Flashing failure, now the board would not power up!


P

PLeung

Still Fresh
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Oct 23, 2010
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Hi all,


I just got my hand on the Pandora board this afternoon, and is looking for a way to unbrick it after what seemed to be a NAND erase.


Long story short:


I was looking to try out Android on an OMAP platform and a friend lent me his Pandora device. Previous we had successfully update the firmware following instructions found here (prepare SD, boot from SD, yada yada).


As I couldn't find a pre-built Android image for the Pandora, I decided to try a pre-built image for Beagle. I downloaded from rowboat scripts to reflash and created an SD card with the mkmmc-reflash.sh. I proceeded to boot the device from SD, and noticed that the last message said (something like) "NAND erase finished, you can power down device".


After that, flicking the power slider does not even turn on the power LED. The Pandora board is totally unresponsive.


What should I do now? Do I need to attempt recovery from OMAP's bootrom? Can someone point me to the info on what do do next?


Thanks,


Paul Leung
 
To be so totally unresponsive seems unusual. There should be at least some indication it is doing something, I should think. Try removing the battery and waiting 30 seconds? That seems to have fixed other odd problems.


Also try flipping the power switch while holding the R shoulder button. That should bring up a basic boot menu that can allow you to reflash the firmware from a properly formatted SD card.
 
DISCLAIMER: I'm not an official OP Ltd representative, and what I'm about to say is half off-the-hat. No Warranty from me.

You'll need to create an SD with the first partition being like this:

http://code.google.com/p/beagleboard/wiki/LinuxBootDiskFormat

You wont need the linux rootfs partition. so I think you should roll with a bigger boot FAT32 partition;

that +50 (that is btw a typo, should be +50M) creates a 400M partition, so say eg. +100 to fit the flashkit in there. Just leaving as is (full disk) might also work.

Then after you have formatted the fat32 partition, you need to drop MLO in there.

FFS i couldnt find a public proper MLO, so here is mine: http://urjaman.dy.fi/mlo

That should be the first thing you write to the SD.

Then you need to download the official flashkit:

EDIT: Fixed something here. I had already untarred bootf.tgz in my flashkit tree...

http://www.openpandora.org/downloads/Pandora-Flashkit-2010-08-Zaxxon.zip

Unzip first to someplace else than the SD, extract u-boot.bin from bootf.tgz to the root of SD, then copy everything extracted to SD. Sync and unmount.

Then you should be able to insert the SD in to the pandora.

(Adding this note after writing all the stuff below: The TI bootrom might be able to boot from the SD without you holding START if the NAND is really erased.)

Then you'll need to boot the pandora while holding START and R-the-shoulderbutton.

This is a bit tricky because you wont know if the pandora is on (atm) because the power led is driven by the software (u-boot) that you just erased.

But i think this should work: Hold start and R, hold pandora button and power button for a sec, then release pandora button, then after a sec release power button (still holding start and R).

Now I have no idea on how to do that. If the pandora is certainly OFF then just R+START + flick the power switch should work. Also dropping the battery off, then holding R and START while somebody inserts the charger cable should work if the pandora in question can run without a battery (this is an undocumented feature, might not work in some pandoras). Also attaching the battery while holding R and START should work.

If and when a boot menu appears, you should be able to follow the instructions here:

http://www.openpandora.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=199&Itemid=40&lang=en

from point 5 onwards.

Now I'm hoping that the flashkit can update the MLO (IIRC it might, but not sure), otherwise you'll need to boot it with the SD card in point 7 (eg. hold only START and flick the power button) and fix the MLO some other way.

Huh, hoping to have helped in some way.

WizardStan said:
To be so totally unresponsive seems unusual. There should be at least some indication it is doing something, I should think. Try removing the battery and waiting 30 seconds? That seems to have fixed other odd problems.

Also try flipping the power switch while holding the R shoulder button. That should bring up a basic boot menu that can allow you to reflash the firmware from a properly formatted SD card.
Click to expand...
If he really erased the entire nand, there wont be any u-boot to turn the power led on or to show the boot menu. End of story.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yep, urjaman pretty much described it.


With an SD Card setup like that, it should boot again.


If the NAND is completely empty, there'll be no bootloader, but the left SD LED usually lights up when you try to power it up.


If there is SOMETHING on the NAND, a lot of things might happen (it might even crash the board on booting :) )


If the specially prepared SD Card doesn't boot, try pressing and holding PANDORA-Button + START while the SD Card is in the left slot and you power on.


