Category: Hardware

Advantech AIR-020X Review

Normally, I am not getting review units. This is due to the fact that I am only hosting this small weblog, along some conference talks - and most companies would probably be better off to send their units along someone with a reach of Linus Tech Tips, or similar.

On the other hand - when I get the possibility to do a review, it can be a bit worrisome for the companies as well, as I am a very honest person. I have been working in tech for some time now and had the honor to build stuff which went to space - and came back to tell the tale. I know what I want in a unit - and what could be a problem.

With this out of the way, I was one lucky winner of the Advantech Edge AI Challenge 2022 and got an AIR-020X-S9A1 unit at no charge to be able to realize my labSentinel 2 project. By doing this project I learned a bit about the box and thought it would not be a bad idea to share my ideas with the readers of my blog - and also Advantech, so that they can improve upon their product. This review is not paid for, reflects my own thoughts and I got the mentioned unit for my project - the review was not a part of that deal. With that out of the way, lets get started.

The hardware

The AIR-020X comes very well packaged - having its own foam jacket which will save it from all but the most horrible abuse from postal services. Not that it would matter: The roughly 14 cm x 12 cm x 4,5 cm compact unit weighs in at nearly 850 gr and is built sturdy and robust - like a tank:

The most obvious part of the unit is its heatsink, which it does put to good use - but more on that topic later. Along with the computer itself comes a chinese printed starting guide and a short USB A to Micro B cable, which will be needed to factory reset and reflash the unit.

All in all, the AIR-020X is an impressive unit, including an Nvidia Jetson Xavier NX module with 8 GB RAM, 16 GB onboard eMMC, 128 GB M.2 Flash, 2x RS232/422/485, 1x CANbus, 1xDIO ("GPIO"), 2x 1 Gbit ethernet, 1x Fullsize mPCIe with nano SIM holder, 1x 4k HDMI Output, 2x USB 3.0 Type A, 1x USB Type C. The unit is powered by a 12-24 V DC power supply, which is an optional accessory.

Being an industrial unit, it uses an industrial type connector for power, which is an HT5.08 2 pole type:

As this connector is also not part of the base package and the USB C connector does not accept power delivery (and neither works in Display Port Mode) - it becomes a bit harder to power up the unit after receiving it. Finding a usable power supply within the sizable voltage range of 12 - 24 V (e.g. from an old Laptop) is fairly easy, but without the connector - it becomes a dead end until the next delivery is there. It would be useful to at least include one connector with the base unit. The usb cable is a nice addition, but could be left out (even though its very high quality) - along with the chinese manual. This could be replaced with a small card with direct links to the english and chinese PDF versions of the manual.

Opening up the unit reveals the internals - but not without a fight:

The used screws are perfectly fixed to the structure by using blue loctite - a touch I cannot recommend enough for the vibration resistance of the overall unit - but the screws themselves are made from extremely soft metal, so that - using the correct screwdriver - I stripped nearly all screws and had really issues removing all of them. Somehow this problem seems to exist for all the external black screws, the internal silver ones were of a lot higher quality. In my case I fixed the issue by replacing the screws with new ones and never had an issue anymore with them.

The internal structure is very well laid out, raising the M.2 drive onto a pole to keep it a bit further from the heat source / Xavier NX module which is just sitting on the other side of the PCB and directly sandwiches with the big heatsink.

Very welcome are also the addition of the two Raspberry Pi Style Camera connectors, although they are a bit hidden by the serial console cables. I understand that the unit should be as closed as possible for the use in factories, but I would have loved to see two small slits (possibly even with some IP/EMC gaskets to allow for protective shielding of those entry points) so that cameras on the outside of the case can be easily attached.

The mPCIe slot gives the system an additional expansion slot for e.G. UMTS or LoRaWAN modules and also the internal CR2032 cell for the RTC is a small but valuable detail.

The AIR-020X has some mounting points available on both system sides for additional wall mounting rails. Looking at the mounting points and the obvious use of the AIR-020 series in lab and factory settings, the inclusion of a DIN rail mount as available accessory could prove very useful to directly mount this small computer into an electrical cabinet.

The software

Booting up the system greats one with a very familiar picture: Ubuntu 18.04 is running on the machine in form of a tailored version of Nvidia Jetpack. This version by Advantech is only using the eMMC of the Xavier NX module to start the bootloader, but the actual data is kept on the M.2. This is a great idea for the longevity of the eMMC on the (currently hard to find) Xavier NX module - but comes with the drawback of additional needed customization other than "only" the PCB, included hardware, drivers and other changes made by Advantech in comparision to an Nvidia Developerboard for the same module.

