Bricked NSA320S during 2017.07 flash

Hello,

my power plug stopped working while I was trying to flash Kirkwood on my NSA320S. Now all that is lighting up are the blue power-LED and the yellow/green LED next to it and there is nothing on the serial console. I guess it's bricked. Is there still a chance to get it working again?

Thanks

zc5,

> I guess it's bricked. Is
> there still a chance to get it working again?

Yes. You will need to connect serial console first. Do you have another Linux box and can connect serial console to the NSA320S?

-bodhi
===========================
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Hi bodhi,

thank you for the fast reply.

The 320S is my only NAS. I have a USB to RS232 converter since my laptop don't have a dedicated serial port.

zc5

zc5,

> The 320S is my only NAS. I have a USB to RS232
> converter since my laptop don't have a dedicated
> serial port.

1. You will need a separate Linux box. So that laptop must be able to run a Linux distro such as Ubuntu, Mint,... If not, you can use a Live Linux DVD/USB disk.


2. USB to RS232 is not appropriate to use. See here for USB TTL serial module adapter:
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?8,13263,13264#msg-13264

Or you can buy a low cost rPi Zero to use for this purpose (it is easy to connect just the wires to the Pi and the NSA320S).

The NSA320S aready has a serial header. So you can use jumper wires to connect to those header pins. The Cp2102 on eBay that I mentioned in the link, most of them packaged with 3 jumper wires already.

-bodhi
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bodhi,

I have a laptop running Linux and a RPi3. I connected TX and RX according to (1) to the pins 8 and 10 on the Pi. For TX and RX i tried the second and the third pin on the 320S, as seen in the second image on (2). According to dmesg ttyAMA0 is connected, but screen /dev/ttyAMA0 does not show any output.

1 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/iot-core/learn-about-hardware/pinmappings/pinmappingsrpi
2 http://mud-slide.blogspot.de/2013/12/installing-linux-on-zyxel-nsa-320-part_722.html

zc5,

First some background. The NSA320S is a different box from the NSA320 (in the 2nd link you posted).

I believe the NSA320S serial header is the same as all these other Zyxel NAS boxes (NSA310S, NSA320, NSA310, NSA325, and NAS326). It looks like this:

+----+----+           
          |    |    |
+----+----+----+----+----+
|3.3V| TX | RX |    | GND|
+----+----+----+    +----+

Now, it is not surprising if you did not see any output, regardless of whether the connection is correct. If power went out during flashing u-boot, or a wrong file was flashed to the box mtd0, then u-boot cannot start when you power up (the image was corrupted), hence nothing will come out of the serial console.

To recover from a bad u-boot flashing, we need 1) serial console connection like you already did. 2) The next step is to use kwboot to load the good uboot image using serial console. As I mentioned in the u-boot release thread:

Quote
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,12381

UART Booting: If possible, try to test this boot image with UART booting before flashing to NAND. See davygravy's UART booting using kwboot instruction here in this thread. The latest u-boot image released here should be used for UART booting, if your box is the type that supports it (these do not: Dockstar, Pogo E02, iConnect).

Basically, you would download the latest u-boot for NSA310S/320S:

Quote
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,12381


uboot.2017.07-tld-1.nsa310s.bodhi.tar
md5
4af9c6f16e1705e7a4345e6f7cc01fa7
sha256
724cb6ac5baf2053e63dc44489693c6772264ca326f4bdb2506c81f654ea84dc

And then from the rPi, instead of running picom/minicom/screen, you would run kwboot (install u-boot-tools if it was not already installed).

The command to run kwboot in rPi is:

kwboot  -t -B 115200 /dev/ttyAMA0 -b uboot.2017.07-tld-1.nsa310s.mtd0.kwb -p

Note: from other Linux rootfs the device would be USB0, so the command can also be:

kwboot  -t -B 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0 -b uboot.2017.07-tld-1.nsa310s.mtd0.kwb  -p

When you see u-boot outputs its banner and the rest of the booting activities, you've unbricked your box!

