[OS] Debian Stretch for ODROID N2

[tobetter]

I've uploaded a new packages u-boot to my repository, you can either install it on your own, or simply do a system update, as it's now a dependency of the Kernel.
viewtopic.php?p=253000#p253000

Would you mind to share its code or script whichever how it updates the bootloader? Since we've found an issue that U-boot update corrupts the FAT partition when the update is performed on USB disk boot from Petitboot.
Thank you.

[meveric]

I use the same package provided by mdrjr just changed the path from media/boot to /boot as this includes both /boot and /media/boot no matter what OS you use and how you configued your bootfs.

I don't use USB/petitboot, so I can't say if it will corrupt it or not.

[tobetter]

I use the same package provided by mdrjr just changed the path from media/boot to /boot as this includes both /boot and /media/boot no matter what OS you use and how you configued your bootfs.

I don't use USB/petitboot, so I can't say if it will corrupt it or not.

I see, thanks. @joy already informed the thing to @mdrjr, so hope to be fixed.

[xabolcs]

I've uploaded a new packages u-boot to my repository, you can either install it on your own, or simply do a system update, as it's now a dependency of the Kernel.
viewtopic.php?p=253000#p253000

Yup, installed, 1664+1 records in, records out.

How do I verify (without testing the network) that the new bootloader is up and running?

[meveric]

well without bootloader it wouldn't boot, so if restart still works so should the bootloader
It's not a big deal to update the bootloader... we're doing this on other boards such as the C2 or XU4 for years.

[xabolcs]

Hahaha, it's not a big deal to update the bootloader!


My setup is interesting, because it doesn't boot from SD if I remove the eMMC. It hangs on the only red LED state.

Looks like it is related to that there are boot0, boot1 and rpmb partitions for eMMC but not for SD card.

eMMC's first partition is ext4, the second is btrfs to be sure avoid booting from it.

That's why I ask how do I validate that the updated bootloader is used.

[meveric]

That's why I ask how do I validate that the updated bootloader is working.

Well as I said, if it's booting, it's working.
The u-boot package overwrites the existing u-boot, if it doesn't work, it can no longer boot, as the bootloader would be damaged.
If you have a UART you can connect it on boot and check what version/date the u-boot shows on startup that way it outputs what u-boot it's loading.

[BadPritt]

Check againt that thread, as it's solved now: [SOLVED] N2 ethernet only works reliably at 100M

Looks like you need to update N2's bootloader.

Thank you for letting me know.
I've just tried it with Stretch.
Ethernet works fine now. That's great.

@meveric Any way to reverse the "install alternative rt5572 Kernel"?
It first found my wifi devices, but I couldn't connect. So I again tried that kernel, and after that it even doesn't find them anymore.
I think I just had to enable the network manager for it to work.

[meveric]

Hmm, I think if you remove the blacklist entry it should work again. After that you can remove the dkms package (but don't need to)

[BadPritt]

Hmm, I think if you remove the blacklist entry it should work again. After that you can remove the dkms package (but don't need to)

Thank you. That indeed brought them back. But none work. I've checked and network manager is enabled.

It gives "device not ready (firmware missing)" for all of them.
Guess that's why I couldn't get any to work earlier.

[meveric]

Well install the firmware
Most likely firmware-realtek or something like that. I don't install firmware by default. You can check with dmesg what firmware is missing

[BadPritt]

Well install the firmware
Most likely firmware-realtek or something like that. I don't install firmware by default. You can check with dmesg what firmware is missing

I got it all working now.
I found a script that makes 6 zram devices, 1 for every cpu. I tried it on your Stretch(zram-config can't be installed)
The script did it's job well. But it's exactly the same behaviour as with Ubuntu Mate. The moment it really needs zram it crashes blender.

Too bad. I hoped it would work here.
The automounting of drives does work correct with your Stretch.
Thank you.

[meveric]

I found a script that makes 6 zram devices, 1 for every cpu. I tried it on your Stretch(zram-config can't be installed)
The script did it's job well. But it's exactly the same behaviour as with Ubuntu Mate. The moment it really needs zram it crashes blender.

I provide my own zram tool/script called "zram-odroid" it can be configured under /etc/zram/zram.conf

Too bad. I hoped it would work here.

