[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[Robert P. J. Day]

  i have a current production version of the beaglebone black, and i'd
dearly love to NFS mount the root filesystem over the USB tether
(which typically assigns net addresses of 192.68.7.[12] to the
host/board).

  does u-boot support that? i just found this elinux article:

http://elinux.org/Mount_BeagleBoard_Root_Filesystem_over_NFS_via_USB

and am about to start poring over it, but if someone already knows if
it can be done (or not), that would be great. thanks.

rday

-- 

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                                 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
========================================================================

[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[Albert ARIBAUD]

Hi Robert,

On Sun, 21 Jul 2013 04:07:17 -0700 (PDT), "Robert P. J. Day"
<rpjday@crashcourse.ca> wrote:

> 
>   i have a current production version of the beaglebone black, and i'd
> dearly love to NFS mount the root filesystem over the USB tether
> (which typically assigns net addresses of 192.68.7.[12] to the
> host/board).
> 
>   does u-boot support that? i just found this elinux article:
> 
> http://elinux.org/Mount_BeagleBoard_Root_Filesystem_over_NFS_via_USB
> 
> and am about to start poring over it, but if someone already knows if
> it can be done (or not), that would be great. thanks.

If the kernel (and possibly initrd, for modules) is available locally,
then the whole NFS and USB tether rootfs mounting is a Linux thing, not
a U-boot one, isn't it?

> rday

Amicalement,
-- 
Albert.

[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Sun, 21 Jul 2013, Albert ARIBAUD wrote:

> Hi Robert,
>
> On Sun, 21 Jul 2013 04:07:17 -0700 (PDT), "Robert P. J. Day"
> <rpjday@crashcourse.ca> wrote:
>
> >
> >   i have a current production version of the beaglebone black, and i'd
> > dearly love to NFS mount the root filesystem over the USB tether
> > (which typically assigns net addresses of 192.68.7.[12] to the
> > host/board).
> >
> >   does u-boot support that? i just found this elinux article:
> >
> > http://elinux.org/Mount_BeagleBoard_Root_Filesystem_over_NFS_via_USB
> >
> > and am about to start poring over it, but if someone already knows if
> > it can be done (or not), that would be great. thanks.
>
> If the kernel (and possibly initrd, for modules) is available locally,
> then the whole NFS and USB tether rootfs mounting is a Linux thing, not
> a U-boot one, isn't it?

 hmmmmmm ... now that i'm more awake, you may be right. i guess all i
need is for RNDIS to kick in and assign the IP addresses to each end
of the connection before any attempt is made to mount the root
filesystem. for some reason, i thought it had to be done earlier.

  i'll give it a shot, thanks.

rday

p.s. just to be clear, when the BBB is up and running, the only
active network interface is:

usb0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr EA:60:E8:F4:F4:BD
          inet addr:192.168.7.2  Bcast:192.168.7.3  Mask:255.255.255.252
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:40 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:23 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:9579 (9.3 KiB)  TX bytes:7401 (7.2 KiB)

so you're suggesting that this requires no further tweaking of u-boot
other than setting "nfsroot="?

-- 

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                                 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
========================================================================

[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[Albert ARIBAUD]

Hi Robert,

On Sun, 21 Jul 2013 08:10:15 -0700 (PDT), "Robert P. J. Day"
<rpjday@crashcourse.ca> wrote:

> On Sun, 21 Jul 2013, Albert ARIBAUD wrote:
> 
> > Hi Robert,
> >
> > On Sun, 21 Jul 2013 04:07:17 -0700 (PDT), "Robert P. J. Day"
> > <rpjday@crashcourse.ca> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >   i have a current production version of the beaglebone black, and i'd
> > > dearly love to NFS mount the root filesystem over the USB tether
> > > (which typically assigns net addresses of 192.68.7.[12] to the
> > > host/board).
> > >
> > >   does u-boot support that? i just found this elinux article:
> > >
> > > http://elinux.org/Mount_BeagleBoard_Root_Filesystem_over_NFS_via_USB
> > >
> > > and am about to start poring over it, but if someone already knows if
> > > it can be done (or not), that would be great. thanks.
> >
> > If the kernel (and possibly initrd, for modules) is available locally,
> > then the whole NFS and USB tether rootfs mounting is a Linux thing, not
> > a U-boot one, isn't it?
> 
>  hmmmmmm ... now that i'm more awake, you may be right. i guess all i
> need is for RNDIS to kick in and assign the IP addresses to each end
> of the connection before any attempt is made to mount the root
> filesystem. for some reason, i thought it had to be done earlier.
> 
>   i'll give it a shot, thanks.
> 
> rday
> 
> p.s. just to be clear, when the BBB is up and running, the only
> active network interface is:
> 
> usb0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr EA:60:E8:F4:F4:BD
>           inet addr:192.168.7.2  Bcast:192.168.7.3  Mask:255.255.255.252
>           UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
>           RX packets:40 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
>           TX packets:23 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
>           collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
>           RX bytes:9579 (9.3 KiB)  TX bytes:7401 (7.2 KiB)
> 
> so you're suggesting that this requires no further tweaking of u-boot
> other than setting "nfsroot="?

Yes, I am. More precisely, I am suggesting that the only change in
u-boot is to pass the rootfs option to the kernel; but you may want to
make sure your kernel has support (either as a monolithic kernel or as a
module through a local initrd) for the hardware and network features
needed.

Amicalement,
-- 
Albert.

[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Sun, 21 Jul 2013, Albert ARIBAUD wrote:

> Hi Robert,
>
> On Sun, 21 Jul 2013 08:10:15 -0700 (PDT), "Robert P. J. Day"
> <rpjday@crashcourse.ca> wrote:

> > p.s. just to be clear, when the BBB is up and running, the only
> > active network interface is:
> >
> > usb0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr EA:60:E8:F4:F4:BD
> >           inet addr:192.168.7.2  Bcast:192.168.7.3  Mask:255.255.255.252
> >           UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
> >           RX packets:40 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
> >           TX packets:23 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
> >           collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
> >           RX bytes:9579 (9.3 KiB)  TX bytes:7401 (7.2 KiB)
> >
> > so you're suggesting that this requires no further tweaking of u-boot
> > other than setting "nfsroot="?
>
> Yes, I am. More precisely, I am suggesting that the only change in
> u-boot is to pass the rootfs option to the kernel; but you may want
> to make sure your kernel has support (either as a monolithic kernel
> or as a module through a local initrd) for the hardware and network
> features needed.

  that's the one part i'm unsure of and i'll have to look at. right
now, the BBB connects over the network via USB just fine, so all i
need to do is verify that that doesn't require any loadable modules.

  on the BBB, i have this from /proc/config.gz:

CONFIG_USB_NET_RNDIS_HOST=m
CONFIG_USB_NET_RNDIS_WLAN=m
CONFIG_USB_ETH_RNDIS=y
CONFIG_USB_FUNCTIONFS_RNDIS=y
CONFIG_USB_G_MULTI_RNDIS=y

and from lsmod, the only apparently related module is "g_multi":

g_multi                55905  2
libcomposite           15228  1 g_multi

but i don't know anything about that module. so first guess is that
the kernel on the BBB might have everything it needs, unless someone
who knows way more about RNDIS than i do can spot a flaw.

  will test all this shortly, thanks for your help.

rday

-- 

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                                 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
========================================================================

[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Sun, 21 Jul 2013, Albert ARIBAUD wrote:

> Hi Robert,
>
> On Sun, 21 Jul 2013 08:10:15 -0700 (PDT), "Robert P. J. Day"
> <rpjday@crashcourse.ca> wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 21 Jul 2013, Albert ARIBAUD wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Robert,
> > >
> > > On Sun, 21 Jul 2013 04:07:17 -0700 (PDT), "Robert P. J. Day"
> > > <rpjday@crashcourse.ca> wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > >   i have a current production version of the beaglebone black, and i'd
> > > > dearly love to NFS mount the root filesystem over the USB tether
> > > > (which typically assigns net addresses of 192.68.7.[12] to the
> > > > host/board).
> > > >
> > > >   does u-boot support that? i just found this elinux article:
> > > >
> > > > http://elinux.org/Mount_BeagleBoard_Root_Filesystem_over_NFS_via_USB
> > > >
> > > > and am about to start poring over it, but if someone already knows if
> > > > it can be done (or not), that would be great. thanks.
> > >
> > > If the kernel (and possibly initrd, for modules) is available locally,
> > > then the whole NFS and USB tether rootfs mounting is a Linux thing, not
> > > a U-boot one, isn't it?
> >
> >  hmmmmmm ... now that i'm more awake, you may be right. i guess all i
> > need is for RNDIS to kick in and assign the IP addresses to each end
> > of the connection before any attempt is made to mount the root
> > filesystem. for some reason, i thought it had to be done earlier.
> >
> >   i'll give it a shot, thanks.
> >
> > rday
> >
> > p.s. just to be clear, when the BBB is up and running, the only
> > active network interface is:
> >
> > usb0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr EA:60:E8:F4:F4:BD
> >           inet addr:192.168.7.2  Bcast:192.168.7.3  Mask:255.255.255.252
> >           UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
> >           RX packets:40 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
> >           TX packets:23 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
> >           collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
> >           RX bytes:9579 (9.3 KiB)  TX bytes:7401 (7.2 KiB)
> >
> > so you're suggesting that this requires no further tweaking of u-boot
> > other than setting "nfsroot="?
>
> Yes, I am. More precisely, I am suggesting that the only change in
> u-boot is to pass the rootfs option to the kernel; but you may want to
> make sure your kernel has support (either as a monolithic kernel or as a
> module through a local initrd) for the hardware and network features
> needed.

  assuming the kernel has everything it needs, from my playing around,
it appears that i need to have u-boot manually bring up the net
interface, but i have no idea how to do that such that it also
configures the IP address at the other end, exactly the way it's all
done during a regular MMC-based boot -- i just don't know enough about
RNDIS.

  in the end, i would *like* the host to have the IP address
192.168.7.1, and the BBB to have the IP address 192.168.7.2, and
there's one other slight complication.

  i can't assume the net connection will be represented by eth0 on the
host side -- it's entirely possible the host will already be on the
net, and eth0 will be in use, so i need to be prepared for the host to
use whatever ethX interface it prefers for 192.168.7.1.

  so is there a way to, from within u-boot, kickstart that net
interface? if i can get that, i think everything else falls into
place. i'm trying to do this *strictly* through uEnv.txt since, in the
environment i'm designing for, there will be *no* access to the u-boot
prompt.

rday

-- 

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                                 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
========================================================================

[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[Tom Rini]

On Sun, Jul 21, 2013 at 01:43:29PM -0700, Robert P. J. Day wrote:

>   in the end, i would *like* the host to have the IP address
> 192.168.7.1, and the BBB to have the IP address 192.168.7.2, and
> there's one other slight complication.
> 
>   i can't assume the net connection will be represented by eth0 on the
> host side -- it's entirely possible the host will already be on the
> net, and eth0 will be in use, so i need to be prepared for the host to
> use whatever ethX interface it prefers for 192.168.7.1.
> 
>   so is there a way to, from within u-boot, kickstart that net
> interface? if i can get that, i think everything else falls into
> place. i'm trying to do this *strictly* through uEnv.txt since, in the
> environment i'm designing for, there will be *no* access to the u-boot
> prompt.

I'm a little unclear on what you're trying to do right now.  But, the
gadget ethernet works in U-Boot, just setenv ethact usb_ether.  On the
linux host side, it will be usb0 (or usb1 and so on).

-- 
Tom
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[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Sun, 21 Jul 2013, Tom Rini wrote:

> On Sun, Jul 21, 2013 at 01:43:29PM -0700, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
>
> >   in the end, i would *like* the host to have the IP address
> > 192.168.7.1, and the BBB to have the IP address 192.168.7.2, and
> > there's one other slight complication.
> >
> >   i can't assume the net connection will be represented by eth0 on the
> > host side -- it's entirely possible the host will already be on the
> > net, and eth0 will be in use, so i need to be prepared for the host to
> > use whatever ethX interface it prefers for 192.168.7.1.
> >
> >   so is there a way to, from within u-boot, kickstart that net
> > interface? if i can get that, i think everything else falls into
> > place. i'm trying to do this *strictly* through uEnv.txt since, in the
> > environment i'm designing for, there will be *no* access to the u-boot
> > prompt.
>
> I'm a little unclear on what you're trying to do right now.  But,
> the gadget ethernet works in U-Boot, just setenv ethact usb_ether.
> On the linux host side, it will be usb0 (or usb1 and so on).

