Recompiling and flashing a Pro kernel

[Arktronic]

I didn't want to pollute the "WHY Archlinux" thread too much, so I figured starting a new one would be better. As the subject suggests, I'm trying to recompile and flash a kernel to my PPPro. Here's what I've done so far:

- Install base-devel and uboot-mkimage via pacman
- Download/extract the source tar from http://download.pogoplug.com/opensource ... r2.tar.bz2
- Download/apply "arch-arm-mm-cache-v6.S.patch" from http://ppl.ug/Ze91Jqp1MEg/
- Download PRO.config as ".config" from the same location
- Comment out the CROSS_COMPILE line from the Makefile
- make vmlinux and then make uImage

Everything has (apparently) succeeded, and now I'm stuck. I'm not sure how to flash the kernel to NAND. Also, I don't know whether it's safe for me to enable a bunch of things in the kernel because the kernel might end up being too big for where it's being written to - I'm a bit of a noob at this. And finally, I want to make sure I understand this correctly - if I flash a bad kernel, the only way for me to recover it would be to take the box apart and boot from SATA, correct?

I appreciate any help in this.

EDIT: I got this thing working using telzey's VERY UNSUPPORTED kernel patches here: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2472&p=15007#p15007

[WarheadsSE]

1) Get a serial cable, it will make your life much easier
2) Yes, if you flash a bootable, but error-prone kernel, you will need to replace it via another means.
3) Serial + tftp = win for testing
4) If you don't care about the stock functionality it's not a concern

The locations that need written to are in the install script's source, and fairly well documented.

It is as simple as make uImage && make modules && make modules_install (then grabbing arch/arm/boot/uImage)

[Arktronic]

Thanks for your help. Another thing - after I compiled the uImage, the output said the load address and entry point are both at 0x60008000. Does that mean I need to change the uBoot params to match that address? And if so, which one(s)?

[WarheadsSE]

Shouldn't matter.. test it with tftp...

[Arktronic]

All right, thanks. I'm waiting for a Nokia cable to arrive.

[Arktronic]

I finally got the serial cable in (it was bad - cheap Chinese solder job - but re-soldering worked like a charm) and the device is alive once again. However, I can't get my USB relay to function. I included the FTDI USB-Serial driver in the kernel (tried module before as well) but whenever I plug it in I get this:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[ 115.480000] usb 1-1.2: new full speed USB device using oxnas-ehci and address 4
[ 125.590000] usb 1-1.2: unable to read config index 0 descriptor/start: -110
[ 125.590000] usb 1-1.2: chopping to 0 config(s)
[ 135.600000] usb 1-1.2: string descriptor 0 read error: -110
[ 135.600000] usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=0403, idProduct=6001
[ 135.610000] usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 135.630000] usb 1-1.2: no configuration chosen from 0 choices
')

It looks like it's the same issue as this one, and the consensus was that it's because of the kernel. However, further googling reveals a more specific issue with USB hubs and the use of USB2.0 versus 1.1. The kernel has only EHCI enabled, and neither OHCI nor UHCI for USB1.1 compatibility. I tried enabling OHCI as a module, but that didn't change anything.

[telzey]

There is no OHCI or UHCI interface built into the CPU, only an EHCI interface.

It can, however, talk to slower speed devices.

The problem seems to be that PLX keep fixing bugs in their kernel support for the NAS 7820 SoC that we're using on the Pogoplug V3, but you're using a very old version from Cloud Engines.

There are some important looking USB-related fixes in the newer kernel source that I've seen from other manufacturers.

I'm building kernels from different sources, and (just as an example), my FTDI USB-serial adapter works fine when using the ZyXEL (Medion NAS) kernel.

[ 600.670000] usb 1-1.4: new full speed USB device using oxnas-ehci and address 4
[ 600.780000] usb 1-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=0403, idProduct=6001
[ 600.790000] usb 1-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 600.800000] usb 1-1.4: Product: TTL232R-3V3
[ 600.800000] usb 1-1.4: Manufacturer: FTDI
[ 600.800000] usb 1-1.4: SerialNumber: FTELPK4O
[ 600.810000] usb 1-1.4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[ 600.830000] ftdi_sio 1-1.4:1.0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter detected
[ 600.830000] usb 1-1.4: Detected FT232RL
[ 600.840000] usb 1-1.4: Number of endpoints 2
[ 600.840000] usb 1-1.4: Endpoint 1 MaxPacketSize 64
[ 600.850000] usb 1-1.4: Endpoint 2 MaxPacketSize 64
[ 600.850000] usb 1-1.4: Setting MaxPacketSize 64
[ 600.860000] usb 1-1.4: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0

Things may improve for you when WarheadsSE compiles/releases a new kernel.

[Arktronic]

Thanks, that's good to know. Could you share or point me to an updated kernel source tree that works on the PPPro, if it's not too much trouble?

[WarheadsSE]

I plan to patch up to the Medion/Silverstone kernel (2.6.31.14) sources before re-compiling.

[Arktronic]

I can help test, if you'd like