[ARMedslack] A quick primer for the PI

Gregg Levine gregg.drwho8 at gmail.com
Fri Sep 27 14:08:17 UTC 2013


Hello!
I've gotten Slackware (on ARM) to work on my Pi. However the big
problem was in getting the installer based one to actually install the
operating system. Then I had some issues getting the other images to
work properly on my device.

In this case it was one of setting the proper boot settings and not
drop back into install mode.

In any case I still want to go ahead and try again at a future point in time.
-----
Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8 at gmail.com
"This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."


On Fri, Sep 27, 2013 at 4:10 AM, Davide <louigi600 at yahoo.it> wrote:
> I'm downloading the NOOBS and rasbian images to see if I can use those to
> boot the PI that has been lent to me.
> Looking on the underside there is a sticker: E1213RS2V13B1.0 is this a new
> or an old board ?
>
> I'm beginning to think that the whole PI project is scrap:
> the boards were meant to be 25 or 35 USD respectively fro the A or B model,
> but the cheapest you can get one in europe is for 50 Euro (that's damm close
> to 70 USD) ... it's twice the price it was supposed to be !!!!
> you get one and you may not be able to boot it untill you get the correct
> images for it
> downloading stuff from the foundation's' ftp server is really slow ... they
> must have a PI itself serving files
>
> I'm not even sure I want to complete my tests because I don't think I'm
> gonna buy one ... but I'm just curious to see how bad it actually is.
> I'll see if I want to try booting after the estimated 4 and 7 hour estimated
> download time, that I've hadto restart over again because it got truncated
> and resume does not seem to work.
>
> ATB
> David
>
> ________________________________
> Da: Tom <tomeks at spoko.eu.org>
>
> A: "armedslack at lists.armedslack.org" <armedslack at lists.armedslack.org>
> Cc: Davide <louigi600 at yahoo.it>
> Inviato: Giovedì 26 Settembre 2013 19:44
>
> Oggetto: Re: [ARMedslack] A quick primer for the PI
>
> Davide, I've also had problems installing Slackware on RPi.
> My board/card did not work with kernel / images they provided.
>
> I've suggested Slackware for RPI should use Raspbian kernel - because
> it is ACTIVELY supported.
>
> Try my way
>
> https://salwach.pl/rpi_slackware
>
>>These images have been tested on a
>> multitude of boards and have never failed to boot.
>
> Recently I've bought 2nd RPi, just switched SD card to new
> one..and ooops...black screen. Old works, new one not.
> After download of "new" Raspbian and replacing bootloader I've got it
> working.
>
> RPi is NOT Arduino - it changes too fast.
>
> And guys here do not understand that or ignore it.
>
> Standard answer: "Works on my computer"....LOL
>
>
> Tom
>
> W liście z 26 września 2013:
> From: stanley at stanleygarvey.com
> To: louigi600 at yahoo.it
> CC:
>
> ssc> No nothing obscure needs to be done it should just work. I
> ssc> checked today at home. These images have been tested on a
> ssc> multitude of boards and have never failed to boot.
> ssc> Have you created a swap and ext4 root fs? Donkt know if it will
> ssc> boot without these being present.
> ssc> Sent from my BlackBerry smartphone from Virgin Media
>
> ssc> -----Original Message-----
> ssc> From: Davide <louigi600 at yahoo.it>
> ssc> Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 15:23:43
> ssc> To: stanley at stanleygarvey.com<stanley at stanleygarvey.com>;
> ssc> dowelld at netscape.net<dowelld at netscape.net>;
> ssc> armedslack at lists.armedslack.org<armedslack at lists.armedslack.org>
> ssc> Reply-To: Davide <louigi600 at yahoo.it>
> ssc> Subject: Re: [ARMedslack] A quick primer for the PI
>
> ssc> No I formatted the filesystem myself and copied files into it.
>
> ssc> The firs lot of boot loader stuff was gotten out of
> ssc>
> http://stanleygarvey.com/slackwarearm_rpi/slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.zip
> ssc> , unzipp created loop device with off set on the image first
> ssc> partition ... mounted it and copied files over.
>
>
> ssc> root at darkstar:/tmp# fdisk  -l slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img
>
> ssc> Disk slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img: 2558 MB, 2558967808 bytes
> ssc> 4 heads, 32 sectors/track, 39046 cylinders, total 4997984 sectors
> ssc> Units = sectors of
> ssc>  1 * 512 = 512 bytes