Maybe if you increase swappiness so that it swaps earlier that can help preventing crashes

[BadPritt]

I provide my own zram tool/script called "zram-odroid" it can be configured under /etc/zram/zram.conf

Maybe if you increase swappiness so that it swaps earlier that can help preventing crashes

I just tried it and it's no difference. It does declare 1.8GB as should(other don't). But when it needs to be used it shut's down Blender.
I've changed swappiness(it was 60) to 10 (crashed) and 100(crashed).
So that's not it. It's somewhere else since swap files do the same as zram.
I'll investigate further tomorrow.
Thanks.

[Kahana82]

I'm experiencing something weird with two N2's (identical rev and manufacturing date) with Stretch flashed to their eMMC's:
One initializes, reboots and appears on the LAN with an IP from the DHCP server + I can SSH into it. The second one never gets there.
It appears to initialize and reboot but then nothing, although the led blinks like the first one, supposedly meaning it booted the image.

I tried reflashing the image and after that even swapping the eMMC's around, only the first one boots correctly.
Also tried flashing a minimal Ubuntu image (Ubuntu Minimal 18.04.2 LTS v1.1) on the "faulty" one and it goes all the way...

What's happening here? Is this also related to the U-Boot not being updated ?

[meveric]

The u-boot is updated through system/kernel update, it is not updated on the first boot.
As one ODROID is working and the other not, I don't think anything is wrong with the image, but maybe something is wrong with the ODROID, the router, or the switch they are connected with.
As both images for the ODROID N2 share the same name, it could be that the router refuses to allow two devices under the same name on the network.

Can you plug in a monitor and try if you're able to access the console?
If the ODROID is blinking it should be up and running and you should be able to access it. If not via LAN, then maybe via direct physical connection with keyboard and monitor.
That way you can check the logs if there's an issue with the network or not.

[xabolcs]

Dear meveric!

May I ask for new packages being integrated to the OP's base image?

I ask for libpam-systemd and dbus, because of SSH sessions hang on shutdown/reboot.

Thanks!

[mad_ady]

@kahana82: swap the emmc from the working system onto the faulty system (after having updated uboot) and see if it can connect to the network.

[meveric]

You can also try this instead: https://serverfault.com/a/958773
Without having to install new packages.

I'm not 100% sure installing dbus and libpam-systemd by default is a good idea.
Especially since if you configure it wrong you might lock yourself out, as PAM authentication can ignore the PermitRootLogin without-password rule.

I'll look into it, but that would only be part of the next image and it could be a while before I publish a new one.

[xabolcs]

That solution is client side solution and it's a workaround in my eyes.

You could examine the Ubuntu image, as it isn't affected by this hanging problem.

Sure it's a nice to have feature/bugfix, so no hurry!

[Kahana82]

@kahana82: swap the emmc from the working system onto the faulty system (after having updated uboot) and see if it can connect to the network.

OK I'll try that.

.

The u-boot is updated through system/kernel update, it is not updated on the first boot.
As one ODROID is working and the other not, I don't think anything is wrong with the image, but maybe something is wrong with the ODROID, the router, or the switch they are connected with.
As both images for the ODROID N2 share the same name, it could be that the router refuses to allow two devices under the same name on the network.
...

The "faulty" one is the first one I tried to set up (bummer) the "good" one was only fired up quite some time and head-scratching later and went without a hiccup.
Also I tried putting it behind another DHCP server on a different subnet - same result.
If I recall correctly when I booted the Ubuntu image, both MAC addresses were different - isn't that enough for a DHCP server to tell them apart ?

.

...
Can you plug in a monitor and try if you're able to access the console?
If the ODROID is blinking it should be up and running and you should be able to access it. If not via LAN, then maybe via direct physical connection with keyboard and monitor.
That way you can check the logs if there's an issue with the network or not.

Yes I once started it up with the jumper in the SPI position instead of eMMC, it took me to some kind of setup (bios ?)
Only problem is that the only HDMI capable screen I have here is an old 720p tv...and the image is out of bounds on the left.
Nothing in the OSD to fix that (the zoom and image resizing are disabled for some reason).
So at the moment I can not read the first 10-15 characters of each line when I'm in there, if that makes sense.
I can do stuff in the menus, like adding/removing boot devices and change the order and so on.

I'll try booting it normally again, to see if I get console access or not, not sure about this from yesterday.

