U-boot is now in extras-devel [Archive] - maemo.org

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amandalam

11-02-2010, 03:09 AM

ZogG

11-02-2010, 03:30 AM

interesting would nitdroid will use it too, or can we boot meego using multi-boot as we use in nitdroid

mikec

11-02-2010, 04:48 PM

Just installed, and succeeded to boot my Meego 1.1 of my micro sd class 10 card.

The wiki page is now up
http://wiki.meego.com/ARM/N900/Install/Dual_Boot

Mentalist Traceur

11-02-2010, 05:04 PM

I approve. I was hoping we could also flash to a UBoot attached to power kernel version, just to skip the stock kernel completely, but can't beat the convenience of something this simple. Plus, now that this has happened, you can probably stick Titan's kernel somewhere else, and boot into that when you want to - and then possibly figure out how to do that by default.

Is there any way to make uboot change default kernel to boot from? (If yes, but it's in some uboot documentation somewhere, and that documentation applies to this N900 port, feel free to just pont me to that. I don't mind learning on my own if I have any idea as to where to look.)

luketanti

11-02-2010, 05:19 PM

I wrote the image on the SD and installed uboot but after the time out it still loads to maemo. I think I get en error from sd. What can I do?

Stskeeps

11-02-2010, 05:21 PM

I approve. I was hoping we could also flash to a UBoot attached to power kernel version, just to skip the stock kernel completely, but can't beat the convenience of something this simple. Plus, now that this has happened, you can probably stick Titan's kernel somewhere else, and boot into that when you want to - and then possibly figure out how to do that by default.

Nothing stops you from making a uboot-powerkernel version, just follow the from-scratch u-boot instructions and upload the package..

asidana

11-02-2010, 05:28 PM

done it on windows. it was quite painless!
MeeGo boot took some time.
It is slow but i like it

Radicalz38

11-02-2010, 05:38 PM

@stskeeps

is it necessary to use the meego image from here
http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/meego-codedrop.php

or we can safely use the image located here
http://repo.meego.com/MeeGo/releases/1.1/handset/images/meego-handset-armv7l-n900/meego-handset-armv7l-n900-1.1-mmcblk0p.raw.bz2

as I can see from the filename the date of the image from codedrop is november 1 while on the meego repo its october 26... Just wanna ask if there's any difference since I already have the one from the meego repo. Thanks!

luketanti

11-02-2010, 05:42 PM

Stskeeps

11-02-2010, 05:52 PM

luketanti

11-02-2010, 05:55 PM

I tried the on from meego repo and it di not work. Now I am downloading the 1 november version and try that one. Will let you know if it worked.

The one one code drop worked. Yes I guess it is different.

Radicalz38

11-02-2010, 05:58 PM

Now that clears it... I guess I need to download a new one :)

Mentalist Traceur

11-02-2010, 06:37 PM

Well, that makes perfect sense. The whole point of the uboot instructions here: http://al.robotfuzz.com/~al/maemo/u-boot/ was that you needed to make another partition at the end of your card, with the Kernel image. If Stskeeps says the code drop one has a kernel included, it has a kernel included.

Stskeeps - I would be happy to do it (when the PR1.3 version of Power Kernel is out), but I honestly lack the knowledge of how. I can follow the instructions (though I suspect I'll have to go through a virtual machine to do it - I run Windows, which means I need to dig up the right tools to properly convert the images). My main concern was if there's anything possibly incompatible between uboot and the power kernel. But I assume not, so whatever. Anyway, if I can make it happen, I will when the time comes.

Psycho

11-02-2010, 06:59 PM

lol, so overclocked kernell wont work ??

Matan

11-02-2010, 07:40 PM

NvyUs

11-02-2010, 08:20 PM

any idea why i keep getting not enough space on disc everytime i try to write image?
tried with a 4GB and a 8GB card

anwar71839

11-02-2010, 08:31 PM

does power kernel work with this?

Matan

11-02-2010, 08:38 PM

Is there any way to make uboot change default kernel to boot from? (If yes, but it's in some uboot documentation somewhere, and that documentation applies to this N900 port, feel free to just pont me to that. I don't mind learning on my own if I have any idea as to where to look.)

It is not possible to configure the u-boot binary in the package, due to a small bug. You can use my u-boot binary, which is configurable by a boot.scr file in the (FAT) third partition of the SD card, or wait for the package maintainer to fix this bug and upload a new version.

lunat

11-02-2010, 08:44 PM

Just found out that stskeeps has uploaded U-boot to the extras-devel repository:

http://maemo.org/packages/view/uboot-pr13/

http://images.plurk.com/3411752_4f2265c1b6ac768acdbd3407e19c546e.jpg

A few days ago I've raw-written the MeeGo 1.1 (Release) Handset UX image to a micro SD card and I could boot into MeeGo by using the flasher -l -b -k command.

Just now I installed the U-boot successfully but it failed to boot into MeeGo. Soon I found out in this site (http://al.robotfuzz.com/~al/maemo/u-boot/) that we will need to create an extra FAT partition, convert the MeeGo kernel file to an uImage, and then put the uImage to the newly created FAT partition in order to make it boots.

Will it be possible that we can download the "ready-made" uImage from repo.meego.com like where we download the .raw images? I suggest this because the purpose of u-boot after all is to ease the process of testing MeeGo, and the additional steps mentioned are quite troublesome for those who would like to test the daily builds frequently and for those who are using Windows as their primary OS...

for the devs: uboot ext2 bug might not be solvable for every purpose but it is just two lines to make it work. the returncode in the read function is hardcoded to be allways 1 so it fails. without that you can have the kernel on the ext2/ext3.. meaning a bootmenu on the n900 + the kernels next to it -> no flashing anymore.

worked for me. but it might need examining why the long time avaible patch is not applyed. might have a reason(some failure). i didn't dig into it.

for the n900 it worked for me.

maybe it helps?
br

bzbnd

11-02-2010, 08:56 PM

can some one tell me how to remove u-boot . i tried apt-get install --reinstall kernel-flasher but u-boot didnt remove . plz help.

Mentalist Traceur

11-02-2010, 09:14 PM

bzbnd: Did you reboot? Did you get Tux (the Linux penguin logo) and UBoot screen after rebooting? I think the icon might remain in the app manager, for all I know. But if you're not getting the Tux penguin and uboot screen when loading, it means you removed it.

Lunat, I don't have the technical understanding to know for sure what you said, but sounds like it's a good thing.

Matan - do you know if Titan is still working on his own PR1.3 power kernel? I like the sound of yours, though, so I may well go to it for the time being. Quick question though. You may be aware of this post by MohammadAG: http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=855742&postcount=236 in this page http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=60567&page=24 in the Unlocked FM transmitter thread. Did you keep the changes Nokia implemented that Mohammad refers to? Or did you un-"fix" that back to the 1.2 kernel's way of doing it?

Either way, thank you so much for the work of combining PR1.3, Power Kernel, and UBoot. Even if I don't use your binary (though I probably will) I'm sure many others will find it useful.

- Edit -

Does this uboot method allow for more than two kernels/os's to boot (without swapping SD cards)? I'm guessing there must be a way built in to UBoot, but perhaps not easy to implement on the N900?

hawaii

11-02-2010, 09:35 PM

Matan built his own kernel because Tanner has to vanilla config it because more people use it - hence why it's taking longer.

uBoot allows you to load ANY compatible kernel from WHEREVER it's accessible. That is the whole entire point of getting uBoot running on the N900. Are you serious with these questions?

Mentalist Traceur

11-02-2010, 10:14 PM

Yes, I am. I have a limited knowledge of what uboot is, and I figured by asking here I would use my time more effectively (because the answers would be publicly visible to plenty of other people who lack understanding of this just like I do) than by looking up every little detail.