> ssc> Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
> ssc> I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
> ssc> Disk identifier: 0x00007091
>
> ssc>                              Device Boot      Start         End  Blocks
> Id  System
> ssc> slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img1              32       97663  48816
> c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
> ssc> slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img2           97664      878847  390592
> 82  Linux
> ssc>  swap
> ssc> slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img3          878848    15751167
> 7436160   83  Linux
> ssc> root at darkstar:/tmp# echo $((32 * 512))
> ssc> 16384
> ssc> root at darkstar:/tmp# losetup -o 16384 /dev/loop0
> ssc> slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img
> ssc> root at darkstar:/tmp# modprobe vfat
> ssc> root at darkstar:/tmp# mount /dev/loop0 /mnt/floppy/
> ssc> root at darkstar:/tmp# ls /mnt/floppy/
> ssc> COPYING.linux*                  config-raspberrypi-3.2.27*  start.elf*
> ssc> LICENCE.broadcom*               config.txt*
> start_cd.elf*
> ssc> System.map-raspberrypi-3.2.27*
> ssc>  fixup.dat*                  zImage-raspberrypi-3.2.27*
> ssc> bootcode.bin*                   fixup_cd.dat*
> ssc> cmdline.txt*                    initrd-raspberrypi.img*
> ssc> root at darkstar:/tmp#
>
>
> ssc> Is there something obscure that need to be done to the dor partition ?
>
> ssc> Regards
> ssc> David
>
>
> ssc> ________________________________
> ssc>  Da: "stanley at stanleygarvey.com" <stanley at stanleygarvey.com>
> ssc> A: Davide <louigi600 at yahoo.it>; "dowelld at netscape.net"
> ssc> <dowelld at netscape.net>; "armedslack at lists.armedslack.org"
> ssc> <armedslack at lists.armedslack.org>
> ssc> Inviato: Giovedì 26 Settembre 2013 14:52
> ssc> Oggetto: Re: [ARMedslack] A quick primer for the PI
> ssc>
>
>
> ssc> Did you dd the image onto the card?
> ssc> What suze of card?
> ssc> Try the installer image at stanleygarvey.com
> ssc> Regards,
> ssc> Stanley
> ssc> Sent from my BlackBerry smartphone from Virgin Media
> ssc> ________________________________
>
> ssc> From:  Davide <louigi600 at yahoo.it>
> ssc> Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 13:38:21 +0100 (BST)
> ssc> To: stanley garvey<stanley at stanleygarvey.com>;
> ssc> dowelld at netscape.net<dowelld at netscape.net>;
> ssc> armedslack at lists.armedslack.org<armedslack at lists.armedslack.org>
> ssc> ReplyTo:  Davide <louigi600 at yahoo.it>
> ssc> Subject: Re: [ARMedslack] A quick primer for the PI
>
> ssc> I can't get it to boot at all.
> ssc> If I turn the PI on I get the PER led solid on but the ACT led does
> this:
> ssc> first faint on, the bright on for a second or do then it goes off and
> stays off.
>
> ssc> I've tried 2 different SD cards supposing that the firs may have
> ssc> had some sort of compatibility issue but the second does the same
> thing.
> ssc> I downloaded updated boot stuff from here:
> ssc>
> http://www.daves-collective.co.uk/raspi/system/raspi-boot-20120801-fw-1_dbs.tgz
> ssc> ... but nothing seems to change.
> ssc> Is the PI finiky on where the dos partition should begin ? or on the
> formatting of it ?
> ssc> mine starts at sector 2048 (1Mb from the beginning of the device) and
> is fat32 formatted
>
> ssc> I suspect that its not booting because if I take out the SD and
> ssc> mount in on the PC fsck does not detect the filesystem dirty flag
> ssc> that I should have if the thing booted but showed nothing on the TV.
>
> ssc> ATB
> ssc> David
>
>
>
> ssc> ________________________________
> ssc>  Da: stanley garvey <stanley at stanleygarvey.com>
> ssc> A: "dowelld at netscape.net" <dowelld at netscape.net>;
> ssc> "armedslack at lists.armedslack.org"
> ssc> <armedslack at lists.armedslack.org>; Davide <louigi600 at yahoo.it>;
> ssc> Slackware ARM port <armedslack at lists.armedslack.org>
> ssc> Inviato: Giovedì 26 Settembre 2013 13:15
> ssc> Oggetto: Re: [ARMedslack] A quick primer for the PI
> ssc>
>
>
>
>
>
> ssc> On Sep 26, 2013 08:25 "Davide" <louigi600 at yahoo.it> wrote:
>
>>>
>>>>>I got a friend to lend me a PI  for a week ...
>>>
>>>>>I had a quick look at the community links for slackware on the PI but
>>>>> none really tell me what i want to know:
>>>>>what does the GPU  look  for in the SD ? (as fas as I know it's the GPU
>>>>> that loads stuff from SD into memory and then passes control to it)
