cubietruck hangs at boot with debian-3.8-wheezy-4.0.4

[cibomato]

Hi,

 

I've tried to set up my new cubietruck with Igor's Debian-3.8-wheezy-4.0.4 image but first, it can't bring up eth0 and then gets stuck at restarting sshd.

Tried rebooting and powercycling 4-5 times, always the same...

 

Any ideas? Or should I use another image or kernel? If yes, which one?

 

Many thanks and best regards,

cibomato

[Igor]

Use some older or wait a day or two. Problems are fixed but I need to rebuild images.

 

The problem is boot loader not kernel.

[cibomato]

Thanks for your great work and fast response!

 

I'll wait.

[cibomato]

Hi Igor,

 

Debian-3.9-wheezy-4.0.5 is up & running...!

 

Thank you very much for that fast bugfix!

 

Cheers,

Jochen

[jtaparicio]

sorry but... I have the same problem with jessie and kernel 4.0.5, 11/06 image. My cubie doesn't boot.

 

Thanks!

[Igor]

My cubie doesn't boot.

 

 

Where it stops? Do you have a serial console, VGA, HDMI? Do you get an IP - check router ...

 

Last images are double checked. Cubietruck, rev. A.

[jtaparicio]

 

Where it stops? Do you have a serial console, VGA, HDMI? Do you get an IP - check router ...

 

Last images are double checked. Cubietruck, rev. A.

Hi, thanks for your quick response!

 

Cubie boots until I see on my VGA monitor "Welcome to Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie)!"

 

No serial console.

 

After two minutes I get this two messages:

 

[   TIME   ] Timed out waiting for device dev-ttyS0.device.

[DEPEND] Dependency falided for Serial Getty on ttyS0.

 

"TIME" is written in red, "DEPEND" in yellow

 

And thats all, no more messages.

 

Thereis no ip (checked in router DHCP list, pings or ssh atemps returns "No route to host").

 

Thanks!

[Igor]

That was a bug on one version back. On latest build this should be fixed. I'll check again asap.

 

Wrote on mobile phone

[cibomato]

Have you changed something in the debian-3.9-wheezy-4.0.5-image between June 11th and today?

I had to re-setup my cubietruck from scratch and therefore I downloaded the same (?) image (which worked before) again, copied it to sdcard and fired the cubie up:

 

now it hangs again but at a different position:

 

right at the beginning it says: "warning - bad CRC, using default environment"

I'm not sure, whether this has something to do with my boot-problem?

 

Short time later the DHCPDISCOVER takes less than a second (!?) and then it says:

- Unable to set up timer: unexpected error

- Failed to bring up eth0

 

Then some seconds later it hangs forever at "Enabling ramlog....."

 

Thanks and best regards,

Jochen

 

P.S.: I've googled and found some hints, that it could be tied to wrong date and time (http://forum.solid-run.com/linux-on-cubox-i-and-hummingboard-f8/unable-to-configure-eth0-on-debian-jessi-t525.html) or here (http://www.gpio.com.au/faq/hummingboard-dhcp-fails-to-get-an-ip-address-failed-to-bring-up-eth0″/) but how to set the correct date when I have no running system?

[Igor]

warning - bad CRC, using default environment

 

http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/WarningBadCRCUsingDefaultEnvironment

 

The whole problem (I think) is Ethernet initialization which is done in u-boot. This should be fixed in last edition but since there are still reports of problems I can conclude that we don't share exactly same hardware? It's possible in a quality manner. But anyway this should be fixable since it was working well all the time.

 

wrong date and time

 

I don't think it's related. Nothing has been change system wise. If your Ethernet is not up you can login via console eventually.

 

I'll recheck again what's going on but as I said Ethernet is working o.k. on my board.

[cibomato]

...since it was working well all the time.

 

 

I don't think it's related. Nothing has been change system wise. If your Ethernet is not up you can login via console eventually.

 

 

It's very strange because like I posted above, this same image already has worked for the same (my) cubietruck and the system was up for the last 9 days. LAN worked fine.

