A10 media pc - unable to boot

Hello,
I am trying to install debian or ubuntu on an sd for this A10 to run mpd on it.
It came without an sticker on it, but is this device
http://store.cloudsto.com/android-mini-pc-s/a10-media-pc-detail.html

I have read all the instruction more than one time.
Created the sd with
root@pcsita:~# sfdisk -d /dev/sdb
# partition table of /dev/sdb
unit: sectors

/dev/sdb1 : start= 2048, size= 131072, Id= c
/dev/sdb2 : start= 133120, size= 4194304, Id=83
/dev/sdb3 : start= 4327424, size= 1048576, Id=82
/dev/sdb4 : start= 0, size= 0, Id= 0

1) from u-boot.sun4i.mmc_boot.22072012.tar.bz2
should I use
script.bin or script.bin.tablet or script.bin.mele ?

2)This devices has an analog Video output currently connected to a tv set. Should I expect a console or anything on it?

3) I have configured the /etc/network/interfaces with details to associate to my AP. I also tried to add a wired network static ip, with no luck.

4) is there any serial port I can solder on this device? I think it would be of great help. Visual inspection of the PCB doesn't show pins or points for it.

5) it looks to me that it is booting, since when I remove the sd and put it on my laptop, I get a
[30811.978440] EXT4-fs (sdb2): recovery complete on the sdb2 device.
But I don't have a way to connect.

6) moreover the usb keyboard I connected lights up...

As you see I am a little lost, any help on how to get a console on it would be very helpfull.

Thanks
Sebastian

1) The uboot needed is dependant on the DRAM, since it initializes it. But without pictures I sure can't say it won't take that uboot.
2) Not likely. I am unawares of any frame buffer console pre-configured.
3) eh.. pass
4) Probably, need to see the innards though.
5) It opened the filesystem, but does that have logs in it?
6) Ok, so USB power is working. Does the numlock work?

Try flashing the rescue system to an empty SD card and then try booting with that. You may not see anything on the screen, but if it's able to boot, it will write some logs to the SD card and you may be able to access it though SSH.

Looks like your device has already been 'hacked' here. Hope this helps.

I am sorry, didn; t know a pic would be of help. I am attaching it.

5) I don't see any new log at /var/log/
I have files from Dec 31 2009 and Jul 24 2012.
Now that I think of it that Dec 31th looks suspicious, specially since this device has no battery.
Indeed, some log files were updated. Will check those logs.

6) USB power worked and keyboard caps lock too.

So, I think it did boot. Now, I need to find a way to access it :)
Should ethernet work right after boot? Because docs pointed to configure wireless, and there is always problems with it. Will try to see which ethernet device it configured and add an static ip to it.

Thanks a lot!
Sebastian

@Jeff, I still don't know where the recovery button is. Will check that.
@jas-hacks Thanks for that page! Will read on about it. However, the insight on the ssh hosts keys is a very good hint. Will check that.

Jeff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Try flashing the
> rescu
> e system to an empty SD card and then try
> booting with that. You may not see anything on
> the screen, but if it's able to boot, it will
> write some logs to the SD card and you may be able
> to access it though SSH.
Thanks Jeff, it looks it is booting since using tcpdump and a back to back serial cable I can see some traffic.
Unable to ping yet.

sjmuniz Wrote:
> Unable to ping yet.

Jeff, I found the log you were talking about.
Not sure why it doesn't asks for an ipv4 address. I see some traffic asking for ipv6.
My scenario is such that I can't see if the wpa wireless modem router assigns an IP to the device, so I am trying to use wired against my laptop.
In any case, I don't see the dhcp request comming though ethernet. Should it?
The image does't have any wired configuration file, so I asume it should ask for dhcp.
I have attached the deviceinfo.logfile found at the log directory after a test.

I ask again, is there a way to get a serial console on this thing?
It would be of the utmost help.

Thanks in advance,
Sebastian

sjmuniz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I ask again, is there a way to get a serial
> console on this thing?
> It would be of the utmost help.
>

If you look at the link I have areadly posted, there a picture of the pcb and if you blow it up its obivious where the serial port is (at the bottom). All you need to do is solder a connector to it :).

jas-hacks Wrote:

> If you look at the link I have areadly posted,
> there a picture of the pcb and if you blow it up
> its obivious where the serial port is (at the
> bottom). All you need to do is solder a connector
> to it :).

