serial port sends mess after kernel started

[NoOne]

hi ... i used the sheevaplug installer 1.0 and i got some confusing output on the serial port
the plug is working perfectly and i'm able to login over ssh

Code:

.....
512 MB
Flash:  0 kB

CPU : Marvell Feroceon (Rev 1)

Streaming disabled
Write allocate disabled


USB 0: host mode
PEX 0: interface detected no Link.
Net:   egiga0 [PRIME], egiga1
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0

NAND read: device 0 offset 0x100000, size 0x400000

Reading data from 0x4ff800 -- 100% complete.
 4194304 bytes read: OK
## Booting image at 00800000 ...
   Image Name:   Linux-2.6.30.2
   Created:      2009-07-23   1:53:36 UTC
   Image Type:   ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
   Data Size:    2620440 Bytes =  2.5 MB
   Load Address: 00008000
   Entry Point:  00008000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
OK

Starting kernel ...

Uncompressing Linux... done, booting the kernel.
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Code:

Marvell>> version

U-Boot 1.1.4 (Jul 19 2009 - 16:03:28) Marvell version: 3.4.19
Marvell>> printenv
baudrate=115200
loads_echo=0
ipaddr=10.4.50.165
serverip=10.4.50.5
rootpath=/mnt/ARM_FS/
netmask=255.255.255.0
console=a0000
e=ttyS0,115200 mtdparts=nand_mtd:0xc0000@0(uboot)ro,0x1ff00000@0x100000(root)
CASset=min
MALLOC_len=1
ethprime=egiga0
bootargs_end=:::DB88FXX81:eth0:none
image_name=uImage
standalone=fsload 0x2000000 $(image_name);setenv bootargs $(console) root=/dev/mtdblock0 rw ip=$(ipaddr):$(serverip)$(bootargs_end) $(mvPhoneConfig); bootm 0x2000000;
ethmtu=1500
mvPhoneConfig=mv_phone_config=dev0:fxs,dev1:fxs
mvNetConfig=mv_net_config=(00:11:88:0f:62:81,0:1:2:3),mtu=1500
usb0Mode=host
yuk_ethaddr=00:00:00:EE:51:81
nandEcc=1bit
netretry=no
rcvrip=169.254.100.100
loadaddr=0x02000000
autoload=no
ethact=egiga0
bootargs_root=ubi.mtd=1 root=ubi0:rootfs rootfstype=ubifs
mtdpartitions=mtdparts=orion_nand:0x400000@0x100000(uImage),0x1fb00000@0x500000(rootfs)
ethaddr=00:50:43:01:c1:e6
real_bootcmd=setenv bootargs $(bootargs_console) $(mtdpartitions) $(bootargs_root); nand read.e 0x00800000 0x00100000 0x00400000; bootm 0x00800000
bootargs_console=console=ttyS0,115200
recover1=setenv mainlineLinux yes; setenv arcNumber 2097; setenv bootcmd run recover2; saveenv; reset
recover2=run recover3; setenv bootcmd $(real_bootcmd); saveenv; setenv bootargs $(bootargs_console) $(mtdpartitions) root=/dev/ram0 rw ramdisk=0x01100000,8M install_type=nand; bootm 0x00800000 0x01100000
recover3=run recover4; nand erase clean 0x00100000 0x00400000; nand write.e 0x00800000 0x00100000 0x00400000
recover4=usb start; fatload usb 0 0x00800000 uImage; fatload usb 0 0x01100000 initrd
bootargs=console=ttyS0,115200 mtdparts=orion_nand:0x400000@0x100000(uImage),0x1fb00000@0x500000(rootfs) root=/dev/ram0 rw ramdisk=0x01100000,8M install_type=nand
arcNumber=2097
filesize=32D62A
bootcmd=setenv bootargs $(bootargs_console) $(mtdpartitions) $(bootargs_root); nand read.e 0x00800000 0x00100000 0x00400000; bootm 0x00800000
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
stderr=serial
nandEnvBase=a0000
mainlineLinux=yes
enaMonExt=no
enaCpuStream=no
enaWrAllo=no
pexMode=RC
disL2Cache=no
setL2CacheWT=yes
disL2Prefetch=yes
enaICPref=yes
enaDCPref=yes
sata_dma_mode=yes
netbsd_en=no
vxworks_en=no
bootdelay=3
disaMvPnp=no
enaAutoRecovery=yes
pcieTune=no

Environment size: 2226/131068 bytes
Marvell>>

[NoOne]

i also found out that the system clock is drifting heavily!!
is there some kind of global speed setting which might be wrong?

Code:

root@sheeva:~# date
Sun Jul 11 10:09:52 CEST 2010
root@sheeva:~# ntpdate ntp2.ptb.de
11 Jul 08:27:09 ntpdate[1897]: step time server 192.53.103.104 offset -6172.352172 sec
root@sheeva:~# ntpdate ntp2.ptb.de
11 Jul 08:28:48 ntpdate[1900]: step time server 192.53.103.104 offset -19.784532 sec
root@sheeva:~#

[MarkF]

The time drift problem may be a combination of your late model plug and your kernel version.  Check this link out.

[jbarton]

I am also getting this same problem in which the console appears to run at the wrong baud rate.

I have two different Plugs, everything appeared to work correctly, including the USB console. If I use the Sheeva installer 1.0, everything works normally except that the USB console is outputting garbage as if it running at the wrong baud (similar to the original post). Two other Plugs I received earlier, (same model number 003-SP1001), do not exhibit this problem after running the Sheeva installer.

 One unusual thing is: if I reset the Plug, I can see the bootup messages just fine. I can even hit a key to stop the autoboot, giving me the "Marvell>>" prompt. In this mode, I can set boot parameters and type in commands; however, once it starts to boot up the kernel, I am getting garbage as if console is now running at the wrong baud rate. Everything else under Linux appears to be working just fine.  It's as if Linux is running the tty at the wrong baud, but the kernel is just the standard kernel that comes with the sheeva installer. I have no problem at all with two other Plugs that have the same model number 003-SP1001. I am suspecting some kind of hardware problem, but these same Plugs out of the box (prior to running the sheeva installer) did not have such a problem. Is there some kind of hardware revision that depends on a specific kernel feature/version to run the USB console?




Help!

[cjm]

You console arguments in uboot seem to be messed up. There was a similar problem in another thread -- http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?topic=2042.msg11950#msg11950 -- where the console args were messed up and couldn't be set properly. Searching the forum for "a0000" in console boot arguments seems to yield additional theads.

Thanks,
--Christian

[jbarton]

The apparent baud rate problem with the USB console was driving me nuts.  Since I did not see this USB console problem on some earlier Plugs, and am only seeing this on two newer Plugs after going through the sheeva-installer, I guessed that there was some kind of hardware revision, not documented anywhere, that requires a newer version of the kernel than the sheeva-installer supplied.

I replaced the uImage and modules.tar.gz supplied by the sheeva-installer with 2.6.34 versions, and everything now works!

[cjm]

This could be related to the incorrect clock rate detected by older Linux kernels on later revisions of the CPU which used by the Sheevaplugs since a couple of months. Just a guess...

Thanks,
--Christian