Odroid C2 mainline kernel support

[tobetter]

@Flole, sorry for asking this. Which kernel build did you use from me before and now? How did you upgrade the kernel?

[Flole]

I was running 4.17.0-rc6-odroid-arm64 from launchpad, I would have to look up the exact link if you need it. Unfortunately that kernel seems to be missing the cpufreq scaling support and for some reason it stalls during reboot sometimes, which is why I tried to upgrade to the one from scpcom that I linked in the other post. I thought there is no newer kernel from you available than the one I am already running, which is why I attempted to switch to scpcom's kernel but that didn't really work out at all as its not booting.

[tobetter]

I was running 4.17.0-rc6-odroid-arm64 from launchpad, I would have to look up the exact link if you need it. Unfortunately that kernel seems to be missing the cpufreq scaling support and for some reason it stalls during reboot sometimes, which is why I tried to upgrade to the one from scpcom that I linked in the other post. I thought there is no newer kernel from you available than the one I am already running, which is why I attempted to switch to scpcom's kernel but that didn't really work out at all as its not booting.

Thank you for the detail. Actually I stop using Launchpad due to the size of the Linux package, I am running my PPA and pushing the mainline kernel. Unfortunately, I've not tested them on ODROID-C2 recently if the mainline kernel can boot. FYI, the mainline kernel is uploading to here, please look up linux-image-5.4.0-rc8-odroid-upstream-arm64 in the page if you are able to try it out. I will try to test it later at home.

[brad]

and then stalled. I would have expected the network to come up and the kernel to mount my rootfs and then continue booting. Anybody knows what might cause this? Is this related to my old uboot?

The network will be setup in either version of uboot and tftp with some configuration in boot.ini (or boot.scr) should allow it to work via tftp.

For NFS kernel boot we need 1 of 2 things..

- initrd loading all drivers and features required in its initramfs (PHY driver, scmmac driver, NFS drivers, dhcp, etc)
- Required modules built to the kernel and early network support (autoconfiguration) enabled

With the later and NFS the we must pass kernel parameters at bootime to configure the network early before we have access to the NFS root filesystem configuration files.

We can tell the kernel to load (autoconfigure network early boot ) with

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root=/dev/nfs

We can tell it the location of our root NFS file-system to boot via something like this.

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nfsroot=192.168.1.11:/mnt/disk1/c2/rootfs

By default it will attempt DHCP but if you want you can specify static options using the "ip=" boot parameter - see for more details https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentatio ... fsroot.txt

For the C2 in uboot the boot parameters ends up something like this for NFS..

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boot=/dev/nfs ip=dhcp nfsroot=192.168.1.11:/mnt/disk1/develop/c2/rootfs rw rootwait

We can boot rw filesystem mode directly as NFS is configured early and there is no need to remount via /etc/fstab and attempt to switch from an initrd root filesystem

If you show me your uboot.[ini|scr] config (hardkernel or mainline) I can maybe offer some suggestions.

[Flole]

Hi brad,

I verified that the kernel has the ethernet module and nfs module built-in before I loaded it onto my SD Card. My cmdline looks like this and works perfectly fine for the "old" kernel, just the new one has issues with it:

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console=tty0 console=ttyAML0 root=/dev/nfs rw ip=dhcp,,MyOdroid nfsroot=x.x.x.x:/xx/yy/zz/1/,nfsvers=3,retrans=100 no_console_suspend consoleblank=0 disableuhs=true panic=1 

I just tried the latest build from tobetter and something isn't right there aswell: It looks like the network never gets configured, there is no error just after some time I see

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[  111.586538] VFS: Unable to mount root fs via NFS, trying floppy.<\r><\n>

and then it panics.

[brad]

Hi brad,

I verified that the kernel has the ethernet module and nfs module built-in before I loaded it onto my SD Card. My cmdline looks like this and works perfectly fine for the "old" kernel, just the new one has issues with it:

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console=tty0 console=ttyAML0 root=/dev/nfs rw ip=dhcp,,MyOdroid nfsroot=x.x.x.x:/xx/yy/zz/1/,nfsvers=3,retrans=100 no_console_suspend consoleblank=0 disableuhs=true panic=1 

I just tried the latest build from tobetter and something isn't right there aswell: It looks like the network never gets configured, there is no error just after some time I see

Code: Select all

[  111.586538] VFS: Unable to mount root fs via NFS, trying floppy.<\r><\n>

and then it panics.

