U-Boot w/ MMC/SD-card booting for Pogoplug Series 4

STOP: Don't flash unless you have serial/UART connection and understand the risks and how to recover.

STATUS :
What works:

• USB2 (topside) and MMC/SD Card slot both work for booting and once booted into Linux
• USB3 works once booted into Linux

Not working:

• SATA - currently works in neither U-Boot nor in Linux (if you need SATA booting or access, try the U-Boot from ArchLinuxArm0

Downloads:

• regular NAND-flash uboot.kwb file, for flashing to NAND
• special UART uboot.kwb file for UART-based booting (good for rescuing or trying it out w/o flashing) : use NeutronScott's modified Picocom binary for booting it, if you like -NOT for flashing to NAND) : see http://wiki.scottn.us/goflex:start#serial_recovery (thanks @ Scott)

Tested extensively on a Pogoplug Series 4. Works well for me, but use at your own risk.

Don't use on a Pogoplug Mobile. It will require a slightly different setup.

Will post full patch set in the coming weeks, and we'll eventually submit this for inclusion in the mainline U-Boot sources.

Booting can now be done from USB2 and from MMC/SD cards. SATA might follow, but no guarantees. The SATA hardware on this board does not seem to conform to what we've seen on other Kirkwood boards, or there may be some sort of timing problem that we do not yet understand.


-----------------------------

U-Boot 2011.12 (Apr 08 2012 - 19:03:41)
Cloud Engines-Pogoplug v4/Mobile:MMC version

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6281_A1
DRAM:  128 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
Pogov4>

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

Edited 14 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2012 12:42PM by davygravy.

Booting from both USB2 (top port) and MMC card are both possible now.

U-Boot 2011.12 (Mar 30 2012 - 11:49:20)
Pogo v4

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6281_A1
DRAM:  128 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
Pogov4> usb start
(Re)start USB...
USB:   Register 10011 NbrPorts 1
USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus for devices... 2 USB Device(s) found
       scanning bus for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found
Pogov4> mmc init
SDHC found. Card desciption is:
Manufacturer:       0x1c, OEM "SV"
Product name:       "SDC  ", revision 1.0
Serial number:      290
Manufacturing date: 4/2009
CRC:                0x00, b0 = 0
mmc1 is available
Pogov4> ext2ls mmc 0:1
<DIR>       4096 .
<DIR>       4096 ..
<DIR>      16384 lost+found
<DIR>       4096 var
<DIR>      12288 etc
<DIR>       4096 media
<SYM>         11 cdrom
<DIR>       4096 bin
<DIR>       4096 boot
<DIR>       4096 dev
<DIR>       4096 home
<DIR>      12288 lib
<DIR>       4096 mnt
<DIR>       4096 opt
<DIR>       4096 proc
<DIR>       4096 root
<DIR>       4096 sbin
<DIR>       4096 selinux
<DIR>       4096 srv
<DIR>       4096 sys
<DIR>       4096 tmp
<DIR>       4096 usr
<SYM>         30 vmlinuz
<SYM>         33 initrd.img

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

Works great w/ the Mainline Debian Netboot installer... and the following booting commands in u-boot's env vars:

setenv bootargs_console console=ttyS0,115200
setenv bootcmd_mmc 'mmc init; ext2load mmc 0:1 0x00800000 /uImage; ext2load mmc 0:1 0x01100000 /uInitrd'
setenv bootcmd 'setenv bootargs $(bootargs_console); run bootcmd_mmc; bootm 0x00800000 0x01100000'
saveenv