If still nothing happens, you did something wrong creating the card ;) )


Note: If using Linux to create the card, note you need to use an fdisk-version prior to 2.18.


2.18 doesn't work anymore and the card won't be bootable (I wasted a few hours with that already).
 
EvilDragon said:
Yep, urjaman pretty much described it.


With an SD Card setup like that, it should boot again.


If the NAND is completely empty, there'll be no bootloader, but the left SD LED usually lights up when you try to power it up.


If there is SOMETHING on the NAND, a lot of things might happen (it might even crash the board on booting :) )


If the specially prepared SD Card doesn't boot, try pressing and holding PANDORA-Button + START while the SD Card is in the left slot and you power on.


If still nothing happens, you did something wrong creating the card ;) )


Note: If using Linux to create the card, note you need to use an fdisk-version prior to 2.18.


2.18 doesn't work anymore and the card won't be bootable (I wasted a few hours with that already).
Click to expand...

couldn't we just write a raw sd card image using "dd if=repair_sd.img of=/dev/sd_card_device" ?


any SD card larger than the raw image file should work, no need to mock with fdisk.
 
Stephane Hockenhull said:
couldn't we just write a raw sd card image using "dd if=repair_sd.img of=/dev/sd_card_device" ?


any SD card larger than the raw image file should work, no need to mock with fdisk.
Click to expand...

Nope, as you'd all need the same SD Cards then (same sector size, etc.)
 
EvilDragon said:
Nope, as you'd all need the same SD Cards then (same sector size, etc.)
Click to expand...
No. It would work. The guide sets the virtual CHS of the cards to be same. The clusters count (size) isnt that important, it can be set smaller than the card really is. That all just affects the data in the table @MBR.


If nothing big happens, I'll really try to put up an image if I can tonight. We'll then test if it works or not :p
 
Regarding fdisk 2.18. It changed the default value of dos compat flag and display units.


So fdisk -c=dos -u=cylinders should work like fdisk 2.17 by default. Testing that as well now...
 
I'm sorry for the monolog, but making this a new post so that people notice:

EDIT: I've gotten rid of that rescue.img way way back, you should be able to

make it yourself with the flash zip and the MLO linked above.

http://urjaman.dyndns.info/rescue.img.bz2<- ~265M compressed, ~392M extracted disk image that should be bootable even on an empty pandora. Write to SD with eg. dd: dd if=rescue.img of=/dev/<SD_DEVICE> bs=4k (or so...)..

EDIT: SD_DEVICE is here the whole device (like sdb or mmcblk1), not a partition (likd sdb1 or mmcblk1p1).

I followed the guide I wrote above quite to the letter, except used -c=dos -u=cylinders on my fdisk 2.18. It warns like no other (these modes are deprecated) but seems to work just fine. Also, I set the cluster count to 50, so it should fit any SD card >= 512M in size.

This is the first time I've put this big a file on my personal server to be shared, so I'm hoping my 10MBit/s uplink wont totally die
wink.gif
. (OT: It is also exciting to put my alix 2d13 (500Mhz AMD Geode) to test
tongue.gif
)

Anyways, feel free to mirror it somewhere if you want to.

EDIT2: I've since made that rescue.img.bz2 available without the flashkit (compresses to way smaller) as http://urjaman.dy.fi/rescue-mini.img.bz2

bunzip2 -c rescue-mini.img.bz2 | dd of=YOUR-SD-DEVICE bs=32k or so and

extract the flashkit (currently http://openpandora.org/firmware/fullflash/SuperZaxxon172.zip ) into the partition named RESCUE :p
 
Last edited by a moderator:
urjaman said:
Regarding fdisk 2.18. It changed the default value of dos compat flag and display units.


So fdisk -c=dos -u=cylinders should work like fdisk 2.17 by default. Testing that as well now...
Click to expand...

If i read all these commands right, this produces a very simple MBR, ie =>


we are forcing an SD card to be recognized as an old/simple DOS-era hard disk.


Linux in general, has thrown (default) DOS compatibility out the window in favor of compatibly with everything else (large harddisks)?


I assume the OMAP chip just does this: blit whatever is file1 of (FAT)partition1 of disk1 to memory and point the CPU to it. (Stage 2 bootloader)


Being DOS compatible, keeps the bootloader code simple and cheap.


This is all very interesting stuff. :)
 
urjaman said:
I'm sorry for the monolog, but making this a new post so that people notice:


http://urjaman.dyndns.info/rescue.img.bz2 <- ~265M compressed, ~392M extracted disk image that should be bootable even on an empty pandora. Write to SD with eg. dd: dd if=rescue.img of=/dev/<SD_DEVICE> bs=4k (or so...)..