Plus, whatever I look up is PROBABLY going to be rather general UBoot documentation and less applicable to the N900 port, or at least for all I knew that was the case. I mean the way I'm reading the earlier posts, it seems like the MicroSD card needs to be formatted into a very specific partition arrangement (three different ones, I think, as I read it), only the last one of which contains the kernel. Since the command "run mmcboot" or "run noloboot" tells me nothing about the existence of other options, I figured it would be safer to ask. Yes, I knew that the big deal about uboot was that it was a good multibooting method that didn't involve reflashing the NAND for each OS switch - and I suspected that it was at least in principle applicable to however-many-kernels-you-can-fit-on-your-device. But no, that wasn't self apparent, not when I didn't see a single mention of using UBoot to put stuff on the internal memory, or frankly, anything else beyond a very formulaic way of putting it on an SD card (Yes, I get that formulaic instructions help people who don't know what they are doing - but when they are placed without comment, with the assumption that people who know better will know better and people who don't won't need to or will figure it out, it makes it indistinguishable from a suggestions that that's the only way to do it.)

Either way, thank you for answering.

- Edit -

Matan, are you sure the instructions give the right command "fiasco-flasher [parameters/arguments]"? My N900 only has a "flasher" command, and two "fiasco-[something]" commands that are obviously not the flasher.

To be sure, I checked some wiki pages, and I'm pretty confident the proper command is "flasher", not "fiasco-flasher".

- Edit 2 -

On that note, running "flasher -k my.u-boot.power41a -f" results in "Suitable USB device not found, waiting." Which leads me to be confused - wasn't the way the instructions were written suggesting that the commands are all run from the N900? (Presumably in the directory the image is stored in?) (And I tried running that but with "fiasco-" in front of flasher, but that just doesn't seem to exist as a command.)

lunat

11-02-2010, 11:30 PM

Lunat, I don't have the technical understanding to know for sure what you said, but sounds like it's a good thing.

what i said was that uboot is principaly able to read ext2. you don't need no extra vfat partition with that. it only has a tiny bug(two lines only the returncode of the read).
has it for at least four years and i remember something that it won't get fixed until somthing else is fixed(that something else is to be verifyed - if it is dangerous or unimportant or doesn't exist anymore or ...)

[ and i said i quickfixed the two lines without further examining and works fine for me. it might be worth it]

Mentalist Traceur

11-03-2010, 12:04 AM

Okay, in context of the above edits in my previous post, I just dug around, and I found this: http://maemo.org/packages/view/fiasco-flasher/

Is this the package I need to install to be able to run the "fiasco-flasher -k my.u-boot.power41a -f" command? If so, my apologies for thinking that I found some mistake in Matan's instructions. That's just my ignorance causing me to completely miss a part of what was necessary.

Also, Lunat, thanks for clarifying that. (Admittedly, when I said I didn't understand the technical nature of it, I meant at a more technical level than that - namely, I wasn't sure what about ext2 uboot didn't support. Does it mean until your fix it couldn't load kernels from an ext2 file system? Or just it couldn't be installed on an ext2 file system? Something else entirely? I'm guessing the former, but might as well ask to be sure.)

lunat

11-03-2010, 12:19 AM

Does it mean until your fix it couldn't load kernels from an ext2 file system? Or just it couldn't be installed on an ext2 file system? Something else entirely? I'm guessing the former, but might as well ask to be sure.)
it means it /does/ load them correctly in any case but when it has finished loading it says it didn't work out. even though it did.

Mentalist Traceur

11-03-2010, 12:48 AM

Alright, one last question to the public at large and then I'm shutting up - I might be the type to ask questions that seem obvious you you all, but I guarantee you I'm not the type to complain about having to reflash (those who pay attention might notice that the one time I got my N900 bootlooping, I made no whining "omg help me" thread - just reflashed according to the wiki and moved on). So, can someone please me what the address for the repository is with the fiasco-flasher? Because I see that it's in the "Maemo 5 device root filesystem (PR1.0)" - but I don't know what the actual repository url is with which you point apt-get at it. Or even wget/axel so I can dpkg -i it on the device.

Or is it some special package that you can't just install easily (easily meaning from the command line with reasonably typical installation proceedures), and if so, what special steps have to be taken (Yes, I looked through the wiki, yes I looked through the search results, and yes, I looked through the power search results)?

- Edit -

I just realized it IS possible that there's some glitch in my N900 - and everyone else just so happens to have "fiasco-flasher" as a command they can run as root on their N900s. If this is so, then by all means, tell me. I don't have it. I just have "fiasco-do-update" and "fiasco-image-update" as commands. If either of those can actually be used instead, then the '-h' and '--help' options didn't indicate this for me. But if someone more experienced recommends this, I'd be happy to try.

sting04

11-03-2010, 06:13 AM

http://images.plurk.com/3411752_4f2265c1b6ac768acdbd3407e19c546e.jpg

Completely off topic but which theme is that? It looks nice.

lma

11-03-2010, 06:19 AM

Ooh, shiny (http://al.robotfuzz.com/~al/maemo/u-boot/rx34/)! Need to find some time to try this out.

planetf1

11-03-2010, 06:38 AM

I have the same problem as @bzbnd -- decided meego isn't for me right now (despite being a developer), so was planning to go back to maemo/multiboot/nitdroid

- Had clean PR 1.3 with apps
- installed uboot
- wrote meego to flash
- was able to boot meego (default) or maemo (run noloboot)
- went to remove uboot as per http://wiki.meego.com/ARM/N900/Install/Dual_Boot by running " apt-get install --reinstall kernel-flasher"
- made no difference
- removed sd card
- now boots maemo fine

So I'd like to try nitdroid again, but worried about my current boot config.
is there any easy way to fully remove uboot?
I didn't bring myself to run "apt-get remove uboot" (yet)
is it safe to install nitdroid/multiboot
I do have a full backup of course, just easier not to mess up.

Mentalist Traceur

11-03-2010, 08:35 AM

Sting04 - that's the Marina theme. I use that too, actually (though I eventually modified some parts, even without the modifications it was my favorite theme available on the N900).

- Edit -

(Suppresses dickish remark) I did it. Instead of trying to figure out where the hell I could conceivably download fiasco-flasher (it's not on my device, I tried entering the repository source line in my sources.list, hildon-app-manager.list and fapman's own sources list - the one which you need to get your own token number combination to get access to it), I just ended up figuring out how to force "flasher" to work for my purposes. Namely, I launched softupd (with options -s and --local - also -vv, but that's just increasing verbosity, as I understand it), inside one xterm, then ran flasher with --local and -f -k [path to and name of kernel file provided by Matan].

So, in short,softupd -vv -s --localthen leave that alone, open another terminal, and flasher --local -f -k {path to kernel file}. Both need to be run as root. Oh, and then sync afterwords. For reference purposes, I also stumbled upon the same instructions here: http://wiki.maemo.org/Overclocking#Flashing_from_N900_xterminal I was vaduelly aware of this before, but didn't know it would necessarily be compatible with the file Matan provided, since I wasn't sure what the differences between fiasco-flasher and flasher were. uname -a (and uboot during startup) reported power41 as the kernel, which is what Matan called his power40 + PR1.3.

Great success. (Though I'd still like to get my hands on "fiasco-flasher". Seems like it would be a bit faster to use.)

At any rate, thanks again to Matan for making this.

Radicalz38

11-03-2010, 10:24 AM

BTW what's in power40 + PR1.3?
is it a personal modification/combination of titan's power kernel and patch fixes of the original pr1.3 kernel? Anybody here can enlighten me? Cause I won't boot meego without the enhanced kernel nor the patches for the pr1.3 kernel. It's pretty traumatic going back to pr1.2 kernel lol! :p

dannydj

11-03-2010, 10:38 AM

If you want overclock possible kernel with u-boot, you can try my experimental power40+PR1.3 kernel.

Installation instructions and the necessary files are here:

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/u-boot/

i do it.. it works very well. cant see any bugs or whatever. Good work!!!!!

but i dont know how to do this:

"If you wish to boot by default into maemo even when the microsd card is inserted, create a file called boot.scr in the fat partition on the card that also contains uImage. This file should include:

setenv atags ${nolo_atagaddr}
bootm ${nolo_kernaddr}"

sd card is not accessible from the N900 neither from the pc (it say need to be formatted) .. how can i add this file?

thanks..

Mentalist Traceur

11-03-2010, 10:58 AM

xopher

11-03-2010, 11:42 AM

How would you apply 1.3 patches to an exsisting kernel?

