Stutter on boot for Geos embedded board

[Philip Prindeville]

Hi.

I'm seeing the following... When rebooting from Linux, Linux shuts down and I see "machine restart." then the grub prompt, grub eventually tries to load something, but seems to fail, and I see the Coreboot messages, then I see the grub prompt again, and the second time it tries to load Linux it succeeds.

So in the end it boots, but it's annoying and adds to the load time.

I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this, and if it's a known issue?

Also, is there a reboot=xxx value that would be a suitable workaround for this?

This is Coreboot 3.0 on a Geos.

Oh, almost forgot: is there a fixed area in memory that I can detect the platform name?  I'm trying to have a Linux module that's platform specific (leds-geos.c) fail to load on any other platform.

Thanks,

-Philip

[Nathan Williams]

On Sat, 2011-03-26 at 22:09 -0700, Philip Prindeville wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I'm seeing the following... When rebooting from Linux, Linux shuts down and I see "machine restart." then the grub prompt, grub eventually tries to load something, but seems to fail, and I see the Coreboot messages, then I see the grub prompt again, and the second time it tries to load Linux it succeeds.
>
> So in the end it boots, but it's annoying and adds to the load time.
>
> I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this, and if it's a known issue?
>
> Also, is there a reboot=xxx value that would be a suitable workaround for this?
>
> This is Coreboot 3.0 on a Geos.
>
> Oh, almost forgot: is there a fixed area in memory that I can detect the platform name?  I'm trying to have a Linux module that's platform specific (leds-geos.c) fail to load on any other platform.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -Philip

Hi Philip,

Try the latest coreboot source.  Coreboot v4 works much better than v3
on Geos.

Regards,
Nathan

[Philip Prindeville]

On 3/27/11 3:43 PM, Nathan Williams wrote:
> On Sat, 2011-03-26 at 22:09 -0700, Philip Prindeville wrote:
> > Hi.
> >
> > I'm seeing the following... When rebooting from Linux, Linux shuts down and I see "machine restart." then the grub prompt, grub eventually tries to load something, but seems to fail, and I see the Coreboot messages, then I see the grub prompt again, and the second time it tries to load Linux it succeeds.
> >
> > So in the end it boots, but it's annoying and adds to the load time.
> >
> > I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this, and if it's a known issue?
> >
> > Also, is there a reboot=xxx value that would be a suitable workaround for this?
> >
> > This is Coreboot 3.0 on a Geos.
> >
> > Oh, almost forgot: is there a fixed area in memory that I can detect the platform name?  I'm trying to have a Linux module that's platform specific (leds-geos.c) fail to load on any other platform.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > -Philip
>
> Hi Philip,
>
> Try the latest coreboot source.  Coreboot v4 works much better than v3
> on Geos.
>
> Regards,
> Nathan

Hi Nathan.

Is there a link to an image for the board (and flashing directions) on your website?

Thanks,

-Philip

[Nathan Williams]

On Sun, 2011-03-27 at 16:09 -0700, Philip Prindeville wrote:
> Is there a link to an image for the board (and flashing directions) on your website?

No, there isn't.  Which SST chip do you have?  49LF080A or 49LF004B?
I can send you an image off list.

Flashing instructions are to use flashrom -w imagefile.

Flashrom is available as a package in OpenWRT, but from memory I think
it looks for /dev/cpu/0/msr and OpenWRT has /dev/msr0 instead.  Create a
symlink to get it to work.

Running flashrom without any arguments will tell you if the chip is
detected correctly.  You can also verify an image with
flashrom -v imagefile.

Regards,
Nathan

[Philip Prindeville]

On 3/27/11 4:32 PM, Nathan Williams wrote:
> On Sun, 2011-03-27 at 16:09 -0700, Philip Prindeville wrote:
> > Is there a link to an image for the board (and flashing directions) on your website?
>
> No, there isn't.  Which SST chip do you have?  49LF080A or 49LF004B?
> I can send you an image off list.
>
> Flashing instructions are to use flashrom -w imagefile.
>
> Flashrom is available as a package in OpenWRT, but from memory I think
> it looks for /dev/cpu/0/msr and OpenWRT has /dev/msr0 instead.  Create a
> symlink to get it to work.
>
> Running flashrom without any arguments will tell you if the chip is
> detected correctly.  You can also verify an image with
> flashrom -v imagefile.
>
> Regards,
> Nathan

Let's see...  peeling off the "0.17" sticker reveals... 080A...

-Philip

[Philip Prindeville]

On 3/27/11 4:42 PM, Philip Prindeville wrote:
> On 3/27/11 4:32 PM, Nathan Williams wrote:
> > On Sun, 2011-03-27 at 16:09 -0700, Philip Prindeville wrote:
> > > Is there a link to an image for the board (and flashing directions) on your website?
> >
> > No, there isn't.  Which SST chip do you have?  49LF080A or 49LF004B?
> > I can send you an image off list.
> >
> > Flashing instructions are to use flashrom -w imagefile.
> >
> > Flashrom is available as a package in OpenWRT, but from memory I think
> > it looks for /dev/cpu/0/msr and OpenWRT has /dev/msr0 instead.  Create a
> > symlink to get it to work.
> >
> > Running flashrom without any arguments will tell you if the chip is
> > detected correctly.  You can also verify an image with
> > flashrom -v imagefile.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Nathan
>
> Let's see...  peeling off the "0.17" sticker reveals... 080A...
>
> -Philip