  in a nutshell, i just want to do *all* my networking over the USB
tether ... TFTP kernel images, NFS mount rootfs, etc.

  i could have sworn i tried "setenv ethact usb_ether" earlier and
that didn't work, but i'll try it again. i posted a more detailed
explanation on the beagleboard list -- given my situation, the *only*
customization i can make to the BBB is to let it boot normally the
first time, then replace the uEnv.txt file in the FAT partition with
something new. i have no freedom to do anything else.

  so, along with that "setenv ethact usb_ether", how would the normal
ways to TFTP kernel images and NFS mount root filesystems change in
any way? how much more would i need to add to something like this?

setenv ethact usb_ether
autoload=no
serverip=192.168.7.1
ipaddr=192.168.7.2
rootpath=/home/rpjday/rootfs
uenvcmd=run netargs; bootm ${loadaddr} - ${fdtaddr}

i know how to do *normal* TFTP and NFS, but i have no idea how any of
that changes in the context of using usb_ether.

rday

-- 

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                                 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
========================================================================

[U-Boot] can u-boot NFS mount my beaglebone rootfs over USB tether?

[Tom Rini]

On Sun, Jul 21, 2013 at 03:34:58PM -0700, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> On Sun, 21 Jul 2013, Tom Rini wrote:
> 
> > On Sun, Jul 21, 2013 at 01:43:29PM -0700, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> >
> > >   in the end, i would *like* the host to have the IP address
> > > 192.168.7.1, and the BBB to have the IP address 192.168.7.2, and
> > > there's one other slight complication.
> > >
> > >   i can't assume the net connection will be represented by eth0 on the
> > > host side -- it's entirely possible the host will already be on the
> > > net, and eth0 will be in use, so i need to be prepared for the host to
> > > use whatever ethX interface it prefers for 192.168.7.1.
> > >
> > >   so is there a way to, from within u-boot, kickstart that net
> > > interface? if i can get that, i think everything else falls into
> > > place. i'm trying to do this *strictly* through uEnv.txt since, in the
> > > environment i'm designing for, there will be *no* access to the u-boot
> > > prompt.
> >
> > I'm a little unclear on what you're trying to do right now.  But,
> > the gadget ethernet works in U-Boot, just setenv ethact usb_ether.
> > On the linux host side, it will be usb0 (or usb1 and so on).
> 
>   in a nutshell, i just want to do *all* my networking over the USB
> tether ... TFTP kernel images, NFS mount rootfs, etc.
> 
>   i could have sworn i tried "setenv ethact usb_ether" earlier and
> that didn't work, but i'll try it again. i posted a more detailed
> explanation on the beagleboard list -- given my situation, the *only*
> customization i can make to the BBB is to let it boot normally the
> first time, then replace the uEnv.txt file in the FAT partition with
> something new. i have no freedom to do anything else.
> 
>   so, along with that "setenv ethact usb_ether", how would the normal
> ways to TFTP kernel images and NFS mount root filesystems change in
> any way? how much more would i need to add to something like this?
> 
> setenv ethact usb_ether
> autoload=no
> serverip=192.168.7.1
> ipaddr=192.168.7.2
> rootpath=/home/rpjday/rootfs
> uenvcmd=run netargs; bootm ${loadaddr} - ${fdtaddr}
> 
> i know how to do *normal* TFTP and NFS, but i have no idea how any of
> that changes in the context of using usb_ether.

U-Boot is great (terrible) in this regard.  When you have multiple
ethernet interfaces we try round-robin to use each, starting with the
last sucessful interface, and if there's not one, ethact, and if that's
not set, the order 'Net: ' prints them out, which I believe is link
order, but didn't go and check just now.

-- 
Tom
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