I'd like to do this with the current neopwn kernel. Thank you for any and all assistance. (most likely requires source, which I do not have)

What flasher command would be used to temporarily flash a kernel candidate locally for testing? Would the flasher line in Mentalist Traceur's outline change to this:

flasher --local -F <kernel-image> --flash-only=kernel -f -R

Mentalist Traceur

11-03-2010, 01:17 PM

Erebo

11-03-2010, 02:10 PM

I need help, ? already done this:

bunzip2 modules41.tar.bz2
tar xf modules41.tar -C /

but when I try : fiasco-flasher -k my.u-boot.power41a -f

it says fiasco-flasher not found

Mentalist Traceur

11-03-2010, 02:29 PM

Erebo read above. (for instance, my long post a couple before this one, where I both write out the exact instructions to the next step, AND link to the wiki that has the same instructions.)

I still don't know how to get "fiasco-flasher" because I don't know what the repository to download it is - at least the proper format of adding that repository to the apt-get sources. BUT I DID post how to use flasher instead of fiasco-flasher to do the same thing. On this very page no less.

xopher

11-03-2010, 02:42 PM

For temporary, I would use "-l" (as in lower-case L) instead of "-f". Don't trust me too much, but flasher takes the same options as the flasher on the computer, so -f would be flash (as in actually write the data to flash chip) and -l would be load (as in load kernel into memory). You can always also type "flasher -h" and "flasher --help" for some basic info on the options.

flasher --local -k <kernel-file> -l -b

seems to be the command for a test run

EDIT: no go, get a message saying that mode is not supported by this method. You either flash or don't that way I guess....oh well. My test was bad, it still ubooted couldn't load my kernel and proceeded to run Meego so I flashed Matan's power via the PC flasher and it was running again.

marginoferror

11-03-2010, 04:41 PM

Hi I'm new to linux (ubuntu 10.10) and n900 and i have a problem with booting meego. Tried already the release from 26 october and the newer one. Every time when I boot from mmc i get some info like:
cannot load file "boot.scr", partition 3 is not valid, then automatically starts to boot maemo. Thanks in advance for help : )

dannydj

11-03-2010, 05:15 PM

dannydj: Did you just have the "fiasco-flasher" command on your device without doing anything (because as I complained in my earlier posts, it's not anywhere to be found on mine)?

no i dont have it. i flashed via pc and flasher-3.5 using same command..

lunat

11-03-2010, 05:17 PM

@Mentalist Traceur;
i do it with the flasher. but iam curious:
the sync: does it work with the nand? or do you sync for something else i am missing. [to be clear: with flashing i assume the stuff is written to the nand and i think thats what the flasher is for. and sync actually does the same thing(force writing to medium in general not nand). see my questionmarks? ]

besides: i see you flash. and i wonder does the tool somehow ensure the flashed kernel is used? i am used to either have to kexec or reboot for a kernelupdate to be complete. how does it work without that(technically) or am i missing something?.

Mentalist Traceur

11-03-2010, 05:41 PM

I honestly have no idea what the "sync" command does. The way I understand it (amounts to what the wiki told me) it saves the changes after you've ran "flasher --local -f -k [kernel image]".

I suspect the "softupd -s --local" also has something to do with it, but I don't know what exactly it does... Unless it just prints what's going on to stdout...

Anyway, I have no idea how it works or what it works with. You just run "sync" with no options according to the instructions I followed. It's possible the first "flasher" command doesn't actually permanently flash it, or there's some watchdog that will reset it if the sync command isn't ran... *Shrug* Out of my area of expertise.

Radicalz38

11-03-2010, 05:46 PM

Radicalz, you can probably look at the source - it will tell you more than I can. But to my understanding that's exactly what it is. Matan just took power kernel, added the PR1.3 patches, and attached uboot.

dannydj: Did you just have the "fiasco-flasher" command on your device without doing anything (because as I complained in my earlier posts, it's not anywhere to be found on mine)?

can matan confirm this please? :) will surely use the kernel if it really has all the custom modules of titan's kernel + pr 1.3 kernel patches. :D

sorry I maybe a programmer but I don't know a thing about kernel coding :p

lunat

11-03-2010, 06:00 PM

I honestly have no idea what the "sync" command does.
in general this is simple: if you save something linux doesn't write it to disk imidiately but keeps it in memory and writes it later to disk(if mounted async) . sync writes all the stuff that is in memory to disk.

the special case flashing would be interessting.

Mentalist Traceur

11-03-2010, 06:12 PM

Radicalz: One, there's this, where he says " experimental power40+PR1.3 kernel" - http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=861548&postcount=15 <- in this very thread. And then there's this - where he says (first line): "The files here include source and binary for using kernel-power40 + PR1.3 patches + u-boot on N900." - http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/u-boot/

Both of those written by Matan, so it's as much a confirmation as can be, probably, unless he reposts.

Lunat, thanks for educating me on the sync thing.

Also: I see Matan edited his instructions to cover the Flasher method instead of Fiasco-Flasher method. :) Love it when people are responsible and responsive like that.

lunat

11-03-2010, 06:18 PM

ok, back to the simple things.
as i understand it you can't get automaticly rid of it and replace it with a normal kernel. you have to do it manually. thats easy to workaround.

but whats with the pakage otherwise. does it need R&D or does it handle the whatchdogs? does it always detect the disk or does it sometimes fail? does it work with any kernel installed on the system or do need to have a special kernel installed(without patching it up)?
any clitches with nolo?

[it is devel and bugs in devel is nothing to complain about i only want to know what works and what doesn't...]

Mentalist Traceur

11-03-2010, 09:14 PM

Funny enough lunat, I was just PM'ing Matan about an hour ago, and I found out that the sync command isn't actually necessary, because according to him:

sync is only relevant if you use the Linux block system, which flasher (actually, softupd) does not use. Anyway, you are supposed to reboot the system normally, not by taking out the battery. The Linux kernel, obviously, does not exit without completely flushing all buffers to the relevant devices.
In short, assuming you shutdown/reboot normally, the kernel will do the sync anyway - the sync only helps if for some reason the battery is yanked after you flash.

lunat

11-03-2010, 09:34 PM

..
so no magic in that. one can't sync often enough!

so simplified its like this:

a) reinstall the maemo kernel(to inform the system it will be there again)
b) now the system thinks it is installed but it isn't so you flash the kernel. with something like flasher --local -f -k kernelwhereever_it_is
c) that flashes the kernel to the nand so everything is fine and you reboot to actually run it with your new(old) kernel.

that would be roughly the same i do, only that i use the flasher on the pc.
thanks a lot!

xopher

11-04-2010, 12:32 AM

Couple quick questions. Does 0:3 have to be a fat partition? How might one make a boot.scr to point to first partition of mmc? Does the uboot also support boot.txt like the Pandora?

edit:

OK....to make a boot.scr you create a file and place your arguments inside it. For my example I use boot.cmd Inside that file I attempt to direct uboot to partition 3 on the SD card for uImage then to SD card partition 1 with filesystem ext2 rootfs.

This is the command will build your custom boot.scr

mkimage -A arm -O linux -T script -C none -a 0 -e 0 -n "Boot From SD" -d ./boot.cmd ./boot.scr

I keep failing with my arguments. Can anyone provide a snippet or a source where I can read about the arguments, the format of the file etc? I'm only finding copypasta examples and that doesn't help one understand what they're trying to change until it works properly. :(

Radicalz38

11-04-2010, 04:08 PM

Last question here... Is there anyway I could modify uboot to boot maemo by default instead of meego? Want to use meego but for development purposes only. Would still use maemo for my everyday living with my n900. :p

Mentalist Traceur

11-04-2010, 04:42 PM

The uboot + power kernel + PR1.3 patches in page 2 of this thread can be configured to load Maemo by default. You just have to change the file. The instructions (in general terms) are on the same page as where you get the files to install that UBoot + Power kernel + PR1.3 patches kernel.

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/u-boot/

I do not think that the uboot in extras devel currently does this though...

Radicalz38

11-04-2010, 05:16 PM

Radicalz38

11-04-2010, 05:20 PM

Ok sorry but this is truely the last one...
Since it includes kernel power does that mean it includes also these?
The custom kernel contains additional modules for IPv6, packet filtering, QoS, NAT, tunneling, kernel configuration, Wifi mesh networking, builtin ext3 for booting from other media, ext4, XFS, reiserfs, NTFS read support, ISO9660, UDF, CIFS, automounter, squashfs, unionfs, device mapper and dm-loop, cryptography, cryptoloop, EFI partitions, UTF8 codepages, mouse+joystick input, PPP, PPTP, serial support, USB/IP and generic USB device drivers, battery info, overclocking and kexec support.