I think it looks to have the Realtek PHY loading as well by the logs (built in). Does your NFS server logs show it attempting to connect / any errors? should be in messages / syslog

[Flole]

No connection attempt in the logs and it does not even respond to pings, I have the impression that something with the driver is not quite right.

[fvolk]

FWIW I did some testing with 5.4rc5, [...], but had many problems
- USB problems: no detection of devices plugged in after boot (similar problem on 4.21, works with 3.14), I tried applying https://lore.kernel.org/patchwork/patch/1031243/, which removed the warning but not the problem.

Now that 5.4 is out, and this should become a LTS release(?), does anyone know whether this long running USB problem is still unfixed?
I would really like a headless C2 server with a current kernel, but attaching a USB harddisk at a later time has to work. :-/
Although the C2 is an old product I hope it still receives some love for a 20.04 LTS minimal release image with a current kernel...

[igorpec]

Although the C2 is an old product I hope it still receives some love for a 20.04 LTS minimal release image with a current kernel...

With Armbian it receive maximum love all the time We dropped legacy builds some time ago and providing only mainline kernel based images. With a small hack - removing # its possible to build Armbian Ubuntu 20.04 LTS today but its buggy like hell ATM) ... but we have Buster (minimal), Bionic, even Bullseye (next Debian) with this kernel ... https://www.armbian.com/odroid-c2/#kernels-archive-all

System information: http://ix.io/25EH

Attaching USB (NvME) "disk":

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[   39.737777] usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 7 using dwc2
[   39.838473] usb 1-1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=1a40, idProduct=0101, bcdDevice= 1.11
[   39.838491] usb 1-1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
[   39.838504] usb 1-1.1: Product: USB 2.0 Hub
[   39.839553] hub 1-1.1:1.0: USB hub found
[   39.839710] hub 1-1.1:1.0: 4 ports detected
[   39.925815] usb 1-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 8 using dwc2
[   40.026692] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=1a40, idProduct=0101, bcdDevice= 1.11
[   40.026702] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
[   40.026707] usb 1-1.3: Product: USB 2.0 Hub
[   40.027294] hub 1-1.3:1.0: USB hub found
[   40.027437] hub 1-1.3:1.0: 4 ports detected
[   40.413755] usb 1-1.3.1: new high-speed USB device number 9 using dwc2
[   40.614323] usb 1-1.3.1: New USB device found, idVendor=1a40, idProduct=0101, bcdDevice= 1.11
[   40.614334] usb 1-1.3.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
[   40.614340] usb 1-1.3.1: Product: USB 2.0 Hub
[   40.615056] hub 1-1.3.1:1.0: USB hub found
[   40.616151] hub 1-1.3.1:1.0: 4 ports detected
[   40.817760] usb 1-1.3.2: new low-speed USB device number 10 using dwc2
[   41.047501] usb 1-1.3.2: New USB device found, idVendor=0c45, idProduct=7403, bcdDevice= 0.01
[   41.047513] usb 1-1.3.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[   41.047519] usb 1-1.3.2: Product: USB Device
[   41.047524] usb 1-1.3.2: Manufacturer: SONiX
[   41.053962] input: SONiX USB Device as /devices/platform/soc/c9100000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.2/1-1.3.2:1.0/0003:0C45:7403.0004/input/input6
[   41.114516] hid-generic 0003:0C45:7403.0004: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.00 Keyboard [SONiX USB Device] on usb-c9100000.usb-1.3.2/input0
[   41.120243] input: SONiX USB Device Mouse as /devices/platform/soc/c9100000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.2/1-1.3.2:1.1/0003:0C45:7403.0005/input/input7
[   41.120644] input: SONiX USB Device System Control as /devices/platform/soc/c9100000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.2/1-1.3.2:1.1/0003:0C45:7403.0005/input/input8
[   41.178365] hid-generic 0003:0C45:7403.0005: input,hidraw1: USB HID v1.00 Mouse [SONiX USB Device] on usb-c9100000.usb-1.3.2/input1
[   41.225833] usb 1-1.3.1.2: new low-speed USB device number 11 using dwc2
[   41.452563] usb 1-1.3.1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=0458, idProduct=0036, bcdDevice= 1.07
[   41.452572] usb 1-1.3.1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
[   41.452576] usb 1-1.3.1.2: Product: NetScroll+Mini Traveler
[   41.452580] usb 1-1.3.1.2: Manufacturer: Genius      
[   41.457208] input: Genius       NetScroll+Mini Traveler as /devices/platform/soc/c9100000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.1/1-1.3.1.2/1-1.3.1.2:1.0/0003:0458:0036.0006/input/input9
[   41.457555] hid-generic 0003:0458:0036.0006: input,hidraw2: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Genius       NetScroll+Mini Traveler] on usb-c9100000.usb-1.3.1.2/input0
[   43.065743] usb 1-1.1: reset high-speed USB device number 7 using dwc2
[   43.561710] usb 1-1.1.3: new high-speed USB device number 12 using dwc2
[   43.762998] usb 1-1.1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=152d, idProduct=1562, bcdDevice= 2.03
[   43.763025] usb 1-1.1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[   43.763037] usb 1-1.1.3: Product: USB 3.0
[   43.763048] usb 1-1.1.3: Manufacturer: NFHK
[   43.763059] usb 1-1.1.3: SerialNumber: DB9876543211160
[   43.764120] usb 1-1.1.3: The driver for the USB controller dwc2_hsotg does not support scatter-gather which is
[   43.764144] usb 1-1.1.3: required by the UAS driver. Please try an other USB controller if you wish to use UAS.
[   43.764156] usb-storage 1-1.1.3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[   43.764794] scsi host0: usb-storage 1-1.1.3:1.0
[   43.795603] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[   44.770694] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     NFHK     USB 3.0          0203 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[   54.801038] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Spinning up disk...

