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PCEngines alix2c3 (Substitute for WRAP) boot failes

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  • I
    Issacsim
    last edited by Nov 28, 2007, 2:49 AM

    Are there any other ways to flash this bios. I have tried all the methods above with 4 different cards and none will boot. The most I got was "ROOT FAT" and than nothing.

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    • I
      Issacsim
      last edited by Nov 28, 2007, 5:18 AM

      OK, got it working with "File Copy" Option from http://www.pcengines.ch/freedos.htm on a 2GB SanDisk

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      • C
        covex
        last edited by Nov 29, 2007, 6:48 AM

        i still can't set neither of my cf's active and make alix boot from them :(

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        • T
          thx2000
          last edited by Nov 30, 2007, 8:41 AM

          Has anyone had any success (or know if it's possible) to create a netboot image for freedos?  I tried dozens of times in a variety of different configurations to make it work all to no avail.  However, I think if there was a way to pull it off it might lend itself better to people who don't have a compatible CF card.

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          • D
            DoubleK
            last edited by Nov 30, 2007, 10:53 AM Nov 30, 2007, 9:48 AM

            @Issacsim:

            OK, got it working with "File Copy" Option from http://www.pcengines.ch/freedos.htm on a 2GB SanDisk

            Good to hear that, but how did you manage it? Can you please give a hint?
            I tried it yesterday night (for >6 hours…) with all kind of cards (1GB SanDisk ExtremeIII, 2GB SanDisk normal, 1 GB no-name) - without any results.
            Using the syslinux method (http://ben.franske.com/blogs/bensbits.php/2007/08/21/booting_dos_from_a_usb_flash_drive) I got a boot prompt and a "Loading FreeDOS" - but that's it.

            To anyone who already booted FreeDOS: can I expect any FreeDOS output at the serial console? Or will there just be nothing? Would I have to update the BIOS using autoexec.bat/fdauto.bat?

            @thx2000:

            Has anyone had any success (or know if it's possible) to create a netboot image for freedos?  I tried dozens of times in a variety of different configurations to make it work all to no avail.  However, I think if there was a way to pull it off it might lend itself better to people who don't have a compatible CF card.

            After throwing my CF cards at the wall ;) I also tried the PXELINUX way. I already have DHCP and TFTP running here, so this wasn't too much action. But I don't get very far this way - my ALIX gets an IP address via DHCP, loads the pxelinux.0, then the pxelinux.cfg/default, and that's it. Some PXELINUX prompt appears, but nothing more - no more TFTP requests (not even for the memdisk image). Here's my default config file for PXELINUX:

            
            SERIAL 0 38400 0
            timeout 50
            default fdos
            prompt 1
            say PXE_2
            
            label fdos
              kernel memdisk
              append initrd=fdboot.img
            
            

            Leaving the SERIAL option away doesn't help; the 'say' command was used just for debugging, but I don't even see that at the console. :(
            A minimalistic config file (containing only the last three lines) showed no different behaviour.  ???

            My board is an ALIX2.3 with Bios 0.98b. This afternoon I'll have a look at a computer store around the corner if they have some 128 meg CFs.
            UPDATE: no-one here still has that small CF cards… I'll have to buy one at eBay. Must be patient...  :-\

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            • V
              vangual
              last edited by Nov 30, 2007, 2:08 PM

              @DoubleK:

              To anyone who already booted FreeDOS: can I expect any FreeDOS output at the serial console? Or will there just be nothing? Would I have to update the BIOS using autoexec.bat/fdauto.bat?

              The freedos cf supplied from pcengines boots with some lines serial output and ends in a command line prompt (forgot if it was A:> or C:>). After which you can manually execute the sb binary via the serial command prompt.

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              • B
                bjorktorp
                last edited by Nov 30, 2007, 2:16 PM

                I have had the same experiences as most of you:

                • tried "all" methods
                • tried several types of cards
                • no success (hangs at loading FreeDOS)

                The most interesting observation is that I found a 128MB card with the right C/H/S geometry. Not even that one worked.

                Now I have surrendered and ordered a preinstalled CF.

                /Roger

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                • C
                  Clown
                  last edited by Nov 30, 2007, 3:10 PM

                  @bjorktorp:

                  The most interesting observation is that I found a 128MB card with the right C/H/S geometry. Not even that one worked.

                  Now I have surrendered and ordered a preinstalled CF.