U-Boot 2011.12 (Mar 30 2012 - 11:49:20)
Pogo v4

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6281_A1
DRAM:  128 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
SDHC found. Card desciption is:
Manufacturer:       0x1c, OEM "SV"
Product name:       "SDC  ", revision 1.0
Serial number:      290
Manufacturing date: 4/2009
CRC:                0x00, b0 = 0
mmc1 is available
Loading file "/uImage" from mmc device 0:1 (xxa1)
1574408 bytes read
Loading file "/uInitrd" from mmc device 0:1 (xxa1)
7228493 bytes read
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 00800000 ...
   Image Name:   kernel 3.2.0-2-kirkwood
   Image Type:   ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
   Data Size:    1574344 Bytes = 1.5 MiB
   Load Address: 00008000
   Entry Point:  00008000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
## Loading init Ramdisk from Legacy Image at 01100000 ...
   Image Name:   ramdisk 3.2.0-2-kirkwood
   Image Type:   ARM Linux RAMDisk Image (gzip compressed)
   Data Size:    7228429 Bytes = 6.9 MiB
   Load Address: 00000000
   Entry Point:  00000000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
   Loading Kernel Image ... OK
OK
Using machid 0xa76 from environment

Starting kernel ...

Uncompressing Linux... done, booting the kernel.

Debian GNU/Linux wheezy/sid debian-mmc-wheezy ttyS0

debian-mmc-wheezy login:

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

At this point, I'm unable to solve the SATA problem. I can get it to initialize the SATA port correctly. It recognizes the drive, but complains about an IRQ error:

U-Boot 2012.04-rc1-dirty (Apr 08 2012 - 16:10:53)
Cloud Engines-Pogoplug v4

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6281_A1
DRAM:  128 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB
*** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
Pogov4> 
Pogov4> ide reset

Reset IDE: Bus 0: OK 
  Device 0: Model: TOSHIBA MK1655GSX  Firm: FG010D Ser#:  X9AHTNGQT
            Type: Hard Disk
            Supports 48-bit addressing
            Capacity: 152627.8 MB = 149.0 GB (312581808 x 512)
Error (no IRQ) dev 0 blk 16: status 0x7f
No Powersaving mode 7F
Error (no IRQ) dev 0 blk 0: status 0x7f

Any ideas towards solving this would be greatly appreciated. My patch for the source is above, and the end of the first post in this thread.

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

This one doesn't work properly on my Pogoplug Mobile. The serial output is as follows:

tftpboot 0x1000000 newuboot.bin
Using egiga0 device
TFTP from server 10.0.1.13; our IP address is 10.0.1.50
Filename 'newuboot.bin'.
Load address: 0x1000000
Loading: #################################################################
######################################
done
Bytes transferred = 524288 (80000 hex)
CE>> go 0x1000000
## Starting application at 0x01000000 ...
data abort
pc : [<01000008>] lr : [<0062e918>]
sp : 005ffe28 ip : ffffffff fp : 00000000
r10: 00000000 r9 : 00721b70 r8 : 005fffcc
r7 : 00000000 r6 : 00000002 r5 : 00721c24 r4 : 01000000
r3 : 00000000 r2 : f1012000 r1 : 00721c24 r0 : 00000001
Flags: nZCv IRQs off FIQs off Mode SVC_32
Resetting CPU ...



U-Boot 1.1.4 (Oct 1 2011 - 12:21:35) Cloud Engines 1.1.2 (3.ze 128MB 16bit width
Addresses 8M - 0M are saved for the U-Boot usage.
Mem malloc Initialization (8M - 7M): Done
NAND:128 MB
Flash: 0 kB

CPU : Marvell Feroceon (Rev 1)
CLOUD ENGINES BOARD: PPV4A1

Streaming disabled
Write allocate disabled


USB 0: host mode
PEX 0: interface detected no Link.
Net: egiga0 [PRIME]

Thank you for the feedback, Exirion.

Exirion Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This one doesn't work properly on my Pogoplug

^^^^^^^^ which one is "this one"? You show newuboot.bin below... is that really uboot.nandpogoV4-MMC-mtdparts-noSATA.kwb? Did you just rename it? Or is it the oooold one that I had posted weeks back? If so, please let me know which one. The old one had both USB2.0 and SATA enabled. The Mobile has neither of those hardware features enabled, so when it goes to registers to init stuff, it might choke up.



