Pogoplug Mobile with ArchLinux, MMC uBoot, and Rescue

I recently picked up the Pogoplug Mobile I had laying around that had ArchLinuxArm booting up via the MMC enable uboot from here:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,7477,7553

and the NAND rescue system here:

https://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8383

I followed the instructions here:

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

to upgrade to the newest version of Bodhi's uboot, and I got all of the expected output, but now I can no longer ssh into the box. The green light is steady on the front, though after the first reboot it was blinking red rapidly. What exactly did I screw up? I basically am trying to move to Debian (booting from the SD card) as it's more supported, and having some way to get into a rescue system would be nice in case the OS gets corrupted somehow. Thanks in advance for any input!

-Chris

P.S. - I still have a Pogoplug v4 that was setup the same way as the mobile, so that currently still works in case the Mobile is now a lost cause.

Chris,

That was because the difference in 2 u-boot versions. The kernel probably has not booted.

You did not say which rootfs you are running? if the rootfs was created to boot with davygravy u-boot then it is too old.

If you have serial console, then it is quite easy to fix this problem. But it sounds like you don't, so the best way to solve this:

- Post the entire session log when you install my new u-boot. Everything (commands executed and output).
- List your current rootfs content. Mount it on a different Linux box. Assuming it is mounted as /media/sdb1

e2label /dev/sdb1
cd /media/sdb1/boot
ls -larth *

And I'll help booting this rootfs again.

===

Another alternative is create a new rootfs using Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 following the instruction in this post:
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096

And boot with it. See how far you got.

-bodhi
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Hi Bodhi,

Thanks for the fast response! I've attached the contents of the boot directory. Unfortunately, I did not setup putty to log the session I was in when I performed the upgrade. However, I copied and pasted everything from your guide, and the output was almost exactly like you said. The only difference was this expected output:

Erase Total 4 Units
Performing Flash Erase of length 131072 at offset 0x60000 done

and

Erase Total 1 Units
Performing Flash Erase of length 131072 at offset 0xc0000 done

only had the second lines for each, and it was phrased slightly differently, but still in the affirmative

To answer your question, I don't know what the current rootfs was, but yes, it was created to boot with davygravy's u-boot. And no, I don't have a serial console either :-/

For the alternative path, I'm not sure how to follow those instructions if I'm not able to boot into that system. If I stick this SD card in the other pogoplug and follow those directions, will that mess up anything on that system? I.e. will that rescue system remain intact?

I apologize for my ignorance...I pick up linux every 5 or so years and manage to forget mostly everything... :-/

cdluck,

>
> Erase Total 4 Units
> Performing Flash Erase of length 131072 at offset
> 0x60000 done
>
> and
>
> Erase Total 1 Units
> Performing Flash Erase of length 131072 at offset
> 0xc0000 done
>


> only had the second lines for each, and it was
> phrased slightly differently, but still in the
> affirmative
>

OK then we can assume that u-boot was installed OK.


Did you complete step 8? This is very important to know,

Quote

8. Flashing default u-boot envs image (if you are upgrading from 2016.05-tld-1 u-boot, you can skip this step 8).

> To answer your question, I don't know what the
> current rootfs was, but yes, it was created to
> boot with davygravy's u-boot. And no, I don't
> have a serial console either :-/
>

OK.

> For the alternative path, I'm not sure how to
> follow those instructions if I'm not able to boot
> into that system.

Looking at your current rootfs, it is too messed up! So you should create new rootfs.

The new Debian rootfs can be created on any Linux system. If you have a Linux laptop, or Linux VM, it should be OK to create the USB or MMC rootfs on it. Just make sure that you are root user (not using sudo).

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2019 05:35AM by bodhi.

Hi Bodhi,

Yes, I completed step 8 (and 9 and 10, but not 11 because I wasn't sure how to use netconsole). Everything went through without error, so I'm thinking (hoping) it's just my old ArchLinux install that's just not compatible.

I'm loaded up on a Ubuntu Live USB, and I've opened up terminal, given the root account a password, then "su" to switch to the root account. I'm assuming that's good so far?

When I go to run through step 3 of the Debian rootfs guide:

cd /boot
apt-get remove flash-kernel 
dpkg -i linux-image-5.1.11-kirkwood-tld-2_2.0_armel.deb

How do I get it to target the SD card and not the live usb? I'm fine with wiping the SD card and starting from scratch as opposed to recovering anything from it. Thanks again for your help!

