Breakout Box - Ext Storage Problems


Neil

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Mar 11, 2006
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I have the "official" GPH "breakout box" (bare circuit board version). I've got it linked up to my Mk1 GP2X and I have TV-OUT and the external serial console working fine.

The next thing that I wanted to try was getting a hard disk attached via the BOBs host USB ports. My GP2X has version 2.0.0 firmware, which I think means that I should have all the correct kernel modules an so forth installed without adding any third-party stuff? In my Settings -> System menu I have:

Code:
USB Host: Always On
Storage: On
Human Interface: On


I'm attempting to use a LaCie branded USB 2 external drive enclosure, which contains a 160Gbyte Samsung SpinPoint disk. This has a single FAT32 LBA partition set up as primary partition number 1 (I've tried both a FAT32 partition spanning the entire disk, and a smaller one limited to 32Gbytes size). I don't think that I have power issues with the drive - it has its own external mains adaptor rather than drawing current from the USB connection. The drive is the only USB device plugged in to the BOB. When I power up the GP2X, the external disk is detected as mass-storage but there is an error message to say that the partition table can't be read due to an I/O error:

Code:
fclk 100MHZ
hub.c: new USB device <NULL>-1.1, assigned address 5
Manufacturer: LaCie
Product: LaCie Hard Drive USB
SerialNumber: 10000E000C07A907
scsi0 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
  Vendor: SAMSUNG   Model: SP1644N		   Rev: BV10
  Type:   Direct-Access					  ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Attached scsi disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
SCSI device sda: 312581808 512-byte hdwr sectors (160042 MB)
 /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0: I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
 unable to read partition table
kusbd_policy: /sbin/hotplug add 5, ret=0x0

Devfs creates a /dev/sda symlink, but no /dev/sda1. Naturally none of the external storage stuff in the GP2X menus work.

From the serial console shell, I do appear to be able to read sector 0 of the disk without I/O errors (dd will read from /dev/sda without errors, the fdisk command shows what I expect from the partition table). I've tried re-writing the partition table using fdisk on the GP2X and then restarting. The changes I make to the partition table "stick", so they are getting written to sector 0 successfully, but the kernel still claims not to be able to read sector 0 when it next boots.

If I connect my USB SD card reader to the BOB instead of the LaCie drive then the partition table on that is detected and I am able to use Explorer/PhotoViewer/mplayer/etc with the files on the card via the "EXT Storage" option of the file browser. This latter success leads me to suspect that the BOB hardware is working okay and that there might well be some compatibility problem with the particular LaCie external storage enclosure that I'm using.

Do these symptoms ring any bells with anyone?

Has anyone got any success stories regarding using external hard disks with the BOB and firmware 2.0? I'd be particularly interested in hearing about any workarounds that people have had to come up with, and brands / model numbers from any working setups ...
 
Do you have the BoB plugged into power as well?

The BoB has to have power, so that the circuitry 'fixing' the problem with Mk1 EXT power (mk1:3.3v-USBHost/mk2:5v-UBHost) allows the USB Interface to properly jigger itself at the cable-layer ..

Apropos Succes: I regularly use my JOBO Datatank (60gig) battery-powered hard disk with my gp2x's and my home-made EXT->USB cable (which also fixes the 3.3 problem), and I also have large Lacie disks (on a hub) in use with my 'GP2X-hacking setup', which includes a mains-powered BoB on the same deskspace ..

Where possible: Use a USB-powered hub with the BoB. That means, yes, plug in and use a lot of devices that you can into your GP2X .. ;)
 
Thanks for the advice torpor.

I'm currently using a 3v adaptor (orginally bought for the GP2X) with the BOB, and running the GP2X using batteries. I notice that the manual for the BOB says that I should be using adaptors on both the BOB and the GP2X if I connect a "hi-power device" such as a hard disk. I figured that I didn't need to count the LaCie drive as a high-power device since it is self-powered, but I guess I should try a second adaptor and/or a powered USB hub.
 
Definitely, follow what the manual says about this .. both GP2X and the BoB should be powered up with DC if you want to use High-power devices on the USB, if its a GP2X Mk1 .. unfortunate, but its a fact: the GP2X Mk1 had a little bug or two ..
 
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