Mentalist Traceur

11-04-2010, 06:23 PM

It's probably best to ask Matan, but based on what I can tell, yes. My network (I'm at a university right now) doesn't do IPv6 yet, so I can't confirm from here. And I don't use most of those. But near as I can tell, that's basically it. It seems like Matan just took Power Kernel (the one that is currently in extras devel - power40) and applied the PR1.3 patches to it.

Radicalz38

11-04-2010, 07:59 PM

ok thanks! Since i need the bat monitor module from that kernel.

Mentalist Traceur

11-04-2010, 09:03 PM

Oh, the battery monitor module works, that's for sure. (I use it for Conky, to get battery temperature and such.) If that's the only one you're worried about being in there, I can confirm first-hand it's in there.

amandalam

11-04-2010, 09:27 PM

Completely off topic but which theme is that? It looks nice.

This is the Marina theme: http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/hildon-theme-marina

Radicalz38

11-05-2010, 02:54 AM

hello... Hmmm seems like i can't get it to work on the flasher part...
Whenever i softupd -s --local i get a prompt saying version 0.4.4 started.
Then i type flasher --local -k my.u-boot.power41a -f nothing happens. I tried rebooting after but nothing changed.

Radicalz38

11-05-2010, 03:16 AM

ok managed to get it working now. Matan's instruction didn't said i should open new xterm. But problem now is im stuck at uboot. I get to the part where it says kernel OK.. Then just wait for a few seconds and the device shuts down completely. Any ideas why?

nerfiaux

11-05-2010, 04:31 AM

Hello I have uboot command questions :

1- is there a command to extend uboot timer ?

2- is there a way to copy files for mmc (µSD) to Nand rootfs ?
(like /media/mmc1/lib/* to /lib/ )

3- is there a command in uboot to put the N900 into fllash mode ?
like a watchdog reset with flash mode parameter (dfu mode)?

BR,

Nerfiaux

planetf1

11-05-2010, 11:30 AM

still unsure how to remove uboot (pg 1) ? other than reinstgall kerkenl, what else is needed?

lma

11-05-2010, 05:04 PM

Ooh, shiny (http://al.robotfuzz.com/~al/maemo/u-boot/rx34/)! Need to find some time to try this out.

Update: it seems to "work" as far as seeing this (http://al.robotfuzz.com/~al/maemo/u-boot/20100919_001.jpg) on both N800 & N810, with two minor drawbacks: keyboard input is not recognised, and when the 30" timeout kicks in the device simply powers off instead of booting the bundled kernel. Any suggestions welcome.

Oh, and just to prevent anyone else from wasting their time unnecessarily: DO NOT use gcc 4.4 for this, it won't even leave the NOLO screen. I'm getting the above with a 4.3 build.

xopher

11-05-2010, 06:05 PM

I've been sucessful in booting another kernel with boot.scr and another uImage.I want to know how to override the hardcoding of rootfs and rootfstype to ubi0 and mmcblk1p1. Here is what I have slepped together so far in boot.cmd for boot.scr generation.
setenv atags
fatload mmc 1:3 0x80008000 uImage
bootm 0x80008000
setenv bootargs
root=/dev/mmcblk1p1
rootfstype=ext2 ro
boot

exactly like that. Kernel loads then reboots. Any suggestions?

lunat

11-05-2010, 06:28 PM

no atags!
instead:
setenv bootargs root=...

I've been sucessful in booting another kernel with boot.scr and another uImage.I want to know how to override the hardcoding of rootfs and rootfstype to ubi0 and mmcblk1p1. Here is what I have slepped together so far in boot.cmd for boot.scr generation.
setenv atags
fatload mmc 1:3 0x80008000 uImage
bootm 0x80008000
setenv bootargs
root=/dev/mmcblk1p1
rootfstype=ext2 ro
boot

exactly like that. Kernel loads then reboots. Any suggestions?

xopher

11-05-2010, 06:32 PM

Are you saying I need to prefix both lines with that?

lunat

11-05-2010, 06:36 PM

Are you saying I need to prefix both lines with that?
no i say that atags is what comes from nolo and is the env for maemo. you don't want that but your own.

setenv bootargs

does excactly that. but as you see there are no args behind the bootargs so you have to add whatever you need.

eg.
setenv bootargs root=/dev/mmc1p1

another note a reboot could also occur because of the watchdogs.

xopher

11-05-2010, 06:47 PM

Reboot seems to occur be cause the kernel cannot find the modules. I've seen that behvior without uboot. Like a reboot loop.

lunat

11-05-2010, 06:51 PM

Reboot seems to occur be cause the kernel cannot find the modules. I've seen that behvior without uboot. Like a reboot loop.

then you need an initrd with the modules or the relevant parts static in the kernel. works just the same.

Matan

11-05-2010, 06:53 PM

I think that bootm boots the kernel, so nothing after that is actually executed.

When you say "Kernel loads then reboots", do you mean that you don't see any kernel messages before it reboots?

Matan

11-05-2010, 06:58 PM

A few new items at http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/u-boot/ :

u-boot with (intermittent) support for internal mmc. It works reliably once after I boot maemo, but if I do something in u-boot until the watchdog powers off, and then turn on the N900 with the power key, the internal mmc card is not found. This should allow for dual booting meego without an SD card.

btrfs.ko - this module allows maemo to access meego filesystem. It might have some bugs from my "porting" it to 2.6.28. Almost certainly leaking something on umount at the very least.

lunat

11-05-2010, 06:59 PM

example:

ext2load mmc 1:1 ${loadaddr} uImage
ext2load mmc 1:1 ${rdaddr} initrd
setenv bootargs root=/dev/mmcblk1p1
bootm ${loadaddr} ${rdaddr}

EDIT:
to avoid confusion. this is an example. you will have to use the partition you put the kernel and initrd. 1:1 would be the first partition on the external sd. further you have to use fatload instead of ext2load if you partition is a fat partition. initrd needs to be prepared with mkimage like the kernel.
EDIT2:
same holds true for the "root=" param. the devicenodes may be swapped so mmcblk1 in maemo would be mmcblk0 for the argument.

xopher

11-05-2010, 08:02 PM

I think that bootm boots the kernel, so nothing after that is actually executed.

When you say "Kernel loads then reboots", do you mean that you don't see any kernel messages before it reboots?

That's correct. No more messages to the frame buffer. It act like flashing a kernel wo corresponding modules. If you interrupt and type run mmcboot it says invalid checksum. I'm guessing that is coded for the meego kernel? I think it is not finding a rootfs mount?

lunat

11-05-2010, 08:14 PM

That's correct. No more messages to the frame buffer. It act like flashing a kernel wo corresponding modules. If you interrupt and type run mmcboot it says invalid checksum. I'm guessing that is coded for the meego kernel? I think it is not finding a rootfs mount?
for you mention it.
another hint /if everything else is ok/ i repeat /if everything else is ok/
and you don't see messages despite enabled fb: the framebuffer needs memory so you have to either compile that amount of memory into the kernel or give it as an argument.

Mentalist Traceur

11-05-2010, 09:14 PM

Okay, I have to ask, because now I'm confused:

What's the musb? Is that the patch that makes the kernel capable of interacting with the MeeGo filesystem? But if so, it wouldn't be differently named than the separate file for the same module, would it?

Just because if I am upgrading, I might as well know what the difference between the two is.

(Also, those of us who already flashed the original power41a kernel, do we need to redownload and unpack all the modules when flashing kernel? Or will it be fine?)

And, last question: If I already overwrote the system fmtx-status-menu-applet.so (or whatever it's called - I installed qwerty12's FMTX applet that doesn't hide and can switch radio on-off with longpress), and copied in a custom fmtxd (mostly the commonly available one, but I made a single change towards making it work mid-phone-call), installed fmtx-faker, and modified the /etc/init.d/rcS file - will any of those be overwritten if I use either

flasher --local -k [power41 whatever] -f
or
fiasco-flasher -k [power41 whatever] -f (<--- Yeah, I eventually figured out how to get it on my N900. Either extract it from the original PR1.0 firmware image, or PM someone to unofficially give you the binary. ;) )

I'm guessing the answer is the same for both, but I felt it safer to list both in case they differ in how exactly they flash the kernel.