Attaching flash drives:

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[  453.602842] sd 0:0:0:0: tag#0 timing out command, waited 180s
[  628.583090] usb 1-1.1.3: USB disconnect, device number 12
[  628.598661] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Read Capacity(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=0x01 driverbyte=0x00
[  628.598680] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Sense not available.
[  628.598859] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
[  633.067577] usb 1-1.1: USB disconnect, device number 7
[  692.681131] usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 13 using dwc2
[  692.783311] usb 1-1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=1005, idProduct=b128, bcdDevice= 1.10
[  692.783330] usb 1-1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  692.783342] usb 1-1.1: Product: FLASH DRIVE
[  692.783353] usb 1-1.1: Manufacturer: USB3.0
[  692.783364] usb 1-1.1: SerialNumber: 070791FB9643E526
[  692.784469] usb-storage 1-1.1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[  692.785022] scsi host0: usb-storage 1-1.1:1.0
[  693.814327] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     USB3.0   FLASH DRIVE      PMAP PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[  693.816006] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 30375936 512-byte logical blocks: (15.6 GB/14.5 GiB)
[  693.816610] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[  693.816628] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[  693.825814] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[  694.968678]  sda: sda1
[  694.971993] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI removable disk
[  707.819571] usb 1-1.1: USB disconnect, device number 13
[  711.112804] usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 14 using dwc2
[  711.213721] usb 1-1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=048d, idProduct=1234, bcdDevice= 1.00
[  711.213738] usb 1-1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  711.213750] usb 1-1.1: Product: UDisk           
[  711.213770] usb 1-1.1: Manufacturer: General 
[  711.213781] usb 1-1.1: SerialNumber: Љ
[  711.214823] usb-storage 1-1.1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[  711.215372] scsi host0: usb-storage 1-1.1:1.0
[  712.245817] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     General  UDisk            5.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[  712.247508] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 32768000 512-byte logical blocks: (16.8 GB/15.6 GiB)
[  712.258267] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[  712.258288] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 0b 00 00 08
[  712.258731] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] No Caching mode page found
[  712.258786] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  712.318723] Alternate GPT is invalid, using primary GPT.
[  712.318773]  sda: sda1
[  712.321591] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI removable disk

[fvolk]

So you did figure out a way that one can boot without any USB devices attached, and some time later attaching USB devices works?
What patch did you use? Will you submit the fix to upstream?

I tried Armbian once quite some time ago, but I dropped it for some reason, can't remember why... hmm... maybe try again...

[igorpec]

So you did figure out a way that one can boot without any USB devices attached, and some time later attaching USB devices works?
What patch did you use? Will you submit the fix to upstream?

Those patches are used on top of mainline - one looks related:
https://github.com/armbian/build/tree/m ... 64-current

Features and fixes are eventually getting to mainline but we have no resources to do that on purpose - in any case this is patch author responsibility, not from Armbian maintainers. http://linux-meson.com is around, they do this job professionally. We try this and that, some fixes are ours, some from them, some from greater community.

I tried Armbian once quite some time ago, but I dropped it for some reason, can't remember why... hmm... maybe try again...