                  Did you use physdiskwrite as for the pfsense? In the bios settings LBA needs to be disabled so in CHS mode!
                  C CHS mode (L) LBA mode (W) HDD wait (V) HDD slave (U) UDMA enable

                  OK, my card was from pcengines, but without the dos…

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                  • F
                    fridaynoon
                    last edited by Nov 30, 2007, 3:53 PM

                    done (perhaps)
                    Worked with 3 CF (8 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB)
                    The procedure is (obviously) linear and clear.
                    What you need: The Freedos ISO, burned on a CD.
                    Start with the ISO, with a CF reader attached.
                    1 for Boot from CD, 5 for start freedos
                    Go to Freedos\setup\odin
                    fdisk. no support for FAT32 (I think it lacks a FAT32 support in my procedure, I saw something for this, but I think irrilevant). Delete the existing partition, create a new one, make it active.
                    Reboot, 1 for Boot from CD, 5 for start freedos
                    Go to Freedos\setup\odin
                    format c: /s

                    You can say, this is what it should be. That's right.

                    Tell me if it works for you

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                    • D
                      DoubleK
                      last edited by Nov 30, 2007, 4:30 PM

                      Cool :) I'll give it a try (CD is being burned right now).

                      However, just two minutes ago I got my ALIX 2.3 booted via PXE into FreeDOS  ;D
                      Only problem: no input possible (I see the "A:" prompt, but can't input anything). BIOS update via fdauto.bat should be possible though.
                      I'll check this, and then post a short tutorial here. (have enough boards to be updated here)

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                      • D
                        DoubleK
                        last edited by Dec 1, 2007, 9:03 PM Nov 30, 2007, 5:37 PM

                        @fridaynoon:

                        Tell me if it works for you

                        Hm- at least for me it didn't. :(
                        I think it depends much of the BIOS and the Card reader. On my wife's notebook I wasn't able to access the CF drive at all (connected via USB and multi-card-reader, "USB legacy support" enabled in BIOS).
                        On my PC I found some BIOS page showing the detected CF drive and the option on how to access it (I chose "simulate hard disk"). fdisk and format went well, but when booting from it, I only got "FreeDOSFreeDOSFreeDOSFreeDOS…" on my ALIX serial prompt.

                        So - here's my tutorial for PXE booting FreeDOS and updating the Bios.  8)


                        Prerequisites:

                        • tftpd-hpa (Debian: apt-get install tftpd-hpa; until now I had the netkit-tftpd running, which worked NOT in this case!)

                        • DHCP server (ISC dhcpd)

                        • FreeDOS boot image (fdboot.img), get it at http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/1.0/fdboot.img

                        • syslinux (3.53), get it at http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/

                        1.) If not done yet, set up your DHCP and TFTP server.
                        In your DHCP config file (/etc/dhcpd.conf) add entries for TFTP booting:

                        
                        subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
                          allow booting;
                          allow bootp;
                          [...]
                          next-server YOUR.TFTP.IP.HERE;
                          filename "pxelinux.0";
                          [...]
                        }
                        
                        

                        I started TFTPD as a daemon (not via inetd), so /etc/defaults/tftpd-hpa looks like that:

                        
                        RUN_DAEMON="yes"
                        OPTIONS="-l -s /var/lib/tftpboot -r blksize"
                        
                        

                        (I'm not shure, but I think the "-r blksize" was important…)

                        Then start your TFTP server (/etc/init.d/tftpd-hpa start)

                        2.) Install the PXE boot images
                        Unpack syslinux anywhere (eg. at /tmp) and copy the files "pxelinux.0" and "memdisk/memdisk" into your TFTP boot directory (eg. /var/lib/tftpboot).
                        Copy the fdboot.img file also into that directory.
                        Then create a subdirectory "pxelinux.cfg" (/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg) and create a file called "default" within that (there are much more possibilities, see SYSLINUX docs).
                        The file should look like this:

                        
                        SERIAL 0 38400 0
                        timeout 50
                        default fdos
                        prompt 1
                        say Booting FreeDOS via PXE
                        
                        label fdos
                          kernel memdisk
                          append initrd=fdboot.img raw
                        
                        

                        The "raw" is extreme important!! (took me many hours to figure out…)

                        3.) Pimp your boot image
                        Inject the BIOS upgrade (from the PC Engines website) into the FreeDOS image and adjust some config files:

                        • mount /var/lib/tftpboot/fdboot.img /mnt -o loop
                        • copy ALIX1.BIN, ALIX2.BIN and BS.COM to /mnt
                        • edit /mnt/fdconfig.sys to look like this:
                        
                        ; FreeDOS 1.0 Final distro  by Blair Campbell [Blairdude@gmail.com],
                        ; last update 2005-08-02 by Blair Campbell [Blairdude@gmail.com]
                        ; config.sys loads system drivers. Please edit to suit your needs.
                        ;!SWITCHES=/E
                        SWITCHES=/N
                        DEVICE=a:\driver\HIMEM.EXE
                        SHELL=a:\COMMAND.COM c:\ /E:2048 /F /MSG /P=a:\FDAUTO.BAT
                        DOS=HIGH
                        FILES=20
                        BUFFERS=20
                        LASTDRIVE=Z
                        
                        
                        • create and edit /mnt/fdauto.bat to look like this:
                        
                        @prompt $p$g
                        @path=a:\freedos
                        @REM mode COM1:38400,n,8,1
                        @REM ctty COM1
                        sb
                        
                        

                        The "mode" and "ctty" command didn't help me to get a usable serial console, so they're REM'd.
                        The "sb" will start the BIOS upgrade automatically after booting.
                        (For first tests, you can comment that out, too)

                        • then unmount that image (umount /mnt).

