Re: NextThing C.H.I.P. v1.0 - Debian Stretch Installer from USB
Pablo Rath <pablo@parobalth.org> writes:
> As this is a rather long message I start with a brief summary:
> I try to install Debian Stretch (Stable, armhf) with the Debian Installer on a
> NextThing Chip v1.0 Allwinner board. After some initial problems I
> managed to complete installation but as far as I understand the kernel
> doesn't load the rootfs. I believe I am missing the correct U-Boot
> commands. I use a self-compiled mainline U-Boot via sunxi-fel to
> circumvent the U-Boot version on NAND provided by the manufacturer.
> I am glad for any help to make the board boot Debian Stretch.
>
> ...and now the longer story:
> Last week I tried to get the Debian Testing (Stretch) Installer work with my NextThing
> Chip v1.0 (R8 CPU, repurposed Allwinner A13).
> I am loading self-compiled mainline U-Boot via sunxi-fel u-boot (http://linux-sunxi.org/FEL/USBBoot)
> The installer booted and I could answer the first questions (timezone,
> language).
> Then the installer could not find the .iso image.
> Can anyone tell me possible reasons for this problem?
> Was it probably a non compatible combination of hd media tarball and *.iso?
>
> After the recent Stretch release I gave it another try and succesfully managed to install Debian Stretch (Stable) with the Debian
> Installer following this guide from the Debian Wiki:
> https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Allwinner#Installing_from_a_USB_stick
>
> I used the "debian-9.0.0-armhf-xfce-CD-1.jigdo" CD from:
> https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/9.0.0/armhf/jigdo-cd/
> and interacted with the Installer via serial connection.
> Installation completed and rebooted. I am still using my self-compiled mainline U-Boot via sunxi-fel and try to boot the installed Debian Stretch Image.
>
> Booting U-Boot "automatically" gave me following output:
> usb 0:2...
> Found U-Boot script /boot.scr
> 2458 bytes read in 172 ms (13.7 KiB/s)
> ## Executing script at 43100000
> Mainline u-boot / new-style environment detected.
> 3701296 bytes read in 279 ms (12.7 MiB/s)
> 22913 bytes read in 213 ms (104.5 KiB/s)
> 16438413 bytes read in 916 ms (17.1 MiB/s)
> Booting Debian 4.9.0-3-armmp from usb 0:2...
> ## Flattened Device Tree blob at 43000000
> Booting using the fdt blob at 0x43000000
> Loading Ramdisk to 49052000, end 49fff48d ... OK
> Loading Device Tree to 49049000, end 49051980 ... OK
>
> Starting kernel ...
>
> [ 1.464003] sr_init: platform driver register failed for SR
> [ 2.036209] sunxi-mmc 1c0f000.mmc: smc 0 err, cmd 8, RTO !!
> Gave up waiting for suspend/resume device
> Gave up waiting for root file system device. Common problems:
> - Boot args (cat /proc/cmdline)
> - Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough?)
> - Missing modules (cat /proc/modules; ls /dev)
> ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid/3b34108b-a873-43c6-be7d-95c091c22335 does not exist. Dropping to a shell!
I'm not very familiar with the board or u-boot but this message suggests
that the disk UUID cannot be found.
Have you tried passing something like "root=/dev/sdaX" where sdaX is the
partition containing the root filesystem? Link below has a bit more
explanation...
https://github.com/umiddelb/armhf/wiki/Get-more-out-of-%22Das-U-Boot%22
>
> ...and dropped me to an initramfs shell.
> The output of "cat /proc/cmdline" is:
> console=ttyS0,115200 quiet
>
> With my limited U-Boot knowledge I have reached a dead end. I think I
> have to point U-Boot and the kernel to the rootfs on usb 0:3 - but don't
> know the right commands.
> I would aprreciate a pointer in the right direction. Please let me know
> if you need additional information.
>
> kind regards
> Pablo
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