Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader) - Page 122 - maemo.org

pasko | # 1211 | 2014-04-23, 19:34 | Report

Hi.

Well, I did it with sillyboot. I've seen it has two files, and one of them is a binary file so that I'll take a look at the preinit file to see if I can find out something.

Indeed, I untarred the sailfish image in the same place as the nitdroid to see if if worked, but it didn't.....

Regards.

The Following User Says Thank You to pasko For This Useful Post:
hrbani

juiceme | # 1212 | 2014-04-23, 20:24 | Report

Originally Posted by pasko View Post

Hi.

Well, I did it with sillyboot. I've seen it has two files, and one of them is a binary file so that I'll take a look at the preinit file to see if I can find out something.

Indeed, I untarred the sailfish image in the same place as the nitdroid to see if if worked, but it didn't.....

Regards.

Well, sillyboot and ubiboot are pretty much 2 different kinds of beasts, not to be confused to eachother

(not even very close relatives...)

sillyboot is just a modification of the Harmattan preinit environment; it uses the one and only kernel flashed to mtd2 and acts on the system initialixation level: Before the preinit calls /sbin/init the control is transferred to chrooted android initialization.
What this means, is that if you want to use both Harmattan and Nitdroid, you must have a specially crafted kernel that can run both OS'es.
There are 2 variants of sillyboot, one, the original has the evkey interface where selection is by volume keys, and the other has the evtap interface with touchscreen control.
With sillyboot you cannot boot any "true" OS that has not been heavily modified to be able to run under chroot and with the default kernel. That means, no Sailfish there, ever.
ubiboot on the other hand is a true boot loader; it has it's own kernel and root file system with a ton of extra niceties added. With ubiboot you can boot pretty much anything that comes to your mind. (mostly Linux, yes, but with some tweaks it would be possible to load also BSD, Darwin, maybe even WinCE to your N9 )
You get total control on what arguments to give to the 2nd-level kernel, so it is easy to start any kind of OS you desire on it

The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to juiceme For This Useful Post:
caveman, eekkelund, hrbani, pasko, peterleinchen, rcolistete

pasko | # 1213 | 2014-04-24, 19:50 | Report

Hi.

Provided that I'm stuck.... I was wondering:

What if I rewrite all the /dev/mtd* of the broken device with fresh data from my working device?.
I can't stop thinking there must be something root with those partitions. The flasher even tells me that going from
40.2012.21-3.454.6 (Vietnam with preinstalled apps)to 40.2012.21-3.480.1 (Switzerland country variant) is a downgrade!

Regards.

The Following User Says Thank You to pasko For This Useful Post:
hrbani

juiceme | # 1214 | 2014-04-25, 04:23 | Report

Originally Posted by pasko View Post

Hi.

Provided that I'm stuck.... I was wondering:

What if I rewrite all the /dev/mtd* of the broken device with fresh data from my working device?.
I can't stop thinking there must be something root with those partitions. The flasher even tells me that going from
40.2012.21-3.454.6 (Vietnam with preinstalled apps)to 40.2012.21-3.480.1 (Switzerland country variant) is a downgrade!

Regards.

Well, at first, it probably does not help, but rather it will make your device unusable. it is possible you will not be able to boot anything on it, and not flash it any longer.

Second, it is almost impossible to do; to be able to have write access to some of those areas you need to be in Closed Mode as they are locked in Open Mode. However, in Closed Mode you cannot do it as Aegis will block you for lack of credentials.
(You might be able to break something permanently with Inception, though, if you really tried....)

I still think the best option is to use ubiboot, you should be able to boot Sailfish that way, there has to be something wrong with your SailfishOS installation.

The Following User Says Thank You to juiceme For This Useful Post:
hrbani

pasko | # 1215 | 2014-04-25, 13:23 | Report

Hi.

Sure, there has to be something wrong. However, I tried all the Sailfish images recommended in the Maemo Wiki, and I'm always using the specific Ubiboot version ONLY for Sailfish. I can almost do all the processes with my eyes closed, Ubiboot starts fine, etc. but the next step nothing happens......

What the heck!. I'll give it another try this weekend, the device is not working already!

Regards.

The Following User Says Thank You to pasko For This Useful Post:
hrbani

juiceme | # 1216 | 2014-04-25, 13:49 | Report

Originally Posted by pasko View Post

Hi.

Sure, there has to be something wrong. However, I tried all the Sailfish images recommended in the Maemo Wiki, and I'm always using the specific Ubiboot version ONLY for Sailfish. I can almost do all the processes with my eyes closed, Ubiboot starts fine, etc. but the next step nothing happens......

What the heck!. I'll give it another try this weekend, the device is not working already!

Regards.

And with the SailfishOS-flashable boot-from-mmcblk0p4-kernel I made, same thing with that too...?

Now there does exist some things you could do, I presume you have not yet tried to boot the device with serial console connected, that'd give you the clue why it is borking...?

---------- edit ----------

See the pinout of N9 serial connector here:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...2&postcount=93

Last edited by juiceme; 2014-04-25 at 13:54.

The Following User Says Thank You to juiceme For This Useful Post:
hrbani

pasko | # 1217 | 2014-04-25, 15:53 | Report

Hi.
Do you mean I can watch the boot messages in the screen of the device, or should I connect a serial console to the SIM slot ?
About the specially krafted kernel, just the same...
Regards.

The Following User Says Thank You to pasko For This Useful Post:
hrbani

juiceme | # 1218 | 2014-04-25, 16:52 | Report

Originally Posted by pasko View Post

Hi.
Do you mean I can watch the boot messages in the screen of the device, or should I connect a serial console to the SIM slot ?
About the specially krafted kernel, just the same...
Regards.

I did not manage to get a good update for the screen, the messages written there do not come out nicely/reliably. Something to do with the framebuffer device needing regular refresh for displaying text.

You need to connect a rs232-levelshigter/USB adapter to the simslot pins, to just watch the messages it is enough to connect to the TxD and GND pins which are nearest to the edge.
It is fairly easy just to hold a 2-pin connector pingead there by hand, not needing an adapter even if you just want a quick look what happens there.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to juiceme For This Useful Post:
hrbani, pasko

pasko | # 1219 | 2014-04-27, 08:59 | Report

Hi.
I ordered one of these level changers to see the console boot messages. In the meantime I flashed nitdroid ...
I`ll post again when I get the logs.
Thank you.
Regards.

Last edited by pasko; 2014-04-27 at 09:31.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to pasko For This Useful Post:
hrbani, juiceme

kumardodla | # 1220 | 2014-04-27, 14:22 | Report

Hi

Can some one explain me how to copy paste the X-terminal output from nokia N900/N9 in the forum. Observed couple of codes are written in square box in many posts and reply's.

Also how to display or project the N900/N9 terminal in to the PC screen. Please help me. This thread is most active one.. so posted here. sorry for inconvinence.

The Following User Says Thank You to kumardodla For This Useful Post:
hrbani