- Edit -

Is the fmtx-si4713.ko in your repository the same as the one MohammadAG posted in the FMTX Limitation Removing thread?

ahynes1

11-05-2010, 11:12 PM

Okay. This looks very cool and I've tried a few things but still seem to be missing something.

First, I've followed the instructions from Matan (more or less) to use his kernel.

Things I am doing differently:

First, before I load it permanently, I want to try and get things a little more configured the way I want, so I'm flashing from my Linux box:

sudo flasher-3.5 -k my.u-boot.power41d -l -b

My N900 starts uBoot and if I interrupt it and do a run noloboot I get taken to my regular boot process (which runs Multiboot giving me the choice between Maemo and NitDroid)

However, I have 16G SD card. I have Nitdroid at mmcblk1p7 and MeeGo at mmcblk1p5. (See MeeGo Bug 5136 for a discussion of how I did this).

With that, I've been trying to find ways to get bootargs environment to pass, e.g. root=/dev/mmcblk0p5.

I've installed my uImage in the first partition of my external mmc card. Then I try
mmc init
fat2load mmc 1:1 ${loadaddr} uImage
setenv bootargs root=/dev/mmcblk0p5
bootm ${loadaddr}

This through the startup, but it gags on the filesystem with essentially the same errors as I described in comment 9 on MeeGo bug 5136.
complaining about mmcblk0p5.

Anyone have any ideas?

lunat

11-05-2010, 11:33 PM

yep. actually three ideas.

1. mmc support is not in the kernel. so it cannot mount the rootfilesystem. and it cannot access the modules on the rootfilesystem at that time for it is not mounted. in that case you need like i mentioned earlier either a different kernel with the mmc support compiled in or an initrd with the drivers.

2. i had the same issue still occuring with mmc support fix compiled into the kernel. funny enough it worked with an empty initrd(no modules). i didn't dig further into it. would be interesting what happenes there. but a initrd made it work(no solution but a workaround.)

3. the root command line is wrong. like i said before the numbering of the disks is not consitent. uboot numbering is independent from maemos and that again from other kernels.

Okay. This looks very cool and I've tried a few things but still seem to be missing something.

First, I've followed the instructions from Matan (more or less) to use his kernel.

Things I am doing differently:

First, before I load it permanently, I want to try and get things a little more configured the way I want, so I'm flashing from my Linux box:

sudo flasher-3.5 -k my.u-boot.power41d -l -b

My N900 starts uBoot and if I interrupt it and do a run noloboot I get taken to my regular boot process (which runs Multiboot giving me the choice between Maemo and NitDroid)

However, I have 16G SD card. I have Nitdroid at mmcblk1p7 and MeeGo at mmcblk1p5. (See MeeGo Bug 5136 for a discussion of how I did this).

With that, I've been trying to find ways to get bootargs environment to pass, e.g. root=/dev/mmcblk0p5.

I've installed my uImage in the first partition of my external mmc card. Then I try
mmc init
fat2load mmc 1:1 ${loadaddr} uImage
setenv bootargs root=/dev/mmcblk0p5
bootm ${loadaddr}

This through the startup, but it gags on the filesystem with essentially the same errors as I described in comment 9 on MeeGo bug 5136.
complaining about mmcblk0p5.

Anyone have any ideas?

nicola.mfb

11-05-2010, 11:38 PM

sudo flasher-3.5 -k my.u-boot.power41d -l -b

My N900 starts uBoot and if I interrupt it and do a run noloboot I get taken to my regular boot process (which runs Multiboot giving me the choice between Maemo and NitDroid)

If you switch the OS with multiboot you'll reflash the kernel and lose u-boot. There are other issue too such continuous reflashing and support only for Linux OS and kernels able to mount the nand rootfs and exec /sbin/preinit or you'll 'brick' your device and will need a kernel reflashing.
IMO nitdroid team should seriously consider to support u-boot with their kernel.

About your issue, I had the same experience fixed with a "rootwait".

lunat

11-05-2010, 11:49 PM

If you switch the OS with multiboot you'll reflash the kernel and lose u-boot. There are other issue too such continuous reflashing and support only for Linux OS and kernels able to mount the nand rootfs and exec /sbin/preinit or you'll 'brick' your device and will need a kernel reflashing.
IMO nitdroid team should seriously consider to support u-boot with their kernel.

About your issue, I had the same experience fixed with a "rootwait".
yes could be a race and the initrd i had could have provided the additional time needed. would match my observation.

Matan

11-06-2010, 07:19 AM

What's the musb? Is that the patch that makes the kernel capable of interacting with the MeeGo filesystem? But if so, it wouldn't be differently named than the separate file for the same module, would it?

musb is the hardware component controlling USB operation on the N900. In PR1.3 kernel Nokia fixed a bug "N900 does not know the difference between a dedicated charger and a charging downstream port". But this fix resulted in CPU at minimum 500MHZ when connected to charger. I reverted this fix.

Is the fmtx-si4713.ko in your repository the same as the one MohammadAG posted in the FMTX Limitation Removing thread?

Nokia added a lock attribute that when written, locks the fmtx configuration. MohammadAG compiled fmtx module from PR1.2 source. I left the lock attribute only making writing to it a NOP. Since the fmtx daemon writes to it, I think it is better to have this attribute.

Radicalz38

11-06-2010, 07:30 AM

anybody could help me here why i'm stuck at uboot? I get to the point where uboot says kernel ok on cli but i can't get past that. It's just stuck there and a few seconds the phone shuts off so i can't boot to either meego or maemo so need to reflash. I have tried already 5 times with no luck. What am i missing?

nicola.mfb

11-06-2010, 08:41 AM

IMO nitdroid team should seriously consider to support u-boot with their kernel.

Just quick tryied to boot nitdroid with u-boot:

* rebuilt head nitdroid 2.6.28 06 kernel in scratchbox adding MMC and ext2/3/4 support
* copied lib/modules, lib/firmware and /dev from maemo in the nitdroid partition
* booted with args root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait

I may see the little "ANDROID" banner down on the fb console, then the screen clears and the system hangs.

I suppose that some preinit logic has to be moved from maemo/multiboot to the nitdroid partition, but really lack knowledge and time! anyone helping?

Mentalist Traceur

11-06-2010, 03:45 PM

Okay, final reasking of the same question I asked a few posts back (thanks for the answers to the other parts though) will either of these be overridden with a kernel-only flash (I have my guesses, but I'd rather have people who know more about what is counted as a part of the N900 kernel and what isn't by the flasher utilities confirm):

/usr/sbin/fmtxd (<--- My guess is no, because I have a python script [woof] sitting in /usr/bin which did not get erased when I flashed the uboot+power41a.)
/etc/init.d/rcS (<--- This one I really don't know, but my guess is yes?)
/usr/lib/hildon-desktop/fmtx_status_menu_item.so (<--- My guess is no, because the other custom status menu apps [advanced power/interface-switcher, brightness applet, etc] I have all survived uboot+power41 flash just fine.)

Also, what does FMTX faker edit? I know it patches something - is this file also part of the kernel, in so far as the flasher utilities are concerned? (Edit 2: seems like FMTX Faker patches the "FM Transmitter Daemon"... which is, /usr/sbin/fmtxd ? Right?)

Thanks in advanced to those who know the answer and do reply.

- Edit -

Just noticed e-yes' name in the list of people reading this thread. Can this be taken to mean the NITDroid team is taking an interest in seeing what can be done with adding uboot support to NITDroid?

e-yes

11-06-2010, 04:41 PM

>* rebuilt head nitdroid 2.6.28 06 kernel in scratchbox adding MMC and ext2/3/4 support
>* copied lib/modules, lib/firmware and /dev from maemo in the nitdroid partition
>* booted with args root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait

>I may see the little "ANDROID" banner down on the fb console, then the screen clears and the system hangs.
If you have adb installed, run 'adb logcat', it's useful for troubleshooting in Android.