This is a problem I also learned the hard way: I realized that the board was delivered with L4T 32.5.2 - not the current 32.7.x (JetPack 4.6.1) - so I updated this by hand. Just to have the board bootloop. This was the moment I took a closer look to the online presence of Advantech and the manual - just to learn that the recovery process was neither described, nor was the download of the image available. I got the needed recovery file as well as the documentation (which also included vital information on how to use the DIO (GPIO), RS422 and CANbus interface) and as able to restore the board to working order. Obviously there were multiple problems with this: First, the online available manual should contain all needed information regardings settings, ports, recovery, etc - secondly, the current (and maybe even last) images also need to be available online on their website - with checksums to be able to deploy these images safetly.

I also voiced my concerns regarding the high impact security issues / CVEs found in 32.5.2 - which would make the use of AIR-020 series an absolute liability in a production environment. I am glad to report that Advantech reacted to these concerns with providing a beta version of a new JetPack 4.6.1 Image. A short time afterwards, Advantech did add some information to their wiki:

On the download page you can find the AIR020A2AIM20UIV00004 entry for the Jetson NX JetPack 4.6.1 from 2022-07-20. This links to a Dropbox folder containing a the latest image (AIR020A2AIM20UIV00004_194.tar.gz / 2022-09-16).

With this latest image I was able to upgrade the AIR-020X to JetPack 4.6.1 and even do and apt upgrade to upgrade to L4T 32.7.2, at the time the latest L4T. However, this did not go as planed: After doing the upgrade and rebooting the device, it got caught in a bootloop. This bootloop kept on repeating for about 10 minutes until the device mysteriously started then working and came back on without issues. Obviously this would not be a graceful upgrade and did instill some concerns why this was a reproducible issue.

I am glad to report that Advantech has provided the latest image - which will eliminate several security issues. However, the changes needed in the manual as well as the provision of the recovery images (now via Dropbox?) and the secure provision of security updates to the unit remain. Maybe Advantech would think about starting to use balena.io to handle these issues?

Verdict

The Advantech AIR-020X is an extremely capable unit in a small form factor, sturdy built and highly reliable. Even with the latest JetPack 4.6.1 and abuse of the formerly not available 20 Watt mode I could not get this unit to heat up too much in my testing with labSentinel 2. There is still enough headroom available to use it in any kind of environment, which makes it a perfect choice for labs and factories - if Advantech can tackle the presented issues. Especially the ones regarding timely and secure availability of security patches and software updates. This also means availability of these images, fast adaption after release of official Nvidia updates and all needed documentation in one manual for public download. With these exceptions and some small kinks, Advantech is so close to building the perfect unit for their envisioned use case. I really hope they can close that last (security/software/manual) gap to an otherwise nearly perfect hardware - and with that create an recommendable product.

Edit: balenaOS

I got balenaOS working on the device - see here.

USB C power for the Nvidia Jetson Nano 4 GB dev board

The best way to power a Jetson Nano 4 GB dev board is by using a center positive, 5 V and at least 4 A barrel connector type power adapter. However, these are often bulky and not the best travel companion - while USB C power bricks are becoming more common and the relevant USB C sockets are getting build into nearly every device (maybe yours too, Apple?).

So I set out to build a USB C power adapter for the Jetson board.

By using an inexpensive USB C "trigger" combined with two 5V@3A step-down converters this did actually work.

The trick is setting the USB C trigger to request 20 V and using the 5 V converters in parallel to step-down the 20 V to 5 V - and then feeding the resulting voltage again in parallel to the barrel plug, like so.

For the curios among you now asking why I did not just set the trigger to 5 V and used it all alone: I tried this first, but it did not work. It was not able to provide enough current to support the operation of the Jetson at "MAXN mode" - it was constantly coming up with Overcurrent protection messages if pushed too hard.

I am happy with the result and shortend the wires after testing, putting everything into a neat small form factor.

With this change I can finally replace my old Jetson Nano power supply with something smaller than this chunky unit which I was gifted back in the day by the awesome Morlac :).

An active GNSS antenna for the CAM-M8Q breakout

I have been using multiple CAM-M8Q breakouts by Watterott and really am loving these units. They are small, reasonable priced and have the advantage of an integrated chip antenna. However, this also their small shortcoming: While the antenna is good enough for most outdoor jobs, you can run into sensitivity issues when deploying it indoors - if not setup next to a window. Luckily, the module has two additional u.fl connectors for RFin and RFout, meaning you can use an external antenna.

To accomplish this, you just need to remove the resistor R3 to position R1 - as outlined by the schematics:

Overview over the CAM-M8Q, copyright by Watterott

With this, you could attach an passive antenna, but an active one will not work, as no power is supplied from the module. But you can add this power insert with an inductor and an capacitor.

I did this with some SMD components, but did not add the insert "behind" the u.fl connector, but between both jumper points R1 should be using. So I can make this a part of the module.

