[iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cable

Install Arch Linux ARM on other devices.

[iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cable

Postby igorert » Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:59 pm

Iomega iConnect ships with a fairly recent uBoot that supports booting from USB devices but is not set up to do so. The script described below *WILL NOT* replace iConnect's stock uBoot; it will just set it up to allow booting from the attached USB devices. This means that you should be able to revive the iConnect with a serial cable should anything go wrong (the usual disclaimer about voiding your warranty and assuming no responsibility for any damages still applies though). You will still boot into the stock Iomega kernel if no suitable USB storage devices are attached during the boot process.

This iconnect setup script can also install Arch Linux on your USB storage device; if you omit this step, you can perform the installation by running the script again later (possibly with --no-uboot option) or install Arch (or even debian) on your USB device manually.

The installation log will be saved into /var/log/iconnect-install.log.

1. Enable ssh on your Iomega iConnect

If you have not done so, you will need to enable ssh on the stock iConnect, which can be done from Iomega's "hidden" Web UI screen. Open https://<iconnect's_IP_or_hostname>/support.html in your browser and you'll see a page like this one: http://imageshack.us/f/35/iconnect1.png/. Click on "Support Access", check "Allow remote access for support" and click "Apply": http://imageshack.us/f/18/iconnect2.png/

2. ssh into the box.

You should now be able to ssh to your iConnect using the same IP/hostname you use to access Iomega's web interface. The username is "root" and password is "soho" followed by the admin password you use in Iomega's web interface. That is, if your iConnect web interface admin password is Foo, ssh to iConnect as user "root" with password "sohoFoo".

Windows user can use putty or their favorite ssh client. Linux and OS X users presumably already know what to do.

3. Download and run the setup script

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'cd /tmp
wget --no-check-certificate https://raw.github.com/igors/iconnect_usb_boot/master/iconnect_install.sh
chmod +x iconnect_install.sh
./iconnect_install.sh')

If installing Arch to a hard drive (as opposed to a USB flash drive), replace the last line above with

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', './iconnect_install.sh --ext3')

Follow the prompts - the script is fairly verbose and will ask you a bunch of questions.

4. What you'll get if you install Arch

Wireless works fine
Arch's stock fw_printenv/fw_setenv work fine.
LEDs don't work - you'll end up with the permanently blinking power LED. I'm working on it.

The default root password is "root" - change it! And don't forget to updrade to the latest packages (pacman -Syu).

If you're new to Arch Linux, take a look at http://archlinuxarm.org/support/guides/ ... irst-steps

5. Some gory details

The script will perform the following steps.

  • a. Update your iConnect's uboot environment variables to make it boot from the attached USB device (unless run with --no-uboot option). The environment is set up to attempt booting from all attached USB devices until the boot attempt is successful. It will first try to load /boot/uImage from /dev/sdX1 (Arm Arch's standard one-partition setup) and then /uImage from /dev/sdX2 (which seems to be the standard debian setup, e.g., if you followed the guide at http://www.kroonen.eu/wiki/Install%20Debian). The end result is that your iConnect should be able to boot either Arch or debian from USB devices. If the attempts to boot from the attached USB devices are not successful, you will boot from NAND into Iomega's stock kernel.

  • b. Optionally format the attached USB device as ext2 (or ext3 if run with --ext3) and download and install Arch linux on it (you will be prompted for both unless run with --no-arch option). If you choose to install Arch, this script will also create /etc/fw_env.conf (the stock fw_setenv/printenv will work in Arch!).

6. Further reading

$this->bbcode_list('a')
  • Troubleshooting installation problems
  • Updating arcNumber. You need to do this to make full use of iConnect features, i.e., LEDs, OTB/reset buttons, temperature sensor.
  • Post-install customizations - how to control LEDs, OTB/reset buttons and temperature sensor.
  • Recovering bricked iConnect. You'll also have to follow this guide if you need to boot Iomega stock kernel after changing the arcNumber to 2870.
  • Last edited by igorert on Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:36 am, edited 6 times in total.
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    Re: [iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cabl

    Postby igorert » Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:11 am

    $this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('crimsonredmk', 't')he only thing I would change is on our end, and that is to keep .md5 files instead of you having to parse our site.

    Also making your guide into the preferred iConnect guide.


    Thanks! I've updated the script to get the md5 from a fixed URL instead of that icky attempt at html parsing in shell.
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    Re: [iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cabl

    Postby ZeL » Tue Aug 09, 2011 9:00 pm

    It would be really, really, really-really awesome...if I could get it works.
    After say 'Y' to the "Would you like to install Arch Linux on the attached USB storage device?" question, the script tries stop all the Iomega services and the ssh session terminates. :(

    What I do wrong?
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    Re: [iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cabl

    Postby igorert » Wed Aug 10, 2011 1:55 am

    ZeL, could you try this again? Redownload iconnect_install.sh if you still have the previous version.

    I forgot that I enabled sshd permanently on my iconnect so I didn't realize stopping iomega services would also kill the ssh session :shock: This should hopefully be fixed now - let me know if the script worked for you this time.
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    Re: [iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cabl

    Postby ZeL » Wed Aug 10, 2011 2:54 pm

    Seems it works now...Services stopped (ssh still connected), USB drive formatted, downloading Arch *_*
    Stay tuned... ;)
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    Re: [iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cabl

    Postby Philoo » Sat Aug 13, 2011 4:32 am

    Great job! I'd been looking for a "soft" way to substitute the stock firmware with a linux distribution.

    seems to work but the image seems done w/ the usb cable in mind. I've been perusing the website / forum and could not figure out neither the default root password of the archlinux arm image nor how to actually ssh into the device after the reboot. looks like ssh server is not active.

    Anyway next try will be to chroot into the usb install before the reboot, set my own password and configure the ssh server, then reboot into the usb install.

    talking about chrooting: someone posted a bootstrap script to install an i86-x64 archlinux into a chroot on the archlinux wiki (search for bootstrap and chroot). Did someone try it/ adapt it on arm devices ?
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    Re: [iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cabl

    Postby igorert » Sat Aug 13, 2011 6:06 am

    Philo, the default root password is "root" and sshd will be enabled by default after the install. The default network setup will try to get an IP on the wired interface over DHCP so check if you can at least ping the box. Your router will most likely have the list of currently active dhcp addresses somewhere in the UI.
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    Re: [iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cabl

    Postby uKev » Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:52 pm

    Hi,

    I tried your script but it didn't work out of the box. First the script killed my ssh session as described already.
    Then with the new version of the script during the installation my usb drive got mounted by the system (I guess iomega services) and as a result the formatting/partitioning failed.
    As a workaround I connected my drive to my computer and nulled it (dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX). Because of the missing partition table it didn't get mounted anymore and the installation worked just fine.
    After typing in "reboot" the iconnect restarted and booted just fine into archlinx, thank you for that!

    But there is another issue with the installation: If I "cold-start" the iconnect (power off->on) it will boot into the debian/iconnect system even though my archlinux usb drive is plugged in. I have to ssh into the box and type "reboot" again. Then it boots into my archlinux drive. I don't wanna put "reboot" into /etc/rc.local as a workaround because I want to preserve the internal system as a kind of rescue system. Maybe you know a right fix for this.

    Kev
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    Re: [iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cabl

    Postby WarheadsSE » Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:56 pm

    Ah.. classic uboot issues :)
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    Re: [iConnect] USB boot and Arch install without serial cabl

    Postby uKev » Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:30 pm

    How can I fix them? Do I have to flash a new uboot version?
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