Thanks Jas-hacks, and sorry for the speedy post.
I have put a connector and cable to my laptop uart, and I see garbage.
It turns out it is a 3v uart, as the person on that post suggested after I had tested :P
Since I receive garbage, I am to asume the A10 Tx 3v -> 5v Lap
is failing, that takes me to need an active device to crank up the voltage.
I will need to put a buffer or an MAX232 in middle to access it. And things are getting messy.

I have tried with the rescue image, I notice it boots, but not asking for dhcp on the wired or wireless.
4:57 in Argentina, will go to bed and tomorrow we'll see.
Thanks for the help.

Sebastian

There was a glitch in the rescue image that broke dhcp. You can grab the 1.2.1 image, or make a quick edit by hand:
The first line of file /rescue/interfaces reads "onfigure networking" where it should read "# Configure networking"

Jeff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The first line of file /rescue/interfaces reads
> "onfigure networking" where it should read "#
> Configure networking"
Jeff, I had already noted that.
I think the problem is that at boot time the OS is not loading the correct modules.
So I started again from my first love, Debian, using debian.wheezy.armhf.rootfs.armv7l.tar.bz2
I created my SD again, and cleared all the old logs, and configured /etc/network/interfaces and some other things like remote rsyslog and verbose booting.

The thing is actually booting using the standard script.bin (no mele, no tablet), that is "solved".
To make a long story short, reading how to make my UART 3v <> 5V adaptop, I remembered I had a PL2303 someplace, and voila, I have a console.

Some things I note now that I can see it booting:
-inittab doesn't have serial console on it.
-for some reason I see that:
[...]
padapter->pwrctrlpriv.bSupportRemoteWakeup~~~[1]~~~
[ 10.250000]
[ 10.250000] padapter->pwrctrlpriv.bSupportRemoteWakeup~~~[1]~~~
rtw_macaddr_cfg MAC Address = 48:02:2a:9d:78:c1
[ 10.260000] rtw_macaddr_cfg MAC Address = 48:02:2a:9d:78:c1
MAC Address from pnetdev->dev_addr= 48:02:2a:9d:78:c1
[ 10.270000] MAC Address from pnetdev->dev_addr= 48:02:2a:9d:78:c1
bDriverStopped:1, bSurpriseRemoved:0, bup:0, hw_init_completed:0
[ 10.290000] bDriverStopped:1, bSurpriseRemoved:0, bup:0, hw_init_completed:0
<6>usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
[ 10.300000] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
<30>udevd[171]: renamed network interface wlan0 to wlan1
[ 10.350000] udevd[171]: renamed network interface wlan0 to wlan1

it looks like the mac address from when the filesystem was targzed is still there, and it put the iface as wlan1
at /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:da:72:44:5d:ee
1", ATTR{dev_id}=="0x0", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="wlan*", NAME="wlan0"

# USB device 0x:0x (rtl8192cu)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="48:02:2a:9d:78:cc
1", ATTR{dev_id}=="0x0", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="wlan*", NAME="wlan1"

-wired ethernet never appeared. I am checking differences on how android and how debian boots.

Thanks
Sebastian

Looks like
root@mpg:~# modprobe sun4i_wemac
<6>wemac Ethernet Driver, V1.00 in file:drivers/net/sun4i/sun4i_wemac.c
[ 446.290000] wemac Ethernet Driver, V1.00 in file:drivers/net/sun4i/sun4i_wemac.c
<3>can't get information emac_power gpio
[ 446.320000] can't get information emac_power gpio
<6>[EMAC] ahb clk enable
[ 446.350000] [EMAC] ahb clk enable
<6>[EMAC] ahb gate clk: 0x2615f
[ 446.350000] [EMAC] ahb gate clk: 0x2615f
<7>wemac wemac.0: PHY SETUP, reg 0 value: 3100
[ 446.410000] wemac wemac.0: PHY SETUP, reg 0 value: 3100
<4>emac MAC isn't valid!
[ 446.440000] emac MAC isn't valid!
<7>wemac wemac.0: resetting device
[ 446.440000] wemac wemac.0: resetting device
release temp resource
[ 446.530000] release temp resource

