Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Thanks, I will try to improve documentation then :)

Can you specify which tasks and parts of the process exactly are the difficult ones? Of course it is difficult to me to know, as it is always hard to see mistakes in own work... (which is why we have peer review :p)

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I guess the most misleading may be the definition of location where the second-level kernel is stored on device.

Excerpt from my config:
Nitdroid base system is located on my device on partition #5 (G_OS1_PARTITION).
The kernel (second-level, to-be-booted) may be where ever you like.
For convenience juiceme created links (named after the definition of G_OS1_NAME) on first-level system under /boot:
so /boot/Nitdroid defines /dev/mmcblk0p5

In my case the kernel is on
/dev/mmcblk0p5/boot/
see
G_OS1_2_FILE="/boot/Nitdroid/boot/zImage_pr13-l2fix"

but in former times I had in on partition #2:
G_OS2_PARTITION=2
G_OS2_NAME="Harmattan"
#G_OS1_2_FILE="/boot/Harmattan/boot/zImage_pr13-l2fix"

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Yeah, the paths are confusing should be documented. How is it with preinits? Will it suffice to modify the target system's /sbin/init or more trickery is required? Are there any thing which have to be done? (The preinit is needed due to the watchdog kicking in)

I seem to spend far much time wondering about how to properly set up the boot process.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I agree, the paths and other defines are a bit confusing. The reason they are used like in ubiboot.conf is that the file is sourced from the ubiboot init and loader scripts.
Moreover, the partition definitions correspond to the physical partition layout of the device which is something else as the way the partitions are mounted in various OS'es...


Again, you do have a point there. The reason I have not paid that much respect to the watchdog setup is because in my devices I have turned all watchdogs off :D
Reason for that is simple; if I have a potential lockup, I want to see the kernel oops... :p

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

And is it possible to turn all watchdogs off? I heard ubiboot wakes them back again.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

No, I don't think so. If the dogs are removed with flasher (--enable-rd-mode --set-rd-flags=no-omap-wd,no-ext-wd,no-lifeguard-reset) then they should remain off.

However this might be dependent on the actual HW revision of the device...?

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Hi.
I think the 'nand chip'/'omap2-onenand'/'whatever' is showing symptoms of ageing in my backup device (possibly a refurbrished one).....
.... and I would like to ask:
Is it possible to use ubiboot to avoid the use of partitions mtd0 --> mtd6? I think this could help to extend the device's life a bit :).
I'm running nandtest command and all six show r/w errors.
Maybe only using /dev/mtd0 as bootloader to redirect the process somewhere else would help?
Regard.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Not really knowing what I speak of, but:

we all have those errors in kernel log.
And as long as the error is correctable -as I understood the discussion (somewhere on TMO)- it is not a problem. So I do not think about it...

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I use the latest version of ubiboot with 6 boot options, i'd like to use one with this menu of only 3 OS (meego, android, sailfish) mainly because this looks more clean and i dont use the others anyway.
How do I do it?

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

1.) get the toolkit from https://toosa.swagman.org/svn/animatronics/
2.) the essentials are described in the README file

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I followed that, but it seems a lot of work.
I was wondering if someone uses that or who knows it can point me to the .cpio file responsible. Perhaps someone still has it handy.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Well, it is not that difficult.

If I correctly understand what you have in mind, it is just the picture-icons react to tapping, and the texts next to them only describe the actions, right?

To achieve that, all you need is to create the right-hand texts as png images just like described in the animatronics README, and modify the top level touchmap so that their area does not trigger any events... and that's all there is to it! :)

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I'm trying once again to boot Debian with mainline kernel on my N950.

My Ubiboot configuration is: https://pastebin.com/dByXqphq
ubiboot.log: https://pastebin.com/HCV6y0kA
ubiboot.dmesg: https://pastebin.com/T9W6HeT6

The system lives for awhile and then reboots. I have no logs in /var/log/journal even though `Storage=persistent` is in /etc/systemd/journald.conf. On the Debian filesystem, /boot/bzImage is a symlink to /boot/vmlinuz-4.9.0-3-armmp (neither of them works)

Does it look like an error in ubiboot configuration?