> Mobile. The serial output is as follows:
>
> tftpboot 0x1000000 newuboot.bin
> Using egiga0 device
> TFTP from server 10.0.1.13; our IP address is
> 10.0.1.50
> Filename 'newuboot.bin'.
> Load address: 0x1000000
> Loading:
> ##################################################
> ###############
> ######################################
> done
> Bytes transferred = 524288 (80000 hex)
> CE>> go 0x1000000
> ## Starting application at 0x01000000 ...
> data abort
> pc : [<01000008>] lr : [<0062e918>]
> sp : 005ffe28 ip : ffffffff fp : 00000000
> r10: 00000000 r9 : 00721b70 r8 : 005fffcc
> r7 : 00000000 r6 : 00000002 r5 : 00721c24 r4 :
> 01000000
> r3 : 00000000 r2 : f1012000 r1 : 00721c24 r0 :
> 00000001
> Flags: nZCv IRQs off FIQs off Mode SVC_32
> Resetting CPU ...
>
>
>
> U-Boot 1.1.4 (Oct 1 2011 - 12:21:35) Cloud
> Engines 1.1.2 (3.ze 128MB 16bit width
> Addresses 8M - 0M are saved for the U-Boot usage.
> Mem malloc Initialization (8M - 7M): Done
> NAND:128 MB
> Flash: 0 kB
>
> CPU : Marvell Feroceon (Rev 1)
> CLOUD ENGINES BOARD: PPV4A1
>
> Streaming disabled
> Write allocate disabled
>
>
> USB 0: host mode
> PEX 0: interface detected no Link.
> Net: egiga0 [PRIME]


My suspicion is that it is trying to initialize USB2.0 ports... which, of course, it has none (the aft-side twin USB3.0 ports are actually not connected directly to the SoC, but rather to the PCIe controller... I'm told... so we can't access them easily in U-Boot).

Once my own Mobile Pogo arrives next week, I'll try building and testing an image w/o any USB support at all in U-Boot. The twin aftside ports would still work in Linux, though, once booted.

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

Sorry for the confusion because of the filename. I just renamed uboot.nandpogoV4-MMC-mtdparts-noSATA.kwb to keep things quick while trying to boot repeatedly. If there is anything I can try or test, let me know. I'll keep the Pogoplug UART connected, so I can easily test uboot images if necessary :)

Exirion Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry for the confusion because of the filename. I
> just renamed
> uboot.nandpogoV4-MMC-mtdparts-noSATA.kwb to keep
> things quick while trying to boot repeatedly.

No problem whatsoever... thanks for being willing to help.

> If there is anything I can try or test, let me know.
> I'll keep the Pogoplug UART connected, so I can
> easily test uboot images if necessary :)

well... how about these two - I disabled both USB2 and SATA, but MMC/SD card support is still built in ... they are nand and uart files...

the uart files are pretty easy and safe to check...

untar before using...

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2012 12:41PM by davygravy.

Thanks for the update. Unfortunately, no luck.

go 0x1000000
## Starting application at 0x01000000 ...
data abort
pc : [<01000098>]	   lr : [<0062e918>]
sp : 005ffe28  ip : ffffffff	 fp : 00000000
r10: 00000000  r9 : 00721b70	 r8 : 005fffcc
r7 : 00000000  r6 : 00000002	 r5 : 00721c24  r4 : 01000000
r3 : 00000000  r2 : f1012000	 r1 : 00721c24  r0 : 00000001
Flags: nZCv  IRQs off  FIQs off  Mode SVC_32
Resetting CPU ...



U-Boot 1.1.4 (Oct  1 2011 - 12:21:35) Cloud Engines 1.1.2 (3.ze 128MB  16bit width
Addresses 8M - 0M are saved for the U-Boot usage.
Mem malloc Initialization (8M - 7M): Done
NAND:128 MB
Flash:  0 kB

It crashes at a different address now though, so something has changed: pc : [<01000098>]

hmmm... I think I see it...

try a different address to "go" ...and remember the 1st 512k (0x200) are for the kwb header...

tftpboot 0x800000 <filename>
go 0x800200

this might still yield a false negative... executing a uboot bin in ram from TFTP is not officially supported... it is really a kind of chained RAM uboot setup and they don't actually support it... sometimes it works... other times....

if you have serial connection, the uart booting via Neutron Scott's picocom (top of page) is absolutely the best way to test these...