[meveric]

If I recall correctly when I booted the Ubuntu image, both MAC addresses were different - isn't that enough for a DHCP server to tell them apart ?

That is correct, but I've seen very strange routers sometimes so it was just a suggestion.

Yes I once started it up with the jumper in the SPI position instead of eMMC, it took me to some kind of setup (bios ?)

I can't help with SPI/petitboot, I don't use it and never bothered investigating in it.

Only problem is that the only HDMI capable screen I have here is an old 720p tv...and the image is out of bounds on the left.
Nothing in the OSD to fix that (the zoom and image resizing are disabled for some reason).
So at the moment I can not read the first 10-15 characters of each line when I'm in there, if that makes sense.

Check the boot.ini of the bootfs on the eMMC (can be opened even on Windows).
Here you can define different screen resolutions. You can try to force 720p here and see if that solves your out of bounds issue.

[Kahana82]

@kahana82: swap the emmc from the working system onto the faulty system (after having updated uboot) and see if it can connect to the network.

OK I'll try that.

Problem solved

[BadPritt]

Hi Meveric.
I'm trying to debug the USB problem, and for that I need to be able to connect via uart.
I've tried with baud rate 115200 and others but I'm not getting anything.
Is this enabled on your image? What baud rate do you use?

[meveric]

it's the same as for any other ODROID I already used the UART several times and it's working fine.
Also the UART has nothing to do with the image. It connects on a much deeper level even before an OS is loaded, or even without a SD / eMMC card you already see something on UART, so my image has nothing to do with it

[BadPritt]

It's my uart connectors. They all seem to have the wrong order. All a different order, but none correct. I can't use jumber wires in that connector.
So new plan. I've installed vncserver and I'll install the N2 near my router, and connect a few usb devices so I can check if they're working.
Cheers.

[BadPritt]

I'm having so much problems it's not normal. I now moved the N2 downstairs again near my router to connect with ethernet.
I wanted to use my 7" display, so I set the display settings to 1024x600p60 or what it needs to be. That didn't work, so I just plugged the N2 out.
I changed the settings back to 1080p and installed a 1080p display there.
Now I can't log in anymore with my user, and it also doesn't log in automatically anymore.
I can only login with root account.
And when my ssd is plugged in, my mouse and keyboard don't work at all anymore.
I'm stunned. I think this is the sign I've got to give it a rest for today. I guess I'll reinstall Stretch tomorrow and start over again.
I always say that the searching for sollutions is my favorite part on sbc's. Now I'm not so sure anymore. Cheers.

[meveric]

I'm having so much problems it's not normal. I now moved the N2 downstairs again near my router to connect with ethernet.
I wanted to use my 7" display, so I set the display settings to 1024x600p60 or what it needs to be. That didn't work, so I just plugged the N2 out.
I changed the settings back to 1080p and installed a 1080p display there.

I think there were some updates regarding video settings for the boot.ini that I haven't had time to incorporate yet.
Maybe it could help solve the issue with 1024x600 resolution but I'm not sure.

Now I can't log in anymore with my user, and it also doesn't log in automatically anymore.
I can only login with root account.

I wonder if the filesystem got damaged.. It's an odd behavior, that is sure.

And when my ssd is plugged in, my mouse and keyboard don't work at all anymore.

Maybe SSD is pulling to much power? 5V 900mA is the specs for USB 3.0 but I'm not sure what the ports on the N2 are providing.

Have you tried using the micro USB port on the backside? Maybe with a micro USB to USB cable? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LN3LQKQ/
The ODROID C1 (also an AmLogic based device) also had a lot of issues with with low level USB devices (such as mouse/keyboard) but USB OTG port worked somewhat better for these devices.

[BadPritt]

Have you tried using the micro USB port on the backside? Maybe with a micro USB to USB cable? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LN3LQKQ/
The ODROID C1 (also an AmLogic based device) also had a lot of issues with with low level USB devices (such as mouse/keyboard) but USB OTG port worked somewhat better for these devices.

Thank you for your comment.
I didn't try the mouse/keyboard now with otg. I did try it when USB was crashed and it also didn't work then.

I can't use Blender anymore with the root user. Indeed something must have broken, I think I should have waited a bit longer when I pulled the plug with the 1024x600 display.
I'll try again tomorrow with replenished courage. I hope ethernet doesn't stop working too when the USB's stop working. Then I can debug this better.
Thanks. Cheers.

