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# Using external drives in U Boot
As it turned out, U-Boot WRT3200ACM can directly work with external disks connected to USB 2.0/eSATA ports. U-Boot supports FAT, EXT2 and EXT4 file systems. FAT and EXT2 support read only, EXT4 - read/write. Data exchange between the router and the external storage makes it possible to organize the debugging of new software more flexibly and to partially refuse to use the TFTP-server.
For clarity of use, take a USB-Flash drive and create on it three sections with the file system FAT32, EXT2 and EXT4.
Install USB-Flash drive in the USB/SATA port we give the command -
Marvell>> usb reset
(Re)start USB...
USB0: Port (usbActive) : 0 Interface (usbType = 2) : USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus 0 for devices... 2 USB Device(s) found
scanning usb for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found
scanning usb for ethernet devices... 0 Ethernet Device(s) found
We look at information about the Hub and the connected device -
Marvell>> usb info
1: Hub, USB Revision 2.0
- u-boot EHCI Host Controller
- Class: Hub
- PacketSize: 64 Configurations: 1
- Vendor: 0x0000 Product 0x0000 Version 1.0
Configuration: 1
- Interfaces: 1 Self Powered 0mA
Interface: 0
- Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 1
- Class Hub
- Endpoint 1 In Interrupt MaxPacket 8 Interval 255ms
2: Mass Storage, USB Revision 2.10
- Jetflash Mass Storage Device F6413224200006BA
- Class: (from Interface) Mass Storage
- PacketSize: 64 Configurations: 1
- Vendor: 0x8564 Product 0x1000 Version 1.0
Configuration: 1
- Interfaces: 1 Bus Powered 200mA
Interface: 0
- Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 2
- Class Mass Storage, Transp. SCSI, Bulk only
- Endpoint 2 Out Bulk MaxPacket 512
- Endpoint 1 In Bulk MaxPacket 512
You can see the partitions of the mapped drive and the types of file systems -
Marvell>> usb part
Partition Map for USB device 0 -- Partition Type: DOS
Part Start Sector Num Sectors UUID Type
1 2048 10485760 00000000-01 0b
2 10487808 10485760 00000000-02 83
3 20973568 11384832 00000000-03 83
Here you can see the contents of the volumes -
Marvell>> fatls usb 0:1
995328 uboot-v004-wrt3200.bin
995868 uboot-v100-wrt3200.bin
2 file(s), 0 dir(s)
Marvell>> ext2ls usb 0:2
<DIR> 4096 .
<DIR> 4096 ..
<DIR> 16384 lost+found
8283 armada-385-linksys-venom.dts
<DIR> 4096 WRT32X_gpl
5056103 my-kernel-rango.img
Marvell>> ext4ls usb 0:3
<DIR> 4096 .
<DIR> 4096 ..
<DIR> 16384 lost+found
Now we can copy the files we need from USB-Flash drive to the router memory, for example from the first partition -
Marvell>> fatload usb 0:1 0x1000000 uboot-v100-wrt3200.bin
reading uboot-v100-wrt3200.bin
995868 bytes read in 52 ms (18.3 MiB/s)
or from the second partition -
Marvell>> ext2load usb 0:2 0x2000000 my-kernel-rango.img
5056103 bytes read in 239 ms (20.2 MiB/s)
Then we can transfer the information to the desired NAND partition from the router's memory, for example, write the kernel. Preview he names of the partitions and their absolute addresses -
Marvell>> mtdparts
device nand0 <armada-nand>, # parts = 11
#: name size offset mask_flags
0: uboot 0x000000200000 0x000000000000 1
1: u_env 0x000000020000 0x000000200000 0
2: s_env 0x000000040000 0x000000220000 0
3: devinfo 0x000000040000 0x0000007e0000 0
4: sysdiag 0x0000001e0000 0x000000820000 0
5: ubifs 0x00000a000000 0x000000a00000 0
6: kernel 0x000005000000 0x000000a00000 0
7: rootfs 0x000004a00000 0x000001000000 0
8: alt_kernel 0x000005000000 0x000005a00000 0
9: alt_rootfs 0x000004a00000 0x000006000000 0
10: syscfg 0x000005600000 0x00000aa00000 0
Select the NAND device number, in our case - 0 and clean the kernel and alt_kernel partitions -
Marvell>> nand device 0
Marvell>> nand erase.part kernel; nand erase.part alt_kernel
NAND erase.part: device 0 offset 0xa00000, size 0x5000000
Erasing at 0x59e0000 -- 100% complete.
OK
NAND erase.part: device 0 offset 0x5a00000, size 0x5000000
Erasing at 0xa9e0000 -- 100% complete.
OK
Write from memory to NAND kernel partitions.
Marvell>> nand write 0x2000000 0x0a00000 0x4D2667
NAND write: device 0 offset 0xa00000, size 0x4d2667
5056103 bytes written: OK
Marvell>> nand write 0x2000000 0x5a00000 0x4D2667
NAND write: device 0 offset 0x5a00000, size 0x4d2667
5056103 bytes written: OK
Note: In general, all records can be shortened if you use variables.
-
The length of the recorded file in RAM is automatically written to the variable -
$filesize, -
The starting address of the file location in RAM
0x2000000is recorded in the variable -$defaultLoadAddr, -
Also listed in the address variables of NAND -
$priKernAddr, $altKernAddr.