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

So you have Debian on slot #5

Rootfs for it is on /dev/mmcblk0p4, and you have the kernel correctly placed in /boot/vmlinuz-4.9.0-3-armmp of the said partition.

According to the logs your setup is pretty much OK. The only thing that's not checked in your ubiboot version is the availability/executability of the init fie of the booting OS. (that is checked in the latest version, 0.3.6-tiny...)

So, according to ubiboot everything goes well until it hands execution to the newly loaded kernel. The new kernel then tries to execute /sbin/init.

How doe the boot continue, exactly?
You mention it goes OK first, then reboots?

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

One thing I thought about; have you turned off the watchdogs?
Debian of course doesn't know how to feed the dogs unless you added a script for that in initialization yourself...

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Of course I did not.

Are the R&D flags explained anywhere? I see in 0xFFFF:
what are the different watchdogs on the N950? what is software lifeguard? dsme?

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I just turn 'em all off :p

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I disabled them all, unfortunately, the device reboots after a while. :(

Is there any way to easily set up a telnet/ssh session to the device, like Nemo does? They're using their own `init-debug` script, though.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

How far do you get, I assume debian starts to at least some extent?
The kernel you are using, did you compile it yourself with all the patches needed to make it work on N9?


Sure you mean to the device, not from?
Easiest is to enable serial console and connect to N9's serial port with minicom; that is pretty much foolproof. Same way you will get kernel logs visible while the device is booting.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

That was installed from the repo. 4.9 should have the most needed patches
http://elinux.org/N950

The patches for display were not merged yet, though.

of course, to ;)

and without unscrewing the device? :) I'm a little afraid I'll break my N950.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Ooh, I was not aware such a recent kernel has been fixed to work with N9(50)... Maybe I need to try that myself.

How's the init system in your kernel; is it expecting to use systemd or sysvinit? As I presume you are taking some arm debian disk image and integrating that with the elinux kernel?


I don't know about N950 (since I only ever was allowed once to hold @eekkelund's device in my hands for about a minute :p) but in N9 the access to serial port is through the simtray, there is no need to open the device for that :D

Any other way to access the device requires you to have a daemon running in it, which basically means your userland needs to start.
For debugging init problems this is not the optimal strategy :p

[OK, yes there are other ways of course, you could build serial-emulation-for-usb in your kernel, or route kernel logging to audio port or modulate the status led with it... however you probably don't want to know about those methods]

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

If I am correct the serial port is accessed via 3.5mm headphone plug in N950. So there wouldn't be need to tear phone apart(maybe). But somebody needs to comfirm this. :)

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I have journalctl installed, so I think I have the full right to assume it's systemd.

My steps were:
1. Create a partition, setup ubiboot
2. Mount the partition from the ubiboot rescue, follow this guide:
http://blog.lazy-evaluation.net/post...bootstrap.html
3. install the kernel package linux-image-armmp

That's the normal upstream kernel, as provided by Debian.

I guess I have no serial cable...

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

What I meant; what is the debian rootfs you installed to your mmcblk0p4 partition?
When your kernel boots does it find all it needs on the rootfs?

And you still did not answer; how far does the boot go, do you see anything at all on your device screen after ubiboot hands the execution to the debian kernel?

And another thing; have you checked that the debian kernel handles the CPU L2 cache initialization correctly? (See the section 4. of ubiboot README file...)

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

[QUOTE=juiceme;1532806]What I meant; what is the debian rootfs you installed to your mmcblk0p4 partition?
When your kernel boots does it find all it needs on the rootfs?[/code]
I created an empty ext4 partition and bootstrapped latest Debian Stretch onto it using `debootstrap`.


I don't know. I have no journal logs in /var/log, even though I use persistent storage mode in journald.conf


How can I check it?

Here's my kernel config, I don't really know what to look for: https://pastebin.com/1T9DBbbb

Maybe the problem is that I didn't append the device tree part manually?