>I suppose that some preinit logic has to be moved from maemo/multiboot to the nitdroid partition,
>but really lack knowledge and time! anyone helping?
Yes, multiboot loads kernel modules (list is in /lib/modules/2.6.28.NIT06/modules.boot file). Solution for problem: load modules from /init.nokia.rc script ('on boot' section).
see also: http://code.google.com/p/nitdroid-v2/issues/detail?id=41

>Can this be taken to mean the NITDroid team is taking an interest in seeing what can be done with adding uboot support to NITDroid?
Yes. I've got an idea about combining u-boot and multiboot... instead of flashing, multiboot should write boot.scr for u-boot (and then reboots, as usual).

e-yes

11-06-2010, 04:49 PM

Btw, any one know why md (memory display) command is broken?
When I type:
>md.w 0x80000000 1
I got only:
0x80000000: []

... and silence ...

P.S. Different addresses are tested, md.b, md.l also.

Mentalist Traceur

11-06-2010, 07:53 PM

Question: Everyone other than me, have you installed Power Kernel or Power Kernel Settings before installing Matan's power41? Because it seems that Power Kernel Settings doesn't come with this package (which makes sense - I guess I just assumed it did) - but installing that (at least unless apt-get allows you to force ignoring dependencies, which I'm sure it does) will flash power kernel too. Hence the question: Was I the only one who wasn't on the power kernel after 1.3 who got this uboot+powerkernel+1.3patches?

(If no one answers this or the last above question, I'll just learn through trial and error again, but might as well ask...)

DrWilken

11-06-2010, 08:08 PM

I just installed Power Kernel (and Settings) v40 and then installed Matan's u-boot version afterwards... ;)

Mentalist Traceur

11-06-2010, 08:10 PM

K. That's what I was afraid of. Looks like I'm due for two kernel reflashes in quick succession if I can't figure out how to get apt-get to ignore the dependency of Power Kernel. Unless, of course, it somehow recognizes the uboot+'power41' as a power kernel... But I doubt it, since that didn't go through the apt-get system.

DrWilken

11-06-2010, 08:14 PM

It doesn't.

Mentalist Traceur

11-06-2010, 08:15 PM

*Sigh* Two wearings of NAND, here I come. :D That's okay. I needed something to motivate myself to upgrade to Matan's power41d anyway.

e-yes

11-06-2010, 08:40 PM

Little improvement for u-boot: show "Hit any key for autoboot" only if keyboard is open. Otherwise it boots default (bundled along with u-boot) kernel.

http://downloads.nitdroid.com/e-yes/u-boot.bin
http://downloads.nitdroid.com/e-yes/u-boot_slidesw_action.patch

Dirty hack... forget everything about u-boot, didn't used it for couple years.

Mentalist Traceur

11-06-2010, 09:04 PM

Alright, installed power-kernel-settings, had to sit there dying a little inside as the power kernel flashed, then flashed it again right after with the power41d from Matan's repo... With any luck, the automatic install by Kernel Power Flasher doesn't actually sync, thereby avoiding the extra layer of writes. Rebooted, full range of FMTX frequencies kept, everything else seems to have been kept, including my /etc/init.d/rcS modifications. Don't remember what else I need to test, if anything, but everything seems to be there. Life is good.

e-yes: Sorry I didn't reply to your previous inquiry, but it's way out of my league. What you just posted (your uboot hack) sounds pretty neat, but doesn't this mean it essentially limits it to two options? Either it auto boots the bundled kernel, or you press any key, and it boots the second one? Sounds like this way there's no opportunity to type in a command to boot a third kernel, if you have one. If I'm wrong by all means correct me, because it's possible I didn't understand what you meant.

ahynes1

11-06-2010, 09:25 PM

RobbieThe1st

11-06-2010, 09:29 PM

Mentalist Traceur

11-06-2010, 09:53 PM

One, I want to officially call whatever **** thought "babbling" was a good tag to mark this thread with a dick. Completely assinine, not-intelligent-enough-to-realize-how-anti-helpful-to-the-forum-tags-like-that-are dick. This is exactly why the forum search returns only half of the threads that actually have useful content. I would like to have every tag be linked to the forum member/moderator/whatever that made the tag. And ideally some way we could call out people on shitty tags.

This thread has a very clear bit of instruction on a few things. And yet some obviously-self-righteous know-it-all **** decided it should be all called babbling.

*Sigh*

RobbieThe1st: I am pretty sure you can compile uboot with various environment variables. Like "run noloboot" is a variable that launches the kernel attached to uboot in these packagings of uboot. I suspect that a uboot version could be compiled with "run backupmenu" or whatever to execute backupmenu...

I have not yet had the time to look up documentation on uboot in enough detail to figure out if uboot lets you set such variables from outside it or from inside the uboot interface, and have them be remembered later.

I know it has SOME write-to-flash-memory function, but I don't know how dangerously low-level it is.

In the meantime, thank you in general for looking into this. It's appreciated.

- Edit -

Re: stupid tags: [baby talk]Who's a a mature tag setter? Who's a mature tag setter? You are! Coochie coochie coo! Yes you are! Yes you are! Coochie coo! Yes you are![/baby talk]. Good job. Go pat yourself on the back.

hawaii

11-06-2010, 10:49 PM

If you don't know the answer to the technical questions, why are you responding? It's clutter and useless. Your posts go on ridiculous tangents that are irrelevant to the topic.

Whoever tagged the thread is spot on, sorry to say. Now you've got me in a thread, discussing things are are meaningless to the thread. Awesome stuff dude.

Mentalist Traceur

11-07-2010, 12:39 AM

This is a reply to hawaii only. If you're not interested in reading that, feed free to skip this post.

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

You know, I'm fine with you not liking my questions. You already made it clear enough that you think I'm an idiot for asking. (Not literally idiot, you made it clear that you feel some vague negativity towards me asking - what you actually label that on your end, you have not indicated.) I can also understand why someone thought that my posts, or perhaps someone else's too, but I'm assuming mine mainly, are blabbering. That's okay. Of course, I still think your kind poisons this forum. You seem to be of the impression that if someone doesn't know something, they should view the entirety of written human knowledge before asking. I would love to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you don't consciously hold that view, but that's how you seem to act. But the point is, it's okay in that that's not what my issue is with the "blabbering" tag. Indeed, my issue has more to do with the lack of any other tag than "blabbering" (and now also "more blabbering"). You can throw in "blabbering", someone could've tagged this with "Mentalist Traceur being a whiny *****", and while it would certainly seem to me to be a misguided statement, and would've probably angered me, it wouldn't in itself be an issue, really. What I have as an issue is that the only tags put in are completely unproductive ones.

Now maybe I don't fully understand the function of tags. Maybe I don't fully understand the role they play in the forum search function (I did run a bunch of searches just now, because I'm actually willing to consider that I may have been wrong - and I do admit that most of the searches that could lead you to this thread's useful information actually do lead to it. Maybe there's some advanced search using the tags only that I haven't found due to lack of looking - other than the tag cloud at the bottom of such pages). So at this stage I'm actually of the opinion that my anger at it being detrimental to the search functionality, and by extension users finding useful info, may have been slightly premature. I still think it's simply narrow minded to tag the thread blabbering when there IS useful information around, and a lot, but okay. Whatever. But really, someone can't tag this with "Matan"/"power kernel"/"uboot"/"u-boot"/"power41"/etc? No? That's too actually relevant to the thread?

I replied to a couple of posts that had technical questions - some where speculation based on what little I knew, some were educated guesses, and some were, admittedly, not relevant. But I personally think it's better to throw in a "sorry, can't answer your question" in a post than to completely ignore the poster. It feels more human and personally, I'd rather see that on a forum than have someone not reply and not know if they're ignoring me because they don't feel like answering me, or they're just not saying something because they don't know. And as far as I remember, I didn't make a single post that was just completely "I don't know, sorry" in this thread. It was always along with something else, which I thought was relevant enough to post.

