tomstratton | # 1 | 2009-01-10, 21:27 | Report

I have tried and tried and think that I have searched every site on the net but to no avail. I have seen a few cryptic notes about file version numbers relating to "R-48"

"What I have noted is that there are specific files for the R-34 and R-44 series of OS2007 & OS2008, but none for the R-48 (WiMax) series of OS2008."

but it is not at all clear if anyone has overcome this issue.

If you have bootmenu installed (and working! ) on a WIMAX can you please put as much info as you are able to remember online somewhere. I'm dying to get this thing booting off the external memory card!

Thanks in advance for any help.

Tom

fanoush | # 2 | 2009-01-10, 22:36 | Report

Just checked the source and even if bootmenu should install fine there will be indeed trouble with keyboard in menu since both linuxrc and bootmenu.sh checks specifically for 770 (SU-18), N800 (RX-34) and N810 (RX-44) to determine how to read keys. If I add code for RX-48 will you test it? Most probably keyboard event device will be same as for plain N810.

tomstratton | # 3 | 2009-01-10, 23:05 | Report

I will test it! Absolutely!

I have to specify that I have been installing and attempting to use bootmenu primarily through the console-tools so I have never done a complete install from start to finish of JUST bootmenu.

I *think* that I have cobbled together the complete instructions but I am a little nervous about "bricking" the device. Any additional instructions you could give would be appreciated.

Thanks

Tom

tomstratton | # 4 | 2009-01-10, 23:11 | Report

PS - I think that you should have a look at my post over at
http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...t=25714&page=9
too... The error that I am getting is ..

"WiMax:
Self test RF#2 failed, try to reboot the device.
If the problem persists, perform software update
or contact service."

While it is true that the keyboard is disabled there appears to be something MORE that is going wrong - after getting the message I am not even able to power the device down. My only option is to pull the battery and reflash.

Tom

archimage | # 5 | 2009-01-11, 14:44 | Report

Hi tomstratton and fanoush,

I will also volunteer to test any changes you make to get this working on the WiMax tablet. Tom, if you could elaborate on your notes that you have gathered and maybe point me towards a location?, this would be a big help. There is always a possibility rhat you have found some information that I haven't. My experience w/ bootmenu, using consoletools is as follows:

First, I used cfdisk via consoletools to partition my extwrnal sd card, then I formatted the 3 partitions as fat32, swap, ext3 (size of partitions not needed here). I then rebooted the system so that the changes could register w/ the OS. I then cloned the the OS to my external card, seems to have gone successfully. I then attempted to turn on the swap partition, but that seems to be one part that is not working in consoletools as yet. Irregardless, I again rebooted the OS just to be safe. I then installed bootmenu and again rebooted the OS. The rest you know, as, like you said, I got the exact same error as you did and ended up having to pull the battery out and reflashing the OS.

Tom, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Fanoush, as Tom has said, would be glad to help test any changes you make on my tablet and would gladly accept any advice that may be forthcoming from you or others in regards to this matter.

Sincerely, Jim....
.

tz1 | # 6 | 2009-01-11, 17:19 | Report

I'll test too, since I have an RX48 and RX44, but I'm running the latest SSU 5.2008 and the last initrd bootmenu creator didn't support it either.

fanoush | # 7 | 2009-01-11, 20:03 | Report

OK, I have updated http://fanoush.wz.cz/maemo/initfs_flasher.tgz with keyboard handling for RX-48. It is now set to same input event device as for RX-44.

For plain N810 it should work with 5.2008 since day one of 5.2008.43-7 release.


As for the I don't know and I guess it is not related to bootmenu initfs changes. From linuxrc it looks like this error is related to bringing up wimax network interface. Just to be sure answer "no" to "Remove unneeded extra (and factory testing) stuff?" initfs_flasher question. Maybe it removes too much for wimax device (??).

---

Last edited by fanoush; 2009-01-11 at 21:45.

tomstratton | # 8 | 2009-01-11, 23:32 | Report

Fanoush -

First, Thanks for doing this!

Before I try this can you please look over the following and confirm that I have done it correctly...

