MLO crashing on Pandaboard ES rev B3

Hi

I just got a shiny new Pandaboard ES rev B3 and I’m trying to get RISC OS up and running on it. I grabbed the pandaboot.zip file from riscosports.co.uk. In the boot partition I’ve copied MLO (first before anything else) and then the rest of the contents of the zip. Then I add in the OMAP4 RISC OS image.

When I boot the system doesn’t even get past the “Starting OS bootloader” prompt. I tried the version of Ubuntu (11.10) from the SVT web site and that boots perfectly, so I know it’s probably not a hardware issue.

I grabbed the MLO from the ubuntu distribution (from SVT) and set up the boot partition one more time using the MLO from there instead. Then it boots and gets as far a ModuleInit before hanging.

Obviously I’m missing something vital here? Thanks in advance for any pointers.

/Simon

If you haven’t tried it already, you’d be in a good position to trial the new set-up instuctions for a Pandaboard ES Rev B3 at https://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/show/Getting%20Going%20with%20a%20Pandaboard.

Let me know how you get on.

Hi Mike

Having perused the forums before starting, I found that page and followed the instructions. This didn’t even get me as far as loading the bootloader :( It seems that the MLO available at riscosports.co.uk doesn’t work on the ES rev B3. I just tried the MLO and u-boot.img available in the following thread:

https://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/5/topics/2794

That works better, but gets to ModuleInit and then hangs. I think what the new set-up instructions need is exactly the files to use (preferable in a dated zip) i.e. use pandaboot20140927.zip and “2014-09-27 06:48:28” version of the OMAP4 pandaboard ROM. It seems that any variance between the files just breaks it.

I have 4 different SD cards (which work with Ubuntu 11.10 from SVT’s site; so I’m pretty sure the issue I’m seeing is some compatibility issue between the ROM image and the bootloader stages).

If it helps; here is what the serial console output is showing:

U-Boot SPL 2014.10-rc2-19729-gd6c1ffc-dirty (Sep 06 2014 - 13:00:26) OMAP4460 ES1.1 SPL: Please implement spl_start_uboot() for your board SPL: Direct Linux boot not active! reading u-boot.img reading u-boot.img

Net: No ethernet found.
Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0
switch to partitions #0, OK
mmc0 is current device
SD/MMC found on device 0
reading boot.scr
Unable to read file boot.scr
reading uEnv.txt
56 bytes read in 3 ms (17.6 KiB/s)
Importing environment from mmc0 …
Running uenvcmd …
reading riscos
5242880 bytes read in 366 ms (13.7 MiB/s)
Starting application at 0×81000000 …
OMAP4 HAL init
Board config=PandaBoard
HAL_Init
HAL initialised
IICInit
HAL_KbdScanSetup
HAL_CleanerSpace
InitCMOSCache entry
InitCMOSCache done
IMB_Full done
Keyboard scan complete
Reset CMOS
InitDynamicAreas
InitVectors
InitIRQ1
IMB_Full
VduInit
ExecuteInit
KeyInit
MouseInit
OscliInit
Enabling IRQs
IRQs on
HAL_InitDevices
InitVariables
AMBControl_Init
ModuleInit


Try the ones Here
They work for me…

That gets me as far as HAL_InitDevices and then crash. Do you know what ROM version you are using and what the contents of the uenv.txt file are for your set up?

My uenv.txt is:

uenvcmd=fatload mmc 0:1 0×81000000 riscos;go 0×81000000

/Simon

I don’t have a uenv.txt file.
I have a BOOT/SCR that contains pretty much the same.
My ROM is a home brew from about July’s source (with GPIO added to the ROM).
I’ve added the ROM and BOOT/SCR to the same download if you want to try it.

Firstly, thanks for posting the files.

It seems that, with the files you supplied, the board still crashes on boot; only it’s a little more random. I booted it several times and it crashed (during boot) in different places. I read that the pandaboard can be sensitive to the type of SD card (I used an 8Gb Sandisk Ultra 30Mb/s class 10 to test the files in the zip). Just to remove the variable can anyone tell me a known working card (preferably in use with a ES rev B3)?

It has to be said that spending all day trying to get something to boot is rather frustrating :)

Mine is a 16GB Sandisk Ultra 30Mb/s class 10…..

I use a Patriot 64GB like this very fast and stable (more than my Sandisk Ultra and Ultra extreme).
Works with Panda and Pandora but not with RPi!

Ok, I’m all booted up :o)

Turns out it was mainly my inability to follow the guide posted by Mike. The bit I missed was plugging the HDMI into the outer port. When the serial console got as far as ModuleInit and stopped I presumed it had died; seems that’s actually the last console message you get once booted. This was with the boot files from my second post above (the files indicated by the guide do not work).

It would be nice (for n00bs like myself) if the guide had a picture of a connected board – I know it should be unnecessary, but it would make it more obvious so others don’t make the same mistake I did. Also, a message on the console like “RISC OS booted successfully” rather than “ModuleInit” and then nothing would be a little more intuitive. Just suggestions! Thanks for all the help chaps.

It would be nice (for n00bs like myself) if the guide had a picture of a connected board – I know it should be unnecessary, but it would make it more obvious so others don’t make the same mistake I did.

As ever on these things people should feel free to edit documents, particularly to improve clarity.
A picture, or possibly the ports in order described and which to use would seem to be in order.

Good point Steve. I’ll see if I can take a picture and upload it to the wiki.

Update: I’ve added a link with a picture of my pandaboard. I couldn’t find a way to put the picture in the wiki directly though, so it’s linked to tinypic.

It would be nice (for n00bs like myself) if the guide had a picture of a connected board.