Nevermind, I just re-read what you wrote - use the 4.12.1 instructions! On it now!

cdluck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nevermind, I just re-read what you wrote - use the
> 4.12.1 instructions! On it now!

Right! The tarball is Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 that must be extracted to a drive that has a single and new Ext3 partition.

-bodhi
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Awesome, that worked! I'm now running Debian on my Pogoplug Mobile!

Follow up questions:

1) Is it still possible to install a rescue system? Will that affect U-Boot? I don't know the relation of what sits where in the flash memory of these devices. I'd like to run a rescue system because I'm not confident that the IP of the desktop or the pogoplug won't change, and I like being able to SSH right into the machine to change the install around.

2) What's the proper order to do things in order to repeat this on the Pogoplug v4? Same steps? Or is there any easier or smarter way to go about it?

Thanks again for your help! I just donated $5 to Doctors Without Borders in lieu of "buying you a beer" as your website specified :)

cdluck,

> 1) Is it still possible to install a rescue
> system? Will that affect U-Boot? I don't know
> the relation of what sits where in the flash
> memory of these devices. I'd like to run a rescue
> system because I'm not confident that the IP of
> the desktop or the pogoplug won't change, and I
> like being able to SSH right into the machine to
> change the install around.

My basic rootfs has avahi daemon running, so you can always find the host and log in with it

ssh root@debian.local

If you change the host name to something else such as cdluck then

ssh root@cdluck.local

Rescue system is also possible. I'll come back and respond to this question.

>
> 2) What's the proper order to do things in order
> to repeat this on the Pogoplug v4? Same steps?
> Or is there any easier or smarter way to go about
> it?

Same procedure.

>
> Thanks again for your help! I just donated $5 to
> Doctors Without Borders in lieu of "buying you a
> beer" as your website specified :)

Cool :) appreciate it.

-bodhi
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I tried going through these steps with the other pogoplug, but it didn't seem to work. The green light rapidly blinks for awhile, during which I'm able to ping it. Eventually I'm not able to ping anymore (while the light is still blinking green), then eventually the light starts rapidly blinking red. I tried running the windows version of nc and following the steps here:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,14

But I don't end up seeing anything in the command prompt after typing those commands. What should I do next?

cdluck,

> I tried going through these steps with the other
> pogoplug, but it didn't seem to work. The green
> light rapidly blinks for awhile, during which I'm
> able to ping it. Eventually I'm not able to ping
> anymore (while the light is still blinking green),
> then eventually the light starts rapidly blinking
> red.

It means the box booted with u-boot running OK. But the kernel files were not found by u-boot.

> I tried running the windows version of nc and
> following the steps here:
>
> https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,14
>
> But I don't end up seeing anything in the command
> prompt after typing those commands. What should I
> do next?

Not all nc version are the same. Especially the nc versions on Ubuntu and Windows behave differently from Debian nc.

Use the good Pogo Moible. Run nc on it as followed (if the tested Pogo Mobile IP was set to 192.168.0.100):

nc -lup 6666 192.168.0.100 6666

-bodhi
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Nothing seems to come up when I run that on the good Pogoplug. The non-working one is pulling a 192.168.1.237 IP, but when I had been setting it up, it was *.171. Should I go into my router and give it a fixed IP of 171?

cdluck,

Assuming your router is 192.168.1.1, and the non-working Pogo is 192.168.1.17, and your netconsole server (PC) is 192.168.1.10.

When you set the IPs on the non-working Pogo, they shhould have been like below. .

ipaddr=192.168.1.17
serverip=192.168.1.10

Now if you decide to use the working Pogo to run netconsole server then do this.

1. Temporarily set the PC IP address to 192.168.1.101 (something other than 192.168.1.10).
2. And then on the working Pogo, set it IP address to 192.168.1.10 (using a static IP).

cat /etc/network/interfaces

auto lo eth0
iface lo inet loopback
#iface eth0 inet dhcp
iface eth0 inet static
        address 192.168.1.10
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        gateway 192.168.1.1

Basically what you have set on the non-working Pogo you cannot change. So it will always communicate to a sever using the env serverip. And it always announes its IP using ipaddr.

