Seagate GoFlex Net

Seagate GoFlex Net

The GoFlex Net is a device based on the Marvell Sheeva plug computer platform, and is the successor to the DockStar. Unlike the DockStar, this device has two SATA ports that are externally accessible for the GoFlex range of portable hard drives. These are standard SATA ports so any bare 2.5" drive can dock in there, but a snug and secure fit will only be achieved by using the GoFlex drives.

There are nine total LEDs accessible: a dual color orange/green LED, and two banks of four white LEDs that were originally used as indicators for drive space usage.

  • These instructions will void your warranty. While every precaution is taken to ensure nothing bad happens, all actions are at your own risk.
  • my.pogoplug.com, the mobile applications, and the desktop Pogoplug connector will no longer work.
  1. With the device on and online, register and enable SSH through my.pogoplug.com.
  2. Power down the original, unmodified Seagate GoFlex Net.
  3. Unplug all disk drives.
  4. Take a note of the MAC address (usually it is on a label on the underside of the device, in the form uu:vv:ww:xx:yy:zz).
  5. With only the drive you intend to install Arch Linux ARM to plugged in (all data will be erased), switch on the power.
  6. If using a SATA hard drive, put the hard drive in right slot (if you're looking from the front.)
  7. Log in to Seagate GoFlex Net over SSH.
  8. Stop the Pogoplug software so it doesn't interfere with the install process:killall hbwd
  9. Start fdisk to partition the USB or SATA drive:
    /sbin/fdisk /dev/sda
  10. At the fdisk prompt, delete old partitions and create a new one:
    1. Type o. This will clear out any partitions on the drive.
    2. Type p to list partitions. There should be no partitions left.
    3. Now type n, then p for primary, 1 for the first partition on the drive, and then press ENTER, accepting default values.
    4. Exit by typing w.
  11. Create the ext3 filesystem:
    cd /tmp wget http://archlinuxarm.org/os/pogoplug/mke2fs chmod 755 mke2fs ./mke2fs -j /dev/sda1 mkdir alarm mount /dev/sda1 alarm
  12. Download and install Arch Linux ARM:
    cd alarm wget http://archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-armv5te-latest.tar.gz tar -xzvf ArchLinuxARM-armv5te-latest.tar.gz # This will take a long time rm ArchLinuxARM-armv5te-latest.tar.gz sync # Takes a while if you are using a flash drive
  13. Unmount the drive:
    cd .. umount alarm
  14. Download the U-Boot Install Toolkit (UBIT) environment
    cd /tmp wget http://jeff.doozan.com/debian/goflex/v0.6/uInitrd wget http://jeff.doozan.com/debian/goflex/v0.6/ubit_start chmod +x ubit_start
  15. Start the UBIT environment where the prompt will read: ubit0-6:~#
    ./ubit_start
  16. Update the U-Boot bootloader and move a copy of the OE U-Boot into unused NAND memory:
    chain_install goflexnet chain_revert uboot_uptodate
  17. You need to set your MAC address to the value you noted earlier
    ethaddr uu:vv:ww:xx:yy:zz
  18. Install the rescue system
    on /dev/sda1 ubit_write
  19. Mark the partition with the special label "rootfs":
    tune2fs -L "rootfs" /dev/sda1
  20. Leave the UBIT shell, and reboot into Arch Linux ARM
    exit /sbin/reboot



First reboot
On first reboot, there are a few housekeeping items to attend to.

  • Log in with user/password: root/root
  • Run a full system update:
    pacman -Scc # answer yes to both questions pacman -Syyuf
  • Install a package needed by the rescue system:
    pacman -Sy cpio
  • Install openntpd to set the current date and time:
    pacman -S openntpd
  • Set your local timezone:
    nano /etc/rc.conf # Change the TIMEZONE to any of the zones listed in /usr/share/zoneinfo unless you live in Chicago.
  • Finally, reboot and the system will change to its permanent MAC address and be ready for general use.reboot

LED Control
Please see this forum post by highvoltag3. He created a simple script to parse disk usage and display it on the front LEDs.

Netconsole

OSX Linux Comments
Setup 
su <admin account>
sudo ifconfig en0 alias 10.10.10.5
sudo ifconfig en0 alias 10.10.10.4
sudo ifconfig en0 alias 10.10.10.2

sudo ifconfig eth0:0 10.10.10.5 
sudo ifconfig eth0:1 10.10.10.4
sudo ifconfig eth0:2 10.10.10.2
  • If using wireless connection use wlan0:0 instead of eth0:0
U-Boot 
nc -luk 10.10.10.5 6666

nc -lu 10.10.10.5 6666
  • Can interrupt boot and issue U-Boot commands directly
  • Altering and writing the environment does not work reliably
Kernel 
nc -luk 10.10.10.4 6666

nc -lu 10.10.10.4 6666
  • Monitor kernel startup messages
DHCP 
nc -luk 10.10.10.2 6666

nc -lu 10.10.10.2 6666
  • This shows the output of ifconfig so you know the address for your login

Architecture

ARMv5te

Processor

Marvell Kirkwood 1.2GHz

RAM

128MB

NAND

256MB

USB

1

SATA

2

Ethernet

Gigabit