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

The diferent 'go' address didn't help. And call me stupid, but I can't get the picocom solution working. I'm certain that the serial connection is working properly, but picocom is always stuck at:

Sending DEBUG for about 5 seconds. Power on device NOW!
Waiting NAK... Press 'x' to escape.

Nothing ever happens. Thanks for trying to help, but I think I'll just wait until you have a PP Mobile yourself. For now, I'm gonna enjoy my saturday evening with some relaxation because it's 23:23 over here ;)

kk ;^)
a happy weekend to you, Exirion ..

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

I couldn't resist... and I found out that the uboot image by the archlinux project also crashes when I stop the boot procedure and try a 'go'.

To avoid any differences in testing, can you give me the exact commands for flashing your latest test version: uboot.nandpogoMobile-MMC-mtdparts-NoUSB.kwb.tar.gz

I want to be sure that you're not looking for a problem that doesn't exist. And if I'm lucky, I can run archlinux from SD card :P

What kind of workstation do you have? Linux hopefully, perhaps Ubuntu or Debian on an Intel or AMD desktop?

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

Currently I don't have a USB->UART interface that I can use with the Pogoplug (I only have one with 12V signal level) so I interface with it from a Linksys NSLU2 running Debian. Tomorrow I can bring a USB->UART that does 3V3 so I can connect the Pogoplug serial to my iMac which runs OSX, Windows and Linux Mint. I also have a QNAP NAS, WL500g and WL700g :P Plenty of options!

kk, no problem, no rush. In the mean time I'll write up directions in details and test drive them here... but first one thing...

I'm not sure whether or not you want to keep your Pogoplug original software intact. I've never done a restore to factory state on one of these PogoV4 boxes... I don't have a procedure for that. If you want to keep copies of your contents, you'll have to investigate how Scott does that in his scripts, and probably apply the commands manually.

Assuming that you want to go ahead and do this... we'll need the UART cable connected to your Pogoplug Mobile, and run Linux on your Desktop/iMac running Linux Mint.

Be aware: UART booting allows you to do a trial run of the U-Boot binary by loading to RAM via the serial/UART cable. It won't be a persistent binary in NAND. If you find that the UART binary works and has the capabilities you want, you can then flash the NAND version of that uboot.kwb into NAND. Keep in mind that putting stuff into NAND may scramble or even destroy previous contents (like original firmware).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Directions:

1. Go to NeutronScott's site and download&untar his picocom custom binary to your desktop. Also, have a formatted SD/MMC card in your Pogoplug Mobile's card slot. You will also want to have a network connection to your Pogoplug Mobile, if you decide to go ahead and flash U-Boot to NAND.


2. Copy the _untarred_ UART kwb into the picocom (he names it picocom-debug) directory. You may want to copy the filename (not the entire path, just the raw filename) to a text file for easy/quick access to it later.

Note: That UART booting will now work with a regular uboot.kwb; it must be a special prepared uboot.kwb file. Similarly, only a NAND uboot.kwb is suitable for flashing to NAND. The NAND variety is the most common type you see, for most users. If it isn't specified to be one type or another, I usually assume it is the NAND type. Never flash a UART uboot.kwb to NAND. It won't execute properly (ie. it won't boot).


3. Have your serial adapter/cable already hooked up to your Pogo/Kirkwood device. (not all Kirkwood implementations have the needed BootROM code in the Soc: GoFlex Net/Home, Pogoplug V4-A1/3, for example, do have the capablity ; Dockstar & Pogoplug V1/2 don't)

Make sure that your regular (the one you usually use) serial connection program (Minicom, picocom, etc) is working correctly before you start using this.


4. Quit out of your regular serial connection program, and start up NeutronScott's picocom (picocomUART).

cd ~/Desktop/picocom-debug/
./picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0

You should see output like this:

davygravy@bitbaker64:~/Desktop/picocom-debug$ ./picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0
picocom v1.6

port is        : /dev/ttyUSB0
flowcontrol    : none
baudrate is    : 115200
parity is      : none
databits are   : 8
escape is      : C-a
local echo is  : no
noinit is      : no
noreset is     : no
nolock is      : no
send_cmd is    : sz -vv
receive_cmd is : rz -vv
imap is        : 
omap is        : 
emap is        : crcrlf,delbs,

Terminal ready

5. Power cycle your Pogoplug Mobile and then watch for U-Boot output in the picocom window. Stop the boot process, since we aren't booting, just looking at U-Boot.