This worked perfectly and the reception is great

As an antenna I am using the Navilock NL-202AA - I have not received any Galileo signal (even though it should be possible), but other than that I am very happy with the solution.

Thanks again to Mr. Watterott to pointing me to this StackExchange post which contained the solution for the power insert.

WD My Cloud Mirror Gen2 with Debian 11 and Linux Kernel 5.15 LTS

Intro

Since 2017 I have been using an Western Digital My Cloud Mirror Gen 2 which I bought at Amazons Black Friday (or similar) - because the included 2x 8 TB WD Red were even cheaper with the NAS than standalone. Using the NAS had been quite ok, especially the included Docker Engine and Plex Support were a nice to have, the included Backdoor in older Versions - not so much. Recently WD had their new "My Cloud OS 5" replace the old My Cloud OS 3 - and made things worse for a lot of people. As I don't want any more surprises - and more control over my hardware - I decided to finally go down the road and get Debian 11 with an LTS (5.15) Kernel running on the hardware. This is how it went.

Warning

Warning, these are just my notes on how to convert a My Cloud OS 3 / My Cloud Mirror Gen 2 device to a "real" Debian system. You will need to take your device fully apart, solder wires and lose the warranty. Additionally you will lose all your data and even brick the hardware if something goes wrong, I am taking in no way responsibility, neither can I give support. You're on your own now.

Step 0: Get Serial Console Access

Without a serial console, you will not be able to do anything here. You will need to completely disassembly the NAS and will lose all warranty. The plain motherboard will look like this. On the most right side you will see the pins for the UART interface you will need to solder to.

When you're done with that, connect your 3v3 TTL UART USB device like this:

... and connect to it via 115200 BAUD with Putty, TeraTerm Pro or any other software (Do not connect the 3v3 pin :)). It would be wise starting without the hard drives installed.

Step 1: Flashing U-Boot

The current U-Boot on the NAS is flawed, you need to replace it. I will be CyberPK here which did an awesome job explaining everything:

We have to prepare an usb drive formatted in Fat32, and extract the uboot at link into it and connect to usb port#2.

Connect the device to the serial adapter, poweron the device and start pressing '1' (one) during the boot until you can see the 'Marvell>>' Command Prompt
press ctrl+c
then

We will start here to change stuff and break stuff. But if I could give you one tip before you start: Please execute printenv once. Copy and paste all env variables and everything Uboots spits out. It could save your hardware one day. Thanks, Nico out!

usb start
bubt u-boot-a38x-GrandTeton_2014T3_PQ-nand.bin nand usb
reset

This will reboot the device. Access again the Command prompt and add the following envs, a modified version of the ones provided by bodhi at this post:

setenv set_bootargs_stock 'setenv bootargs root=/dev/ram console=ttyS0,115200'

setenv bootcmd_stock 'echo Booting from stock ... ; run set_bootargs_stock; printenv bootargs; nand read.e 0xa00000 0x500000 0x500000;nand read.e 0xf00000 0xa00000 0x500000;bootm 0xa00000 0xf00000'

setenv bootdev 'usb'

setenv device '0:1'

setenv load_image_addr '0x02000020'

setenv load_initrd_addr '0x2900000'

setenv load_image 'echo loading Image ...; fatload $bootdev $device $load_image_addr /boot/uImage'

setenv load_initrd 'echo loading uInitrd ...; fatload $bootdev $device $load_initrd_addr /boot/uInitrd'

setenv usb_set_bootargs 'setenv bootargs "console=ttyS0,115200 root=LABEL=rootfs rootdelay=10 $mtdparts earlyprintk=serial init=/bin/systemd"'

setenv bootcmd_usb 'echo Booting from USB ...; usb start; run usb_set_bootargs; if run load_image; then if run load_initrd; then bootm $load_image_addr $load_initrd_addr; else bootm $load_image_addr; fi; fi; usb stop'

setenv bootcmd 'setenv fdt_skip_update yes; setenv usbActive 0; run bootcmd_usb; setenv usbActive 1; run bootcmd_usb; setenv fdt_skip_update no; run bootcmd_stock; reset'

saveenv

reset

(This code was also modified by me to use the fatload instead of the ext2load)

With this, our NAS is ready.