>>>>>does it look for a second stage boot loader like a uboot image or does
>>>>> it load kernel and initrd ? (bootcode.bin)
>>>>>I'm supposing that the first partition (the dos one) is where this stuff
>>>>> should be put ?
>>>>>The content in there looks about right:
>>>
>>>>>root at darkstar:/tmp# fdisk  -l slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img
>>>
>>>>>Disk slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img: 2558 MB, 2558967808 bytes
>>>>>4 heads, 32 sectors/track, 39046 cylinders, total 4997984 sectors
>>>>>Units = sectors of
> ssc>  1 * 512 = 512 bytes
>>>>>Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
>>>>>I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
>>>>>Disk identifier: 0x00007091
>>>
>>>>>                            Device Boot      Start         End
>>>>> Blocks   Id  System
>>>>>slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img1              32       97663
>>>>> 48816    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
>>>>>slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img2           97664      878847
>>>>> 390592   82  Linux
> ssc>  swap
>>>>>slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img3          878848    15751167
>>>>> 7436160   83  Linux
>>>>>root at darkstar:/tmp# echo $((32 * 512))
>>>>>16384
>>>>>root at darkstar:/tmp# losetup -o 16384 /dev/loop0
>>>>> slackwarearm-14.0-8GB-20130623.img
>>>>>root at darkstar:/tmp# modprobe vfat
>>>>>root at darkstar:/tmp# mount /dev/loop0 /mnt/floppy/
>>>>>root at darkstar:/tmp# ls /mnt/floppy/
>>>>>COPYING.linux*                  config-raspberrypi-3.2.27*  start.elf*
>>>>>LICENCE.broadcom*               config.txt*
>>>>> start_cd.elf*
>>>>>System.map-raspberrypi-3.2.27*
> ssc>  fixup.dat*                  zImage-raspberrypi-3.2.27*
>>>>>bootcode.bin*                   fixup_cd.dat*
>>>>>cmdline.txt*                    initrd-raspberrypi.img*
>>>>root at darkstar:/tmp#
>>>
>>>
>>>>>I plan to play a little with a miniroot so I won't need an 8Gb SD :)
>>>
>>>>Hi David,
>>>Hi Dave ;)
>>>
>>>>The GPU looks for
> ssc>  bootcode.bin, which looks for and loads loader.bin. Loader.bin reads
> in
> ssc>  config.txt (to configure the hardware) and loads start.elf (the GPU
> ssc> binary blob). Once it has configured the hardware, it then >loads
> ssc> kernel.img, and feeds it the contents of cmdline.txt.
>>>
>>>But on the readymade image from
>>> http://stanleygarvey.com/slackwarearm_rpi/index.php there is no loader.bin
>>> in the dos partition !
>>>Is there something wrong with this image or is loader.bin optional ?
>>>
>>>> Hi Davide, ther is nothing wrong with the image, I use it at home, it
>>>> could be that loader bin is a new addition to the Fat32 boot partitionfor
>>>> Debian variants. the boot layout I use has not changed since last Christmas.
>>>
>>>>So you have
> ssc>  to have bootcode.bin, loader.bin, config.txt, start.elf, kernel.img,
> ssc> and cmdline.txt, then if you load a ramdisk image in the cmdline.txt
> ssc> file you need the ramdisk image file.
>>>
>>>> yes
>>>
>>>Is the initrd loading governed by config.txt ?
>>>
>>>> yes
>>>
>>>I see in there ramfsfile=initrd-raspberrypi.img
>>>Can I change that manualy with vi and load a different initrd ? or comment
>>> it out to not load an initrd at all ?
>>>
>>>> Yes you can edit the file with vi and load a different initrd. It is
>>>> commented out in my config.txt as it is not required to boot a running
>>>> system. initrd-raspberrypi.img is the installer, It has been left there so
>>>> you can reinstall if you wish, it is a versatile-initrd that has been
>>>> modified with a modified version of the mk-tegra.sh.
>>>
>>>When is the HDMI output initiated ?
>>>
>>>>Before the system
> ssc>  comes up as the GPU boots the system.
>>>
>>>>  if you ate looking for a mini root try the installer image, it is 1GB
>>>> and is the standard slackwarearm installer so has busybox and other stuff.
>>>> you won't be able to install a full system on 1GB the 3rd partition is a
>>>> stub and should be deleted and recreated to use the remaining space on
>>>> whatever size card you have before stating 'setup'. you may be able to get a
>>>> base slackwarearm systm (a)(ap) series on a 4GB card.
>>>Hope that helps,
>>>Stanley.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> ARMedslack mailing list
> ARMedslack at lists.armedslack.org
> http://lists.armedslack.org/mailman/listinfo/armedslack
>


More information about the ARMedslack mailing list