Mele A1000

[jondb]

..............
A guide how to load the rootfs from a SATA drive would be nice. I don't think I read about someone who was able to do this. I thought I read you need to implement a SATA driver in U-boot.

well I have 2rootfs on sata (arch and linaro)
i have made initramfs with sata modul (sw_ahci_platform)
I d´ont know if the procedure is "correct", but it works for me.

edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and add modul for sata :
MODULES="sw_ahci_platform"
make initramfs :
mkinitcpio -g /boot/initramfs-linux.img
make loadable image for u-boot :
mkimage -A arm -T ramdisk -C none -n "uInitrd" -d /boot/initramfs-linux.img /boot/uInitrd
mount SD-card and copy uInitrd in first vfat partition :
mkdir /tmp/sd1
mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /tmp/sd1
cp /boot/uInitrd /tmp/sd1
make file boot.cmd for change the default boot parameters :
nano /tmp/sd1/boot.cmd
this is mine (I have arch rootfs on /dev/sda2) :

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setenv console 'ttyS0,115200'
setenv root '/dev/sda2'
setenv panicarg 'panic=10'
setenv extra 'rootfstype=ext4 rootwait'
setenv loglevel '8'
setenv setargs 'setenv bootargs console=${console} root=${root} loglevel=${loglevel} ${panicarg} ${extra}'
setenv kernel 'uImage'
setenv boot_mmc 'fatload mmc 0 0x43000000 script.bin; fatload mmc 0 0x48000000 ${kernel}; fatload mmc 0 0x43100000 uInitrd; bootm 0x48000000 0x43100000'
setenv bootcmd 'run setargs boot_mmc'


convert boot.cmd in image-type file which u-boot can use and read :
cd /tmp/sd1
mkimage -A arm -O u-boot -T script -C none -n "boot" -d boot.cmd boot.scr
sync and unmount:
cd
sync
umount /tmp/sd1

should work, at least for me

bye

This should be added to the installation page.

Thanks, I'm gonna give it a try.

[WarheadsSE]

I will add this under an Advanced tab.

Modify/edit uEnv.txt as such:
- changing rootfs location

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extraargs=rootfstype=ext4 rootwait
root=/dev/sda2


I moved the module into the kernel, removing the uInitrd needs. I will get the updated kernel into the rootfs tarball shortly.

[Ralfk]

thx for the nice work so far almost everthing went perfectly except 2 things:

first the Mele changed it's Mac-adress after every reboot. Fix: (source: http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/hacking_the_mele_a1000/Building_Debian_From_Source_Code_for_Mele/)

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bin2fex script.bin > myscript.fex

You need the MAC address for the wired ethernet from your Mele. Either open up the box and get the address from the label, or boot the stock Android and go to Settings -> Network -> Wired Network Settings.

Edit the myscript.fex file. At the bottom, change the line

MAC = "0000000000"
to the MAC address of your Mele. For example,

MAC = "00CE39B68863"
Now compile the script to a .bin and install to the SD card.

fex2bin myscript.fex myscript.bin


for that you'll need sunxi-tools from AUR

the second problem I am having: my hardwareclock does not work.

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sudo hwclock --debug
hwclock from util-linux 2.21.2
Using /dev interface to clock.
Last drift adjustment done at 0 seconds after 1969
Last calibration done at 0 seconds after 1969
Hardware clock is on UTC time
Assuming hardware clock is kept in UTC time.
Waiting for clock tick...
hwclock: select() to /dev/rtc to wait for clock tick timed out: No such file or directory
...synchronization failed


has anyone an idea how to solve that?

[WarheadsSE]

sunxi-tools , in AUR eh? Hmm, I packaged them and put them in our private alarm/sunxi-tools too.

Haven't dug into the RTC.

[ValdikSS]

RTC works in my rootfs. Haven't tested yours though.

[jondb]

I will add this under an Advanced tab.
I moved the module into the kernel, removing the uInitrd needs. I will get the updated kernel into the rootfs tarball shortly.

Thanks for the effort. I'm waiting for the updated tarball since I lack the tools to build uInitrd under linux mint.

[menos16]

Hi people

After a few attempts I haven't had success... I tell you

1. sudo su
2- Download in a local directory the Mele bootloader tarball http://archlinuxarm.org/os/sun4i/Mele-bootloader.tar.gz and uncompress,
3- insert my 2GB sdcard into computer (/dev/sdb) and run the script ./mkA10card.sh /dev/sdb; everything seems OK. The script creates the following disk structure

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/dev/sdb   64 MB Master Boot Record
/dev/sdb1 942 MB  W95 FAT32 (LBA) (Bootable)  "BOOT"
/dev/sdb2 942 MB  Ext4 (version 1.0)                   "ALARM"

4 mount my new partitions (sdb1 -> /tmp/boot sdb2 -> /tmp/arch) and copy the files of the tarball

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[i]tar -zxf ArchLinuxARM-sun4i-latest.tar.gz -C /tmp/arch
cp /tmp/arch/boot/uImage /tmp/boot/uImage
cp script.bin /tmp/boot/script.bin
cp uEnv.txt /tmp/boot/uEnv.txt[/i]

and to finish, sync and unmount the SDCARD... then I put into my mele2000...and...and...nothing
the device doesn't show nothing by HDMI or VGA video output... only a blank screen..., but If I remove the sdcard and reboot the mele2000, the android ICS operative system starts normally.

I have read the previous post but I don't understand very well everything... but I thing that I followed the steps correctly.. Someone can give me a clue??.

thanks for your help.

[ValdikSS]

I don't think it should show anything. Just connect ethernet and ssh into the box. Or connect UART to see what's going on.

[WarheadsSE]

Correct.

We do not assume you want KDE/Gnome/Unity/etc. And to be honest, the X11 drivers have been wonky of later with the latest revisions not fully tested as of yet, by me. Expect to see more video packages/functionality soon.

[ValdikSS]

WarheadsSE, by the way, in my rootfs there are ready PKGBUILD's for xf86-video-mali and libgl-mali in /root/. Use it as you want.