2024.10 U-Boot Kirkwood - Synology DS211

2024.10 U-Boot Kirkwood - Synology DS211

Warning: this is still under test. Do not use.

Warning: flashing this new u-boot will wipe out stock FW. You will no longer able to boot into stock OS.

This instruction is basically ready for use. Some TBDs will be filled in later.


=========================================
Update 16 Nov 2024

Download at Dropbox

I have not uploaded the tarball to Dropbox yet. For now, please download the tarball attached to this post.

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.bodhi.tar

sha256:
d110467d3fe0fd2a482f24223b30dfe49da73f4a2f7dd0529f91556e0a656ed9

This tarball contains 3 files:

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.kwb
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment.img

A. Preparation

A.1. Create Debian rootfs on a USB drive.

See the release thread.

At this writing, the rootfs is Debian-6.5.7-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 (01 Nov 2023) .

A.2. Backup stock FW

If you wish to restore to stock FW in the future, back up the current SPI flash mtds.

dd if=/dev/mtd0 of=mtd0.ds211 conv=sync
dd if=/dev/mtd1 of=mtd1.ds211 conv=sync
dd if=/dev/mtd2 of=mtd2.ds211 conv=sync
dd if=/dev/mtd3 of=mtd3.ds211 conv=sync
dd if=/dev/mtd4 of=mtd4.ds211 conv=sync
dd if=/dev/mtd5 of=mtd5.ds211 conv=sync

And copy these files to a persistent storage.

A.3. Serial Console

Serial console connection is required if you are still booting stock FW.

A.4. UART booting

It is strongly recommmended that you try to run kwboot to test this boot image with UART booting before flashing to NAND. This is the rescue path when and if the flashing goes wrong for some reason. See example here. And to download latest ARM kwboot binary for UART booting see here.

A.5. Flashing tools

TBD

B. Flashing Instruction:

1. Setup fw_env.config and mtds in your Debian rootfs

1.a U-Boot envs config

It should be defined as followed in your /etc/fw_env.config

cat /etc/fw_env.config

 # MTD device name	Device offset	Env. size	Flash sector size	Number of sectors 
/dev/mtd1 0x0 0x10000 0x10000

If you don't have /etc/fw_env.config file in your system then go ahead and create this file:

echo "/dev/mtd1 0x0 0x10000 0x10000" > /etc/fw_env.config

1.b. MTD partitions

Your mtd0 and mtd1 partitions should looks like this. mdt0 is 512KB starting at 0, mtd1 is 64K starting at 768K. Other mtds, if any, can be defined in the remaining space, but will not be used for u-boot.

cat /proc/mtd

dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 00080000 00010000 "u-boot"		 
mtd1: 00010000 00010000 "u-boot-env"

cat /sys/class/mtd/mtd0/offset /sys/class/mtd/mtd1/offset

0
786432

Synology stock u-boots usually define the MTD partition badly wrong (thus causing many bricks). The above MTD partition definition is required for this new u-boot. Please post question if your cat /proc/mtd result for mtd0 and mtd1 is not as above.

2. Backup the envs

fw_printenv > current_envs.txt

For most stock OS, there is no fw_printenv. So it's OK if this step fails. Howver, it's important to list the current envs (eg. in serial console) and copy them to a note file (current_envs.txt). This will be used in Step 7.

3. Extract the archive to /tmp

cd /tmp
tar xf uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.bodhi.tar

5. Flash u-boot image to SPI

Be extra careful with the next command, you should see output that look like below in those steps. If there is error, then do not reboot, post your problem here so we can help.

Write the u-boot image

flashcp -v /tmp/uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.kwb /dev/mtd0

Expected output:

Erasing blocks: xxx/xxx (100%)
Writing data: 512k/0k (100%)
Verifying data: 512k/0k (100%)

6. Flash default u-boot envs image

Be extra careful with the next command, you should see output that look like below. If there is error, then do not reboot, post your problem here so we can help.


