Fujitsu Q700/QNAP TS-219 - dead UART no console output

Hi,

some time ago I experimented with u-boot env settings and reflashing and i ended up with bricked NAS. Since my last write command and reboot there is no output on console, just black screen. I triple check cables and even tried on different Q700 and USB/UART is working.
CPU in NAS is Marvell 88F6281 and referring to Feature Specs it should have UART boot option. But it is not working. File transfer newer starts. I already tried kwboot and manual XMODEM send in picocom. Nothing ever worked. I intend to solder of NAND (there is 25P28V6P) and reflash with backup I made earlier. So until I'll try this last resort option I want to know it has a chance tu success.

Could anyone clarify if it is totally bricked or kwboot should work for me even if there is no output on console?

Thank you for your help.
Patrik

Patrik,

1. Even though this SoC supports UART booting, there are several 88F6281 boxes don't have it. So it's not surprising that your box might be one. What do you see when running kwboot? does the box respond at all? or responded with error?

2. If booting with a working serial console, and seeing nothing comes out, then it means the u-boot in NAND did not start. Most likely a bad u-boot image was flashed to the NAND area where the boot ROM expects.

Whether there is hope, it depends on what you see (or not see) in question 1.

-bodhi
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Hi bodhi and thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately I can see nothing more than "Sending boot message. Please reboot the target.../" and TX led on UART is blinking like crazy. So it probably tries to send boot code but no one is responding on the other side.

I thought about trying UART boot on second working box but I'm a bit scared because I don't want to end up with two bricked devices. Is that process reversible or it writes binary right to NAND?

Thank you for clarification.

From where I see it my only hope is to replace NAND chip on board and pray for a miracle from God of science :).

Patrik

Hy3n4 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi bodhi and thank you for your reply.
>
> Unfortunately I can see nothing more than "Sending
> boot message. Please reboot the target.../" and TX
> led on UART is blinking like crazy. So it probably
> tries to send boot code but no one is responding
> on the other side.
>
> I thought about trying UART boot on second working
> box but I'm a bit scared because I don't want to
> end up with two bricked devices. Is that process
> reversible or it writes binary right to NAND?
>
> Thank you for clarification.
>
> From where I see it my only hope is to replace
> NAND chip on board and pray for a miracle from God
> of science :).
>
> Patrik

Patrik,

UART booting is very safe. The box boot ROM will run the binary in RAM. No NAND is involved. If you have 2 boxes, it's best to try UART booting on the working one. And you can also display the boot ROM version in serial console to double check.

Yes, the behavior is just that when UART booting is not supported. If you get any response at all (even only errors), then UART is likely supported.

Did you look into whether JTAG is available in this box? it surely beats replacing NAND chip!

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2015 01:58AM by bodhi.

OK, thank you for quick answers. I will try UART boot on functional one.

But I think I can remember that is has a bootCode version 1.11, so I am not lucky at this one.

Sure, that ideas came across my mind and I have already tried to find some information about JTAGing this board. But, since this is not exactly the same board as QNAP TS-219 has I can never be sure about any informations I'll get. Even if I'll manage to find some.

There is CON1 (20 pins) on board wich seem so be unused and its paths leads directly to CPU pins. On board from previous models there was CON2 marked AS JTAG. It has fewer pins but looked like my CON1. And from web i found that ARM CPUs has 20pin JTAG interface. But there is another problem since I don't have any device to perform JTAG. Not familiar with this.