IMO each Linux has its own philosophy but with Armbian you are always close or at the max. what's possible with lowest bug count. Try it.

[fvolk]

I need a new kernel so I have the drivers to attach whatever USB Wifi/camera/harddisk/etc. and "it just works", as headless server (aka low-power data acquisition+preprocessing device).
The base OS image should be minimal and low maintenance in updates, basically SSH+Docker,
because the actual software is in a container, shared across platforms (viewtopic.php?f=54&t=36784#p274980).

[igorpec]

I need a new kernel so I have the drivers to attach whatever USB Wifi/camera/harddisk/etc. and "it just works", as headless server (aka low-power data acquisition+preprocessing device).
The base OS image should be minimal and low maintenance in updates, basically SSH+Docker,
because the actual software is in a container, shared across platforms (viewtopic.php?f=54&t=36784#p274980).

Armbian (minimal) is close to this. It is Docker ready for many years now - with our tools you can create your own image (or even a distribution) with pre-installed Docker service in no time, but if you have special needs, demands (!) or bigger quality request, consider investing your money into software development. Perhaps also cover a little part of the work which was already done by community to make your start easier. This - in our case - represent currently more than 1.5 mio EUR of donated engineering hours per year on top of freely available code to create more and better designed freely available code. Which you can use, make it better or redesign for your purpose. "just works" or "i only want stable operations" can easily costs millions.

With Armbian you have just a little more work.

[fvolk]

Tried Armbian buster "Linux odroidc2 5.4.6-meson64 #19.11.4".
For every try I shutdown, disconnected power for 30s, and restarted.

Attaching a USB keyboard after boot works.
Attaching a USB harddisk or USB SSD after boot does not work.
Attaching after boot first a keyboard works, then a USB harddisk does not.
Attaching after boot a USB disk first, then a USB keyboard sometimes works, sometimes not.
Having a USB harddisk attached during boot... and the harddisk works fine.
However, on system shutdown it sounds like an attached USB harddisk does hard emergency parking, meaning the power is cut hard to USB?

So overall, kernel 5.4.6 with Armbian patches still does not robustly support USB late plug-in?

[fvolk]

For reference: USB harddisk: Seagate Backup Plus 2TB, USB SSD: Samsung T5 500GB
Now also tried noname USB stick 8GB... nothing :-/

[igorpec]

So overall, kernel 5.4.6 with Armbian patches still does not robustly support USB late plug-in?

Not perfect, I agree, but this is probably still the best what exists.

If you find a better solution / patches I will be more than happy to implement them. It is also possible to dig in, attach scope and try to reason and fix this behavior. But that is expensive to cover.

[fvolk]

Once I was young and wrote/debugged graphics drivers in assembly real&protected mode for open source software.
Now my hair is grey and my eyes limit the time in front of a screen
I leave the low-level hardware stuff to the younger generation, sorry...

[igorpec]

Now my hair is grey and my eyes limit the time in front of a screen

Welcome to the club of grey hair & thick glasses

[sodd]

Hi,
i just tried mainline kernel and everything seems to be ok, only one thing is missing. good old lirc_odroid (gpio ir transmiter). i found a new module in kernel named gpio-ir-tx and should be the right module for my case, but here's a question.

how can i load this module and set gpio_pin parametr? coz rpi using this module throw dtoverlay in config.txt, but i have no idea how to achive this

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[root@alarm alarm]# modinfo gpio_ir_tx
filename:       /lib/modules/5.5.0-1-ARCH/kernel/drivers/media/rc/gpio-ir-tx.ko.gz
license:        GPL
author:         Sean Young <sean@mess.org>
description:    GPIO IR Bit Banging Transmitter
alias:          of:N*T*Cgpio-ir-txC*
alias:          of:N*T*Cgpio-ir-tx
depends:        rc-core
intree:         Y
name:           gpio_ir_tx
vermagic:       5.5.0-1-ARCH SMP mod_unload aarch64

[mad_ady]

I too am curious about using ir-tx-gpio (which is the normal succesor of lirc_odroid). Most likely the dtoverlay changes can be done direcrly in the dtb, but I haven't seen a concrete example

[chewitt]

The meson-ir kernel module supports the IR sensor on the C2 and the Odroid remote is supported with rc-odroid. Assuming your distro bundles the required parts, have a look at https://wiki.libreelec.tv/infrared_remo ... figuration

[mad_ady]

Yes, but meson-ir is for receiving IR, while we are interested in using home made ir blasters hooked up to a gpio pin, to control other devices.