Barebox stops working if /env/boot/mmc is removed

Barebox stops working if /env/boot/mmc is removed

[Patrick Boettcher]

Hi list,

I'm using barebox 2017.04.0-BSP (phytec's fork though).

I'm customizing my environment in a (Yocto) .bbappend-file.

When I'm removing (or not adding) the /env/boot/mmc-file the
barebox-image created by Yocto is not booting at all, that is, on the
serial console I don't see anything.

Maybe this is a problem of phytec's fork, but I'm wondering what could
create this behavior in general? Missing env-files make barebox not
boot.

Thanks for any insights in advance.

best regards,
--
Patrick.

_______________________________________________
barebox mailing list
barebox@lists.infradead.org
http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/barebox

Re: Barebox stops working if /env/boot/mmc is removed

[Patrick Boettcher]

On Fri, 2 Nov 2018 15:27:51 +0100
Patrick Boettcher <patrick.boettcher@posteo.de> wrote:

> Hi list,
> 
> I'm using barebox 2017.04.0-BSP (phytec's fork though).
> 
> I'm customizing my environment in a (Yocto) .bbappend-file.
> 
> When I'm removing (or not adding) the /env/boot/mmc-file the
> barebox-image created by Yocto is not booting at all, that is, on the
> serial console I don't see anything.
> 
> Maybe this is a problem of phytec's fork, but I'm wondering what could
> create this behavior in general? Missing env-files make barebox not
> boot.

The issue seems to have come from a file which was maybe in a previous
default environment and has been modified in the user-environment and
was now remove in the default-env or overwritten or whatnot.

It seems that I fixed it by erasing
the /dev/barebox-environment-partition after flashing the new
barebox-version.

For the moment this is not an issue for my system/application. It's a
bit scary though. 

regards,
--
Patrick.



_______________________________________________
barebox mailing list
barebox@lists.infradead.org
http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/barebox

Re: Barebox stops working if /env/boot/mmc is removed

[Sascha Hauer]

Hi Patrick,

On Sun, Nov 04, 2018 at 05:07:05PM +0100, Patrick Boettcher wrote:
> On Fri, 2 Nov 2018 15:27:51 +0100
> Patrick Boettcher <patrick.boettcher@posteo.de> wrote:
> 
> > Hi list,
> > 
> > I'm using barebox 2017.04.0-BSP (phytec's fork though).
> > 
> > I'm customizing my environment in a (Yocto) .bbappend-file.
> > 
> > When I'm removing (or not adding) the /env/boot/mmc-file the
> > barebox-image created by Yocto is not booting at all, that is, on the
> > serial console I don't see anything.
> > 
> > Maybe this is a problem of phytec's fork, but I'm wondering what could
> > create this behavior in general? Missing env-files make barebox not
> > boot.
> 
> The issue seems to have come from a file which was maybe in a previous
> default environment and has been modified in the user-environment and
> was now remove in the default-env or overwritten or whatnot.
> 
> It seems that I fixed it by erasing
> the /dev/barebox-environment-partition after flashing the new
> barebox-version.
> 
> For the moment this is not an issue for my system/application. It's a
> bit scary though.

What does "Stops working" mean? Doesn't start at all? Doesn't start
kernel? Your description is a bit vague.

Sascha

-- 
Pengutronix e.K.                           |                             |
Industrial Linux Solutions                 | http://www.pengutronix.de/  |
Peiner Str. 6-8, 31137 Hildesheim, Germany | Phone: +49-5121-206917-0    |
Amtsgericht Hildesheim, HRA 2686           | Fax:   +49-5121-206917-5555 |

_______________________________________________
barebox mailing list
barebox@lists.infradead.org
http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/barebox

Re: Barebox stops working if /env/boot/mmc is removed

[Patrick Boettcher]

On Tue, 6 Nov 2018 09:29:14 +0100
Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de> wrote:
> > The issue seems to have come from a file which was maybe in a
> > previous default environment and has been modified in the
> > user-environment and was now remove in the default-env or
> > overwritten or whatnot.
> > 
> > It seems that I fixed it by erasing
> > the /dev/barebox-environment-partition after flashing the new
> > barebox-version.
> > 
> > For the moment this is not an issue for my system/application. It's
> > a bit scary though.  
> 
> What does "Stops working" mean? Doesn't start at all? Doesn't start
> kernel? Your description is a bit vague.