and if came up
root@mpg:~# ifconfig eth0
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 32:07:3b:b4:7a:8b
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:55 Base address:0x8000

root@mpg:~# ifup eth0
<7>wemac wemac.0: enabling eth0
[ 606.390000] wemac wemac.0: enabling eth0
<4>wemac wemac.0: WARNING: no IRQ resource flags set.
[ 606.410000] wemac wemac.0: WARNING: no IRQ resource flags set.
<7>wemac wemac.0: resetting device
[ 606.430000] wemac wemac.0: resetting device
<6>wemac wemac.0: eth0: link up, 100Mbps, full-duplex, lpa 0x45E1
[ 606.450000] wemac wemac.0: eth0: link up, 100Mbps, full-duplex, lpa 0x45E1

and it actually works!

root@mpg:~# netstat -rnv
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags MSS Window irtt Iface
192.168.123.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0

added
root@mpg:~# cat /etc/modprobe.d/eth.conf
options snd_hda_intel power_save=5
options sun4i_wemac mac_addr=cc:00:ff:ee:00:11

Hello,
I notice that there are some modules missing from the build I installed.
Specially those related to spdif, the optic fiber output.

For some reason on Android it boots as:
<6>[ 2.667063] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
<7>[ 2.673684] enter sun4i Audio codec!!!
<6>[ 2.678138] sun4i audio support initialized
<7>[ 2.682450] audiocodec_adap_awxx_init: script_parser_fetch err.
<7>[ 2.688581] sun4i Audio codec successfully loaded..
<7>[ 2.694441] soc_new_pcm,line:2112
<6>[ 2.697988] asoc: sndhdmi <-> sun4i-hdmiaudio.0 mapping ok
<6>[ 2.703843] ALSA device list:
<6>[ 2.706814] #0: sun4i-CODEC Audio Codec
<6>[ 2.710936] #1: sun4i-sndhdmi
And I see the following modules loaded:
130|root@android:/data/local # lsmod
cdc_subset 1549 0 - Live 0xbf0a5000
cdc_eem 2657 0 - Live 0xbf0a1000
cdc_ether 6681 0 - Live 0xbf09b000
sun4i_sndspdif 2601 0 - Live 0xbf097000
sndspdif 2871 1 - Live 0xbf093000
sun4i_spdma 4321 1 - Live 0xbf08e000
sun4i_spdif 6383 1 - Live 0xbf089000
gpio_sw 96389 0 - Live 0xbf06e000
rtl8150 8910 0 - Live 0xbf067000
mcs7830 6557 0 - Live 0xbf061000
qf9700 8513 0 - Live 0xbf05a000
asix 22500 0 - Live 0xbf04f000
usbnet 23745 6 cdc_subset,cdc_eem,cdc_ether,mcs7830,qf9700,asix, Live 0xbf043000
mali 130275 6 - Live 0xbf016000
ump 42162 11 mali, Live 0xbf005000
sun4i_ir 4344 0 - Live 0xbf000000


But on Debian:
[ 3.060000] enter sun4i Audio codec!!!
[ 3.070000] sun4i audio support initialized
[ 3.070000] audiocodec_adap_awxx_init: script_parser_fetch err.
[ 3.080000] sun4i Audio codec successfully loaded..
[ 3.090000] asoc: sndhdmi <-> sun4i-hdmiaudio.0 mapping ok
[ 3.100000] [SPDIF]sun4i-spdif cannot find any using configuration for controllers, return directly!
[ 3.120000] [SPDIF]sndspdif cannot find any using configuration for controllers, return directly!
[ 3.140000] [SPDIF]sun4i_sndspdif cannot find any using configuration for controllers, return directly!
[ 3.150000] [I2S]sun4i-i2s cannot find any using configuration for controllers, return directly!
[ 3.170000] [I2S]sndi2s cannot find any using configuration for controllers, return directly!
[ 3.190000] [I2S]sun4i_sndi2s cannot find any using configuration for controllers, return directly!
[ 3.200000] ALSA device list:
[ 3.210000] #0: sun4i-CODEC Audio Codec
[ 3.220000] #1: sun4i-sndhdmi

and I can't find any spdif related module. Maybe it is compiled static on the kernel.
I see on
http://download.doozan.com/a10/config-3.0.36+-1.a10linux.sun4i
it is compiled on the kernel. Do you know if this is an issue or how can I fix spdif output?