Previously accomplished - I have successfully partitioned my external memory card and have a ext3 partition #3 with the internal flash cloned onto it. This is what I am going to use for bootmenu.conf

# bootmenu customisation file
#
# included from bootmenu.sh after default menu is defined
# you can change some items or redefine menu completely

# timeout for automatic selection when no key is pressed
# set to -1 for no timeout (not recommended, can drain battery when device reboots unatteded)
MENU_TIMEOUT=30

# IP address for USB networking
#USB_IP=192.168.2.15

# dim screen when in menu
#/usr/sbin/dsmetest -l 1 #for OS2006/7
#/usr/sbin/dsmetest -l 3 #for OS2008, 1 turns screen completely off

# menu items
MENU_MIN=1 # first item index

#no need to redefine
#MENU_1_NAME="Internal flash"
#MENU_1_ID="flash"

MENU_2_NAME="External MMC card, partition 3, ext3"
MENU_2_ID="mmc13"
MENU_2_DEVICE="${EXT_CARD}p2"
MENU_2_MODULES="mbcache jbd ext3"
MENU_2_FSTYPE="ext3"
MENU_2_FSOPTIONS="noatime" #",data=writeback"
[ -d "/sys/block/${EXT_CARD}/${MENU_2_DEVICE}" ] || MENU_2_NAME="(${MENU_2_NAME}) N/A"

MENU_3_NAME="Power off (when not on charger)"
MENU_3_ID="off"

#last item index, change if you add/remove items
MENU_MAX=3

Also - here is what I have for the step-by-step that I plan to follow when I do this...

Fresh Flash of device:
Open Application manager and enable maemo Extras repository
Install rootsh (Browse Installable applications > all > rootsh
go to http://fanoush.wz.cz/maemo with the browser and download:
initffs_flasher.tgz
copy the custom bootmenu.conf file (show above) onto the internal memory via usb from a computer
launch Xterm
(NOTE - on the following lines the $ and the # are the prompts that I see - the rest of the line is what I type...)
$ sudo gainroot
# cd /home/user/MyDocs/.documents/
# tar zxvf initfs_flasher.tgz

use file manager to copy the bootmenu.conf file to the initfs_flasher directory on the internal memory
switch back to Xterm
# cd initfs_flasher

Close all applications except for Xterm, and disconnect from internet.

# ./initfs_flash
This will ask several questions, here is what I plan to use (typing what's in bold):

backup? no
remove extra stuff? no
found, do you want to add it to initfs? yes
ready for flashing this image? yes
Press enter to reboot device

tz1 | # 9 | 2009-01-12, 00:05 | Report

The initfs, dropbear, and utelnetd use symlinks.

I had to REFLASH, so right now to reinstall initfs, it would have to work without any symlink to RX-48 and/or 5.2007-??.

It probably would work if I downgraded then installed or manually added the right links

tomstratton | # 10 | 2009-01-12, 02:34 | Report

Fanoush -

I went through the following steps and got bootmenu to do what it is supposed to do but got an error...

"Boot from mmc13 failed... rebooting from flash"

see the following description for more info

**************** What I did *****************

Open Application manager and enable maemo Extras repository
Install rootsh (Browse Installable applications > all > rootsh
go to http://fanoush.wz.cz/maemo with the browser and download:
initfs_flasher.tgz
copy the custom bootmenu.conf file (show above) onto the internal memory via usb from a computer
launch Xterm
(NOTE - on the following lines the $ and the # are the prompts that I see - the rest of the line is what I type...)
$ sudo gainroot
# cd /home/user/MyDocs/.documents/
# tar zxvf initfs_flasher.tgz

use file manager to copy the bootmenu.conf file to the initfs_flasher directory on the internal memory
switch back to Xterm
# cd initfs_flasher

Close all applications except for Xterm, and disconnect from internet.

# ./initfs_flash
This will ask you several questions, here is what I recommend (type what's in bold):

continue : yes

backup? no
remove extra stuff? no <-- changed from original instructions in order to resolve boot issue
install telnet server for network recovery: yes
install dropbear ssh server for advanced network recovery: yes
bootmenu.conf found, do you want to add it to initfs? yes
ready for flashing this image? yes
Press enter to reboot device (press enter)


reboot got me into bootmenu - pressed enter to boot to external and got error message:
"Boot from mmc13 failed... rebooting from flash"
At this point a manual reboot did NOT get bootmenu to activate
I went to Xtools and did the following...
$ sudo gainroot
# chroot /mnt/initfs cal-tool --set-root-device ask:mmc
# reboot

this brought up the bootmenu again (after a reboot) and again the D-pad let me navigate and the keyboard let me select and attempt to boot into mmc13
Same error message.

ran pb again and re-cloned with format onto mmc13
then reset the swap partition with pb to mmc12
Went to Xtools and did the following...
$ sudo gainroot
# chroot /mnt/initfs cal-tool --set-root-device ask:mmc
# reboot


same error

********************************

Tom

---

Last edited by tomstratton; 2009-01-12 at 05:38. Reason: spelling mistakes