Step 2: Build a kernel and rootfs

  • On your current linux machine, get yourself a copy / git clone of Heisaths wdmc2-kernel Repo
  • Get all dependencies installed according to this repo, I installed it on a Debian 11 machine
  • Replace the file content of wdmc2-kernel/dts/armada-375-wdmc-gen2.dts with the content of the real and improved dts for the WDMCMG2 (original from this link, copy available here) - but keep the file name still armada-375-wdmc-gen2.dts
  • Replace the file content of wdmc2-kernel/config/linux-5.15.y.config with the file from here (please know this config ain't perfect, but it will get you running. You can always file a PR and help me out ;))
  • Start the build process in wdmc2-kernel with ./build.sh
  • Mark: Linux Kernel, Clean Kernel sources, Debian Rootfs, Enable ZRAM on rootfs
  • Kernel -> Kernel 5.15 LTS
  • Build initramfs -> Yes
  • Debian -> Bullseye
  • Fstab -> usb
  • Rootpw -> whateverYouWant
  • Hostname -> whateverYouWant
  • Locales -> no changes, accept (or whatever you want)
  • Default locale for system -> en_US.UTF-8 (or whatever you want)
  • Tzdata -> Your region
  • Now your kernel and rootfs will be build

While this is on-going, get yourself a nice USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 stick prepared with

  • partition table: msdos
  • 1st partition: 192 MB, FAT32, label set to boot, boot flag enabled
  • 2nd partition: rest, ext4, label set to rootfs

When the kernel is done compiling and your usb stick is done, copy all the files (sda is the name of my usb stick

  • mkdir /mnt/boot /mnt/root
  • mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
  • mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/root
  • mkdir /mnt/boot/boot
  • cp wdmc2-kernel/output/boot/uImage-5.15.* /mnt/boot/boot/uImage
  • cp wdmc2-kernel/output/boot/uRamdisk /mnt/boot/boot/uInitrd
  • tar -xvzf wdmc2-kernel/output/bullseye-rootfs.tar.gz --directory=/mnt/root/
  • rm -rf /mnt/root/etc/fstab
  • cp /mnt/root/etc/fstab.usb /mnt/root/etc/fstab
    // within /mnt/root/etc/fstab:
    // change all /dev/sdb to /dev/sdc if all two drive slots on the NAS are used <- this!
    // change all /dev/sdb to /dev/sda if no drive slots on the NAS are used
  • umount /mnt/boot /mnt/root

Step 3: First boot and getting things running

Insert the USB stick into the 2 slot of the NAS. Leave the drives still out and boot it up for the first time, watch it via terminal. Login at the end with root and your chosen password.

If it boots, you can shut it down again with shutdown -P now, unplug power, insert the drives and reboot.

First thing after the first boot with drives, your own initramfs / Ramdisk from your current setup:

  • cd /root/
  • ./build_initramfs.sh
  • cp initramfs/uRamdisk /boot/boot/uInitrd

Second, install MDADM for the RAID:

  • apt update
  • apt install mdadm
  • mkdir /mnt/HD
  • edit your /etc/fstab and add a mount point for your md/raid. I used the old drives with my old data on it like this (depending on the fact as which mdX it launches...)
/dev/md0        /mnt/HD         ext4    defaults,noatime,nodiratime,commit=600,errors=remount-ro        0       1

A lot of good knowledge about Ramdrives can be found here.

I would advise to do steps: 1. Folder2RAM, 2. Kernel Options, 4. Logrotate - option 3 did not work out for me.

To get the drive to sleep at some point, we need to reconfigure MDADM

dpkg-reconfigure mdadm
// monthly check ok 
// daily degration check ok
// monitoring disable

... and get hdparm working

apt install hdparm hd-idle

# hdparm config
, add in /etc/hdparm.conf 

/dev/sda {
#        apm = 127
#        acoustic_management = 127
        spindown_time = 120
#       spindown_time = 4
        write_cache = on
}

/dev/sdb {
#        apm = 127
#        acoustic_management = 127
        spindown_time = 120
#       spindown_time = 4
        write_cache = on
}

# Spindown Time means: 120 * 5 sec = 600 sec / 60 sec = 10 min
# apply it after saving the file with:
/usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/95hdparm-apm resume

We can check the status of the drives with smartctl

smartctl -i -n standby /dev/sda
smartctl -i -n standby /dev/sdb

To get fan control working

apt install wget
wget -O mcm-fancontrol-master.tar.gz https://github.com/nmaas87/mcm-fancontrol/archive/refs/heads/master.tar.gz
tar -xvzf mcm-fancontrol-master.tar.gz
cd mcm-fancontrol-master/
cp fan-daemon.py /usr/sbin/
chmod +x /usr/sbin/fan-daemon.py
cp fan-daemon.service /etc/systemd/system/
systemctl enable fan-daemon
systemctl start fan-daemon

(You can change low temp and high temp in the /usr/sbin/fan-daemon.py to get the Fan to kick in later and also set DEBUG = True if you want to see some details in the systemctl status fan-daemon)

MDT Utils can be useful, just mentioning it here

apt install -y mtd-utils
cat /proc/cmdline
cat /proc/mtd

Samba ...

apt install samba --no-install-recommends
# change /etc/samba/smb.conf to your liking and setup your SMB

Plex ...

# Plex 
apt update
apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg2
curl https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key | apt-key add -
echo deb https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb public main | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plexmediaserver.list
apt update
apt install plexmediaserver
systemctl status plexmediaserver

Well, that's it.

