Debian on a Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d...

[Marco Gaiarin]

Someone gift me a NAS as subject, some year ago, and i was curious about
installing debian in...

I've just installed debian on m68k, ppc, sparc, spar64, alpha and now... Arm.


I've done some search and speaked with some friends here in local linux user
group, leading to some info about u-boot and arm architecture.
I've:

a) found the serial pin and connected a serial cable/adapter

b) understood that in ARM there's no 'automatic hardware inventory', and the
exact hardware inventory have to be provided via a DTB file.

c) found the DTB of this box here:
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096


so, i've downloaded the 'raw' linux kernel and built a uImage from here:

http://ftp.it.debian.org/debian/dists/buster/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/netboot/
with:
cat vmlinuz-4.19.0-13-marvell kirkwood-iomega_ix4_200d.dtb > uKernel
mkimage -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 0x00008000 -e 0x00008000 -n "Debian kernel" -d uKernel uImage

and downloaded the initrd from here:

http://ftp.it.debian.org/debian/dists/buster/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/netboot/marvell/guruplug/

then i've setup a tftp server and booted from tftp.


system booted correctly, and i was able to install debian. Cool!


Some question:

a) (not specific ARM, indeed, but...) in installation, done clearly via
serial terminal, on the top there's some 'window' coices, eg:

1: installer 2: terminal 3: log 4: ...

how can i access other term? I've looked in installation manual, but i was
not able to found the key combination to switch 'window'/VT

b) at the end of the installation, the system warn me that there's no 'boot
loader support' (or something like that), and the resulting system was not
bootable. This was expected, but i hoped that the installer have the option
to chroot on the new installed system to be able to to some manual
bootloader setup, or at least to scp out the initrd.

I've missed something?


Anyway, thanks!

[Alan Corey]

Try ctrl-alt-F(1-4 or so) for virtual terminals.

On booting, you'll probably need some uboot. Which looks quite
complicated, see https://gitlab.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot

Post by Marco Gaiarin
Someone gift me a NAS as subject, some year ago, and i was curious about
installing debian in...
I've just installed debian on m68k, ppc, sparc, spar64, alpha and now... Arm.
I've done some search and speaked with some friends here in local linux user
group, leading to some info about u-boot and arm architecture.
a) found the serial pin and connected a serial cable/adapter
b) understood that in ARM there's no 'automatic hardware inventory', and the
exact hardware inventory have to be provided via a DTB file.
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096
http://ftp.it.debian.org/debian/dists/buster/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/netboot/
cat vmlinuz-4.19.0-13-marvell kirkwood-iomega_ix4_200d.dtb > uKernel
mkimage -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 0x00008000 -e 0x00008000 -n
"Debian kernel" -d uKernel uImage
http://ftp.it.debian.org/debian/dists/buster/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/netboot/marvell/guruplug/
then i've setup a tftp server and booted from tftp.
system booted correctly, and i was able to install debian. Cool!
a) (not specific ARM, indeed, but...) in installation, done clearly via
1: installer 2: terminal 3: log 4: ...
how can i access other term? I've looked in installation manual, but i was
not able to found the key combination to switch 'window'/VT
b) at the end of the installation, the system warn me that there's no 'boot
loader support' (or something like that), and the resulting system was not
bootable. This was expected, but i hoped that the installer have the option
to chroot on the new installed system to be able to to some manual
bootloader setup, or at least to scp out the initrd.
I've missed something?
Anyway, thanks!
--
La condivisione è il segreto di tutto... (Roberto Colonello)

[Vagrant Cascadian]

Post by Marco Gaiarin
a) found the serial pin and connected a serial cable/adapter
b) understood that in ARM there's no 'automatic hardware inventory', and the
exact hardware inventory have to be provided via a DTB file.
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096

If you're using a .dtb file, you should generally get it from the one
shipped in the kernel package, otherwise it may be inconsistant with the
running kernel you're using...