As for wild tangents, the topic was uboot in devel. Uboot which is attached to stock kernel. Is there a uboot with power kernel, with PR1.3 patches? Yes, Matan has it. Oh, well, here's some questions people without technical knowledge or other communication with Matan might not know, so that when they get answered, those answers are public, which means that at least a small fragment of the public will know the answer in the future and not have to reask it. Gee, what did I ask that was so irrelevant? How to acquire fiasco-flasher, what to run if you don't have fiasco-flasher, is your [name of file for a modified nokia binary] different than MohammadAG's [same modified binary name], what's musb, etc? Really, which one of those questions, by any practically useful understanding of 'relevancy', is a wild tangent? If Matan's Power Kernel + PR1.3 + UBoot is relevant, so are those questions, because unlike your unrealistic f'ed up expectations, I know for a fact there's plenty of people who didn't know the answers to those questions. There's one post I actually remember that was truly 'clutter' - "*Sigh* two more writes to NAND, here I come" or whatever I wrote. Oh no, I allowed myself to express myself in a manner befitting casual conversation on a forum? How bastardly of me?

And that's enough that this entire thread is tagged blabber? Really? Anyone capable of viewing this ENTIRE thread as ONLY blabber either doesn't understand the nature of useful information (useful to the typical person, not you ivory-tower Linux know-it-all types), or didn't read enough of the thread. But since you obviously didn't see it the first time, I'll break it down:

Matan links to his repository, saying he has UBoot+Power Kernel+PR1.3 patches:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=861548&postcount=15
Matan tells peopleabout a small bug in the uboot devel package this thread is about - and he says his is configurable, unlike the package in devel was at the time:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=861603&postcount=18
Lunat mentions his fix for uboot that fixed the ext2 - at least for him (yeah, it wasn't useful to me because I didn't get the technicalities, but at least I can understand why it may be useful):
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=861608&postcount=19
I first state how to do onboard flashing without fiasco-flasher - which I KNOW was helpful and/or useful, because one, it's been thanked, and two, I've ran into a bunch of people who didn't know how to do it since then in other threads, and three, Matan ended up including it in the instructions on his link posted earlier, so me talking about it presumably helped indicate that there were people who didn't have or know how to get fiasco-flasher (and I personally think me telling that dude who asked what the theme was that it was the Marina theme was helpful too. Not technically 'relevant', but helpful, and I'd rather see a forum that's helpful than a forum that's literally strictly relevancy controlled.):
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=862056&postcount=31
Xopher reports that the N900 onboard flasher utility couldn't load the kernel without flashing, at least according to his test:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=862482&postcount=39
Lunat figuring out one of the ways to get rid of uboot (as it was figured out just doing the advised apt-get command didn't actually get rid of uboot). Someone else later figured out you could flash power kernel from repos over this one, and then run that uninstalled to go back to stock, but that wasn't known at the time, and some might prefer this method anyway:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=862801&postcount=49
lma reports some tests with the N8x0s (relevant by your restrictive definition, probably no; relevant enough to warrant going in a uboot thread, I'd say yes; useful in general, yes):
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=864701&postcount=63
Matan announces update to the uboot+kernel part of his repository. Even if there was a more relevant place to put this, because the initial uboot+power-kernel+PR1.3 fixes is relevant, so is this:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=864807&postcount=71
This guy's post may not have been directly relevant, but one, it pointed to a MeeGo bug number that could have useful ideas for people intending to work with MeeGo and NITDroid on the same SD card, and it brought up some questions, the answers for which benefit pretty much everyone interested in multibooting on their N900s with uboot:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=864918&postcount=76
Lunat giving some useful replies to the previous post, and by extension helping not just the person asking, but anyone else with similar questions (which in turn are relevant to uboot):
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=864925&postcount=77
Matan explaining the musb 'unfix' from PR1.3. Please, do point me to a single other location the musb thing is explained - other than perhaps in some bug in the bugzilla, and the list that shows what bugs have been fixed by the week from which PR1.3 was compiled? And then tell me how many talk.maemo.org users know how to find that on the spot, let alone remember if it was mentioned there at all in order to know to look. And of course he answers the question about what the difference between his fmtx module fix was vs. MohammadAG's was. Which, again, not necessarily "relevant", but very helpful given that this is the thread where Matan's kernel patches are being discussed.
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=865091&postcount=80
NITDroid developer's posts, all of which are relevant to some degree. One discusses intention re: NITDroid+uboot support, another brings up md command bug, which I wasn't able to answer, but now people better than me will look up (and I will when I next have to reboot my N900 after reading enough uboot documentation to be of any use), and he posted his own uboot patch/"hack":
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=865425&postcount=84
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=865434&postcount=85
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=865581&postcount=91
Me letting people know that my power kernel reflash, then reflash to power41d, worked, and kept all the files I was concerned about. Oh no, it's not useful because somewhere frak-knows-where there's already enough information for the sufficiently savvy to know that this would've happened. This is why I have such hostility towards your attitude. Your earlier "are you serious" thing and viewing my posts as "wild tangents" seem to suggest you seriously can't see the use in something like this. It's pathetically self-biased to think that this knowledge isn't useful to the less knowledgeable. And it's for sure not commonly available:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=865592&postcount=92
And I'll admit I've only skimmed the last few pages of the backupmenu thread, but I just looked over the last two pages, and he doesn't seem to say this there, so RobbieThe1st's statement that he's trying to create a uboot compatible backupmenu is useful, as are his shellscript questions, because they encourage other people to look into it:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=865592&postcount=92
And this is NOT counting repeats, or a couple of other things I thought were or could have been useful, such as me answering some questions for another poster that were technically answered, and I thought were self-apparent, but obviously weren't self apparent to him, or he wouldn't have needed to ask.

So, sir, no, the person who felt the only tag appropriate for this thread was "blabbering" was not spot on. Far from it. Even if any of what's said in here can rightly be called true blabbering, and even IF the majority of mine and possibly others' posts are sufficiently tangential to be off-topic and useless (and any reasonable consideration of relevancy, I think, would balk at that), this thread is still not only blabbering. There's a rather large amount of useful content. Most of it may not be from me, and I'm happy to admit that, but it's there. And it does no good to this forum for threads to get tags which only serve the amusement of the arrogantly knowledgeable.

And on a closing note, if you truly thought discussing this was meaningless, you wouldn't have posted. I know I posted this large 'rant' because I think it actually is important, for the forum and this community as a whole. More so than staying strictly on topic. But you, either you thought it was important enough to voice your disagreement, or you just willingly partook in what you sincerely believed to be meaningless. But either way, I didn't get you to do it.

frostbyte

11-07-2010, 01:02 AM

you had me at 'hello'

Matan

11-07-2010, 07:46 AM

Well, this is frustrating. Today, when I started trying a few more attempts at using uboot, it isn't recognizing mmc at all.

e.g.

mmc init
returns

No MMC card found.

Any variant of fatload mmc n:n returns
Unable to use mmc n:n for fatload

Any ideas?

As to a uBoot/multiboot mashup, that sounds really nice. I like the menu from Multiboot. What would be really nice would be if I could use multiboot and for each menu option specify which uImage to boot and parameters to use with that.

Did you leave maemo by reboot?

I find that if I reboot, mmc1 is not recognized, if I power off, and then power on with the power key, mmc1 is recognized.

mmc2 is even more problematic. It appears to work once after maemo, but If I boot from u-boot (by the command reset, or letting the watchdog boot), it won't recognize it again.

lunat

11-07-2010, 08:36 AM

I haven't read -everything-, but before I install this:
Is there a way to create a boot option that launches a shell-script with the rootfs mounted? I'm looking for a way to make BackupMenu compatible with U-boot.
Also, can I use a shell-script to start the various OS's? I'd like to see about making a GRUB-style boot menu.
http://www.denx.de/wiki/DULG/UBootScripts
http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/UBootStandalone
and look for working examples from other phones.

edit:
hint: boot.scr +ali took the template from beagleboard so you might look there as well.(imho he changed only the nand into onenand in the template and a lot in the backend, keyboard and driverstuff, to make it work )

e-yes

11-07-2010, 05:43 PM

e-yes: Sorry I didn't reply to your previous inquiry, but it's way out of my league. What you just posted (your uboot hack) sounds pretty neat, but doesn't this mean it essentially limits it to two options? Either it auto boots the bundled kernel, or you press any key, and it boots the second one? Sounds like this way there's no opportunity to type in a command to boot a third kernel, if you have one. If I'm wrong by all means correct me, because it's possible I didn't understand what you meant.
No, if keyboard slide is open, u-boot shows "3 2 1 0" countdown and if you press a key, you'll enter 'shell mode' (in u-boot). if you skip shell (with slide open), n900 will boot Meego (or whatever using boot.scr).