[gunrosu]

Strange network behavior.
I've noticed that packets get lost and because of that i can not do apt update.

ping (my router) -c 100 = 100 packets transmitted, 62 recevid, 38% packet loss.
ping 130.89.148.14 (deb.debian.org) -c 100 = 100 packets transmitted, 68 recevid, 32% packet loss.

Now you would say 'hey check your network' but wait it's not over jet.
I've install the HK Ubuntu image and do the same test.

ping (my router) -c 100 = 100 packets transmitted, 100 recevid, 0% packet loss.
ping 130.89.148.14 (deb.debian.org) -c 100 = 100 packets transmitted, 100 recevid, 0% packet loss.

For me it seem not like a hardware issue then more like a software one. What do you think?

[xabolcs]

Update U-Boot manually!

[meveric]

Strange network behavior.
I've noticed that packets get lost and because of that i can not do apt update.

ping (my router) -c 100 = 100 packets transmitted, 62 recevid, 38% packet loss.
ping 130.89.148.14 (deb.debian.org) -c 100 = 100 packets transmitted, 68 recevid, 32% packet loss.

Now you would say 'hey check your network' but wait it's not over jet.
I've install the HK Ubuntu image and do the same test.

ping (my router) -c 100 = 100 packets transmitted, 100 recevid, 0% packet loss.
ping 130.89.148.14 (deb.debian.org) -c 100 = 100 packets transmitted, 100 recevid, 0% packet loss.

For me it seem not like a hardware issue then more like a software one. What do you think?

Did you install the updates for this image via apt procedures?

[gunrosu]

Did you install the updates for this image via apt procedures?

I gave it up after i wait two hours for finishing.
I also have test the pre installed emmc ubuntu without any updates.
Maybe it's a better idea if you made a new version with fixed network driver/ settings. I don't know.

[meveric]

I will, sorry for the inconveniences.

[BadPritt]

Did you install the updates for this image via apt procedures?

I gave it up after i wait two hours for finishing.
I also have test the pre installed emmc ubuntu without any updates.
Maybe it's a better idea if you made a new version with fixed network driver/ settings. I don't know.

There's an easy fix for that.
Quote from fromport:
So powered down my N2, put the SD card in a USB reader connected to my linux desktop.
Downloaded new uboot from https://github.com/hardkernel/u-boot/releases
I used the odroidn2-22 image.
Downloaded and extracted the tgz file (not source)
used the supplied script to install it to my uSD card:

Code: Select all

cd sd_fuse
./sd_fusing.sh /dev/sdb #<- that is where my system detected the uSD card
1664+1 records in
1664+1 records out
852336 bytes (852 kB, 832 KiB) copied, 0.113748 s, 7.5 MB/s
Finished.
End Quote.

I've got the same issue with both Ubuntu and Stretch. But with Ubuntu wifi works out of the box, while in Stetch you need to be able to download a few things to get it to work. And that doesn't work without internet...

[gunrosu]

I will, sorry for the inconveniences.

No problem i have to thank for your effort! Keep up your good work

@BadPritt
Perfect it works thank you very much!
No packet loss and updates are now finish in less than two minutes.

I've done the u-boot update in this way because i got some errors about sudo and path if i use the script.

1. install image to emmc
2. extract u-boot-odroidn2-25.tar.gz to the boot partion /boot/sd_fuse
3. boot stretch and login
4. dd if=/boot/sd_fuse/u-boot.bin of=/dev/mmcblk0 conv=fsync,notrunc bs=512 seek=1 && sync
5. reboot

[opfer15]

The uboot update also fixed my issue. My N2 couldn't connect to the network, even if you set an ip manually. the N2 was still unreachable, altough the NIC was up.

If you remove the sudo part from the script you can directly update your broken debian install. Get the script on the N2 with e.g. an usb-stick. If you use emmc, just replace /dev/sdb with /dev/mmcblk0

[adamhf]

Hey Meveric, many thanks for your hard work!

Would it be possible to enable to following Kernel modules in your kernel?
CONFIG_CGROUP_PIDS
CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_SET

Context: I'm trying to run a Kubernetes node on the N2 and both of which are required.