Post by Marco Gaiarin
http://ftp.it.debian.org/debian/dists/buster/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/netboot/
cat vmlinuz-4.19.0-13-marvell kirkwood-iomega_ix4_200d.dtb > uKernel
mkimage -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 0x00008000 -e 0x00008000 -n "Debian kernel" -d uKernel uImage
http://ftp.it.debian.org/debian/dists/buster/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/netboot/marvell/guruplug/
then i've setup a tftp server and booted from tftp.
system booted correctly, and i was able to install debian. Cool!

Nice work!

Post by Marco Gaiarin
a) (not specific ARM, indeed, but...) in installation, done clearly via
1: installer 2: terminal 3: log 4: ...
how can i access other term? I've looked in installation manual, but i was
not able to found the key combination to switch 'window'/VT

On the serial console it uses "screen", so to switch terminals it's
CTRL-a n (for next) or CTRL-a p (for previous) or CTRL-a 4 (to switch to
specific number).

Post by Marco Gaiarin
b) at the end of the installation, the system warn me that there's no 'boot
loader support' (or something like that), and the resulting system was not
bootable. This was expected, but i hoped that the installer have the option
to chroot on the new installed system to be able to to some manual
bootloader setup, or at least to scp out the initrd.

It is a bit misleading, as you likely already have a working
bootloader... this error means there's no flash-kernel database entry
for this system. For an example that was recently merged, see:

https://salsa.debian.org/installer-team/flash-kernel/-/merge_requests/25/diffs

Although if your u-boot version is some vendor fork, it may not support
the generic boot script and may need a custom boot script. There are a
few examples in flash-kernels of other boot scripts...

Good luck!


live well,
vagrant

[Marco Gaiarin]

Mandi! Vagrant Cascadian
In chel di` si favelave...

[Vagrand, i've received your email only on a debian lists spam report, nor
the direct email arrived; debian spamassassin report say:
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on bendel.debian.org
X-Spam-Level:
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LDO_WHITELIST,MDO_CABLE_TV3,URIBL_BLACK autolearn=unavailable
autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2
]

Post by Vagrant Cascadian

Post by Marco Gaiarin
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096

If you're using a .dtb file, you should generally get it from the one
shipped in the kernel package, otherwise it may be inconsistant with the
running kernel you're using...

Ahem, what mean 'inconsistant'? Mean i need to 'compile' DTB within the
kernel?
Sorry but it is not clear...

Post by Vagrant Cascadian
On the serial console it uses "screen", so to switch terminals it's
CTRL-a n (for next) or CTRL-a p (for previous) or CTRL-a 4 (to switch to
specific number).

Ah! Damn me! Never minded about screen! Thanks!

I've dont't seen bug opened for that, it worth a try to add a bug for
'debian-installer'? I've seen:
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/armel/ch06s01.en.html
and:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?pkg=installation-guide;dist=unstable

no mention on screen...

Post by Vagrant Cascadian
Although if your u-boot version is some vendor fork, it may not support
the generic boot script and may need a custom boot script. There are a
few examples in flash-kernels of other boot scripts...

My intent is to write kernel and initrd on flash storage (space seems not
a problem); you are meaning that i can 'configure' a generic uboot
bootleoader, or scripts, to have kernel update managed automagically?

Post by Vagrant Cascadian
Good luck!

Thanks!

[Marco Gaiarin]

Post by Vagrant Cascadian

Post by Marco Gaiarin
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096

If you're using a .dtb file, you should generally get it from the one
shipped in the kernel package, otherwise it may be inconsistant with the
running kernel you're using...

Speaking with my 'embedded expert' explain me that DTB files are 'binary',
compiled version of DTS, and typically it is needed that DTS get 'compiled'
within the running kernel, eg with correct 'version'...


I've looked a bit better... in this link:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096

(a forum) the author post regulary, and for a set of devices not only for
ix4-200d:

a) a tarball containing a pre-installed (debboostrap) minimal debian system
suitable to be used from an USB key.

b) a tarball containing the kernel and initrd


In the second tarball, threre's the plain kernel and initrd, the kernel in
.deb format (kernel and headers) and a patch that contain the DTS, and some
other various patches.


There's some way to contribute 'upstream' these stuff? Or manage at least
'better'?


Thanks.