermittent green LED for a number of seconds, I hear the SATA disk begin to spin up, then the entire GoFlex device powers off.

Brand new disk, up-to-date uboot and new-ish kernel & rootfs.
See below for more details.

Background
My trusty GoFlex Home has been running great for a number of years with Arch, but I now wanted to fit a SATA disk with more storage space.

The uboot was very out of date and I wanted to switch to debian.
I therefore fitted the brand new SATA disk and updated to the following listed below with the respective guide links.

UBoot 2017.07 - https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,12381
Debian 5.2.9 Kirkwood (25/08/2019 as per first time install note) - https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096

I was able to boot fully (through uboot and the kernel) and use the distro fine from SSH prior to the issue existing.
However ,every boot now powers down the GoFlex (appears to be at the point "ide reset" is issued); NC output below.

Just in case it helps, on the last successful boot, I issued:
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
reboot (and then powered off for a number of days)

Note: As indicated in the Debian rootfs guide, if apt-get updates initramfs, uInitrd should be re-generated. Which I did as specified before powering down.

Other notes
-I have also used CloneZilla to create an iso from the new disk prior to the issue presenting.
-Exactly the same occurs when the 3.5" SATA disk is fitted within a powered USB SATA caddy and connected to the GoFlex by USB (to rule out power draw of the new disk).
-A USB flash drive boots successfully within the GoFlex and I can SSH in (without the SATA disk connected).

NC output when issue occurs
Note nothing else is listed as the device is then "offline".

host 192.168.0.25 is alive
host 192.168.0.25 is alive
host 192.168.0.25 is alive
host 192.168.0.25 is alive
host 192.168.0.25 is alive

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:  0 
Initializing devices...
starting USB...
USB0:   USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus 0 for devices... 1 USB Device(s) found
       scanning usb for storage devices... 0 Storage Device(s) found

Reset IDE: Bus 0: ..

Print Env for completeness
printenv

arcNumber=3338
bootcmd=run bootcmd_uenv; run scan_disk; run set_bootargs; run bootcmd_exec
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_uenv=run uenv_load; if test $uenv_loaded -eq 1; then run uenv_import; fi; sleep 3
bootdelay=10
bootdev=usb
device=0:1
devices=usb ide mmc
disks=0 1 2 3
dtb_file=/boot/dts/kirkwood-goflexhome.dtb
ethact=egiga0
ethaddr=[purposefully omitted]
if_netconsole=ping $serverip
ipaddr=192.168.0.90
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 $dtb_file
load_dtb_addr=0x1c00000
load_initrd=echo loading uInitrd ...; load $bootdev $device $load_initrd_addr /boot/uInitrd
load_initrd_addr=0x1100000
load_uimage=echo loading uImage ...; load $bootdev $device $load_uimage_addr /boot/uImage
load_uimage_addr=0x800000
mainlineLinux=yes
mtdids=nand0=orion_nand
mtdparts=mtdparts=orion_nand:1M(u-boot),-(rootfs)
nc_ready=1
ncip=192.168.0.25
ncipk=192.168.0.26
partition=nand0,2
preboot=run preboot_nc
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
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
serverip=192.168.0.25
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=nc
stdin=nc
stdout=nc
uenv_addr=0x810000
uenv_import=echo importing envs ...; env import -t $uenv_addr $filesize
uenv_init_devices=echo Initializing 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 $disks; do if test $uenv_loaded -eq 0; then setenv device_type $devtype; setenv disk_number $disknum; run uenv_read; fi; done; done;
uenv_read=echo Loading envs from $device_type $disk_number...; if load $device_type  $disk_number:1 $uenv_addr /boot/uEnv.txt; then setenv uenv_loaded 1; echo ... envs loaded; fi
usb_ready_retry=15

=====
moderator edit: use code tag for envs listing.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2020 01:55PM by tbp.

Well, these plug computers are about 10 years old... time to change a power adapter...

I had two failed power adapters already for dockstar / goflexhome. Replaced the power adapter and my plug computers are great again.

I did consider that, from the tech specs i could find the go flex home appears to be rated at 12v 2A and am currently using a 5A unit.
Will have a dig around and see what i have with the correct connector.
Thanks DD

tbp,

I'd doubt it is a power problem.

Quote

I did consider that, from the tech specs i could find the go flex home appears to be rated at 12v 2A and am currently using a 5A unit.

Use a flashlight and magnifier glass to look at the SATA 22-pin connector on the GF Home.

Quote

-Exactly the same occurs when the 3.5" SATA disk is fitted within a powered USB SATA caddy and connected to the GoFlex by USB (to rule out power draw of the new disk).

Now this is intersting, because in this scenario, no SATA disk is plugged in on top. Can you post the boot log for this?


=====

FWIW, I've have 2 GF Homes running 24/7, with 3.5 HDD in the SATA slot and another large USB HDD plugged in. It has been more than 8 years.

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2020 06:18PM by bodhi.

Are you sure it's powering off? Or does it just hang at that point?
Do you have another SATA drive you can try?
Is the drive accessible on another machine?

Ray

Agree bodhi, looks like a hdd initiialization issue to me.
I did read there were some timing issues in the past. I did add the delay when setting up the envs on first setup.

What should i be looking for on the SATA connector, physical damage?

Please excause a newbie, which boot log for caddy usb, the nc output again?

rayknight Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Are you sure it's powering off? Or does it just
> hang at that point?

- Not sure if powering off or hanging. I wouldn't know what hanging looks like.
Essentially:
Power on device
Green led begins flashing
I hear drive begin to power up (around 10s later)
I hear drive power down like its being pulled (immediately after) and LED is then permanently blank

Only way to recover is fully removing power from the GFH.

> Do you have another SATA drive you can try?

-I do not get this issue when using the original 2.5" drive in the sata port currently.
Issue is i fitted the new 3,5" drive to get more space on the unit.

> Is the drive accessible on another machine?

-Drive is fully accessible on another machine without and issues. Not clicks or pauses. I'd home it's brand new!

>
> Ray

Is there a uboot setting to enable verbose output for device initialisation does anyone know?

tbp,

Quote

What should i be looking for on the SATA connector, physical damage?

Yes, physical damage, like any pin is bended or missing.

Quote

Please excause a newbie, which boot log for caddy usb, the nc output again?

Yes, the netconsole bootlog as you posted before

host 192.168.0.25 is alive
host 192.168.0.25 is alive
host 192.168.0.25 is alive
host 192.168.0.25 is alive
host 192.168.0.25 is alive

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:  0

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

Positive development, after emptying the house for a while, I finally found a known good PSU with a compatible connector (and DC orientation).
After booting with the replacement PSU with the new 3.5" HDD connected to the SATA port, no more hang/power problem.

Appears DavidD was right.
The alternate PSU only outputs 1.5A, which is way too low from the GoFlex power specs I've read, but it's now been running fine for over 30mins.
Thinking about it, the old PSU is likely older than the GoFlex!!
Will continue to monitor and get a brand new PSU on order.

Bodhi, for completeness, I did closely examine the SATA port and it's in pristine condition (odd considering the device's age).
Also the hang/issue had the same result in the nc log when the drive was connected via USB caddy.

Thank you all for the prompt help, great community you guys have here.

Cool! glad David was right :) Sounds like tbp was using a different PSU than the stock GFH one.

-bodhi
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