                        4.) Give it a try…
                        Start your ALIX board, set console speed to 38400 (after BIOS upgrade this will also be the default speed), enable PXE boot, reboot.
                        For your convenience, here's my output of the whole update process. It might help to detect any problems if it doesn't work for you.
                        Btw: tftpd-hpa doesn't show you if any files are requestes/transferred (as netkit-tftp would do). Personally, I used tcpdump to observe correct behaviour.

                        Here's the output (@mod: I hope this is ok...)

                        
                        PC Engines ALIX.2 v0.98b
                        640 KB Base Memory
                        261120 KB Extended Memory
                        
                        Press <shift-tab>key to display network boot option menu
                        Try network boot first , then local drives
                        01F0 - no drive found !
                        
                        Intel UNDI, PXE-2.0 (build 082)
                        Copyright (C) 1997,1998,1999  Intel Corporation
                        VIA Rhine III Management Adapter v2.43 (2005/12/15)
                        
                        CLIENT MAC ADDR: 00 0D B9 12 72 AC
                        CLIENT IP: 192.168.142.220  MASK: 255.255.255.0  DHCP IP: 192.168.142.10
                        GATEWAY IP: 192.168.142.1
                        
                        PXELINUX 3.53 2007-11-17  Copyright (C) 1994-2007 H. Peter Anvin
                        Booting FreeDOS via PXE
                        boot:
                        Loading memdisk....
                        Loading fdalix.img.........................ready.
                        MEMDISK 3.53 2007-11-17  Copyright 2001-2007 H. Peter Anvin
                        e820: 0000000000000000 00000000000a0000 1
                        e820: 00000000000f0000 0000000000010000 2
                        e820: 00000000fff00000 0000000000100000 2
                        e820: 0000000000100000 000000000ff00000 1
                        Ramdisk at 0x0fe78000, length 0x00168000
                        command line: initrd=fdalix.img raw BOOT_IMAGE=memdisk
                        Disk is floppy 0, 1440 K, C/H/S = 80/2/18, EDD off
                        Using raw access to high memory
                        Total size needed = 2310 bytes, allocating 3K
                        Old dos memory at 0x9fc00 (map says 0xa0000), loading at 0x9f000
                        1588: 0xffff  15E801: 0x3c00 0x0ee7
                        INT 13 08: Failure, assuming this is the only drive
                        old: int13 = f000b396  int15 = f000ad42
                        new: int13 = 9f00000a  int15 = 9f00037c
                        Loading boot sector... booting...
                        FreeDOS kernel build 2036 cvs [version Aug 18 2006 compiled Aug 18 2006]
                        Kernel compatibility 7.10 - WATCOMC - 80386 CPU required - FAT32 support
                        
                        (C) Copyright 1995-2006 Pasquale J. Villani and The FreeDOS Project.
                        All Rights Reserved. This is free software and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO
                        WARRANTY; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the
                        GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
                        either version 2, or (at your option) any later version.
                         - InitDiskno hard disks detected
                        FreeDOS HIMEM64 3.26 [Aug 25 2006] (c) 1995, Till Gerken 2001-2006 tom ehlert
                        HIMEM - Always On A20 method used
                        Kernel: allocated 43 Diskbuffers = 22876 Bytes in HMA
                        Unable to open file 'c:'
                        
                        FreeCom version 0.84-pre2 XMS_Swap [Aug 28 2006 00:29:00]
                        A:\>sb
                        ALIX flash update (C)2007 PC Engines GmbH
                        Flash ID = 1 FFFF GPI = FF
                        Flash ID = 0 9D37 GPI = 01
                        Reading 512KB flash image alix1.bin................
                        Compare Erase Program Verify - update OK.
                        A:\></shift-tab> 
                        
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                        • L
                          luma
                          last edited by Dec 1, 2007, 12:48 PM

                          Hi,

                          PXE booting tutorial is perfect except the default pxelinux config filename : default~~.cfg~~

                          I spent long hours to find out why it was not working…

                          Good work DoubleK, I had success to update my bios!