Ok, got the image, downloaded and installed flashrom-0.9.3 and dmidecode to the target (a Traverse Technologies Geos), and I'm getting:

root@OpenWrt:/# flashrom -w /tmp/coreboot.rom
flashrom v0.9.3-r1205 on Linux 2.6.37 (i586), built with libpci 3.1.7, GCC 4.5.2, little endian
flashrom is free software, get the source code at http://www.flashrom.org

Calibrating delay loop... OK.
Bad table checksum: e18c.
No coreboot table found.
Found chipset "AMD CS5536", enabling flash write... OK.
WARNING: unexpected second chipset match: "AMD CS5536"
ignoring, please report lspci and board URL to [e-mail]
with 2CHIPSET: your board name in the subject line.
This chipset supports the following protocols: Non-SPI.
Found chip "SST SST49LF080A" (1024 KB, LPC) at physical address 0xfff00000.
Note: If the following flash access fails, try -m<vendor>:<mainboard>.
ERASE FAILED at 0x00000000! Expected=0xff, Read=0x4c, failed byte count from 0x0
0000000-0x00000fff: 0xfea
ERASE FAILED!
ERASE FAILED at 0x00000000! Expected=0xff, Read=0x4c, failed byte count from 0x0
0000000-0x0000ffff: 0xfedc
ERASE FAILED!
FAILED!
ERASE FAILED!
FAILED!
Your flash chip is in an unknown state.
Get help on IRC at irc.freenode.net (channel #flashrom) or
mail [e-mail] with FAILED: your board name in the subject line!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DO NOT REBOOT OR POWEROFF!
Writing flash chip... Erasing flash chip... root@OpenWrt:/#

I'm going to guess that the message "No coreboot table found." should be worrying.

root@OpenWrt:/# lspci -v
00:01.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] Host Bridge (rev 33)
         Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] Host Bridge
         Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64
         I/O ports at ac1c [size=4]

00:01.1 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Geode LX Video (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
         Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Geode LX Video
         Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel, IRQ 11
         Memory at fd000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
         Memory at fe018000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
         Memory at fe01c000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
         Memory at fe020000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
         Memory at fe024000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
         Expansion ROM at<unassigned>  [disabled]

00:01.2 Entertainment encryption device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Geode LX AES Security Block
         Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Geode LX AES Security Block
         Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel, IRQ 11
         Memory at fe028000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
         Kernel driver in use: Geode LX AES

00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 20)
         Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
         Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 10
         I/O ports at 1000 [size=256]
         Memory at fe031000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
         Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
         Kernel driver in use: 8139cp

00:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 20)
         Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
         Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
         I/O ports at 1400 [size=256]
         Memory at fe031100 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
         Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
         Kernel driver in use: 8139cp

00:0c.0 ATM network controller: Xilinx Corporation Device 0300
         Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 9
         Memory at fe031200 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128]
         Memory at fe010000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32K]
         Kernel driver in use: solos

00:0d.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Atheros AR5001X+ Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
         Subsystem: Wistron NeWeb Corp. CM9 Wireless a/b/g MiniPCI Adapter
         Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 9
         Memory at fe000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
         Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
         Kernel driver in use: ath5k

00:0f.0 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] ISA (rev 03)
         Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] ISA
         Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel
         I/O ports at 20b0 [size=8]
         I/O ports at 1800 [size=256]
         I/O ports at 2000 [size=64]
         I/O ports at 2080 [size=32]
         I/O ports at 1c00 [size=128]
         I/O ports at 2040 [size=64]

00:0f.2 IDE interface: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] IDE (rev 01) (prog-if 80 [Master])
         Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] IDE
         Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 248
         [virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
         [virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
         [virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
         [virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
         I/O ports at 20a0 [size=16]
         Kernel driver in use: pata_amd

00:0f.3 Multimedia audio controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] Audio (rev 01)
         Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] Audio
         Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel, IRQ 10
         I/O ports at 1c80 [size=128]

00:0f.4 USB Controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] OHC (rev 02) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
         Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] OHC
         Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel, IRQ 9
         Memory at fe02e000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
         Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2

00:0f.5 USB Controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] EHC (rev 02) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
         Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] EHC
         Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 9
         Memory at fe02f000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
         Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
         Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd

root@OpenWrt:/#

[Carl-Daniel Hailfinger]

Hi,

[followup to [e-mail] please]

Am 28.03.2011 01:32 schrieb Nathan Williams:
> Flashrom is available as a package in OpenWRT, but from memory I think
> it looks for /dev/cpu/0/msr and OpenWRT has /dev/msr0 instead.  Create a
> symlink to get it to work.

Are you aware of any other environments with other odd MSR device file 
locations? I'd like to make sure flashrom supports them all out of the box.

Regards,
Carl-Daniel

[Philip Prindeville]

On 3/28/11 1:37 PM, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote:
> Hi,
>
> [followup to [e-mail] please]
>
> Am 28.03.2011 01:32 schrieb Nathan Williams:
> > Flashrom is available as a package in OpenWRT, but from memory I think
> > it looks for /dev/cpu/0/msr and OpenWRT has /dev/msr0 instead.  Create a
> > symlink to get it to work.
>
> Are you aware of any other environments with other odd MSR device file locations? I'd like to make sure flashrom supports them all out of the box.
>
> Regards,
> Carl-Daniel

That's the only one I'm aware of.

-Philip