Thanks a lot to all awesome contributors in the net:

Companion repo with files: https://github.com/nmaas87/WDMCMG2

[Gigabyte] BIOS Upgrade on old Gigabyte Motherboards

There are several old Gigabyte Motherboards like the GA-MA Series which uses their BIOS Included Q-Flash Utility for upgrading. This tool tries to access an attached USB Device in a file browser way to give you the choice on which file to flash. Most of the time, you won't be able to access your drive, as it will only be shown as "Floppy B". In truth, this means your USB drive is formated the wrong way: You should have only one partition on that stick, with size LESS than 128 MB and FAT as file system. Yeah, I figured that out the hard way ^^'. It will then be shown as "HDD 0-0" in Q-Flash and will provide your files for easy upgrading 🙂

[Dell] BIOS Upgrade on a Dell Precision T1500

Hi there, I just got hands on an old Dell T1500 workstation. It is not the beefiest monster - but still kicking. And I got it for a bargain :). So, while I was refurbishing it, I wanted to do an BIOS upgrade, like usual. Turned out, Dell only offers a combined "DOS/WINDOWS" Upgrade File. I tried upgrading via an FreeDOS USB Stick, created with Rufus, however - it failed. Ok, lets try Windows: I installed Windows 8.1 x64 - and the tool "worked" - however, even after reboot, nothing had changed. Reset CMOS, Load Default in BIOS, nothing. Darn... Well.. All the Dell support stuff for this machine was around Windows 7-ish versions, so I thought "last chance" 😉 - and yes! It worked:

You need to install Windows 7 x64 and upgrade the Bios 2.0.2 to 2.4.0 via your Windows install. DOS seems to be not working - and Windows 8.1 won't work either. Also for good measure, load the default settings before upgrading and leave all other settings (especially the disabled fancy CPU stuff!) untouched.

Also, you'll see directly if it works: During the Win 7 upgrade, it disabled the USB mouse I was using and it took way longer. On Windows 8.1 - I could move the mouse as I wished. Oh, and one last thing: Administator rights, please ;).

Odroid U3 Kernel Upgrade + Docker

I wrote this back in January 2017. Since then I had not much time to work on the Odroid - however, user hexdump did just came up with a new repo, supporting the Odroid U3 with Kernel 5.4.x - you can find the overview over his awesome work here and the repo with complete releases (i.e. Ubuntu Bionic or Debian Buster i.e. odroid_u3-armv7l-debian.img.gz) here

I am using an trusty old Odroid U3 which I acquired years ago. With its SAMSUNG Exynos 4412 Cortex-A9 Quad Core 1,7 Ghz, 1MB L2 cache and 2 GB of RAM, this little puppy was an real beast - compared to the Raspberry Pi 1 at that time. However, Hardkernel did drop the support - again, which left the Users back with very old Kernel versions. However, thanks to some users and the fact that all needed support for the Exynos is now included in the current kernel - well, we can build our own. This write up is the distilled result of days of work and a lot of research - and the work of other people which I found on the net (which I will try to give proper credits at the right locations :)).

EDIT: I upgraded the Kernel Configuration GIST for my Kernel Config + Docker on 10.02.2017. Thanks to an E-Mail from Tobias Jakobi I found the pieces I missed about adding the Kernel Internal Fanservice into the Config. This works now, however - I still like my tweaked program a bit better, as it cools the system more aggressivly, while the kernel default one is a lot more silent, but runs in the 80's°C while mine will stay at 70° on max load.

It is important that these instructions, especially if it comes down to installing stuff - is written for the usage of eMMC memory, NOT THE SDCARD! Also, there be dragons and something could go wrong - so please, as usual, advance at your own pace and risk! 🙂

0.) Get an Serial Interface for 1.8V
Important. The UART is 1.8V LVTTL ONLY! If you connect 3.3V or 5V, you'll blow the U3! I used an regular 5V TTL USB Adapter as well as an Sparkfun BiDir Level Converter: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12009 With that set to 1.8V from the UART of the U3, it worked flawlessly with the usual 115000 BAUD.

Pinout:
http://odroid.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=en:u3_hardware

_____UART____
|Pin 4 - GND|
|Pin 3 - RXD|
|Pin 2 - TXD|
|Pin 1 - VCC|
___________|
1.8V LVTTL

1.) Build U-Boot
A lot of stuff is taken from here, thanks a lot for your great work, SnakeBite!
We asume you're working as root, as all this stuff will need root rights :).