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I would like to telnet with ubiboot small on my Ubuntu 17.10 i386.
when i run telnet 192.168.2.15 not work.
Unable to connect to remote host...
when i run ifconfig -a i have no usb0 in the list
my n9 is named enp0s29....
Do i need to set up something before run telnet command

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Try the following:

That ought to bring up the USB interface on the same subnet as the N9.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Yes.

0.3.6-tiny is a stripped/limited version that does not have dhcpd enabled.
The tiny version was made specifically for the people who have bad kernel partition so that it can fit in there... It's recommended to use 0.3.7 for everybody else.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

There are versions 0.3.6 and 0.3.7? What??? Where does one even find these? They are not mentioned in the README, nor wiki page, nor can they be found under http://www.swagman.org/juice/ubiboot/ubiboot-02/. I just took ubiboot-02_0.3.5_301013.tar and flashed zImage_2.6.32.54-ubiboot-02-small_060114 as it seemed to be the latest.

If I'm honest, I found the documentation (README and wiki) to be out of date and incomplete. After a lot of pain, I eventually figured it out.

Parts of the README I found confusing:

Only in the comment in the ubiboot.conf file does it say that the path should be relative to the ubiboot FS but there was nothing to explain the layout of ubiboot FS and no way of knowing the layout without telneting in (which telneting itself may not be obvious to some if they used the "small" kernel which appears to be the latest, as I did).

It's not clear that the "Harmattan" name is taken from the value of G_OS<x>_NAME. Again, I needed to telnet in to understand this properly.

It's not clear that each rootfs should be copied/unpacked to a dedicated partition unless handled by a preinit script. This really confused me. Combined with the problems mentioned above, I incorrectly thought that maybe G_OS<x>_<y>_FILE was being used to specify the rootfs location as well as the kernel.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, I just hope this will help others to avoid the problems I had. Although it would also be nice if you would fix the documentation juiceme. ;)

It might also be nice to have a new ubiboot with a recent kernel and recent kexec tools. ;)

EDIT: One more thing, my experience would have been far less painful if ubiboot had printed an error message to tell me that my kernel image was not found before running kexec. I had no idea why it was failing and thought there was a problem with the kernel I built.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Ya @wicket!

These are all valid critique points, I admit that I have always been somewhat lazy to document things!
Indeed I should at some point take time to tidy up things a bit... :D:D

The fact is that ubiboot is a bit of work-in-progress-stalled-indefinetely when my attention turned to other things, sadly. I kind of was in the middle of updating some new functionality into it (device charging, wlan set-up, etc...) when I stopped working on it.

Most if not all sources are in my github, except some experimental stuff still in my personal svn repo.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Ah, sorry about that!
Actually 0.3.7 has a lot better logging, it will tell you if the kernel is not loaded correctly and also check and log the init script correctness...

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Thanks juiceme!

I didn't even realise there were Git or Subversion repositories. I found the source directory and thought that was all there was! Now I know that there's a Git repo, you may see some patches coming your way. ;)

I assume this is what you are referring to. It seems to contain ubifs and kernel patches so I guess this is the main repo (not just animatronics) that I should be looking at.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

@Juiceme:

Hello,

It would be necessary to bring initrd support to ubiboot to be usable without serial console.

Can you make update for that?
It will help for new pmOS.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

So you mean possibility to load a separate initrd file with the kernel, instead of just booting the kernel directly on a partition?
Sure, I see no problems with that really; it's just a kernel boot option to load the initrd.

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Correct.
To boot pmOS i need to go on Ubuntu, open terminal run kexec command via telnet.
I would like to make it auto when i push on pmOS icon for exemple.
Like running kexec command behind that without my pc.
you can do it?

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

Yes, it could be done.
However, as you see I have not worked with new releases since 2014, I kind of stopped development on ubiboot when I moved to SFOS :D

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

When you will update it?

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

When I have time and interest to do it (= maybe never...?)

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

I've added support for additional kexec options. That will allow you to specify an initrd image in ubiboot.conf.

I also replaced the Ubuntu graphic for a Maemo Leste graphic. ;)

Let's see if juiceme likes it. :D

https://github.com/juiceme/ubiboot-animatronics/pull/1

Re: Introducing ubiboot N9 (multiboot OS loader)
 

PR accepted :D