 

Now I messed up the system somehow and therefore I decided to do a complete clean reinstall from scratch again (copy image to sdcard, boot and write root partition to hdd).

But now I encounter this problem. That's why I was asking, whether the image has changed since then (downloaded it again yesterday). But if image and hardware are still exactly the same, something else must have happened!?

 

I don't understand too, what rtc / system date and time should have to do with initialisation of eth0 but that's what seemed to be the solution for different people writing in this thread: http://forum.solid-run.com/linux-on-cubox-i-and-hummingboard-f8/unable-to-configure-eth0-on-debian-jessi-t525.html

 

As one of them said "...I Set the date and Ethernet was working OK, after cutting the power the clock reset again (which is fine) and ethernet was again unusable(which is NOT fine)....", so did I (cutting the power off).

 

What do you mean with login via console? I've already attached a USB-Keyboard but can't switch to another tty at this stage.

 

Many thanks in advance for your effort since I do have some linux experience but I'm quite new to the ARM/cubietruck stuff.

 

Best regards,

Jochen

 

[Edit]:

 

Debian-3.9-wheezy-3.4.107 is booting. Rebooting and also cutting off the power completely is no problem, boots up again... Strange! But I'd like to have Kernel 4.x

 

Debian-3.9-jessie-4.0.5 doesn't boot. Hangs immediately at "This is Debian 8 (jessie)"

Ubuntu-3.9-4.0.5 doesn't boot. Hangs 3 mins at "brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_reg_notifier: not a ISO 3166 code" then continues but hangs forever at "System will reboot automatically. Please wait!"

 

What else could I test?

 

[/Edit]

[lampra]

Hi,

Same problem here on Cubietruck with Ubuntu-3.9-4.0.5. It doesn't boot.

Debian-3.9-jessie-4.0.5 also doesn't boot. Hangs after enabling ramlog. Before that i get a message that it failed to bring up eth0.

[cibomato]

Seems like Kernel 4.0.5 causes the problem, regardless if it's wheezy or jessie. Here's what I did:

 

- copied/installed Debian-3.9-wheezy-3.4.107  --> ok

- moved root to hdd --> ok

- apt-get update && apt-get upgrade && apt-get dist-upgrade --> ok

- Upgrade to Jessie as described in the faq --> ok

- configured fixed ip --> ok

 

So, then I am on Jessie with Kernel 3.4.107 now. Everything is fine, also after a reboot.

But then I updated the kernel as described in the faq to 4.0.5. After the next reboot it hangs:

 

Welcome to Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie)!

 

[ TIME ] Timed out waiting for device dev-mmcblk0p1.device.

[DEPEND] Dependency failed for /media/mmc

[DEPEND] Dependency failed for Local File Systems.

[DEPEND] Dependency failed for /boot.

 

Any idea?

 

Thanks and best regards,

Jochen

[Igor]

I never done exact scenario. In theory it should work.   You have done (too) many steps where things can get wrong  Especially avoid distribution upgrades.

 

I made a quick Wheezy build with latest 4.1. Untested.

 

https://mirror1.igorpecovnik.com/Cubietruck_Debian_4.0_wheezy_4.1.0.zip

[Igor]

Kernel 4.1 for all A20 boards:

 

http://mirror.igorpecovnik.com/kernel/4.1.0-bananapi-next.tar

(tested quickly. temperature readings are false which is the only noticed bug)

Uboot is only for Banana! Don't install on other boards.

 

Kernel 3.4.108 for Banana & Orange

 

http://mirror.igorpecovnik.com/kernel/3.4.108-bananapi-default.tar

(tested quckly)

Uboot is only for Banana! Don't install on other boards.

 

Kernel 3.4.108 for Cubieboards, Lime1-2

 

http://mirror.igorpecovnik.com/kernel/3.4.108-cubietruck-default.tar

(tested quckly)

Uboot is only for Cubietruck! Don't install on other boards.

 

 

I started today with long term stability stress test. Configuration:
 

Cubietruck Wheezy 3.4.107 on NAND, Wifi connect
Banana Jessie 3.4.108 

Olimex Lime Jessie 4.1

 

Build today, using default configuration + some dummy stress scripts.

