updated uboot, now solid green on usb stick load but no ip

[checktravis]

Short summary of current issue: solid green light with usb rescue stick loaded but not showing on my dhcp client list on my router so I can't ssh. i don't think netconsole is working. that's basically where I am stuck now, read on for what I have attempted...

My Goflex Home was blinking green whenever I turned it on about a year or more ago. I have a week off work and thought I would finally sit down and dig into the issue.

I had no problem flashing rootfs on a usb and getting it to boot and ssh. I was able to snap in the sata drive and browse/debug with ssh. I was trying to get it to boot without the usb and that is where I made things worse. I followed https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv ... oflex-home to get a fresh install on /dev/sdb but it still wasn't booting without the usb stick.

I tried installing uboot-goflexhome with packman. The first time it gave me the error about the mac address, but eventually (a few days of trying different repair suggestions) it just worked without any errors or warnings. Well, at least it seemed to work, until I rebooted and now I can't get an ip address to show up on my router client list with or without the usb stick.

I've tried several different usb image suggestions, some result in flashing green, some result in solid green but in either case no ip address.

Sometimes, it looks like the mac address does appear on my client list with an IP but then disappears before I can ssh in. Is there something in the boot directory in the usb stick that would cause it to get and IP address but then lose it?

I should have posted this a week ago, would have been easier to troubleshoot with a working ssh connection, but any help is appreciated.

I installed a dual boot on my surface pro 3 with ubuntu but there are driver issues with the keyboard and trackpad. So, as far as a desktop environment for linux, I am using VirtualBox on my macbook pro running urbantu 15.10. I am able to mount usb drives and write to them without any noticeable issues. I hacked my urbantu virtualbox to log in as root so everything I do (to create the bootable usb sticks) is as the root user.

I have never soldered anything so I don't know if the serial connection is a viable option. I bought this: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064VP73O/ but I guess it doesn't work with the goflex home drive becuse it doesn't supply power (urbuntu recognized the adapter but not the drive in it)

[moonman]

Which uboot did you have installed? What did you do to make the error about a not set mac address disappear? This sounds like you have no mac set and the network obviously does not come up and it would explain netconsole not working (given that you did it correctly - keep in mind netconsole in virtualbox is tricky and you need to set that virtual adapter in promiscuious mode - it is not by default)

If this is the case you can try the serial. I did not need to solder anything on mine it already had pins soldered. Open it up and take a look. Second way would be connecting a usb keyboard and trying to get in blindly. This way you can set a mac manually or bring up a second usb nic so you can connect

On a fresh install this should be the sequence to login as root:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'alarm <enter>
alarm <enter>
su root <enter>
root <enter>')

The problem here is that by default there is no fw_setenv command in the rootfs and if you want to use a USB to ethernet adapter you have to make sure it is supported by the kernel.

Do you have any other arm devices (be it armv6, armv7 or whatever)? if you do you can chroot into your armv5 rootfs and install uboot-tools package.

Of course these are just ideas based on speculation of what might be wrong.

[checktravis]

thank you, moonman, for your reply. I appreciate the help you give this community, i've used several of your footer links to get this far.

I'm sorry but i don't know what uboot was installed. My last post here was Sep 05, 2013, so I guess I had whatever was current around that time.

I don't know what I did to get rid of the mac address error. I was careful not to force it or anything, but after trying debian and arch and so many usb drives, somewhere I must have "fixed" (using that term generously here) the mac address error.

Couple of questions:

Just want to confirm before I return it, the usb to sata cable I bought is not going to work with this goflex drive? It doesn't show up once it's connected but I think that's because it doesn't supply power to the drive. I can return to Amazon, just double checking first.

Serial option: can i get a link to a guide on this? I have read bits and pieces all over, but I am not sure what product I am looking for or how exactly it works.

The USB keyboard, how would I set that up? It as one usb port, can I use a usb hub? What do you mean here:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')you can set a mac manually or bring up a second usb nic so you can connect

[checktravis]

I followed beausoleil post here http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,14,page=4 and the attached txt is the captiure

I tried adding a second ip to my mac, but i couldn't get the rest to work. any suggestions?


edit - attachement doesnt seem to work. uploaded here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4HHhM ... sp=sharing

[moonman]

That adapter you purchased seems to be for 2.5" drives so there is probably no 12V line for 3.5" drives. It won't work.

You really don't need to setup this full VM. You can use qemu-user-static to chroot into arm rootfs to install packages. And yes, you would need to use a USB Hub for the keyboard amd/or a second USB->ethernet adapter.

After quick googling this guide turned up: http://varkey.in/seagate-goflex-net-serial-connection/
You will need to purchase USB TTL adapter.

[checktravis]

i had been reading about chrooting into arm, I have been getting through this (http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,5986,page=1) but it is slow going since most of the packages and tools it mentions are out dated but I am making progress.

I've also ordered this:
http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01A0BOGHG
with these:
http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00PZO39QI

I've always been curious about manipulating electronics, actually a little excited for this introduction

[moonman]

On archlinux (not arm, running on your PC) it is fairly simple. Mount the partition with rootfs , let's say under /mnt$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
mount /dev/sdXY /mnt')

Make sure you have arch-install-scripts installed
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'pacman -S arch-install-scripts')

Follow this "chroot with QEMU" section
https://gist.github.com/mikkeloscar/a85 ... 437795c1b9

Now instead of mounting /proc /dev/ /sys you can use "arch-chroot" from arch-install-scripts to chroot.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash')

Install uboot-tools
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'pacman -S uboot-tools')

Uncomment a line in /etc/fw_env.config that says
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '/dev/mtd0 0xc0000 0x20000 0x20000')

now fw_setenv should work. But since you ordered a serial adapter just wait for it, it will be much easier to figure out what's up once you have it.

[checktravis]

serial supplies should be here tomorrow, excited to try that connection.

I did want to share this link i found:
http://www.osboxes.org/arch-linux/

pre-built arch image for virtualbox.



thanks again for all your help.

[checktravis]

waiting on the mailman to deliver my usb/serial parts, but I just cracked the goflex home open and see there are no pins in my PCB:

nopns.jpg (183 KiB) Viewed 6302 times

I have a ton of old electronics laying around, is it possible/safe to take some pins out of something else or would reusing pins short it out?

I can order some, but just curious if I have options. This serial thing is all new to me, excited to learn but hesitant.

[moonman]

It is safe. I soldred wires directly to PCB on pogoplug v4 so it is an option too.