=======================

bodhi's Note: you can use standard kwboot from Linux distribtion (no need to download kwboot). But for the latest kwboot binary (it has been greatly improved recently), see here to download:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,27280

-bodhi
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Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2022 03:58PM by bodhi.

bodhi,

that was a very easy to follow walkthrough, thank you. I tried it on my RPi first, since my laptop wouldn't run the precompiled kwboot binary. It stopped as soon as the NAS got turned on.

My next attempt was using it from within a docker container and that kind of worked:

./kwboot -t -B 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0 -b uboot.2017.07-tld-1.nsa310s.mtd0.kwb -p
Sending boot message. Please reboot the target...\
Sending boot image...
  0 % [......................................................................]
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[Type Ctrl-\ + c to quit]


U-Boot 2017.07-tld-1 (Sep 05 2017 - 00:50:06 -0700)
ZyXEL NSA310S/320S 1/2-Bay Power Media Server

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6702_A1
DRAM:  256 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
MV88E1318 PHY initialized on egiga0
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
starting USB...
USB0:   USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus 0 for devices... 2 USB Device(s) found
       scanning usb for storage devices... 0 Storage Device(s) found

Reset IDE: ide_preinit failed
Unknown command 'mmc' - try 'help'
## Unknown partition table type 0

## Unknown partition table type 0

## Unknown partition table type 0

## Unknown partition table type 0

## Unknown partition table type 0

## Unknown partition table type 0

## Unknown partition table type 0
loading envs from usb 0 ...
** Bad device usb 0 **

no IDE devices available
Unknown command 'mmc' - try 'help'
running scan_disk ...
Scan device usb
device usb 0:1
** Bad device usb 0 **
device usb 1:1
** Bad device usb 1 **
device usb 2:1
** Bad device usb 2 **
device usb 3:1
** Bad device usb 3 **
Scan device ide

Reset IDE: ide_preinit failed
device ide 0:1
** Bad device ide 0 **
device ide 1:1
** Bad device ide 1 **
device ide 2:1
** Bad device ide 2 **
device ide 3:1
** Bad device ide 3 **
Scan device mmc
Unknown command 'mmc' - try 'help'
device mmc 0:1
** Bad device mmc 0 **
device mmc 1:1
** Bad device mmc 1 **
device mmc 2:1
** Bad device mmc 2 **
device mmc 3:1
** Bad device mmc 3 **
loading uImage ...
** Bad device usb 0 **
loading uInitrd ...
** Bad device usb 0 **
loading DTB /boot/dts/kirkwood-pogo_e02.dtb ...
** Bad device usb 0 **
Wrong Image Format for bootm command
Error occured, error code = 112
ERROR: can't get kernel image!
NSA3x0S>

As you see, it tried to boot from kirkwood-pogo_e02.dtb which I don't understand. Maybe I used a wrong image last time?

When trying to boot with a USB stick containing a rootfs (as described in Linux Kernel 4.15.2 Kirkwood package and Debian rootfs) connected it succeeds to enter BusyBox!

I didn't get to see the u-boot bunner, but it booted!

I meant "When trying to run kwboot while a USB is connected to the NAS".

Sorry for posting three times in a row (should have created an account). Using kwboot it now runs Debian. I just misspelled the partition label.

bodhi,

thank you for your great help! After using kwboot to get to Debian, I went through the flash instructions again and this time everything went right. The 320S now boots directly to Debian on the USB drive.

Thank you again!

zc5 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bodhi,
>
> thank you for your great help! After using kwboot
> to get to Debian, I went through the flash
> instructions again and this time everything went
> right. The 320S now boots directly to Debian on
> the USB drive.
>
> Thank you again!

Cool! glad you unbricked it so quickly!

-bodhi
===========================
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enki,

Let's post in this thread for your kwboot session.

-bodhi
===========================
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enki,

Make sure that your serial console is working properly.

-bodhi
===========================
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Hi Bodhi,

I shall post in this topic.

First thank you for prompt reply. I have tried the followings:

0. connect usb cable to serial console of the NSA320s; lsusb shows:
Bus 003 Device 010: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port

1. turned on NSA320s by pressing button;

2. run 'kwboot -t -B 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0 -b uboot.2017.07-tld-1.nsa310s.mtd0.kwb -p' command from a Linux laptop.

Sending boot message. Please reboot the target...-^C

and wait but nothing happens ... I had to ^C to return to prompt.

this cable worked before when I have opened the serial console and connect to NSA320s on the same laptop port....

enki,

Quote

0. connect usb cable to serial console of the NSA320s; lsusb shows:
Bus 003 Device 010: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port

Did you try running serial console before the mtd0 was bricked?

-bodhi
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Reverse the steps


1. run 'kwboot -t -B 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0 -b uboot.2017.07-tld-1.nsa310s.mtd0.kwb -p' command from a Linux laptop.

You can take as long as you want before pressing the button.

2. turned on NSA320s by pressing button;

-bodhi
===========================
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bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> enki,
>
>

Quote

0. connect usb cable to serial console of
> the NSA320s; lsusb shows:
> Bus 003 Device 010: ID 067b:2303 Prolific
> Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port

>
> Did you try running serial console before the mtd0
> was bricked?

Yes, it was working (saw uboot messages and I could stop loading further the kernel etc) before mtd0 was corrupted. It should work ...

I followed:

1. run 'kwboot -t -B 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0 -b uboot.2017.07-tld-1.nsa310s.mtd0.kwb -p' command from a Linux laptop.

and then
2. turned on NSA320s by pressing button;

still the same behaviour rolling nothing '/\' like I have seen from others with % sending the kwb ...

I shall try again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2020 05:53PM by enki.

It works. tried again with full root rather sudo ... got

U-Boot 2017.07-tld-1 (Sep 05 2017 - 00:50:06 -0700)
ZyXEL NSA310S/320S 1/2-Bay Power Media Server

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6702_A1
DRAM:  256 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB
*** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
MV88E1318 PHY initialized on egiga0
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
NSA3x0S>

I shall continue with the procedure... and shall get back to forum if anythingelse happens. Many thanks!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2020 05:59PM by enki.

enki,

Congrats!

Now you can boot with the internal envs. Check they are OK,

printenv

-bodhi
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bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> enki,
>
> Congrats!
>
> Now you can boot with the internal envs. Check
> they are OK,
>
>

> printenv
>

Oooops I haven't realised that I need to continue with booting and reset it again. I am trying again to send kwb to mtd0 ...

Bodhi,

I sent kwb again. boot but I realised the envs are the ones which are looking for rootfs usb disk ...

Bodhi,

When I do rootfs disk do I need to do this step?

4. Create uImage with embedded DTB for booting with older u-boots (2012 or earlier). Do not do this step if you have installed the latest U-Boot for Kirkwood (or are installing this u-boot at the same time).

Please replace kirkwood-goflexnet.dtb below with the correct DTB name for your box (see the folder /media/sdb1/boot/dts for the exact spelling of your Kirkwood box name).

Generate the uImage with DTB embedded inside:
cd /media/sdb1/boot
cp -a zImage-5.2.9-kirkwood-tld-1  zImage.fdt
cat dts/kirkwood-goflexnet.dtb  >> zImage.fdt
mv uImage uImage.orig
mkimage -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 0x00008000 -e 0x00008000 -n Linux-5.2.9-kirkwood-tld-1 -d zImage.fdt  uImage
sync

Bodhi,

printenv results

99 % [....................................]
[Type Ctrl-\ + c to quit]


U-Boot 2017.07-tld-1 (Sep 05 2017 - 00:50:06 -0700)
ZyXEL NSA310S/320S 1/2-Bay Power Media Server

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6702_A1
DRAM:  256 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB
*** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
MV88E1318 PHY initialized on egiga0
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
NSA3x0S> printenv
arcNumber=4931
baudrate=115200
bootcmd=run bootcmd_uenv; run scan_disk; run set_bootargs; run bootcmd_exec; reset
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
bootdelay=10
bootdev=usb
console=ttyS0,115200
device=0:1
devices=usb ide
disks=0 1 2 3
dtb_file=/boot/dts/kirkwood-nsa310s.dtb
ethact=egiga0
ethaddr=52:3b:20:9c:11:51
if_netconsole=ping $serverip
ipaddr=192.168.0.231
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:0x100000(uboot),0x80000(stock_uboot_env),0x80000(key_store),0x80000(info),0xA00000(etc),0xA00000(kernel_1),0x2FC0000(rootfs1),0xA00000(kernel_2),0x2FC0000(rootfs2)
partition=nand0,2
preboot_nc=run if_netconsole start_netconsole
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=192.168.0.220
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=serial
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
uenv_addr=0x810000
uenv_import=echo importing envs ...; env import -t $uenv_addr $filesize
uenv_init_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 0; do run uenv_read_disk; done; done;
uenv_read=echo loading envs from $devtype $disknum ...; if load $devtype $disknum:1 $uenv_addr /boot/uEnv.txt; then setenv uenv_loaded 1; fi
uenv_read_disk=if test $devtype -eq mmc; then if $devtype part; then run uenv_read;  fi; else if $devtype part $disknum; then run uenv_read; fi;  fi
usb_ready_retry=15

Environment size: 3009/131068 bytes

After I stop autoboot and do boot .... got this

           
Partition Map for USB device 0  --   Partition Type: DOS

Part	Start Sector	Num Sectors	UUID		Type
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80008d80
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80a88
...
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80a88
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80008d80
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80a88
** Can't read partition table on 0:0 **
** Invalid partition 1 **
running scan_disk ...
loading uImage ...
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80008d80
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80a88
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80008d80
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80a88
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80008d80

Something is not right with this rootfs disk. do another one and try again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2020 06:54PM by enki.

Hi Bodhi

Now all sorted as I managed to boot the kernel. The problem was that the two sata disks were on and when I took them out usb disk has been recognized and was used to boot ... no need to make new uImage and uInitrd as the kwb contains everything to boot from the kernel as it is.

BR.
E

enki Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Bodhi
>
> Now all sorted as I managed to boot the kernel.
> The problem was that the two sata disks were on
> and when I took them out usb disk has been
> recognized and was used to boot ... no need to
> make new uImage and uInitrd as the kwb contains
> everything to boot from the kernel as it is.
>
> BR.
> E

Cool! So after you've booted into Debian, you can reflash u-boot quite easily.

-bodhi
===========================
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Bodhi,

Yes, I have Debian and flashed mtd0 and envs. Now when I want to bring two sata hdds in and plug them into nas and boot the nas with them in I get the same error message

USB0:   USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus 0 for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
       scanning usb for storage devices... 
Use USB retry period from the environment: 15 second(s)
1 Storage Device(s) found

Reset IDE: Bus 0: OK Bus 1: OK 
  Device 0: Model: WDC WD10JFCX-68N6GN0 Firm: 82.00A82 Ser#:  WD-WX91A157DLAR
            Type: Hard Disk
            Supports 48-bit addressing
            Capacity: 953869.7 MB = 931.5 GB (1953525168 x 512)
  Device 1: Model: WDC WD10JFCX-68N6GN0 Firm: 82.00A82 Ser#:  WD-WXJ1E6496Y59
            Type: Hard Disk
            Supports 48-bit addressing
            Capacity: 953869.7 MB = 931.5 GB (1953525168 x 512)
Unknown command 'mmc' - try 'help'

Partition Map for USB device 0  --   Partition Type: DOS

Part	Start Sector	Num Sectors	UUID		Type
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80008d80
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80a88
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80008d80
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80a88
EHCI timed out on TD - token=0x80008d80

Without the sata disks in usb booting works.

Any ideas how to fix usb booting with the two sata disks in? Thank you in advance.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2020 09:35PM by enki.

enki,

> Without the sata disks in usb booting works.
>
> Any ideas how to fix usb booting with the two sata
> disks in? Thank you in advance.

The quickest way to work around the problem is to tell u-boot that you don't want to scan all types of disks

setenv devices usb

Because you are booting with USB rootfs, you can do this and then figure out what cause the "EHCI timed out on TD" error later.

=======


This error was supposedly fixed by ray's patch that I included in U-Boot 2017.07-tld-1. But I guess your HDDs types are another case where the patch did not work. Some old WD and Seagate HDDs are problematic during booting (the SATA driver is not the same one used in the kernel).

-bodhi
===========================
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Bodhi,

It works indeed to skip sata disks verification. Steam ahead to upgrade and get raid running. Many Thanks.