Why this patch is important (in my opinion): MeeGo drains battery very fast, so if maemo or nitdroid suddenly reboots and SD card is inserted, MeeGo will be booted.
Patch solves problem. And decreases 'default' OS startup time.

lunat

11-07-2010, 06:34 PM

nice idea.

one thought:
i don't know i am very relaxed with such things for i patch up my things that they suit my needs. in general uboot as is is fine and nice for dev and extras_devel is exactly the place where it belongs. i don't know if you want it to stay there or want to have it working for productive. if it is the latter, its rather to fix the problems.than to workaround
that is:
- rebase it to a more recent git
- apply the pending important patches from git(don't like that but in case of severe bugs...)
- see how to make watchdogsupport work,
- solve the mmc thing matan mentions
- create a menu(or adapt one) with some shortcuts.
- maybe have a look at the serial console with the maemo kernel issue ali mentions.

that way you get it somewhere towards a version that can be used for productive.

No, if keyboard slide is open, u-boot shows "3 2 1 0" countdown and if you press a key, you'll enter 'shell mode' (in u-boot). if you skip shell (with slide open), n900 will boot Meego (or whatever using boot.scr).

Why this patch is important (in my opinion): MeeGo drains battery very fast, so if maemo or nitdroid suddenly reboots and SD card is inserted, MeeGo will be booted.
Patch solves problem. And decreases 'default' OS startup time.

lunat

11-07-2010, 11:11 PM

mmc2 is even more problematic. It appears to work once after maemo, but If I boot from u-boot (by the command reset, or letting the watchdog boot), it won't recognize it again.
i saw this behaviour a lot of times. but it only happened if i did something "bad" that is the thing crashed somehow.

i can't see any problem rebooting other distros. i rsync a new kernel and it reboots just fine in the new kernel. and i do that a lot at the mom.
if i messed something up on the other hand and i have to take out the battery or such ... it is a whole other story. then weired things happen. it can't find the mmc and also maemo can't boot in this case sometimes...

another typical scenary is if i forgot about the battery and it shuts off.. after that(battery charged again...) it doesn't detect the mmc .. but this are all "unusual" cases ...

Ele-Mental

11-08-2010, 08:45 AM

U-Boot is still giving me start up problems.

Devrim

11-14-2010, 07:17 AM

So tell me guys how do I remove this pos U-boot

When I do apt-get install –reinstall kernel-flasher

I get

E: Command line option 'r' [from -reinstall] is not known.

I want it gone :<

DrWilken

11-14-2010, 07:23 AM

So tell me guys how do I remove this pos U-boot

When I do apt-get install –reinstall kernel-flasher

I get

E: Command line option 'r' [from -reinstall] is not known.

I want it gone :<

It's:

apt-get install --reinstall kernel-flasher

That's 2 x - before reinstall... ;)

lunat

11-14-2010, 07:24 AM

So tell me guys how do I remove this pos U-boot

When I do apt-get install –reinstall kernel-flasher

I get

E: Command line option 'r' [from -reinstall] is not known.

I want it gone :<
with double dash --reinstall

Devrim

11-14-2010, 07:26 AM

lunat

11-14-2010, 07:55 AM

Nokia-N900:~# apt-get install --reinstall kernel-flasher
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 3 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B/157kB of archives.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
(Reading database ... 55183 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace kernel-flasher 2.6.28-20103103+0m5 (using .../kernel-flasher_2.6.28-20103103+0m5_armel.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement kernel-flasher ...
Setting up kernel-flasher (2.6.28-20103103+0m5) ...

I'm still getting U-boot
say: install everything that belongs to that kernel(irrc that are three packages). put a copy of the kernel to your pc(so you have it in case something goes wrong). also deinstall uboot.
and if uboot is still there after that use force and flash the kernel you saved on your harddrive(must be the one you prev. installed via apt). and you are good.
(note that i said flash KERNEL not firmware and not emmc. that is: flasher -f -k kernel)

also note the order first use the most high level means of doing it and only if they are buggy and fail use brute force to achieve where that failed.

Devrim

11-14-2010, 09:41 AM

say: install everything that belongs to that kernel(irrc that are three packages). put a copy of the kernel to your pc(so you have it in case something goes wrong). also deinstall uboot.
and if uboot is still there after that use force and flash the kernel you saved on your harddrive(must be the one you prev. installed via apt). and you are good.
(note that i said flash KERNEL not firmware and not emmc. that is: flasher -f -k kernel)

also note the order first use the most high level means of doing it and only if they are buggy and fail use brute force to achieve where that failed.

But I want multiboot back.

When I boot my N900 I first get U-boot
I do: run noloboot
Then I get multiboot and boot Power Kernel v45

How do I get rid of U-boot? :<

Devrim

11-14-2010, 09:53 AM

Ok the solution is
Boot the stock kernel first before you reinstall kernel flasher

Fabry

12-29-2010, 10:04 PM

Did you leave maemo by reboot?

I find that if I reboot, mmc1 is not recognized, if I power off, and then power on with the power key, mmc1 is recognized.

mmc2 is even more problematic. It appears to work once after maemo, but If I boot from u-boot (by the command reset, or letting the watchdog boot), it won't recognize it again.

Your u-boot.0x38000 (from repository) has eMMC (mmc2) code ?
I have never seen internal memory during my use of u-boot so I ask if it is due to version I use

Fabry

12-29-2010, 10:06 PM

Fabry

12-29-2010, 10:32 PM

I haven't read -everything-, but before I install this:
Is there a way to create a boot option that launches a shell-script with the rootfs mounted? I'm looking for a way to make BackupMenu compatible with U-boot.
Also, can I use a shell-script to start the various OS's? I'd like to see about making a GRUB-style boot menu.

U-Boot can load and boot a kernel plus an initrd (ramdisk) file.

When a Kernel starts with an initrd usually executes /linuxrc file (script) which must be present on ramdisk

So theorically should be simple to convert BackupMenu V2, which already use a ramdisk internally, to use U-Boot

Matan

12-30-2010, 05:00 AM

Your u-boot.0x38000 (from repository) has eMMC (mmc2) code ?

Yes. But as I said it does not setup something correctly, so it only works after maemo sets it up. If you reset the CPU from within u-boot (or let the watchdog do it for you), then u-boot comes up again, but does not recognise the internal mmc.

I did not check if after nitdroid or meego the internal mmc is recognised.

Fabry

12-30-2010, 08:19 AM

Yes. But as I said it does not setup something correctly, so it only works after maemo sets it up. If you reset the CPU from within u-boot (or let the watchdog do it for you), then u-boot comes up again, but does not recognise the internal mmc.

I did not check if after nitdroid or meego the internal mmc is recognised.

But following this procedure theorically mmc2 should be shown:

Power off / shutdown Maemo
Power On N900 with keyboard opened
Press a key to stop autoboot
Type mmc init

Instead I always obtain "No mmc card" or "mmc1 is available" (if SD is present).
Where I am wrong ?

Matan

12-30-2010, 08:51 AM

u-boot works a bit differently. If you want to use the second card, it needs to be explicit:

mmc init 2

Fabry

12-30-2010, 09:58 AM

u-boot works a bit differently. If you want to use the second card, it needs to be explicit:

mmc init 2

So "mmc init" without number is equal to "mmc init 1" and not to "mmc init all" as I wrongly supposed
And even without SD card inserted eMMC is always mmc2 and it not become mmc1 (first and only mmc present)

rhastdan

01-06-2011, 11:34 AM

whoever has the problem of unable to boot maemo please reflash ur n900.. it works.. :\/

http://theunlockr.com/2010/04/02/how-to-hard-reset-your-nokia-n900-get-it-back-to-out-of-box-state/

rhastdan

01-06-2011, 11:40 AM

whoever has the problem of unable to boot maemo please reflash ur n900.. it works.. :\/

http://theunlockr.com/2010/04/02/how-to-hard-reset-your-nokia-n900-get-it-back-to-out-of-box-state/