I followed the guide I wrote above quite to the letter, except used -c=dos -u=cylinders on my fdisk 2.18. It warns like no other (these modes are deprecated) but seems to work just fine. Also, I set the cluster count to 50, so it should fit any SD card >= 512M in size.


This is the first time I've put this big a file on my personal server to be shared, so I'm hoping my 10MBit/s uplink wont totally die ;) . (OT: It is also exciting to put my alix 2d13 (500Mhz AMD Geode) to test :p )


Anyways, feel free to mirror it somewhere if you want to.
Click to expand...

urjaman (and everyone who responded): Thank you for your pointers, I posted with very little hope that the question would be answered, and I am grateful that the response far exceeded my expectation!


I am still not out of the woods however. The 2- to 4-finger combo that everyone suggested did get me the left LED turning on, but nothing got me a boot menu. I tried to follow both a) urjaman's instructions in the original response, and B) his rescue image. I think a) got me left LED on and also the RED LED on the left side turned on, but no boot menu. I left it sit there for half an hour and nothing else happened. I then tried B) and it didn't go beyond just turning on the left GREEN LED.


I am flipping back to preparing the SD card for the second time now, but would like further clarifications from you guys -


- Would the boot menu come up only when MLO and u-boot.bin are read from the SD?


- What does the left RED LED mean?


- urjaman's instruction does not mention what to do with the uImage, so I put it in also. That's ok right?


Thanks,


Paul
 
When MLO and u-boot.bin are loaded the pandora logo should appear and if R (shoulderbutton) is held should show a menu. The uImage wont hurt anything but isnt needed in this case. There's two red leds on the left side, wifi and bluetooth (in that order). Neither of which should do anything if the NAND is empty (AFAIK).


Simplest (I think, if this pandora can run from AC only...) test of the card would be to:


- remove battery


- insert card into the left SD slot (it must be the left slot, next to the power-slider and minijack)


- hold the pandora with your left hand pressing START/ALT while you attach the AC power with right hand.


- the leftmost green led should flash, after which the power led should come on (nearly while the screen should turn on showing the pandora logo).


If this doesnt happen, I'm quite straightforwardly put helpless.
 
I am getting warmer, but still freezing :)


Now the unit will turn on with left and right green LEDs (+ the red ones too), with or without the SD card. Nothing on the screen though. Can you think of a weird MLO + u-boot.bin combo that would get the LEDs back on, while showing nothing on the LCD screen?

urjaman said:
When MLO and u-boot.bin are loaded the pandora logo should appear and if R (shoulderbutton) is held should show a menu. The uImage wont hurt anything but isnt needed in this case. There's two red leds on the left side, wifi and bluetooth (in that order). Neither of which should do anything if the NAND is empty (AFAIK).


Simplest (I think, if this pandora can run from AC only...) test of the card would be to:


- remove battery


- insert card into the left SD slot (it must be the left slot, next to the power-slider and minijack)


- hold the pandora with your left hand pressing START/ALT while you attach the AC power with right hand.


- the leftmost green led should flash, after which the power led should come on (nearly while the screen should turn on showing the pandora logo).


If this doesnt happen, I'm quite straightforwardly put helpless.
Click to expand...
 
I remember dealing with something on my Beagleboard.. the order you copy the files to the SD card matters.. think the MLO file needs to be there first.
 
Ah ha! Chalk this one up as "luser not following instructions to the letter." Once I reformatted, put MLO then the rest of the stuff onto the FAT32 partition, then held down ALT as I plug in AC, the screen showed the cube and proceeded to boot.


One more thing - power on with START/ALT pressed boots from SD directly, while START/ALT + R button gets me the boot menu.


Thinking back, after the first unsuccessful attempt (for whatever reason, wrong multi-finger combo perhaps?) I would rinse and repeat but always copy everything in one shot. Collapsing the steps outlined turned out to be the wrong thing to do.


Thanks everyone for helping out!

TrashyMG said:
I remember dealing with something on my Beagleboard.. the order you copy the files to the SD card matters.. think the MLO file needs to be there first.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
PLeung said:
One more thing - power on with START/ALT pressed boots from SD directly, while START/ALT + R button gets me the boot menu.
Click to expand...
I know that, I just dropped everything that was not necessary to get a cube onscreen from those instructions (I thought that it might have been "luser not capable of pressing two buttons at once"...).
 
Wow... something I suggested actually leading to something being fixed.. That's new.
 
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