# update your packages
apt-get update
# needed for building u-boot
apt-get install device-tree-compiler
# get ODROID signed u-boot
wget http://odroid.in/guides/ubuntu-lfs/boot.tar.gz
tar xzf boot.tar.gz
# get patched u-boot & build for the U3
git clone https://github.com/tobiasjakobi/u-boot
cd u-boot
make odroid_config
make
#copy fresh u-boot to ODROID directory
cp u-boot-dtb.bin ../boot/u-boot.bin
cd ../boot
## install on SDCard - not what we want, just as an remark for me
#bash sd_fusing.sh /dev/mmcblk0

Copy the needed files (u-boot.bin, E4412_S.bl1.HardKernel.bin, bl2.signed.bin, E4412_S.tzsw.signed.bin) to your PC, reboot your Odroid U3 into fastboot via connecting the UART to the U3 and aborting the boot. After that, you can issue the fastboot command on the UART. The U3 will now wait for filetransfer over the Micro USB Port, which you'll need to connect to your PC. Also, for the sake of an easy upgrade, use an Linux PC (more infos here: http://odroid.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=en:u3_building_u-boot ).

# install needed programs
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot
# and - being in the right folder, start the transfer
# u-boot.bin install
sudo fastboot flash bootloader u-boot.bin
# bl1.bin install
sudo fastboot flash fwbl1 bl1.HardKernel
# bl2.bin install
sudo fastboot flash bl2 bl2.HardKernel
# tzsw.bin install
sudo fastboot flash tzsw tzsw.HardKernel
# If installation is done, you can reboot your ODROID-U3 with fastboot.
sudo fastboot reboot

You should now have a more recent U-Boot install.

Old: U-Boot 2010.12-svn (May 12 2014 - 15:05:46) for Exynox4412
New: U-Boot 2016.11-rc3-g8a65327 (Jan 07 2017 - 23:00:56 +0100)

By the way, we needed to download this boot.tar.gz, because it contains the keys needed to sign our new U-Boot install. More Infos about U-Boot and Keys: https://github.com/dsd/u-boot/blob/master/doc/README.odroid

The Installation of a more recent U-Boot version was necessary to facilitate the boot of the to-be-build new Kernel zImage with bootz.

1b.) eMMC recovery in case something goes wrong:
http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=969
DL the tool [ exynos4412_emmc_recovery_from_sd_20140629.zip ]

  1. Prepare a microSD card and flash the attached image.
  2. Insert microSD into U2/U3, disconnect eMMC
  3. Turn on U2/U3 and wait for a few seconds and blue LED will blink.
  4. Plug your eMMC module into U2/U3
    4b - wait 10 seconds!
  5. Plug micro-USB cable into U2/U3 and connect other side to your PC USB host or ODROID's USB host port. (This is a trigger to start the recovery)
  6. After recovery process (only a few seconds), the blue LED will turn off automatically.
  7. Finish. Install OS on your eMMC with as usual.

2.) Building Next Kernel for Odroid U3 with eMMC
And now to start the real work:

apt-get update
apt-get install live-boot u-boot-tools
cd ~
git clone --depth 1 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/next/linux-next.git linux_odroid
cd linux_odroid
# we could make an default config, but this is not needed, we take rglinuxtech config in the next step
# make exynos_defconfig
# Odroid Config Kernel 4.4 from http://rglinuxtech.com/?p=1656
curl -o .config http://pastebin.com/raw/NveRajaZ
# Or you can use my Config which enables Docker as well (Gist at the End of the page)
curl -o .config https://gist.githubusercontent.com/nmaas87/81818c1db9dc292a4c21125bd2602658/raw/7e4e14fa15d7c68b177f31b9e2348d62c52cf83c/u3_docker_config
make menuconfig
make prepare modules_prepare
make -j4 bzImage modules dtbs
make modules_install
cp arch/arm/boot/dts/exynos4412-odroidu3.dtb /media/boot/exynos4412-odroidu3_next.dtb
cp arch/arm/boot/zImage /media/boot/zImage_next
cp .config /boot/config-`cat include/config/kernel.release`
update-initramfs -c -k `cat include/config/kernel.release`
mkimage -A arm -O linux -T ramdisk -C none -a 0 -e 0 -n uInitrd -d /boot/initrd.img-`cat include/config/kernel.release` /boot/uInitrd-`cat include/config/kernel.release`
cp /boot/uInitrd-`cat include/config/kernel.release` /media/boot/
cd /media/boot/
vi boot.txt
# now we have to rework the boot.txt / config
# comment out the old values and set in the new ones
# please do NOT copy blindly, you need to adjust the zImage, uInitrd and eyxnos4412***.dtb file names according to your system!
setenv initrd_high "0xffffffff"
setenv fdt_high "0xffffffff"
#setenv bootcmd "fatload mmc 0:1 0x40008000 zImage; fatload mmc 0:1 0x42000000 uInitrd; bootm 0x40008000 0x42000000"
setenv bootcmd "fatload mmc 0:1 0x40008000 zImage_next; fatload mmc 0:1 0x42000000 uInitrd-4.10.0-rc2-next-20170106-v7; fatload mmc 0:1 0x44000000 exynos4412-odroidu3_next.dtb; bootz 0x40008000 0x42000000 0x44000000"
#setenv bootargs "console=tty1 console=ttySAC1,115200n8 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait ro mem=2047M"
setenv bootargs "console=tty1 console=ttySAC1,115200n8 root=/dev/mmcblk1p2 rootwait ro mem=2047M"
boot