Thanks
Sebastian

Well, I have done some progress..
According to http://ibot.rikers.org/%23arm-netbook/20120716.html.gz it seems the script.fec was to blame.
I booted the original android OS, and retrieved the original script.bin
at Android:
mkdir /a
mount -ovfat /dev/manda /a
at /a you will see the script.bin
retreive it and copy to the fat partition on SD.
Now it says:
at Debian:
[ 4.570000] enter sun4i Audio codec!!!
[ 4.580000] sun4i audio support initialized
[ 4.590000] audiocodec_adap_awxx_init: script_parser_fetch err.
[ 4.600000] sun4i Audio codec successfully loaded..
[ 4.610000] asoc: sndhdmi <-> sun4i-hdmiaudio.0 mapping ok
[ 4.620000] asoc: sndspdif <-> sun4i-spdif.0 mapping ok
[ 4.630000] [I2S]sun4i-i2s cannot find any using configuration for controllers, return directly!
[ 4.640000] [I2S]sndi2s cannot find any using configuration for controllers, return directly!
[ 4.660000] [I2S]sun4i_sndi2s cannot find any using configuration for controllers, return directly!
[ 4.680000] ALSA device list:
[ 4.680000] #0: sun4i-CODEC Audio Codec
[ 4.690000] #1: sun4i-sndhdmi
[ 4.690000] #2: sun4i-sndspdif

and it does work. I now have 3 audi0 cards:
root@mpg:~# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: sun4icodec [sun4i-CODEC], device 0: M1 PCM [sun4i PCM]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: sun4isndhdmi [sun4i-sndhdmi], device 0: SUN4I-HDMIAUDIO sndhdmi-0 []
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: sun4isndspdif [sun4i-sndspdif], device 0: SUN4I-SPDIF sndspdif-0 []
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Setting mpd to output hw:2,1 is working great. It would be nice to have volume control though... I think I will check pulseaudio.

Attached is the original A10 media pc script.bin and the bin2fex extraction.
I needed it to make spdif work.

Thanks
Sebastian

Just for the record, I bought an external USB hard drive cage.
To make sure the serial console was handy I had left the serial cable attached to the frontal serial connector, and rolled if on it's side.
I was facing some errors in the form of:
[ 2737.940000] ehci_irq: port change detect
[ 2737.940000] hub 2-0:1.0: port 1 disabled by hub (EMI?), re-enabling...
[ 2737.960000] usb 2-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
[ 2738.300000] usb 2-1: new high speed USB device number 3 using sw-ehci
[ 2738.520000] usb 2-1: New USB device found, idVendor=174c, idProduct=5106
[ 2738.540000] usb 2-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=1
[ 2738.560000] usb 2-1: Product: AS2105
[ 2738.560000] usb 2-1: Manufacturer: ASMedia
[ 2738.570000] usb 2-1: SerialNumber: 5YD3FB96
[ 2738.600000] scsi1 : usb-storage 2-1:1.0
[ 2746.840000] scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access ST2000DL 003-9VT166 CC32 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[ 2746.890000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] 3907029168 512-byte logical blocks: (2.00 TB/1.81 TiB)
[ 2746.930000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[ 2746.960000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
[ 2746.990000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page present
[ 2747.010000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 2747.040000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page present
[ 2747.060000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 2750.200000] sdb: sdb1 sdb2
[ 2750.230000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page present
[ 2750.260000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 2750.280000] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk

I could not correlate to anything.
When I decided to actually read what it was telling, I read the part of
[ 2737.940000] hub 2-0:1.0: port 1 disabled by hub (EMI?), re-enabling...
and EMI sounded like Electro Magnetic Interference.
So, I unplugged the "noise antenna" that the serial cable on the front connector was creating :P
and everything has been working ok since.

Bottom line, witches don't exist, but electro magnetic noise does, specially on devices with no ground because they are connected to a switched power source.

Thanks
Sebastian