Depending on what version of U-Boot is already in NAND, you will see something at least remotely similar to this:

U-Boot 2011.12 (Apr 17 2012 - 15:59:06)
Cloud Engines-Pogoplug v4
SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6281_A1
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB

In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
Reset Ethernet PHY

Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
Pogov4>

If this looks good, now power the Pogoplug Mobile OFF. Keep the connector of the power supply handy and easy to get to quickly - in a moment you'll need to be quick with it.



6. You already have the untarred uboot.uart.kwb in the picocomUART directory. Now you will set the picocom into a 'broadcast-mode' so it can communicate with a connected Kirkwood SoC…

Press control-a control-e and you'll see this output/prompt for the filename:

...

Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
Pogov4> 
*** file to upload:

7. Is that power cord ready to plug into the back of the Pogoplug Mobile? You'll be doing that in just a moment.


8. Paste the filename ( eg. uboot.uartpogoMobile-MMC-mtdparts-NoUSB.kwb ) at the prompt, press ENTER and _quickly_ plug in the power supply.
A. If successful, you should see something like this (transfer takes about 2 minutes):

Pogov4> 
*** file to upload: uboot.uartpogoMobile-MMC-mtdparts-NoUSB.kwb
Sending DEBUG for about 5 seconds. Power on device NOW!
Waiting NAK... Press 'x' to escape.
sx -vv -b uboot.uartpogoMobile-MMC-mtdparts-NoUSB.kwb 
Sending uboot.uartpogoMobile-MMC-mtdparts-NoUSB.kwb, 4096 blocks: Give your local XMODEM receive command now.
Bytes Sent: 524288   BPS:6333                            

Transfer complete

*** exit status: 0
done.
  Kirkwood 88F6281_A1
DRAM:  128 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
Pogov4>

press any key to stop the boot process… go to Step 9.

B. If you are not successful, it will do nothing or and you'll have to press x to stop it. Repeat until successful.
(the first times I tried this I was successful only about 1 out of 6 times, but for some reason, it now seems to work about 3/4 of the times for me… it must be a timing thing).

repeat until you get success…



9. at this point, your Pogoplug is running U-Boot via UART-load, so you can interact w/ U-Boot and see if it can read an MMC/SD card in the slot. Run the mmc init command (and other such commands, if you wish):

Pogov4> mmc init
SDHC found. Card desciption is:
Manufacturer:       0x1c, OEM "SV"
Product name:       "SDC  ", revision 1.0
Serial number:      290
Manufacturing date: 4/2009
CRC:                0x00, b0 = 0
mmc1 is available
Pogov4> ext2ls mmc1 
ext2ls - list files in a directory (default /)

Usage:
ext2ls <interface> <dev[:part]> [directory]
    - list files from 'dev' on 'interface' in a 'directory'
Pogov4> ext2ls mmc mmc1 

** Invalid boot device, use `dev[:part]' **
Pogov4> ext2ls mmc1 0:1 
<DIR>       1024 .
<DIR>       1024 ..
<DIR>      12288 lost+found
          106927 config-3.2.0-2-kirkwood
         1183448 System.map-3.2.0-2-kirkwood
<SYM>         24 vmlinuz
<SYM>         27 initrd.img
         1574408 uImage
         1574344 vmlinuz-3.2.0-2-kirkwood
         7228493 uInitrd
         7228429 initrd.img-3.2.0-2-kirkwood

The above messages show that the MMC/SD card is recognized and readable.


10. if the UART uboot.kwb has the features and functions you want, then you can, if you want, flash the NAND version of that to NAND.
A. Download it and untar it, putting it in the tftp-server root directory, with all your other tftp-accessed files.