#After you have done that, write the commands to the boot.scr file
mkimage -C none -A arm -T script -d boot.txt boot.scr
# sync and reboot and it should work
sync
reboot now

With this in mind I really upgraded my system from kernel 3.8.13 from 2015 - to the most recent 4.10.0-rc2 next Kernel 🙂

Old: Linux odroid 3.8.13.30 #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Sep 4 23:45:57 BRT 2015 armv7l armv7l armv7l GNU/Linux
New: Linux odroid 4.10.0-rc2-next-20170106-v7 #3 SMP PREEMPT Mon Jan 9 19:17:32 CET 2017 armv7l armv7l armv7l GNU/Linux

2b.) FAN does not work, warning!
The CPU Fan does somehow not work right out of the box, so we will now enable it manually. [EDIT, with the new Kernel Config it works out of the box, but you can still decide to use this software to have a more aggressiv cooling :)]

# Fan to full speed
echo 255 > /sys/devices/platform/pwm-fan/hwmon/hwmon0/pwm1
# Read out current temperature in °C
cat /sys/devices/virtual/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp

To get things working again, I forked and updated the odroidu2 fan tool. Install it via:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/nmaas87/odroidu2-fan-service.git
cd odroidu2-fan-service
make
# install it as upstart service, i.e. < Ubuntu 16.04
make usi
# install it as systemd, i.e. Ubuntu 16.04 / Xenial
make systemd
reboot

Useful Commands:

# Read max CPU Speed:
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq
# Get current CPU Speed:
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_cur_freq
# Torrture Test:
openssl speed -multi 4

2c.) Upgrade to Xenial
As I upgraded to Xenial with do-relase-upgrade, I had some problems:

Authentication Problem:
It was not possible to authenticate some packages. This may be a transient network problem. You may want to try again later. See below for a list of unauthenticated packages. create /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades.d/unauth.cfg with

[Distro]
AllowUnauthenticated=yes

After upgrade, remove this file.
from: http://askubuntu.com/questions/425355/error-authenticating-some-packages-while-upgrade

After that, apt-get clean did not work:
apt-get clean
W: Problem unlinking the file apt-fast - Clean (21: Is a directory)

Solution was:

rm -rf /var/cache/apt/archives/apt-fast

from: http://askubuntu.com/questions/765274/error-problem-unlinking-in-apt-get-clean

2d.) MAC address changes every reboot:
One solution, which did not work, was following:

rm /etc/smsc95xx_mac_addr

from: http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1070

Which worked better, was to really set the MAC address to a static value:
add in /etc/network/interfaces

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
hwaddress ether bb:aa:ee:cc:dd:ff

from: http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=111&t=8198

2e.) Control the CPU speeds via cpufrequtils:

apt-get install cpufrequtils
vi /etc/default/cpufrequtils

ENABLE="true"
GOVERNOR="ondemand"
MAX_SPEED=1704000
MIN_SPEED=200000

However, I chose "performance" as GOVERNOR and a MIN_SPEED=800000

from: http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=2795

2f.) Install Docker
If you chose my .config with Docker enabled, you can install Docker with a fast
curl -sSL https://get.docker.com/ | sh
Thanks a lot to the Guys over at Hypriot, I took their RPi Kernel Configs as an example and merged those with the U3 Configs to get to this results. And yes, AUFS is still missing but... it is ok 😉

Additional stuff:
- Gist of my Kernel Config: https://gist.github.com/nmaas87/81818c1db9dc292a4c21125bd2602658

Following sites helped:
- https://blogs.s-osg.org/install-ubuntu-run-mainline-kernel-odroid-xu4/
- http://rtisat.blogspot.de/search/label/odroid-u3
- https://github.com/umiddelb/armhf/wiki/How-To-compile-a-custom-Linux-kernel-for-your-ARM-device
- http://rglinuxtech.com/?p=1622
- http://rglinuxtech.com/?p=1656
- http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=9342

[Logitech] R400 Presenter pairing

Warning: The R400, R600 and R700 series of presenters are attack vectors and considered harmful. While Heise made an article  that detailed that Logitech would exchange the receivers, it did actually not. They sent out a pair of incompatible C-U0014 receivers which could not be paired with R-R0004 presenters and then stopped their program, claiming only to exchange the presenter if it was under warranty, which is a security nightmare (I just tried to get the correct receiver, but Maven M. from Logitech wanted to have the receipt for the module which I obviously do not have anymore). In other words: The hardware is extremely vulnerable, Logitech accepts that it is like that but does not want to get this fixed, so I can only recommend to dispose of the presenter line and do not buy from Logitech anymore. Here is the security write up with the proof of concept to that attack: https://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Oct/60

 

Logitech claiming they only exchange the security flawed receiver if its under warranty in appeal to their recall in 2016

 

 

To pair an old R400 presenter with a new dongle (or vice versa), try to get the right dongle for your presenter version first:

As stated here, there are two versions of dongles for the presenters - and they are not interchangable:

"There are two versions of presenter receivers that can't be interchanged.

