Clarification on New Uboot

Jeff,

So I read over your new Uboot process.

Is this summary correct?

'Updating the Plugbox uBoot on your Dockstar'

If I do this, I will still have to dual boot, but I can boot to any partition on USB drive?


OPTIONAL: Replacing the uBoot on /dev/mtd0

If I do this I can avoid chained boot?

Must reflash back to original uboot to get into Pogoplug linux.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2010 09:03AM by mattmc97.

1) Yes. The pogoplug uBoot on mtd0 will "cycle" between booting from the pogoplug install and the new bootloader. You can fix this by using blparam and configuring it to always boot to the new bootloader:

blparam "bootcmd=run bootcmd_usb"

and then it will never try to boot the internal pogoplug install -- not even if you have a problem with your plugbox or debian install...unless you have a serial cable.

2) Correct.

-- Jeff

Quote

1) Yes. The pogoplug uBoot on mtd0 will "cycle" between booting from the pogoplug install and the new bootloader. You can fix this by using blparam and configuring it to always boot to the new bootloader:

blparam "bootcmd=run bootcmd_usb"

So once this is done, it will always boot off USB?

What happens if the USB drive craps out?

Also, if you wanted to switch back to Pogoplug linux at a later time, is the another blparam command that could be issued to boot NAND?


Thanks!

If USB dies, you have to connect a serial cable to get into the original uBoot. Or, before it dies, you could configure the original uBoot to use netconsole (see other forum post).

To switch back to the "back and forth" booting, do:

blparam 'bootcmd=run bootcmd1'

To switch to 'always boot from NAND':

blparam 'bootcmd=run bootcmd_original'

-- Jeff

Great. Thanks for all the help.

You may be interested....

A couple of us dockstar owners have been working with the Plugpbx project to get asterisk and freepbx on the dockstar.


We have been sending everyone to use your guide, thanks from all of us.

Link to the forum over there is: forums.plugpbx.org

Of course all open source and free...

mattmc97 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1) Yes. The pogoplug uBoot on mtd0 will "cycle"
> between booting from the pogoplug install and the
> new bootloader. You can fix this by using blparam
> and configuring it to always boot to the new
> bootloader:
>
> blparam "bootcmd=run bootcmd_usb"
>
>
> So once this is done, it will always boot off
> USB?
>
> What happens if the USB drive craps out?
>
> Also, if you wanted to switch back to Pogoplug
> linux at a later time, is the another blparam
> command that could be issued to boot NAND?

Hi,

I use this:
bootcmd_save=run usb_init; if ext2load usb ${usb_device} 0x800000 /boot/uImage; then run set_bootargs_usb; bootm 0x800000; else run bootcmd_ubi; fi

When booting from usb fails, it runs the flash recovery kernel/filesystem.

bootargs_ubi=ubi.mtd=2 root=ubi0:rootfs rootfstype=ubifs
bootcmd_ubi=nand read.e 0x800000 0x100000 0x300000; setenv bootargs console=$console $mtdparts $bootargs_ubi; bootm 0x800000

mtd0: is u-boot
mtd1: is kernel
mtd2: is recovery root filesystem
mtd3: is unused

Johns

Johns,

I have a couple of questions about your setup:

Are you on a Dockstar?
What uBoot are you using?
Have you reflashed mtd1 or mtd2 with custom images?

I ask because the Pogoplug uBoot doesn't support the usb commands, and the new uBoot that I posted fails when reading the Pogoplug uImage from mtd1.

-- Jeff



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2010 02:13PM by Jeff.

> Are you on a Dockstar?

Yes, dockstar.

> What uBoot are you using?

I used your uboot on mdt0.

> Have you reflashed mtd1 or mtd2 with custom images?

yes.

I used the http://ahsoftware.de/dockstar/ kernel patch with 2.6.34.2 linux uImage for mtd1.
And a buildroot ubifs.img as recovery root filesystem for mtd2.

I boot into gentoo on usbstick.

Johns