Example of write command -
nand write $defaultLoadAddr $priKernAddr $filesize
Also we can write the contents of NAND partition in USB-Flash drive, for example we will do it with U-boot -
Marvell>> nand device 0
Marvell>> nand read 0x2000000 0 0x200000
NAND read: device 0 offset 0x0, size 0x200000
2097152 bytes read: OK
Marvell>> ext4write usb 0:3 /mtd0.bin 0x2000000 0x200000
File System is consistent
update journal finished
Let's check that the file is written on USB-Flash drive -
Marvell>> ext4ls usb 0:3
<DIR> 4096 .
<DIR> 4096 ..
<DIR> 16384 lost+found
2097152 mtd0.bin
Practical application
You can also implement to start the router with USB-Flash drive without using NAND.
To do this, for example, in the root of the McDebian file system, place the kernel image file my-kernel-rango.img. In order to start the router looking for a kernel image on USB-Flash drive, you need to change the environment variables nandboot and altnandboot -
Marvell>> setenv nandboot 'usb reset;ext2load usb 0:1 $defaultLoadAddr my-kernel-rango.img;bootm $defaultLoadAddr'
Marvell>> setenv altnandboot 'usb reset;ext2load usb 0:1 $defaultLoadAddr my-kernel-rango.img;bootm $defaultLoadAddr'
Marvell>> saveenv
Saving Environment to NAND...
U-ENV offset == 0x200000
Erasing Nand...
Writing to Nand... U-ENV offset == 0x200000
U-ENV offset == 0x200000
done
Marvell>> reset
.
.
.
auto_recovery_check changes bootcmd: run altnandboot
Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0
(Re)start USB...
USB0: Port (usbActive) : 0 Interface (usbType = 2) : USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus 0 for devices... 2 USB Device(s) found
scanning usb for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found
scanning usb for ethernet devices... 0 Ethernet Device(s) found
5056103 bytes read in 239 ms (20.2 MiB/s)
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 02000000 ...
Image Name: kernel
Created: 2018-02-26 0:40:57 UTC
Image Type: ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
Data Size: 5056039 Bytes = 4.8 MiB
Load Address: 00008000
Entry Point: 00008000
Verifying Checksum ... OK
Loading Kernel Image ... OK
OK
Starting kernel ...
[ 0.000000] Booting Linux on physical CPU 0x0
[ 0.000000] Linux version 4.14.22 (root@wrt3200acm) (gcc version 5.4.1 20160919 (15:5.4.1+svn241155-1)) #1 SMP Mon Feb 26 03:39:22 MSK 2
Now your router will not use NAND. To return the router to its original factory state, it is enough in U-boot to execute the command -
Marvell>> resetenv
Erasing 0x200000 - 0x220000:[Done]
Warning: Default Environment Variables will take effect Only after RESET
Connect the HDD/SSD to the eSATA port of the router and go to the U-Boot. To initialize the disk, execute the command -
Marvell>> scsi init
AHCI init for unit0
SATA link 0 timeout.
Target spinup took 0 ms.
Error: SCSI Controller(s) 1B4B:9215 1B4B:9235 not found
scanning bus for devices...
Device 0: (1:0) Vendor: ATA Prod.: Hitachi HTS54251 Rev: BBCO
Type: Hard Disk
Capacity: 152627.8 MB = 149.0 GB (312581808 x 512)
Found 1 device(s).
The mapped drive is found and now see its structure -
Marvell>> scsi part
Partition Map for SCSI device 0 -- Partition Type: DOS
Part Start Sector Num Sectors UUID Type
1 2048 51355648 a7802e7f-01 83 Boot
2 51357696 2121728 a7802e7f-02 82
3 53479424 259102383 a7802e7f-03 83
Can see its contents -
Marvell>> ext4ls scsi 0:1
<DIR> 4096 .
<DIR> 4096 ..
<DIR> 16384 lost+found
<DIR> 4096 var
<DIR> 4096 lib
<DIR> 4096 usr
<DIR> 4096 etc
<DIR> 4096 bin
<DIR> 4096 boot
<DIR> 4096 dev
<DIR> 4096 home
<DIR> 4096 proc
<DIR> 4096 root
<DIR> 4096 run
<DIR> 4096 sbin
<DIR> 4096 sys
<DIR> 4096 tmp
<DIR> 4096 mnt
<DIR> 4096 srv
<DIR> 4096 opt
<DIR> 4096 media
5056103 my-kernel-rango.img
The use of HDD/SSD is almost no different from the use of USB-Flash drive, you can also read and write information.
Here is an example of HDD/SSD usage in the router loading. To do this, change the environment variables nandkernel and altnandkernel -
Marvell>> setenv nandboot 'scsi init;ext4load scsi 0:1 $defaultLoadAddr my-kernel-rango.img;bootm $defaultLoadAddr'
Marvell>> setenv altnandboot 'scsi init;ext4load scsi 0:1 $defaultLoadAddr my-kernel-rango.img;bootm $defaultLoadAddr'
Marvell>> saveenv
Saving Environment to NAND...
U-ENV offset == 0x200000
Erasing Nand...
Writing to Nand... U-ENV offset == 0x200000
U-ENV offset == 0x200000
done