Write the envs image

flashcp -v uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment.img /dev/mtd1

Expected output:

Erasing blocks: xxx/xxx (100%)
Writing data: 64k/0k (100%)
Verifying data: 64k/0k (100%)

7. Restore MAC address and other envs

Restore the MAC address using the saved envs in current_envs.txt. Or find the MAC address on the sticker outside the case. Replace xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx with the real values.

fw_setenv ethaddr 'xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'

For sanity check, list you envs again

fw_printenv

You also want to restore other specific information for this box as ipaddr (IP address of this box, if you use static IP). But these info can be restored later u-boot has been installed and reboot into Debian.

Don't reboot if there is error while listing U-Boot envs. Post at the forum for help.

8. (Optional) Activate netconsole

TBD

9. Reboot

Upon reboot, in either serial console or netconsole, U-Boot banner should show:

U-Boot 2024.10-tld-1 (Nov 17 2024 ...)
Synology DS211

DONE installation.


C. NOTE

Distro Boot

uEnv.txt

TBD

END of NOTE.

-bodhi
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Ivanj,

Please test this Nov 20 version for SATAs spinup in u-boot.

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.bodhi.tar

sha256:
819af95eb73cfbf67f683d2423c52086cfa1568b4c781619384f4da9e91a8753

This tarball contains 3 files

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.kwb
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment.img

Only the uboot kwb file is different from previous version.

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2024 10:26PM by bodhi.

Hello Bodhi,

Unfortunately, the new uBoot still doesn't work with lower SATA slot.
I have downloaded your new kwb, tried with kwboot and as well flashed it to SPI.

Tried to boot with lower SATA slot, but it wasn't recognized at all, even after running "bootdev hunt".

With upper SATA slot, still doesn't boot with 12GB HDD. After running "bootdev hunt" and "bootdev list", it does list the boot device, but fails to boot.

Both attempts are logged, and console log files are accordingly named and attached.

-Ivan

Ivan,

> Tried to boot with lower SATA slot, but it wasn't
> recognized at all, even after running "bootdev
> hunt".
>
> With upper SATA slot, still doesn't boot with 12GB
> HDD. After running "bootdev hunt" and "bootdev
> list", it does list the boot device, but fails to
> boot.
>

When you do testing SATA, don't worry about boot dev. Just

sata init
sata part

Also get a listing of the envs, do it at least once each time you flash new u-boot version so we can reference it later.

printenv

And also do not use uEnv.txt during testing.

-bodhi
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2024 02:27PM by bodhi.

Hello Bodhi,

I have re-run it, by first booting from kwboot tool, and used the sata commands you suggested.
Console logs are attached, env is in upper sata log, and was the same for both logs.

Thanks,
Ivan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2024 03:46PM by Ivanj.

Ivan,

Here is the new Nov 22 build.

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.bodhi.tar

sha256:
e671953db45bfb2693f877fbb4da09eaa1c963213074aabb7d42b85905356d6a

This taball contains 3 files

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.kwb
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment.img

Only the uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.kwb is different from previous version.

Please test it this way. In all these tests, the uEnv.txt should be removed.

1. With the 1TB HDD (or any HDD <= 2TB) individually in each bay (2 tests).
2. With the 12TB HDD individually in each bay (2 tests).
3 . With both drives populated
4. Swap the HDDs to the other bay (1,2 => 2,1).

In each test, cold start (recycle power), and do

dm tree
sata init
sata part
dm tree

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2024 09:50PM by bodhi.

Hello Bodhi,

I have kwbooted, then flashed the new uBoot.
There are still issues with sata 0 and 12TB HDD.
I followed your instructions, and console logs are labeled per test.
Had to zip them since we have multiple logs now.

I didn't have uEnv.txt in my rootfs's /boot/, if that's what you meant.

-Ivan

Ivan,

> There are still issues with sata 0 and 12TB HDD.

Looks like the upper slot is working with the 1TB drive. So for now, you should put the rootfs in that slot and boot with it.

The lower slot is apparently not working at all.

The bad news about the 12TB drive is it exhibits the old problem with large Seagate drives in u-boot.

[  649.929053] scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      ST12000NM0127    G006 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[  649.950875] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] 23437770752 512-byte logical blocks: (12.0 TB/10.9 TiB)

I've fixed this problem in mainline u-boot (at least I thought so), but I was using a 4 TB Seagate drive to test with.

Err: Failed to identify SATA device 0

The issue here is the SATA controller on these HDDs are buggy. Linux driver has more robust identity detection than one in u-boot.

It means that the upper slot is working with a "normal" HDD like the Apple HDD HTS541010A9E632 (this looks like a OEM Hitachi HDD). But it failed to identify the 12TB Seagate drive.

So now I think we should work on the 2nd slot, and save the large drive identify problem for later. I have some idea how to improve the u-boot driver but testing that is a bit tedious.

-bodhi
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Hello Bodhi,

Thank you for the work os far.
I am willing to help with this and do the testing.

-Ivan

Ivan,

Here is the Nov 27 build.

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.bodhi.tar.nov_27

sha256: 
0c4a5153e3a6e153fca7e81cfc26b9c945a86f17fe4b3e6884d051328e56412f  uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.bodhi.tar.nov_27

This tarball contains 3 files. Ony the uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.kwb is different from previous build.

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.kwb
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment.img
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment

You could try all combination like previous test. But mostly, I would like to see these 2 tests:

- The 1TB HDD in the lower bay (see if it can spin up).
- The 12TB HDD in the upper bay (see if it can identify and spin up).

dm tree
sata init
sata part
dm tree

-bodhi
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Hello Bodhi,

The 1TB HDD in the lower bay - doesn't spin up, doesn't identify.
The 12TB HDD in the upper bay - it spins up, but there are some errors identifying, and it doesn't boot.
The 1TB HDD in the upper bay - it spins up, identifies with some errors, boots to maintenance shell with:

fsck.ext3: Device or resource busy while trying to open /dev/sda1
Filesystem mounted or opened exclusively by another program?
fsck exited with status code 8
 failed!

I followed your instructions, and console logs are labeled per test.

Ivan,

The upper_sata1_12TBHDD.txt test actually looks good.

Please try that test again.

dm tree
sata init
dm tree

sata info
sata part
ext2ls sata 0:1 /boot
setenv devices sata
run scan_disk

-bodhi
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Hello Bodhi,

Console log uploaded.

Thanks!

Hi Ivan,

> The upper_sata1_12TBHDD.txt test actually looks
> good.
>
> Please try that test again.
>
>

> dm tree
> sata init
> dm tree
> 
> sata info
> sata part
> ext2ls sata 0:1 /boot
> setenv devices sata
> run scan_disk
>

I meant only the 12TB HDD is plugged in the slot where the 1TB was seen working. That's the upper slot?

-bodhi
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Hello Bodhi,

My bad, I misread your message, here's the log for the 12TB.

Ivan,

How did you format this 12TB drive? did you format it as ext3 or ext4?

Could you

- Use command line parted to wipe the disk
- Create a brand new partition
- Format it as ext3.
- Populate it with the rootfs (or some files in the root folder and /boot). The purpose is to see if you can see the files listed.

And boot with this drive inserted in the upper bay.

setenv devices sata

dm tree
sata init
dm tree

sata info
sata part
ext2ls sata 0:1 /
ext2ls sata 0:1 /boot

If the partition was populated with the rootfs (remember to copy the DS211 DTB to /boot/dts/), and you see the files are listed OK, then try booting it.

boot

-bodhi
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Hello Bodhi,

I have mentioned before that it was ext4. I reformatted it to ext3 (it took a really long time for some reason), and copied the rootfs from my working USB. Also made sure that DS2111 DTB was in /boot/dts/.

 ext2ls sata 0:1 /

Did show some of the folders (but not all), including boot, but when I did

ext2ls sata 0:1 /boot

It didn't list anything. Strange.

Console log is attached.

Ivan,

Try a gain but this time insert a wait period.

setenv devices sata

dm tree
sata init
dm tree

sleep 1  # if 1 second does not work, try a longer sleep up to 10 seconds in the next tests

sata info
sata part
ext2ls sata 0:1 /
ext2ls sata 0:1 /boot

Each test should be from a cold start. The reason is we want to power it up in Standby mode. For the large capacity Seagate drives, this period could be in seconds.

Whether it works or not, the next build I will try to use Linux driver approach of reading the Identify status word.

-bodhi
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Hello Bodhi,

I have added the wait (10 sec) and did a cold boot.
Still the same behavior as before, see the log.

Ivan,

I'm convinced that there is a problem in u-boot regarding the large disk. It has nothing to do with SATA Identify. I've dumped the Identity words on my 4TB HDD and it looks fine.

It seems flaky. Like there is not enough power. Large HDDs need 12V.

For now, you should flash the Nov 22 version, which is OK with the normal HDD (i.e. 1TB) rootfs. And use it with the 12TB in the lower bay, which is OK in Linux as data drive.

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,138456,138516#msg-138516

=====

After flashing back the Nov 22 u-boot, do this test to see if it is a power problem. Boot with USB rootfs, and with the 12TB HDD in the upper bay. Reboot, and then repeat the test sequence

dm tree
sata init
dm tree

sata info
sata part
ext2ls sata 0:1 /
ext2ls sata 0:1 /boot

Since the box has been running with USB rootfs, it should eliminate the power issue. If the test above is successful, then it could be the power supply, or we need to use the u-boot regulator.

-bodhi
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Hi Bodhi,

The power supply is original with 12V 6A.
I did run the old Synology OS with two 12TB HDD drives, and it worked just fine, with OS installed on the HHDs.
This makes me doubt that there is an issue with the power, unless there are some boot time power fluctuations.
12TB works just fine when rootfs is booted from the USB, which makes me think that uboot driver is not working well.
Since the old original uboot was able to boot from 12TB HDD, maybe it has some clues? I have attached it to this post in case you can use it for something.

I followed your steps and attached the console log.

Thank you,
Ivan

Ivan

> The power supply is original with 12V 6A.
> I did run the old Synology OS with two 12TB HDD
> drives, and it worked just fine, with OS installed
> on the HHDs.
> This makes me doubt that there is an issue with
> the power, unless there are some boot time power
> fluctuations.

Power has 2 parts. Hardware and software. So the fact that you can run stock FW and power up the drive, that'd eliminate the hardware part. We just don't know how stock u-boot power and spin up the large drive. As usual, old u-boot has to implement everything in the code.


> 12TB works just fine when rootfs is booted from
> the USB, which makes me think that uboot driver is
> not working well.

Yes.

> Since the old original uboot was able to boot from
> 12TB HDD, maybe it has some clues? I have attached
> it to this post in case you can use it for
> something.

Usually if we want to look for some strings such as the envs then we can dump it and examine. But the code is all in machine code. Not possible to find the relevant part.

I will have to look in the Synology GPL source to see if I can find anything.

In the mean time, I think Nov 22 version u-boot is good for booting with the 1TB rootfs in the upper bay.

-bodhi
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Ivan,

Here is the Dec 02 build.

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.bodhi.tar.dec_02

sha256:
3d39a2be0fad1fc6a0aa4b709072819c69a67a5e30ed73a66da7810fd3d6199b

This tarball contains 3 files. Ony the uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.kwb is different from previous build.

uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.kwb
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment.img
uboot.2024.10-tld-1.ds211.environment

The ATA ID words will be printed out.

I would like to see this test:

- The 12TB HDD in the upper bay (see if it can identify and spin up).

setenv devices sata # this is not necessary, but will make the log less noisy in case you want to boot

dm tree
sata init
dm tree

sata info
sata part
ext2ls sata 0:1 /
ext2ls sata 0:1 /boot

-bodhi
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Hi Bodhi,

My plan was to use 2 x 12TB HDDs, and have the rootfs installed on both, in case one fails it will be still able to boot on the second one (I assume this would work, wanted to give it a try anyhow). I used 1TB HDD just for testing purposes.
Since I can't boot from HDDs, I'll just use USB stick rootfs and have the two 12TB HDDs just as data storage, and hope that it'll be stable when rootfs is on the USB stick. Are there any tips or optimizations when running the rootfs from USB sticks that you can point me to?

Thank you,
Ivan

Ivan,

I've just posted the Dec 02 version above.


> My plan was to use 2 x 12TB HDDs, and have the
> rootfs installed on both, in case one fails it
> will be still able to boot on the second one (I
> assume this would work, wanted to give it a try
> anyhow). I used 1TB HDD just for testing
> purposes.
> Since I can't boot from HDDs, I'll just use USB
> stick rootfs and have the two 12TB HDDs just as
> data storage, and hope that it'll be stable when
> rootfs is on the USB stick. Are there any tips or
> optimizations when running the rootfs from USB
> sticks that you can point me to?

Here is the tips to avoid wearing out the USB drive. In the Wiki thread:

Quote

Flash drives issues

How to prolong the life of your rootfs USB thumb drive

-bodhi
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We literally posted at the same minute :)

Yep, I am already testing it now.

Thanks for the USB thumb tips!

Bodhi,

I flashed the new uboot, and I have run the test.
Now the "sata part" doesn't recognize the device, and "ext2ls sata 0:1 /" doesn't show anything.

Serial console log is attached.

Ivan,

That's actually a very good test. The ID words have nothing

DS211> sata init

S/N: 
Firmware version: 
Product model number: 
Capablity: 0 sectors
id[49]: capabilities = 0x0000
id[53]: field valid = 0x0000
id[63]: mwdma = 0x0000
id[64]: pio = 0x0000
id[75]: queue depth = 0x0000
id[76]: sata capablity = 0x0000
id[78]: sata features supported = 0x0000
id[79]: sata features enable = 0x0000
id[80]: major version = 0x0000
id[81]: minor version = 0x0000
id[82]: command set supported 1 = 0x0000
id[83]: command set supported 2 = 0x0000
id[84]: command set extension = 0x0000
id[85]: command set enable 1 = 0x0000
id[86]: command set enable 2 = 0x0000
id[87]: command set default = 0x0000
id[88]: udma = 0x0000
id[93]: hardware reset result = 0x0000

So no info shown:

DS211> sata info

Device 0: Model:  Firm:  Ser#: 
            Type: Hard Disk
            Capacity: not available

My attemp to make it more robust has broken this Identify process!

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Ivan,

Quote

> 12TB works just fine when rootfs is booted from
> the USB, which makes me think that uboot driver is
> not working well.

Yes.

It is indeed broken somewhere in mainline u-boot.

So your plan to use USB rootfs is a good plan. I don't know when I will be able to revisit this and trouble shoot.

I will try to debug using my 4TB HDD on another Kirkwood box. But it will be intermittenly.

Thanks for all the hard works testing this.

-bodhi
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2024 06:56PM by bodhi.

Bodhi, thanks for all the hard work, much appreciated!
I am willing to continue testing, so I will be monitoring this thread.

BTW, I am getting a new device, that I might need your help with: DLink ShareCenter D-320 2 Bay NAS.
It has a Marvell Kirkwood 88F6702 @ 1 GHz according to https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-reviews/d-link-dns-320l-sharecenter-2-bay-cloud-storage-2000-reviewed/

I will start a new thread for it once I obtain it.