C-U0005
Use the C-U0005 receiver with these presenters:
Wireless Presenter R400 with M/N = R-R0004
Professional Presenter R700 with M/N = R-R0006
Professional Presenter R800 with M/N = R-R0003

C-U0014
Use the C-U0014 receiver with these presenters:
Wireless Presenter R400 with M/N = R-R0008
Professional Presenter R700 with M/N = R-R0010
Professional Presenter R800 with M/N = R-R0009

You can find the model number (M/N) of your presenter inside the battery compartment."

After that, download the Logitech Presenter Connection Software from here (Sorry, only Windows...), start the file and unzip the content.

Update again to this post from 2015 now in 2021: Logitech removed the links from its website, but you still can find the file on its ftp server: ftp://ftp.logitech.com/pub/techsupport/mouse/presenter_connection_zipped.exe ;).

Start the file and unzip the content.

Then, connect your dongle, find the logitech_presenter_connection.exe and start it. After that, the software will ask you to power up your presenter while holding down the to the left and to the right keys of the presenter. 3+ seconds after powering up and holding down the keys, you can release the keys, turn off the presenter again and click Ok in the software. Power on your presenter again and see if it works, if not - try the procedure again.

Update (2019): Had to update the links as they were from 2015 and have changed due to Logitech deciding to changing their design (Thanks Michael!). Also please note the R400, R700 and R800 presenters are considered insecure and the dongles are now replaced by Logitech: https://www.heise.de/security/meldung/Angreifbare-Logitech-Presenter-Hersteller-tauscht-gefaehrliche-USB-Empfaenger-aus-4423627.html

Update (2021): Had to update the download link again, thanks Christopher for asking. But I guess you need to start the software with admin rights (maybe even Win XP, Win 7 "emulation"?), I could not pair my second dongle right now, but the battery is also nearly flat, so that should be an issue.... the software as what I had back then... Maybe it helps some one 🙂

[RaspPi] Raspberry Pi and the ili9341 Display

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEcIem6R4aQ

1.) Enable SPI
# remove or comment out the spi blacklist line
sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf

2.) Install
a) FBTFT drivers as loadable modules
sudo REPO_URI=https://github.com/notro/rpi-firmware rpi-update
sudo shutdown -r now

OR

b) FBTFT drivers built into the kernel proper
sudo REPO_URI=https://github.com/notro/rpi-firmware BRANCH=builtin rpi-update
sudo shutdown -r now

3.) Install the frame buffer driver (as root):
apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-fbdev

4.) Configure frame buffer driver:
sudo vi /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbdev.conf
Section "Device"
Identifier "myfb"
Driver "fbdev"
Option "fbdev" "/dev/fb1"
EndSection

5.) add Autostart:
( the gpios= Pins need to be changed to YOUR specification and connection! )
sudo vi /etc/modules
fbtft_device custom name=tm022hdh26 gpios=reset:25,led:23,dc:24 rotate=90 bgr=1
#on my selfbuild shield
#from usb -> sd card laengs
#fbtft_device custom name=tm022hdh26 gpios=reset:25,led:23,dc:24 rotate=180 bgr=1
#from cinch -> hdmi quer
#fbtft_device custom name=tm022hdh26 gpios=reset:25,led:23,dc:24 rotate=270 bgr=1

6.) add Auto login:
sudo vi /etc/inittab
#1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty --noclear 38400 tty1
1:2345:respawn:/bin/login -f pi tty1 /dev/tty1 2>&1

7.) add Autostart X:
sudo vi /etc/rc.local
su -l pi -c "env FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 startx &"

8.) Console at boot
Add kernel argument to file /boot/cmdline.txt
fbcon=map:10

Infos taken from:
https://github.com/notro/fbtft/wiki#install
http://marcosgildavid.blogspot.de/2014/02/getting-ili9341-spi-screen-working-on.html

Video was played with this worm-of-a-command-string:
sudo mplayer -nolirc -vo fbdev2:/dev/fb1 -fs -x 320 -y 240 -zoom -framedrop -lavdopts lowres=1:fast:skiploopfilter=all ~/BadApple.avi