Universal image with A20 - SOM204

[Titomax]

Hi there,
I'm using with good result legacy image for A20 based SOM204 (ARMBIAN 5.41 Ubuntu 16.04.5 LTS 3.4.113).

Now I'm testing the just released "universal image" based on the newest kernel.
This is the image file I downloaded:

Armbian_5.72.1_Olinuxino-a20_Ubuntu_bionic_next_4.19.17_desktop.img

I prepared a SD with the image and put it into the Olimex EVB loaded with a SOM204-1Gs16Me16G-MC module. The system is not able to boot correctly. See below:

Code Select Expand

U-Boot SPL 2018.07-armbian (Jan 24 2019 - 13:18:01 +0200)
DRAM: 1024 MiB
CPU: 912000000Hz, AXI/AHB/APB: 3/2/2
EEPROM: Ready
Config: Valid
Trying to boot from MMC1


U-Boot 2018.07-armbian (Jan 24 2019 - 13:18:01 +0200) Allwinner Technology

CPU:   Allwinner A20 (SUN7I)
Model: A20-SOM204-1Gs16Me16G-MC Rev.C
Serial:00006BDD
MAC:   30:1F:9A:xx:xx:xx
I2C:   ready
DRAM:  1 GiB
SF: Detected w25q128bv with page size 256 Bytes, erase size 4 KiB, total 16 MiB
NAND:  0 MiB
MMC:   mmc@01c0f000: 0, mmc@01c11000: 1, mmc@01c12000: 2
Loading Environment from EXT4... ** File not found /boot/uboot.env **

** Unable to read "/boot/uboot.env" from mmc0:1 **
Failed (-5)
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Allwinner mUSB OTG (Peripheral)
Net:   eth0: ethernet@01c50000
starting USB...
USB0:   USB EHCI 1.00
USB1:   USB OHCI 1.0
USB2:   USB EHCI 1.00
USB3:   USB OHCI 1.0
scanning bus 0 for devices... 1 USB Device(s) found
scanning bus 2 for devices... 1 USB Device(s) found
       scanning usb for storage devices... 0 Storage Device(s) found
Autoboot in 1 seconds, press <Space> to stop
switch to partitions #0, OK
mmc0 is current device
Scanning mmc 0:1...
switch to partitions #0, OK
mmc1(part 0) is current device
** No partition table - mmc 1 **
NAND booting is temporary disabled.
scanning bus for devices...
SATA link 0 timeout.
AHCI 0001.0100 32 slots 1 ports 3 Gbps 0x1 impl SATA mode
flags: ncq stag pm led clo only pmp pio slum part ccc apst

Device 0: unknown device

Device 0: unknown device
ethernet@01c50000 Waiting for PHY auto negotiation to complete......... TIMEOUT !
Could not initialize PHY ethernet@01c50000
=>

Do you think I'm leaving out some steps before using the image ?

Thanks

[LubOlimex]

Interrupt the boot with space and type:

ext4ls mmc 0

mmc dev 0

mmc info

And tell us the results of each of the three commands.

Also try to format the card and re-write the image, it seems like some files are inaccessible. If possible test also with the Debian server image.

[Titomax]

Interrupt the boot with space and type:

ext4ls mmc 0

mmc dev 0

mmc info

And tell us the results of each of the three commands.

Also try to format the card and re-write the image, it seems like some files are inaccessible. If possible test also with the Debian server image.

Hi LubOlimex,
thanks for the prompt reply.
I rewrite the image twice after a SD format. The same 16GB Sandisk class 10 SD-card works ok with all others old images. I can anyway try with a different SD. I'll let you know.

Following the command replies requested:

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=> ext4ls mmc 0

<DIR>       4096 .
<DIR>       4096 ..
<DIR>      16384 lost+found
<DIR>       4096 bin
<DIR>       4096 boot
<DIR>       4096 dev
<DIR>       4096 etc
<DIR>       4096 home
<DIR>       4096 lib
<DIR>       4096 media
<DIR>       4096 mnt
<DIR>       4096 opt
<DIR>       4096 proc
<DIR>       4096 root
<DIR>       4096 run
<DIR>       4096 sbin
<DIR>       4096 selinux
<DIR>       4096 srv
<DIR>       4096 sys
<DIR>       4096 tmp
<DIR>       4096 usr
<DIR>       4096 var


Code Select Expand


=> mmc dev 0

switch to partitions #0, OK
mmc0 is current device


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=> mmc info
Device: mmc@01c0f000
Manufacturer ID: 3
OEM: 5054
Name: SL16G
Bus Speed: 50000000
Mode : SD High Speed (50MHz)
Rd Block Len: 512
SD version 3.0
High Capacity: Yes
Capacity: 14.5 GiB
Bus Width: 4-bit
Erase Group Size: 512 Bytes


[Titomax]

Hi LubOlimex,
I used a different micro SD with the server image:

Armbian_5.72.1_Olinuxino-a20_Debian_stretch_next_4.19.17.img

The EVB exhibits the same identical behavior as before. No boot.

Can I do some other additional tests to find the issue origin?

[Titomax]

I solved the issue on my own.
I was using Linux "dd" command to flash the image into my SD card:

Code Select Expand

# dd if=/path/to/Armbian_5.72.1_Olinuxino-a20_Ubuntu_bionic_next_4.19.17_desktop.img of=/dev/sdx bs=10M

It doesn't work for me.

Then I tried the utility "balenaEtcher" https://www.balena.io/etcher/ to flash the image.

Now the EVB boots without any issues.

[JohnS]

You needed to change the x in /dev/sdx

John

[Titomax]

You needed to change the x in /dev/sdx

John

The command string is an example...

[JohnS]

Exactly.  Did you change it in a correct way?

Your post apparently shows you did not.

John