ArchLinuxARM for Buffalo Linkstation Pro Quad QVL

[jama]

Hello,

Does anyone know whether or not it would be possible to install ArchLinuxARM on Buffalo's Linkstation Pro Quad QVL ?

It's supposed to have Marvell Kirkwood arm5te SoC (Marvell 88F6282 1.6 Ghz), and I'm in impression that people have successfully installed i.e. Debian on it, but I'd prefer to run ArchLinux on it.

The model in question is the one having large 'V' logo on red background, on lower left-hand corner in front of the device.

It's sometimes also referred as 'LS-QVL'.

http://buffalo.nas-central.org/wiki/Category:LS-QVL

[WarheadsSE]

I should be possible, if you can come by a kernel for it. I can't say that the device has been mainlined, so it may need board support patches.

[jama]

Hello,

And thank you so much for your quick reply.

If I understood correctly, this might be something you're looking for:

http://buffalo.jp/php/los.php?to=gpl/st ... 3.4.tar.gz

At least the package contains like:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
$ ls buffalo/configs/
buffalo_hswdhtgl_arm_100.config buffalo_lswtgl_arm_100.config buffalo_nas_fw_kiri.config
buffalo_lsgl_arm_100.config buffalo_lswtgl_arm_200.config buffalo_tshtgl_arm_100.config
buffalo_lsgl_arm_101.config buffalo_lswwn_arm_200.config buffalo_tshtgl_arm_110.config
buffalo_lsgl_arm_102.config buffalo_nas_fw_200.config buffalo_tsxl_arm_100.config
buffalo_lsgl_hs_arm_100.config buffalo_nas_fw_88f6281.config kirkwood.config
buffalo_lsqgl_arm_200.config buffalo_nas_fw_88f6281_tsxel.config marvell_config100.config
buffalo_lswsgl_arm_100.config buffalo_nas_fw_atom_d510_101.config marvell_lsgl_100.config
buffalo_lswsgl_arm_200.config buffalo_nas_fw_atom_d510.config marvell_tshtgl_100.config
$ ls buffalo/drivers/
buffalocore_arm.c buffalocore_x86.c.in buffalo_proc_entry.c buffalo_upsdrv.c kernevntProc.h plat-matsu
buffalocore_arm.c.in BuffaloGpio.c buffalo_proc_entry.h BuffaloWol.c Makefile
buffalocore.c BuffaloGpioDriver.c BuffaloSataHotplug.c BuffaloWol.h miconcntl.h
buffalocore.c.in BuffaloGpio.h BuffaloSataHotplug.h Kconfig plat-armada
buffalocore.h BuffaloInterruptDriver.c BuffaloUart.c kernevnt.c plat-feroceon
buffalocore_x86.c buffalo_miconctl_v2.c BuffaloUart.h kernevntProc.c plat-kiri
')

Everything is listed and available at http://opensource.buffalo.jp/ls-x-165.html as well.

Also, kindly note that this was just a preliminary question; I don't have the box yet, so at the moment I'm unable to help with testing etc.

The reason why I'm interested in ArchLinux, is because I do have Zyxel NSA 325 v2, and I'm running ArchLinux ARM on it, and I like it very much.

As I would need a bit larger NAS on it's side, I've been considering to buy the LS-QVL.

The other choise what I have in my mind is Zyxel's NAS 540, which is just released, having ARM V7 SoC...

[moonman]

It is good that it has a more recent kernel veriosn running on it.
There are 2 possibilities here:
1. Build and run that 3.4 kernel with adjustments for systemd
2. Make a patch out of that 3.4 and add it to our mainline linux-kirkwood or even linux-kirkwood-dt if you can figure out a dts out of it.

Another issue would be U-Boot: does it support booting off of a USB drive/Sata drive. It might also need to be rebuild with necessary features.

[jama]

Hello,

and thank you so much for your quick reply.

The U-Boot version is 1.1.4, and according to the doc/README.usb, it supports booting from the usb.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
$ cat doc/README.usb
/*
* (C) Copyright 2001
* Denis Peter, MPL AG Switzerland
*
* See file CREDITS for list of people who contributed to this
* project.
*
* This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
* modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
* published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
* the License, or (at your option) any later version.
*
* This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
* GNU General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
* along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
* Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston,
* MA 02111-1307 USA
*
*/

USB Support for PIP405 and MIP405 (UHCI)
========================================

The USB support is implemented on the base of the UHCI Host
controller.

Currently supported are USB Hubs, USB Keyboards and USB Floppys.
Tested with a TEAC Floppy TEAC FD-05PUB and Chicony KU-8933 Keyboard.

How it works:
-------------

The USB (at least the USB UHCI) needs a frame list (4k), transfer
descripor and queue headers which are all located in the main memory.
The UHCI allocates every milisecond the PCI bus and reads the current
frame pointer. This may cause to crash the OS during boot. So the USB
_MUST_ be stopped during OS boot. This is the reason, why the USB is
NOT automatically started during start-up. If someone needs the USB
he has to start it and should therefore be aware that he had to stop
it before booting the OS.

For USB keyboards this can be done by a script which is automatically
started after the U-Boot is up and running. To boot an OS with a an
USB keyboard another script is necessary, which first disables the
USB and then executes the boot command. If the boot command fails,
the script can reenable the USB kbd.

Common USB Commands:
- usb start:
- usb reset: (re)starts the USB. All USB devices will be
initialized and a device tree is build for them.
- usb tree: shows all USB devices in a tree like display
- usb info [dev]: shows all USB infos of the device dev, or of all
the devices
- usb stop [f]: stops the USB. If f==1 the USB will also stop if
an USB keyboard is assigned as stdin. The stdin
is then switched to serial input.
Storage USB Commands:
- usb scan: scans the USB for storage devices.The USB must be
running for this command (usb start)
- usb device [dev]: show or set current USB staorage device
- usb part [dev]: print partition table of one or all USB storage
devices
- usb read addr blk# cnt:
read `cnt' blocks starting at block `blk#'to
memory address `addr'
- usbboot addr dev:part:
boot from USB device

Config Switches:
----------------
CFG_CMD_USB enables basic USB support and the usb command
CONFIG_USB_UHCI defines the lowlevel part.A lowlevel part must be defined if
using CFG_CMD_USB
CONFIG_USB_KEYBOARD enables the USB Keyboard
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE enables the USB storage devices
')

http://buffalo.jp/php/los.php?to=gpl/storage/ls-x/165/u-boot-1.1.4_for_kw.tar.gz

And something for testing?

http://buffalo.jp/php/los.php?to=gpl/storage/ls-x/165/u-boot-1.1.4_kw_testwol.tar.gz

About the options regarding the building of the kernel, I think it would be nice to make a patch and have it mainlined. I think the linux-kirkwood-dt is not necessary, at least not in the beginning. I know what the .dts -file is, and ... it might need "some" effort to gather all of the needed parameters...

Note that I still don't have the box yet - I'm still thinking about buying it, and most propably will do.

However, do you think that the mainline could be patched and compiled? I'm not much of a programmer myself, but I can do all the testing needed, once I have the box.