B. Check your network connection between your Pogoplug Mobile and your tftp-server.

Make sure you have serverip and ipaddr defined as normal in the U-Boot environment, for instance,

Pogov4> print ipaddr
ipaddr=192.168.1.15
Pogov4> print serverip
serverip=192.168.1.14

Have the ethernet cable plugged in, and issue a ping command to see if the server is visible:

Pogov4> ping $serverip
Using egiga0 device
host 192.168.1.14 is alive

...shows that the connection is viable.

C. Load it into RAM via TFTP and flash it into NAND like this (change the filename to whatever you loading in):

tftpboot 0x800000 uboot.nandpogoMobile-MMC-mtdparts-NoUSB.kwb

and it will respond w/ a count of the number of bytes:

Pogov4> tftpboot 0x800000 uboot.nandpogoMobile-MMC-mtdparts-NoUSB.kwb
Using egiga0 device
TFTP from server 192.168.11.149; our IP address is 192.168.11.150
Filename 'uboot.nandpogoMobile-MMC-mtdparts-NoUSB.kwb'.
Load address: 0x800000
Loading: ####################################
done
Bytes transferred = 524288 (80000 hex)

Once in RAM, you can flash it into NAND, using these two commands:

nand erase 0x0 0x80000
nand write.e 0x800000 0x0 0x80000

If you have an erase/block problem, read through Jeff's original u-boot thread to see how people got around that problem.

If the nand write went as planned, you should see something like this:

PogoV4> nand erase 0x0 0x80000
nand erase 0x0 0x80000

NAND erase: device 0 offset 0x0, size 0x80000
Erasing at 0x60000 -- 100% complete.
OK
PogoV4> nand write.e 0x800000 0x0 0x80000
nand write.e 0x800000 0x0 0x80000

NAND write: device 0 offset 0x0, size 0x80000
 524288 bytes written: OK

If you have the OK below and the number of bytes matches, it should be successful. Moment of truth... execute the reset command and wait for it to reboot into U-Boot.

NAND write: device 0 offset 0x0, size 0x80000
 524288 bytes written: OK
Pogov4> reset
resetting ...


U-Boot 2011.12 (Apr 21 2012 - 12:33:19)
Cloud Engines-Pogoplug Mobile:MMC version

SoC:   Kirkwood 88F6281_A1
DRAM:  128 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND:  128 MiB
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   egiga0
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0 
Pogov4> 
Pogov4> usb start
Unknown command 'usb' - try 'help'
Pogov4> mmc init
SDHC found. Card desciption is:
Manufacturer:       0x1c, OEM "SV"
Product name:       "SDC  ", revision 1.0
Serial number:      290
Manufacturing date: 4/2009
CRC:                0x00, b0 = 0
mmc1 is available
Pogov4>

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2012 12:50PM by davygravy.

Thanks for the elaborate description, I appreciate your help. I literally did all the steps that you mention, using the NSLU2 (including building the patched picocom). However, powering on the Pogoplug after initiating the upload from picocom, didn't trigger any action. I will try again from my iMac Linux setup with a USB->UART interface from work. I will let you know about the progress.

I'm guessing that the timing may be a bit different when initiated from an embedded device...

I added some more details in... and actually test-proof-ran it the whole way through... I hope it works for you.

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

Turns out that the UART connection was indeed the culprit. Now I'm using an FTDI 3V3. I tried nothing different than what I did last weekend, and uploading with picocom just worked. The good news is also that MMC and USB both work, so actually I'm running the image from your topic start :) I have some work left to do because I guess you run Debian, and I need to adjust the boot procedure for my Archlinux installation (at least the kernel loads successfully), but I will work on that after dinner. Thanks for your help, and I'll let you know when everything is running. I'm sure you can make people happy with this extension to uboot for the PP4 series :)

OK, all is working perfectly! Booting from SDHC and it's running great. Again, thank you for your work on this, and for your support.

Great to hear!

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

By the way, for people who would like to use this with Archlinux:

setenv alarm_mmc 'mmc init;ext2load mmc 0:1 0x800000 /uImage; setenv device /dev/mmcblk0p1; run alarm_args; bootm 0x800000'
setenv bootcmd run alarm_mmc
saveenv

It's what to enter at the uboot prompt after following the procedure described here: http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv5/pogoplug-series-4#qt-platform_tabs-ui-tabs2

Is there a guide that I can follow to go from a new PogoPlug Series 4 to booting Debian from SDHC?