[meveric]

I can try, but you should ask @odroid or @mdrjr instead so it's activated for everyone.
(added it to my patches list and it will be set automatically on the next Kernel update)

[adamhf]

I can raise a PR on the n2 branch of the Hardkernel linux kernel. It looks like it builds cleanly and works as expected.

(thanks )

[odroid]

I can raise a PR on the n2 branch of the Hardkernel linux kernel. It looks like it builds cleanly and works as expected.

(thanks )

Please post a PR to our branch.

[highend]

Can somebody run cryptsetup benchmark and show me the output, please?

[meveric]

Can somebody run cryptsetup benchmark and show me the output, please?

Code: Select all

root@odroid-stretch64:~# cryptsetup benchmark
# Tests are approximate using memory only (no storage IO).
PBKDF2-sha1       587766 iterations per second for 256-bit key
PBKDF2-sha256    1170285 iterations per second for 256-bit key
PBKDF2-sha512     364088 iterations per second for 256-bit key
PBKDF2-ripemd160  326049 iterations per second for 256-bit key
PBKDF2-whirlpool  123187 iterations per second for 256-bit key
#  Algorithm | Key |  Encryption |  Decryption
     aes-cbc   128b   645.0 MiB/s  1022.0 MiB/s
 serpent-cbc   128b    41.0 MiB/s    43.0 MiB/s
 twofish-cbc   128b    68.4 MiB/s    71.9 MiB/s
     aes-cbc   256b   544.0 MiB/s   880.8 MiB/s
 serpent-cbc   256b    41.0 MiB/s    43.0 MiB/s
 twofish-cbc   256b    68.3 MiB/s    71.8 MiB/s
     aes-xts   256b   721.7 MiB/s   721.4 MiB/s
 serpent-xts   256b    42.3 MiB/s    43.5 MiB/s
 twofish-xts   256b    70.3 MiB/s    73.2 MiB/s
     aes-xts   512b   651.5 MiB/s   651.0 MiB/s
 serpent-xts   512b    42.3 MiB/s    43.5 MiB/s
 twofish-xts   512b    70.3 MiB/s    73.2 MiB/s

[highend]

Thank you, meveric! I guess I'll order one

[elatllat]

Can somebody run cryptsetup benchmark and show me the output, please?

Compared;
viewtopic.php?f=149&t=30103

[highend]

Thanks for the comparison, elatllat.

Looking at: https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-xu4/soft ... encryption
and how much performance (about 30%) is lost when using aes encryption on a drive (accessing it via smbfs)
in comparison to the speed without encryption...

should the N2 perform without this speed transfer loss because of the non-existent aes encryption bottleneck?

[florin.tanasa]

After many problems with eMMC to write an image I can finally to write @meveric image to eMMC.
I try it using card->microsd card adapter and I got always fail in linux and windows using dd method, open suse image writer and etcher-Balena.
I try it using USB->microsd card adpater and I got many fails in linux and windows using dd method, open suse image writer and etcher-Balena.
But with USB adapter I got only once correct write with etcher-Balena in windows for minimal Ubuntu image and only once with Open Suse image writer in Manjaro distribution. Because I wish Debian distribution I leave this at eMMC card.
I think is a problem to eMMC adapter or the eMMC have a problem.
After that I have problems with network for gigabyte connection (amber led on) where I lose many packets (many time I not got ip from dhcp server). When I interlaced a switch what have maximum 100Mbs (green led on) the problems with losses packets disappear. After update and full-update at home where I have also a 1000Mbs connection (amber led on) I not have the problems with losses packets.
Very strange.
Thank you @meveric for your great work at Debian image.

[mad_ady]

The packet loss before upgrade is normal for some devices.
For reliable flashing get the ~10$ usb-emmc adapter.

[florin.tanasa]

Hi @mad_ady,
Great idea with usb-eMMC adapter. If I find this in our sweet country, because I am not very happy to pay another 24 euro for transport. In this moment after last image writen with succes I not need. If I need in future I think I to put first a Linux distribution on The microSD card and after that I write the image on eMMC.
With eMMC and adapter from U2 I not have this problems.
Maybe a better idea to try first to use the old microSD-eMMC adapter from U2, I think is version/revision 1.

[mad_ady]

Since you're using the N2 you can use its emmc port to flash the emmc. Put the uncompressed image on a usb stick, boot with emmc and usb attached into petitboot, drop to a shell and use dd to flash the emmc.