========

If you have kept the log of what you did during u-boot installation and setting up netconsole, please post here so I can double check for you.

-bodhi
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For some reason, the MAC addresses on both Pogos were 00:00:11:22:33:44, so I think the router was having issues with them both being on the network at the same time. Is the way to change the MAC address just to use fw_setenv ethaddr?

> Is the way to change the MAC
> address just to use fw_setenv ethaddr?

Yes. Set the working Pogo to a random local address such as this, and reboot.

fw_setenv ethaddr 52:f7:7a:87:d1:87

-bodhi
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Well, I'm pretty sure I'm cursed. I changed the MAC address using fw_setenv, checked it with printenv (having checked it before I changed it as well). Now the original working Pogo blinks green for awhile, briefly changes to yellow\orange, then solid green, but no activity on the ethernet port, nor does the router seem to assign it an IP.

As for logs, I have none - I thought putty would've created them every time I opened a session, but apparently you need to turn it on for each session (or there's a settings file somewhere that's not being updated).

Chris,

Solid green meaning it was boot OK.

When you change the MAC address, I think you will need to wait a while for the router to clear the old one. Or you can log in to the router to clear it manually (remove the entry). And then power up the Pogo.

I usually set the static IP in all rootfs. And it seems to help a lot with any router.

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2019 11:52AM by bodhi.

I tried doing that, and also assigning a static IP at the router for the new MAC address, but that still didn't work. I then tried to set it up with a different router (just it, this laptop, and the router all connected), and still no joy. Looks it might be time to hardware hack it. Would this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MICRO-USB-to-UART-TTL-Module-6Pin-Serial-Converter-CP2102-STC-Replace-FT232-ST/172265410814

be good enough to create a serial port access via USB? I just need to connect the Ground, Rx, and Tx terminals, right?

Hi Chris,

> I tried doing that, and also assigning a static IP
> at the router for the new MAC address, but that
> still didn't work. I then tried to set it up with
> a different router (just it, this laptop, and the
> router all connected), and still no joy.

Sorry to hear, clearing the router entry should work but sometime there are unknown factors in your local network that I can't see or think of.

> Looks it
> might be time to hardware hack it. Would this:
>
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/MICRO-USB-to-UART-TTL-Module-6Pin-Serial-Converter-CP2102-STC-Replace-FT232-ST/172265410814
>
> be good enough to create a serial port access via
> USB? I just need to connect the Ground, Rx, and
> Tx terminals, right?

Yes, this Serial Module Converter is a good one. Connect only 3 pins, TX, RX, and GND. The power pin should never be connected (power will damage your Pogo serial port).

Post back if you have any doubt. The CP2xxx series in the past needs to keep TX to TX and RX to RX. The later CP2xxx converters in the market needs to swap the pins (TX to RX, RX to TX).

-bodhi
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bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, this Serial Module Converter is a good one.
> Connect only 3 pins, TX, RX, and GND. The power
> pin should never be connected (power will damage
> your Pogo serial port).
>
> Post back if you have any doubt. The CP2xxx series
> in the past needs to keep TX to TX and RX to RX.
> The later CP2xxx converters in the market needs to
> swap the pins (TX to RX, RX to TX).

How do I know if they need to be switched? Is there a way to connect it without soldering so I can test it?

> How do I know if they need to be switched? Is
> there a way to connect it without soldering so I
> can test it?

No need to know in advance about the CP2xxx conveter pins.

Pogo serial port has a predefined pintout. And you would try swapping the 2 connecting TX RX wires only

-bodhi
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Chris,

Back to this problem.

> Well, I'm pretty sure I'm cursed. I changed the
> MAC address using fw_setenv, checked it with
> printenv (having checked it before I changed it as
> well). Now the original working Pogo blinks green
> for awhile, briefly changes to yellow\orange, then
> solid green, but no activity on the ethernet port,
> nor does the router seem to assign it an IP.

As I mentioned above, the router will take some time to clear up the old MAC address and use the new MAC address. So without logging into the router to clear the entry manually, you could wait for 5 minutes and try to find the box again.

Each router takes some period to clear it automatically (they might be different from one to another). As an experiment, I changed the MAC address for one of my boxes and measured the time, it took more than 2 minutes to get me a network connection again.

So while you wait for serial console parts, you could boot up the good box and wait for a long period to see if you can find it.

-bodhi
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