Sorry for being a bit lost with all of this but I'm a newcomer to the PogoPlug world. I have some experience using u-boot for having owned a now retired LSPPC. I received precious help from davygravy and Mind Bender over at the NAS-Central LinkStation forums a few years ago. I hope to find good souls over here to answer the numerous questions I have.

I own a PogoPlug Mobile and would like to run Archlinux from SD-Card. I believe Exirion managed to do exactly what I want to accomplish but I'm still unsure on how to proceed. I followed instructions from here http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv5/pogoplug-series-4 but I stopped after step 10 right before flashing U-Boot. I wanted to make sure it is safe to proceed to step 11 although I only have a PogoPlug Mobile.

I believe that U-Boot provided on Archlinux tutorial doesn't support booting from SD-Card but do I need to flash it before flashing U-Boot from this thread?

Also, I have no clue on how to get to U-Boot prompt with the PogoPlug. I used to do it with netcat on my LinkStation but it probably isn't supported by the default U-Boot anyway. I don't have a serial/UART cable for the moment and my laptop doesn't have a serial port. What kind of cable do I need in this situation?

I saw a thread about the idea of creating a wiki. That would be very helpful because I find it a bit difficult to search for the information in the forums. Again, sorry for asking so many questions and thank you very much for helping me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2012 02:57PM by pancho22.

Hi Pancho22:

I'm leaving in just a few hours for a rather long trip and have several purchases to make before stores close... I will have to catch up w/ you in 3 weeks or so... on my way out right now and can't be late.

davy

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

davygravy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NAND-flash uboot.kwb file, for flashing to NAND

> Tested extensively on a Pogoplug Series 4. Works
> well for me, but use at your own risk.
>
> Don't use on a Pogoplug Mobile. It will
> require a slightly different setup.
>
> Will post full patch set in the coming weeks, and
> we'll eventually submit this for inclusion in the
> mainline U-Boot sources.
>
> Booting can now be done from USB2 and from MMC/SD
> cards. SATA might follow, but no
> guarantees. The SATA hardware on this board does
> not seem to conform to what we've seen on other
> Kirkwood boards, or there may be some sort of
> timing problem that we do not yet understand.
>
>
> -----------------------------

@Davy,

I tried to download this UBoot (http://ppl.ug/ylizdzowpnU/) NAND-flash uboot.kwb file but it seems the link is broken.

Has this been incorporated into your new UBoot that Jeff's script (http://projects.doozan.com/uboot/install_uboot_mtd0.sh
) now install? And you still don't recommend to use this on the Pogoplug Mobile?

Thanks!

Ooops, I'd accidentally turned off my Pogoplug. It's back up now, but I also moved copies to my Dropbox account... (see my sig)

As far as auto-installing them...no, they aren't incorporated in Jeff's installer.

They do work, but with the SATA not working like it should, I just couldn't see them as being ready. It _does_ work perfectly w/ the SD card, though!

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2012 01:04PM by davygravy.

Thanks Davy!

Hi Davy,

I've downloaded uboot.nandpogoV4-MMC-mtdparts-noSATA.kwb.tar.gz. Before flashing it to the Pogoplug V4 NAND, I want to make sure if I understood it correctly.

Can this be flashed from inside Pogo stock OS the same way described in Jeff's instruction in the old page? I'm wondering about flash erase 4 blocks, is that applicable here?

- downloading flash_erase and nandwrite to /tmp
- copy and extract uboot.nandpogoV4-MMC-mtdparts-noSATA.kwb to /tmp
- Write new uBoot to mtd0, Erase the first 512k:
/tmp/flash_erase /dev/mtd0 0 4
/tmp/nandwrite /dev/mtd0 /tmp/uboot.nandpogoV4-MMC-mtdparts-noSATA.kwb

Thanks,
bodhi

I think I'd flash it from within uboot only...

somewhere earlier in this thread I think that I have the output of when I flashed it...

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

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg