Help: Fresh install Pogo Mobile hangs at "Starting Kernel ..."

A little about me- I'm a complete noob with Pogoplug's and Uboot, but I have a lot of experience with Debian Linux and CLI.

Ok so, I installed Uboot on a new Pogoplug Mobile(v4) and Debian on USB stick. Following the instructions here:
http://blog.qnology.com/2014/07/hacking-pogoplug-v4-series-4-and-mobile.html

(It's like a copy of Bodhi's instructions, but specifically for the pogo mobile)

The only thing I changed from the original instructions is using ext2 filesystem, and ./fw_setenv usb_rootfstype ext2.

I'm using Debian-3.14.0-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2. Also I set up Jeff's netconsole output. (In my router, I assigned the pogo's mac to the ipaddress 192.168.0.240)

After reboot, I get no response from ping or ssh.

Here is the output from running netcat on my computer.

~$ nc -l -u -p 6666
   
U-Boot 2014.07-tld-1 (Jul 18 2014 - 00:59:45)
Pogoplug V4
gcc (Debian 4.6.3-14) 4.6.3
GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Debian) 2.22
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
(Re)start USB...
USB0:   USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus 0 for devices... 2 USB Device(s) found
       scanning usb for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found
2461416 bytes read in 568 ms (4.1 MiB/s)
6362802 bytes read in 981 ms (6.2 MiB/s)
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 00800000 ...
   Image Name:   Linux-3.14.0-kirkwood-tld-1
   Created:      2014-04-06  20:44:27 UTC
   Image Type:   ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
   Data Size:    2461352 Bytes = 2.3 MiB
   Load Address: 00008000
   Entry Point:  00008000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
## Loading init Ramdisk from Legacy Image at 01100000 ...
   Image Name:   initramfs-3.14.0-kirkwood-tld-1
   Created:      2014-04-06  20:44:41 UTC
   Image Type:   ARM Linux RAMDisk Image (gzip compressed)
   Data Size:    6362738 Bytes = 6.1 MiB
   Load Address: 00000000
   Entry Point:  00000000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK


Starting kernel ...

And that's where it stops. I have no clue about what to do from here.

CasperJim,

Quote

> Starting kernel …

Netconsole does not output more than this. To see more info you must have serial console. But this is pretty far you got! a few things to check and try in this order:

Double check ( (baby steps but easy to forget so double check them):

- Make sure you have extracted the rootfs to your USB as root user. And sync before umount.
- If bootargs root device is root=LABEL=rootfs, the USB rootfs partition must be labeled rootfs.
- Make sure the usb_rootfstype env is set to ext2.

If none of the above applies, try:

- In netconsole, interrupt u-boot, clear the usb_rootfstype, then boot:

> setenv usb_rootfstype
> boot

If still not booting, then in netconsole, interrupt u-boot, and get a listing of your u-boot envs and post here.

> printenv

-bodhi
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Hey Bodhi, big Thanks for your help. Before posting here, I tried to solve myself with some of the solutions you posted, so let me explain.

> - Make sure you have extracted the rootfs to your USB as root user. And sync before umount.
Yes. To verify this, I had erased the usb and sudo re-extracted the filesystem onto it again using my laptop (ubuntu).

> - If bootargs root device is root=LABEL=rootfs, the USB rootfs partition must be labeled rootfs.
I did put a different name originally. I realized that was probably a mistake soon after, so I plugged it into my laptop to fix.
tune2fs -L rootfs /dev/sdb1

> - Make sure the usb_rootfstype env is set to ext2.
I wasn't able to do this.

I can receive input, but I cannot seem to send output to uboot. Open input is with this command:
nc -l -u -p 6666

I'm trying to output using another terminal.
nc -u 192.168.1.240 6666

I see it prompt 10 seconds for any key, but I cannot seem to stop it. Since I cannot ping or ssh the device, I did verify that the input is coming from ipaddress 192.168.0.240 using Wireshark.

~$ nc -u 192.168.1.240 6666  # In second terminal. Attempting to stop uboot during the 10 second count down. It does not acknowledge.
l
kk
printenv

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2014 06:07AM by CasperJim.

deleted



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2014 06:24AM by CasperJim.

I'm sorry! I mucked up and used the wrong IP address (192.168.1.240 instead of 192.168.0.240).

At the boot interrupt, I ran
> setenv usb_rootfstype
> boot

Unfortunately clearing the environment variable didn't appear to make a difference. No ping, no ssh.

Here is the output of printenv

Pogov4>  p r i n t e n v
arcNumber=3960
baudrate=115200
bootcmd=run bootcmd_usb; run bootcmd_mmc; run bootcmd_sata; reset
bootcmd_mmc=run mmc_init; run set_bootargs_mmc; run mmc_boot
bootcmd_sata=run sata_init; run set_bootargs_sata; run sata_boot;
bootcmd_usb=run usb_init; run set_bootargs_usb; run usb_boot;
bootdelay=10
console=ttyS0,115200
device=0:1
ethact=egiga0
ethaddr=00:25:31:03:91:1e
if_netconsole=ping $serverip
ipaddr=192.168.0.240
led_error=orange blinking
led_exit=green off
led_init=green blinking
machid=F78
mainlineLinux=yes
mmc_boot=mw 0x800000 0 1; run mmc_load_uimage; if run mmc_load_uinitrd; then bootm 0x800000 0x1100000; else bootm 0x800000; fi
mmc_init=mmc rescan
mmc_load_uimage=ext2load mmc $device 0x800000 /boot/uImage
mmc_load_uinitrd=ext2load mmc $device 0x1100000 /boot/uInitrd
mmc_root=/dev/mmcblk0p1
mtdids=nand0=orion_nand
mtdparts=mtdparts=orion_nand:2M(u-boot),3M(uImage),3M(uImage2),8M(failsafe),112M(root)
ncip=192.168.0.201
partition=nand0,2
preboot=run if_netconsole start_netconsole
preboot_nc=run if_netconsole start_netconsole
rootdelay=10
rootfstype=ext3
sata_boot=mw 0x800000 0 1; run sata_load_uimage; if run sata_load_uinitrd; then bootm 0x800000 0x1100000; else bootm 0x800000; fi
sata_init=ide reset
sata_load_uimage=ext2load ide $device 0x800000 /boot/uImage
sata_load_uinitrd=ext2load ide $device 0x1100000 /boot/uInitrd
sata_root=/dev/sda1
serverip=192.168.0.201
set_bootargs_mmc=setenv bootargs console=$console root=$mmc_root rootdelay=$rootdelay rootfstype=$rootfstype $mtdparts
set_bootargs_sata=setenv bootargs console=$console root=$sata_root rootdelay=$rootdelay rootfstype=$rootfstype $mtdparts
set_bootargs_usb=setenv bootargs console=$console root=$usb_root rootdelay=$rootdelay rootfstype=$rootfstype $mtdparts
start_netconsole=setenv ncip $serverip; setenv bootdelay 10; setenv stdin nc; setenv stdout nc; setenv stderr nc; version;
stderr=nc
stdin=nc
stdout=nc
usb_boot=mw 0x800000 0 1; run usb_load_uimage; if run usb_load_uinitrd; then bootm 0x800000 0x1100000; else bootm 0x800000; fi
usb_init=usb start
usb_load_uimage=ext2load usb $device 0x800000 /boot/uImage
usb_load_uinitrd=ext2load usb $device 0x1100000 /boot/uInitrd
usb_root=/dev/sda1
usb_rootfstype=ext2

Environment size: 2311/131068 bytes

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2014 06:25AM by CasperJim.

CasperJim,

rootfstype should be ext2! Not usb_rootfstype. Sorry I wrote from memory :) it's the common name in all 3 bootargs.

So rootfstype should be either Ext2 or not set.

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2014 06:51AM by bodhi.

Changing the filesystem to ext3 solved the problem.
tune2fs -j /dev/sdb1

No other changes were required, and the system started working. So I assume the current kernel was compiled without ext2 support?

Thanks again Bodhi for jumping in to help with this issue! Any final thoughts?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2014 07:21AM by CasperJim.

Oh yes, I reverted the filesystem to ext2, and changed "rootfstype" to ext2. It worked. So I assume to permanently set it, I use this command?
# fw_setenv rootfstype ext2

@CasperJim,

Just curious why you just didn't follow the tutorial as is? Why mess with ext2 versus ext3 to begin with?

@bodhi,

Looking more closely at this, it doesn't look like you have the default uboot env set correctly.

set_bootargs_mmc=setenv bootargs console=$console root=$mmc_root rootdelay=$rootdelay rootfstype=$rootfstype $mtdparts
set_bootargs_sata=setenv bootargs console=$console root=$sata_root rootdelay=$rootdelay rootfstype=$rootfstype $mtdparts
set_bootargs_usb=setenv bootargs console=$console root=$usb_root rootdelay=$rootdelay rootfstype=$rootfstype $mtdparts

For the "set_bootargs_usb" shouldn't it be "rootfstype=$usb_rootfstype"?

Also for consistency, there should be a "mmc_rootfstype" and "sata_rootfstype" parameter defined (and used in the "set_bootargs_[type]".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2014 02:20PM by grayman4hire.

CasperJim,

> Oh yes, I reverted the filesystem to ext2, and
> changed "rootfstype" to ext2. It worked. So I
> assume to permanently set it, I use this command?
> # fw_setenv rootfstype ext2

Yes. Either set it to ext2, or not set it at all (the kernel will figure it out if you dont set it).

-bodhi
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grayman4hire,

You're right! I meant to consolidate the variable names, but forgot the instruction for the rootfs still use usb_ prefix. I think I will go back to spell out each type of rootfs to make things simpler.

-bodhi
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I used ext2 for 2 reasons

1. Because I'm using a thumb (flash) drive, and I didn't want the extra writes on that cheap flash media. :)
2. If I'm going to use journaling, I will always opt to use ext4 instead. Ext4 is superior to ext3 in several ways, and ext4 has been supported for many years now. There's really very few reasons to ever use ext3.

> For the "set_bootargs_usb" shouldn't it be "rootfstype=$usb_rootfstype"?

Good catch. Looks like that might have been where I got a little off track. Bodhi, I think I'll take your advice and just leave it blank. If the kernel is smart enough to recognize fstype itself, why even specifiy it? (unless maybe if want to use xfs or some exotic fstype). Specifying the fstype just seems like a path to create problems, when those problems have already been solved.

my 2c



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2014 01:32AM by CasperJim.

CasperJim,

All good points, except one! IMHO.

I use Ext3/Ext4 for most of my plugs (12 running), and Ext3 for testbeds (all booting with USB flash rootfs, except 2 with HDD rootfs). And this is because I already know my installtion of U-Boot supports Ext4. And I don't set rootfstype, either, because I also know my currently built kernel can figure it out. OTOH, the default values for u-boot and rootfs installation should be the ones that work in all cases.

IMO, you don't want to use Ext2 because of the certainty of file system corruption during power outage. Here is my approach that you might be intesrested in, using Ext3/Ext4 for your rootfs on USB flash drives.

-bodhi
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2014 06:04PM by bodhi.

You're right, Bodhi. Fortunately, I've got my little pogo on a battery backup so there's little chance of filesystem corruption. Though I agree that running Ext2 isn't for everyone, and is probably best suited for those that have some knowledge about what they are getting into. :)

I skimmed your notes on the link you posted, definitely good stuff! I will have to look at it more indepth later.

Bodhi,

Have you tested the install instructions mentioned above with the PogoPlug Mobile (POGO-V4-A1-01)? I'm also stuck at "Starting kernel ...", similar to CasperJim's problem. However, I've tried EXT2, EXT3, and EXT4 file systems, modifying the rootfstype parameters (inc. leaving it blank). I've also tried different USB keys, ones which were in the v2 PogoPlugs and newer USB keys in the v4 PogoPlugs Series 4 (POGO-V4-A3-01). Trying to boot into the Debian-3.14.0-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 image.

Regards...

BobTheBuilder,

I'm not sure which install instruction you meant. Pls include the link to the post.

-bodhi
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Hi Bodhi,

It's this link:

http://blog.qnology.com/2014/07/hacking-pogoplug-v4-series-4-and-mobile.html

Regards...

Hi Bob,

No. I have not tested or toolproof that instruction. It is a simplified version of my installation instruction here:
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,12381

-bodhi
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