There’s already a link to a diagram, the very last sentence in section 1.3. Perhaps it should somehow be highlighted more, or maybe positioned at the very beginning of the section? I’d also be grateful (on behalf of future adopters of the Pandaboard :-) if someone would kindly check out the other links – I suspect in some cases there may be better links.

When I drafted the guide I tried to make it user-friendly, chatty, conversational but if points get lost maybe it needs to be more concise & pithy. As I said in an earlier post, I’ll revisit it with fresh eyes at some point, unless someone more knowledgeable than me can make a better go of it meantime?

There’s already a link to a diagram, the very last sentence in section 1.3. Perhaps it should somehow be highlighted more, or maybe positioned at the very beginning of the section?

I suspect many people read the standard Panda setup information which recommends the HDMI port while RISC OS is using the other, DVI port. Of course if the OMAP4 image was modified¹ to drive both ports that wouldn’t matter.

¹ With code under a CDDL or BSD licence rather than something incompatible with inclusion in the overall ROM image.

In the light of comments made in this thread and in this one I’ve slightly altered the instructions. Hopefully things will be a little clearer (is there a smiley for praying? :-).

Of course if the OMAP4 image was modified

When it’s next modified, could consideration be given to the FileSystem default being SDFS rather than SCSI, as with the Raspberry Pi please? I reckon it would be a lot easier for noobs if they didn’t have to fiddle about with initially booting from a memory stick. I think it would be easy enough for more experienced people to later modify it to boot from a scsi device if required.

Mike, thanks for working on the guide; it was/is useful!

One other thing I struggled with was getting my 1920×1080@60Hz monitor working. Selecting 1920×1080 would not allow me to select a refresh rate over 30Hz (too low for the monitor). This seems to be solved by selecting the ‘Generic’ monitor and then picking 1920×1200 RPC Emu which works perfectly (can’t say I really understand why though since my monitor doesn’t support 1920×1200...)

This was after much playing around with the screen set up and !MakeMode getting no where. I would add it to the guide, but I’m not sure if this is the same as other PB users experienced or if the fix is just for my monitor. Still I will leave it here in the forums just in case someone else finds it useful.

Simon, I had a heck of a time until I decided to forget it and buy the PandaLand distribution from R-Comp. Andrew sent me all the documentation, my CMOS widget, and a SanDisk Extreme 32GB with RISC OS on it. Worked first time. I haven’t looked back!

Some might say it is pricey but the headaches I got trying to figure this silly Panda out made me spending the money for a working solution an easy choice. You can see my complaints, frustration, etc. in the General section of the forum.

Interestingly I boot my Pandaboard version A3 from a modified RPi image, with all the RPi boot files replaced on the FAT16 patition by the Panda boot files. My Panda then boots directly from SDFS and does not require to boot from a USB memory stick ever (i.e. SCSIFS not used for booting at all). Are you using different version(s) of the Panda boot files to me ?

Where exactly is the boot device ‘determined’ or ‘set’ in the Panda boot files ?

Ralph

Boot device is set at the command line or task window, so to set the filesystem to sdfs you pres ctrl+F12 to get a task window then type the commands listed below

con. filesystem sdfs (press enter)
con. boot
con. is short for configure, you don’t have to enter a drive number as there is only one sdfs drive so will default to 0
if you want to boot for scsi use the same command but with SCSI not SDFS then you have to configure the drive number that you want to boot from with
Con. scsifsdrive 4 (the scsi drive number) to check that you have done type st. or status at the command line it will list the configuration status.

Hope this helps

Simon, I had a heck of a time until I decided to forget it and buy the PandaLand distribution from R-Comp. Andrew sent me all the documentation, my CMOS widget, and a SanDisk Extreme 32GB with RISC OS on it. Worked first time. I haven’t looked back!

To be honest, my biggest mistake was simply connecting the HDMI to the wrong port (as Steve P mentioned above – I looked at the video linked from the tutorial and plugged the cable into the other port as it showed). Adding a picture to the tutorial seems to be the simple solution. Overall I learnt some useful things about the Pandaboard along the way, so there is benefit to the struggle :)

In the light of comments made in this thread and in this one I’ve slightly altered the instructions.

Mike, I notice that the article is still linking to the riscosports file section with the non-working pandaboard files. I used the files from the following link:

http://www.riscosports.co.uk/pandaboottest.zip

(although, if I remember right, I had to combine them with some files from the other pandaboard zip on the same site (environment files)).

I’m wondering if there is a way to put the correct files in a zip and upload them to this site? It would be way better if the article said exactly which boot files you need and stated the OPAM4 build to which they were tested, or is there a good reason not to do this?

Overall I think it would be a good idea if the OMAP4 port output a little more meaningful information to the serial console on boot. A simple “Now switching from console to HDMI output to finalise boot” message would have immediately shown me the error of my ways.

Overall I think it would be a good idea if the OMAP4 port output a little more meaningful information to the serial console on boot. A simple “Now switching from console to HDMI output to finalise boot” message would have immediately shown me the error of my ways.

That probably applies to most if not all versions. Take a beagleboard and use the serial port as a monitor and you see the same sort of sequence and the “now what?” status at the completion of boot.
I’d forgotten until you mentioned it.

I’m wondering if there is a way to put the correct files in a zip and upload them to this site?

I completely agree. At the moment the relevant files are scattered all over the place. It’s terribly confusing for newcomers and people don’t know whether they’ve got the right version of things or not. Software could change and the instructions on the Wiki become useless. We need one place for people to go for everything. If the individual software authors would agree to their software being held in one place and updates being placed there then that would greatly ameliorate the chaotic situation we have at present.

http://www.riscosports.co.uk/pandaboottest.zip

Amended. Plus a couple of other things tidied up.