[cibomato]

You have done (too) many steps where things can get wrong  Especially avoid distribution upgrades.

 

Besides the fixed ip It was only updates/upgrades since all the other images didn't boot.

Went all fine, even the dristribution upgrade. Survived reboots. But then the kernel upgrade seem to have broken it.

 

I'll try the new 4.1 tonight. Thank you!

[cibomato]

Nope, Debian-4.0-whezzy-4.1 doesn't boot either....

 

Same as above:

 

DHCPDISCOVER takes less than a second (!?) and then it says:

- Unable to set up timer: unexpected error

- Failed to bring up eth0

 

Then some seconds later it hangs forever at "Enabling ramlog....."

 

 

One more idea: could my problems come from power supply? I've got a 5V/2,5A-USB-Power-Supply. Could this be to weak with sata-hdd attached?

Will try it while sata-hdd deattached... 

[Edit]: with hdd deattached and w/o keyboard --> still the same...

[DMG]

Nope, Debian-4.0-whezzy-4.1 doesn't boot either....

 

Same as above:

 

DHCPDISCOVER takes less than a second (!?) and then it says:

- Unable to set up timer: unexpected error

- Failed to bring up eth0

 

Then some seconds later it hangs forever at "Enabling ramlog....."

I confirm, not working

[cibomato]

@lampra: what about you?

 

Have you guys tried other images? Which one works? For me the only image that boots is Debian-3.8-wheezy-3.4.x

 

@Igor: What could be the difference between the working and non-working images besides the kernel? 

[Igor]

@Igor: What could be the difference between the working and non-working images besides the kernel? 

 

U-boot. If u-boot doesn't properly bring up the Ethernet it won't work.

 

I made one boot test with fresh SD card. In first try it failed to initialize but than I cut power (reset might not be enough) and boot again without a problem. Wheezy with kernel 4.1 from the post above.

 

It's working for me. If you won't be able to boot this image we need to figure out why.

[DMG]

Cubietruck_Debian_3.8_wheezy_3.4.107 working fine for me but can't boot from SSD. After nand-sata-install rootfs on SSD but booting only from SD-card.

Disconnect battery and AC power adaptor but 4.1 still not booting...

[cibomato]

Cubietruck_Debian_3.8_wheezy_3.4.107 working fine for me but can't boot from SSD. After nand-sata-install rootfs on SSD but booting only from SD-card.

 

Disconnect battery and AC power adaptor but 4.1 still not booting...

As far as I understood, bootloader always has to stay on sdcard or nand, so therefore you have to let the sdcard inserted even if root-fs is on hdd/sdd!? So that should be ok. Or didn't I get you right?

 

Debian-3.8-wheezy-3.4.107 is also the only image working for me. 

 

@Igor: I did powercycle the cubietruck completely (plug-off and back in the powerchord). Same effect as Ctrl/Alt/Del. x.4.0.5 nor 4.1 does boot.

 

How to enter u-boot commandline? I'd like to try resetting date and time before booting. But when I press a key in order to interrupt autmatic booting, nothing happens!? Afterwards, when boot hangs, the keyboard is detected and e.g. Ctrl+Alt+Del works.

[DMG]

As far as I understood, bootloader always has to stay on sdcard or nand, so therefore you have to let the sdcard inserted even if root-fs is on hdd/sdd!? So that should be ok. Or didn't I get you right?

 

Debian-3.8-wheezy-3.4.107 is also the only image working for me. 

 

Yes, already understand this. I'm thought that when run "nand-sata-install" from SD-card and choice install rootfs to HDD, bootloader will be installed to NAND. It's not true, bootloader will be on SD-card.

Please add to FAQ: If you want boot from NAND (not from SD card) you must run "nand-sata-install" twice:

1 - install from SD-card  to NAND

2 - then remove SD-card, boot from NAND and run "nand-sata-install" second time.

 

@Igor: I did powercycle the cubietruck completely (plug-off and back in the powerchord). Same effect as Ctrl/Alt/Del. x.4.0.5 nor 4.1 does boot.