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                          • D
                            DoubleK
                            last edited by Dec 1, 2007, 9:04 PM

                            @luma:

                            PXE booting tutorial is perfect except the default pxelinux config filename : default~~.cfg~~

                            Oh - sorry! But thanks for the bug report, I updated the tutorial.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • C
                              covex
                              last edited by Dec 2, 2007, 12:04 AM

                              done (perhaps)
                              Worked with 3 CF (8 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB)
                              The procedure is (obviously) linear and clear.
                              What you need: The Freedos ISO, burned on a CD.
                              Start with the ISO, with a CF reader attached.
                              1 for Boot from CD, 5 for start freedos
                              Go to Freedos\setup\odin
                              fdisk. no support for FAT32 (I think it lacks a FAT32 support in my procedure, I saw something for this, but I think irrilevant). Delete the existing partition, create a new one, make it active.
                              Reboot, 1 for Boot from CD, 5 for start freedos
                              Go to Freedos\setup\odin
                              format c: /s

                              You can say, this is what it should be. That's right.

                              Tell me if it works for you

                              ok, i was able to boot from freedos cd and create bootable cf but when i put it into alix board all it comes up with is ";" … :(
                              and mine has 0.98 not even 0.98b

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                              • S
                                sbyoon
                                last edited by Dec 2, 2007, 11:41 PM Dec 2, 2007, 11:24 AM

                                @felixh:

                                It took me 2 days to find a way to update the bios of my alix w/o a 128cf :S

                                I followed the instruction for creating a bootable disk for syslinux (second part) on http://ben.franske.com/blogs/bensbits.php/2007/08/21/booting_dos_from_a_usb_flash_drive

                                after copying the bios update files to the cf - it booted fine, but asked me to enter the full path to the command-interpreter - instead of command.com i gave him sb.com. voila! flashing started and finished with an ok.

                                now my alix works with RC3.

                                I used a 46MB CF - formatted it with FAT instead of FAT32

                                Thank you so much, Felixh!!

                                I succeeded in freedos booting and bios update with the first instruction, "Instructions for the FreeDOS direct boot method". I made a 16MB cf image to share it with everyone who has alix bios update problem.

                                http://210.109.84.3/download/freedos_alixupdate_16.img

                                You can download and write it to any cf card with 'physdiskwrite'. This image includs the 0.98g bios update files for Alix2. If you have Alix2, just execute 'sb.com' after freedos boot up. If you have others you can replace alix1.bin with alix0.bin or alix2.bin. You can get the bios update file from http://www.pcengines.ch/alix2.htm.

                                Pls note that you should chage CHS mode to LBA mode at alix bios setting if you face 'Error' message.

                                I tested this image with saveral cf cards. All they worked well. I think you can use any cf card that is bigger than 16MB.

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                                • G
                                  gmckinney
                                  last edited by Dec 2, 2007, 1:46 PM

                                  I can verify Sbyoon's method for updating the ALIX bios does indeed work!

                                  I just updated my ALIX2 board using his image on a 64-meg SanDisk CF card without any issues.  I performed the second upgrade on a second board using a 128-meg SanDisk CF card.

                                  The only thing, as is noted in sbyoon's post, is to make sure the bios setting for the cf card is set to LBA mode otherwise you will get an error.

                                  While setting up the ALIX for PXE booting over the net is not too difficult (have done it too) I find having a CF card with the bios upgrades to be a much quicker way to upgrade the bios with a lot less hardware involved  :)

                                  Great work all!!

                                  gm…

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                                  • R
                                    razor2000
                                    last edited by Dec 2, 2007, 7:34 PM

                                    i second Sbyoon's recommended instructions.  I just downloaded the file he put up online and it ran like a charm!

                                    Remember to change your BIOS settings to LBA to be sure the freedos Bios update works.  Afterwards, your serial port settings will go back to the 38400 speeds.  At that point, go into the Bios and change it to 9600 and pop your CF card with pfsense on it and away you go.

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                                    • C
                                      covex
                                      last edited by Dec 2, 2007, 10:12 PM

                                      confirmed, it works!  ;D

                                      thanks and respect to sbyoon for make this image public!!!!

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                                      • T
                                        thx2000
                                        last edited by Dec 2, 2007, 11:09 PM

                                        Great work DoubleK!!

                                        Was at this for HOURS.  I think I may have gotten a DOS prompt once or twice but in my exhaustion and frustration, never thought to automate the bios update through a startup script.  Regardless, thanks for bringing it all together!

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                                        • B
                                          bjorktorp
                                          last edited by Dec 3, 2007, 8:40 AM

                                          sbyoon: You're a true hero!

                                          Thanks to you I have managed to upgrade bios. But I'm sorry to say that upgrading didn't cure the core problem. pfSense still won't boot. But now the bootproblem is different though. ;-)

                                          I have used RC3 and the latest snapshot, both with the same result: page fault at kernel level and panic.

                                          I guess I should have grabed the 0.92 version while it was still available at pcengines.ch and downgraded…

                                          /Roger

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