Unable to Update Firmware on CC Pandora

[GeBeCluck23]

  I just got a Pandora in today from GBAX.com, (it was a refurbished CC Model) and I tried updating it to the latest firmware, (SuperZaxxon1.55) but it didn't work... It literally came with the original "Zaxxon" version 1. So I tried updating it to an earlier version of SuperZaxxon, I tried a couple and they didn't work, so I tried Zaxxon (HF7b1), finally, it did work. I ended up having to update it in increments, and I got it all the way up to SuperZaxxonB2, but not any further than that.

  As far as troubleshooting goes, the latest files (SuperZaxxon1.5X) wouldn't load, (the boot menu does allows me to boot from SD1:1, and starts to load, but as soon as it says it's going to launch, the screen goes black and doesn't come back on) whereas the SuperZaxxonBX files tend to load at first, even go so far as finishing the initial part of the install, all the way to where it requires you to press ENTER to shutdown, which I did, but when I turned it back on, it would hang indefinitely.

  Last but not least, I used Pandora Model Check to get some more information; I'm not sure if it's relevant or not, but here ya go:

"Your Pandora is an Original CC Model, equipped with 256Mb of RAM. It has a 600Mhz Processor (ARMv7 Processor rev 2 (v7l)). The latest firmware reflashed on your Pandora is Image Builder: notaz@pithos.open-pandora.org (running Linux 2.6.27.57-omap1)."

(P.S.

    This "Model Check" was taken while I was on SuperZaxxonB2.)

 

[EvilDragon]

Hmm, so it seems that model doesn't like Kernel 3.2 for some reason.

Is the full hardware working?

 

[GeBeCluck23]

I haven't tested it a whole lot, but yeah, as far as I can tell hardware is good.

 

[EvilDragon]

Hmm, something in the hardware seems to prevent kernel 3.2 from booting it seems.

 

[Mr_Loon]

Hmm, something in the hardware seems to prevent kernel 3.2 from booting it seems.

FWIW my CC Pandora runs with SZ1.55 & kernel 3.2 without problems, not seen this problem mentioned by other CC Pandora owners.

 

[EvilDragon]

Hmm, something in the hardware seems to prevent kernel 3.2 from booting it seems.

FWIW my CC Pandora runs with SZ1.55 & kernel 3.2 without problems, not seen this problem mentioned by other CC Pandora owners.

Yes, I know, and that's exactly why I think something in the hardware is not right.

Could be something like powersaving, etc.

Something we either didn't use before Kernel 3.2 or something that has changed and now triggers a crash.

 

[ZXDunny]

Well, it's a refurnished CC model. Craig will likely have installed the basic original firmware on it, run a couple of tests and called it good.

You get what you pay for. And from whom you buy it from.

D.

 

[TrashyMG]

Perhaps try to install the Latest Zaxon firmware, then move up to Super Zaxxon?

At work don't have time to find links..

 

[EvilDragon]

Perhaps try to install the Latest Zaxon firmware, then move up to Super Zaxxon?


At work don't have time to find links..

If kernel 3.2 doesn't boot, that won't help.

 

[slaeshjag]

I had kernel 3.2 behave erratically without a battery in on my rebirth unit (kernel 3.2 refused to boot, it kept resetting, 2.6 booted fine.) Some months later, the power manager chip failed completely. 

 

[notaz]

It's still possible to boot 2.6 kernel on latest firmware if you hold R while turning on and select it in the menu that should appear.

 

[GeBeCluck23]

What actually is the difference between the kernel and the firmware? All I know is that when I start it up, it says "Beta 2" at the top, and says "Release 1.5 SuperZaxxon" at the bottom; I'm not sure what kernel version it has. Also, when I go to the Boot menu, my options are:

    "default boot

    power off

    boot from SD1:1

    Boot in CLI mode (kernel 2.6.27)

    Boot experimental kernel 3.2.1

    Boot with RAM cut for DSP (kernel 2.6.27)

    USB serial prompt

    serial prompt"

  I'm not sure where to go from here... I'll keep trying, and hopefully I'll get some results, but in the meantime, is there a program I can use that will test to see if any of the hardware is faulty? You know, without actually opening it up?

...Actually, I should have mentioned this earlier, but there is a slight rattling inside when I shake it, similar to what you hear in your old N64 games and controllers. Oh, and I also forgot to mention that I'm using an 8GB SanDisk SDHC, 30MB/s, class 6 SD card to boot this stuff, not sure if that's important.

 

[notaz]

The firmware is basically all software that sits in your pandora and not SD cards.

The kernel is portion of firmware responsible for controlling the hardware and providing a way for software to access the hardware.

What I was trying to say is that you can flash latest SZ 1.55 and select old kernel there with R-turn-on (there is "boot older 2.6.27 kernel" in SZ 1.55). This way you at least get latest software excluding the kernel.

About finding what's wrong with your board, you'd need serial cable with low-level debugging enabled to see what's going on.

 

[GeBeCluck23]

Um...I'm not sure what the serial cables are, or where to get them, but what I was saying is that SZ1.55 won't even boot the kernel at all. I've been using "boot from SD1:1" so far to try to update it. Is it possible to boot DIRECTLY from the SD Card USING the older kernel?

 

[Gausen]

^ Modify boot.txt and autoboot.txt to point to uImage-2.6.27.57-omap1 instead of uImage-3.

 

[GeBeCluck23]

^ Modify boot.txt and autoboot.txt to point to uImage-2.6.27.57-omap1 instead of uImage-3.

Okay. So where are these files, on the SD Card, or the Pandora itself?

(P.S.

   Just to be clear here, what I'm doing is going to the boot menu with SuperZaxxon 1.55 on the root, and selecting "Boot from SD1:1;" at that point it reads the kernel is there, goes all the way to where it says "Starting kernel..." and then hangs indefinitely. I can also select "Boot older 2.6.27 kernel," but when I select that, it just loads my current firmware with the older kernel, which doesn't help me flash SZ1.55.)

 

[Gausen]

If you are running the OS from a SD card this files should be on the root of that card.

 

[GeBeCluck23]

Oh, I just put the fullflash files on the root of the SD card. The .zip in question is "SuperZaxxon155.zip" from here:

http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php/page/firmware.html

Am I supposed to boot the firmware/OS on the SD Card? I heard you can do that, but so far I've just been trying to flash the Pandora itself.

 

[Gausen]

Yes, it´s possible to run the OS from an SD, many users do this. Regarding your question, since you are running the OS from internal flash take look into the /boot folder. There´s where autoboot.txt is in that case.

Edit:

Take a look at bootmenu.txt. There are the arguments and commands you need for booting straight into the old kernel. Try replacing the contents of autoboot.txt with the following line (taken form bootmenu.txt):

setenv bootargs 'ubi.mtd=4 ubi.mtd=3 root=ubi0:rootfs rootfstype=ubifs rw rootflags=bulk_read vram=6272K omapfb.vram=0:3000K quiet'; ubi part boot && ubifsmount boot && ubifsload ${loadaddr} uImage-2.6.27.57-omap1 && bootm ${loadaddr}

 

[GeBeCluck23]

Okay great! I edited autoboot.txt, just like you said, and now it boots the older kernel without me having to do it manually. Now my question is, can I use a similar technique to put SZ1.55 on, and just set it to autoboot to the older kernel each time, (that way I'm KIND OF updated) or do I HAVE to boot it off of SD? Keep in mind I'm on SZB4 right now, and no matter what I do, Kernel 3.2 doesn't want to boot for any of the firmwares. (Speaking of which, do I even need kernel 3.2? What's the advantage of having 3.2 over 2.6.27?)