 

How to enter u-boot commandline? I'd like to try resetting date and time before booting. But when I press a key in order to interrupt autmatic booting, nothing happens!? Afterwards, when boot hangs, the keyboard is detected and e.g. Ctrl+Alt+Del works.

 

Only if you connect USB <-> serial converter (3.3v ONLY!) to UART0 then press any key when see "Hit any key to stop autoboot". Not working if you will be using keyboard and monitor.

[cibomato]

Could this have something to do with the problem?

http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/NetNoEthernetFound

 

See also:

http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/EthernetDoesNotWorkInLinux

 

In the german cubieboard-forum I've found that cubietruck changes MAC at every reboot (which I nearly can't believe...?):

http://www.forum-cubieboard.de/Thread-tipps-tricks-netzwerk

[Igor]

Random MAC issue in kernel was fixed some time ago.

 

Wrote on mobile phone

[lampra]

@cibomato: As I wrote earlier Ubuntu-3.9-4.0.5 and Debian-3.9-jessie-4.0.5 doesn't boot on my Cubietruck.

I also tested Debian-4.0-wheezy-4.1.0 which also does not boot. I tried also by cutting the power but no results.

[cibomato]

GOT IT !!!

 

It was the f***ed-up rtc indeed! Let me explain:

 

I simplified my experiment from above:

 

- installed debian-3.8-wheezy-3.4.107 --> ok (eth0 is ok, ping heise.de works)

- survives reboot / halt and power-on / halt and dis-/reconnect power --> everything ok

 

Then upgrade to kernel 4.0.5 as described in your faq and then:

- reboot 

 

--> System boots till login screen (!!!) but eth0 isn't set up! No ping possible!

dmesg | grep rtc

2085-06-25 (NOT ok)

date

Fr 20. Mai 13:37:52 CET 1949 (NOT ok)

hwclock --show

hwclock: The Hardware Clock registers contain values that are either invalid (e.g. 50th day of month) or beyond the range we can handle (e.g. Year 2095).

 

So, all date/time and clocks are wrong! Now I've set the correct date manually:

date -s "25 JUN 2015 21:00:10"

date

ok!

 

But hwclock / rtc is still going wrong:

hwclock --show

(NOT ok)

 

So, I've now set hwclock to system date via:

hwclock --systohc --localtime

And voilà:

hwclock --show

 --> ok (!)

 

reboot

--> eth0 comes up !!!! ping ok!

date --> ok

hwclock --show --> ok

 

halt and power on

date : ok ping ok

 

halt power dis-reconmnect

--> ok

 

Then I removed sdcard, copied debian-4.0-wheezy-4.1 on it, put it back in and reset

 

And..................

Tatataaaaaaa, it doesn't complain about rtc, it recognizes eth0 and boots normally!

 

Repeated that with new installation of  debian 3.9-jessie-4.0.5, also works like a charm!

 

 

I'm happy!

 

Hope, that this is helpful for you other guys, too!!!

[DMG]

You want say that problem is that hardware clock is not set properly?

[cibomato]

Yep. At least that was the solution for my problem.

[DMG]

It's mean that if I make:

hwclock --systohc --localtime

in debian-3.8-wheezy-3.4.107

 

than reboot from SD-card with debian-4.0-wheezy-4.1 all must be work? Yes? In theory?

[cibomato]

If it's the same problem than by me, after booting up debian-3.8-wheezy-3.4.107 (or whatever system works) you should first make shure, that the system date&time is correct:

date

If it's not correct, you can set it with:

date -s "26 JUN 2015 19:20:21"

and control once again with date, that it's correct now.

 

After that, you should check date&time of the hwclock:

hwclock --show

If it's not correct (or you do it anyway), you can set the hwclock date&time to the system date&time via:

hwclock --systohc --localtime

and doublecheck afterwards once again with hwclock --show, that this was successful.

 

 

After that I was able to shut down the system, copy the image I like to sdcard and boot from it.

Everything was discovered (rtc, eth0,...), dhcp worked and got an IP and the system came up without a problem.

 

Hope this helps you too! Let us know.

 

Cheers,

Jochen