Stops working means no more output on the serial port after having
barebox_updated the image and issued 'reset'. Hardware reset did not do
anything.

--
Patrick.

_______________________________________________
barebox mailing list
barebox@lists.infradead.org
http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/barebox

Re: Barebox stops working if /env/boot/mmc is removed

[Sascha Hauer]

On Tue, Nov 06, 2018 at 02:11:26PM +0100, Patrick Boettcher wrote:
> On Tue, 6 Nov 2018 09:29:14 +0100
> Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de> wrote:
> > > The issue seems to have come from a file which was maybe in a
> > > previous default environment and has been modified in the
> > > user-environment and was now remove in the default-env or
> > > overwritten or whatnot.
> > > 
> > > It seems that I fixed it by erasing
> > > the /dev/barebox-environment-partition after flashing the new
> > > barebox-version.
> > > 
> > > For the moment this is not an issue for my system/application. It's
> > > a bit scary though.  
> > 
> > What does "Stops working" mean? Doesn't start at all? Doesn't start
> > kernel? Your description is a bit vague.
> 
> Stops working means no more output on the serial port after having
> barebox_updated the image and issued 'reset'. Hardware reset did not do
> anything.

Console output starts before the environment is looked at, so this
shouldn't be the root cause. I didn't understand where you erased the
file. Did you erase it in your build, so in the default environment, or
did you erase it during runtime from the saved environment? For the
former it could be that the object positions in the binary moved to some
unlucky place. FOr the latter it could be that the environment partition
overlaps with the barebox partition so that a saveenv accidently
overwrites parts of the barebox image.

Sascha

-- 
Pengutronix e.K.                           |                             |
Industrial Linux Solutions                 | http://www.pengutronix.de/  |
Peiner Str. 6-8, 31137 Hildesheim, Germany | Phone: +49-5121-206917-0    |
Amtsgericht Hildesheim, HRA 2686           | Fax:   +49-5121-206917-5555 |

_______________________________________________
barebox mailing list
barebox@lists.infradead.org
http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/barebox

Re: Barebox stops working if /env/boot/mmc is removed

[Patrick Boettcher]

On Wed, 7 Nov 2018 08:36:21 +0100
Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de> wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 06, 2018 at 02:11:26PM +0100, Patrick Boettcher wrote:
> > On Tue, 6 Nov 2018 09:29:14 +0100
> > Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de> wrote:  
> > > > The issue seems to have come from a file which was maybe in a
> > > > previous default environment and has been modified in the
> > > > user-environment and was now remove in the default-env or
> > > > overwritten or whatnot.
> > > > 
> > > > It seems that I fixed it by erasing
> > > > the /dev/barebox-environment-partition after flashing the new
> > > > barebox-version.
> > > > 
> > > > For the moment this is not an issue for my system/application.
> > > > It's a bit scary though.    
> > > 
> > > What does "Stops working" mean? Doesn't start at all? Doesn't
> > > start kernel? Your description is a bit vague.  
> > 
> > Stops working means no more output on the serial port after having
> > barebox_updated the image and issued 'reset'. Hardware reset did
> > not do anything.  
> 
> Console output starts before the environment is looked at, so this
> shouldn't be the root cause. I didn't understand where you erased the
> file. Did you erase it in your build, so in the default environment,
> or did you erase it during runtime from the saved environment? For the
> former it could be that the object positions in the binary moved to
> some unlucky place. 

This must have been my case. I deleted a file from the default
environment within my build which was in a previous image.

As I didn't really knew what's going on, I don't remember exactly what
I did.

But I'm quite sure that erasing the barbox-environment-partition fixed
the problem. 

I haven't seen it since then, no matter how much I changed the
built-in-env.

Thanks for your feedback and explanation, I'll keep my eyes open in
case the problem reappears.

regards,
--
Patrick.

_______________________________________________
barebox mailing list
barebox@lists.infradead.org
http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/barebox