ramdg
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Post by ramdg on Nov 11, 2006 18:14:51 GMT 7
After reading the howto on cyrius.com I thought I give it a go and put debian on my N2100. The howto is pretty straightforward but I have to admit I probably still did something wrong???. The debian installer image was succesfully installed. But setting up the SSH installer connection isn't possible. Since I have already tried all sort of things I'm wondering if there is a possibility to restore to the thecus firmware without the availability of the firmwareupgrade in the webgui. Now I have 800 gigs sitting in a box doing nothing. Can somebody point me in the right direction. www.cyrius.com/debian/iop/n2100/install.html
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tyz
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Post by tyz on Nov 12, 2006 20:43:57 GMT 7
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ramdg
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Post by ramdg on Nov 13, 2006 1:24:49 GMT 7
Ok great! I'll setup a serial connection and see where it goes. Just to make sure, if the current config is messed up, can you still restore the standardconfig. I read someting about redboot fis, where you can load the firmware to the ram, from where it is rewritten to the flashmemory. Still this is al new territory for me, so have to read some more manuals.
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Post by dbridges on Nov 23, 2006 5:00:17 GMT 7
Hi ramdg, Have you made any progress on this??? After some playing around yesterday i have developed a vested interest in this topic regards, dbridges
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Post by dbridges on Nov 27, 2006 16:37:09 GMT 7
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ramdg
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Post by ramdg on Dec 5, 2006 4:52:31 GMT 7
Hi,
I'm still strugling with the serial connection. It seems that the connectionsheme isn't as abvious as it looks like. Only one time I had a readout but with a lot of strange codes due to different charactercoding. So my box is still sitting there.
Your talking about 4 connections, but the howto i've found (http://david.thg.se/n2100/addserial.html) mentions only 3 connections. Can you clear this up.
The onboard header is pretty obvious, this is where it can't go wrong. I've soldered a 9-pin header on my pcb, since it is a new model.
I'm a nOOb at serial stuff so probably I'm making the wrong connections on the serialport. I'm gonna look at it.
Let you know how it went.
Thx!! Ramon
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Post by dbridges on Dec 5, 2006 5:46:20 GMT 7
With regards to the serial connection you really only need the two previously mentioned for data transfer because the others are for handshaking and flow control and we turn flow control off.
I used four because my cable had four. If it hadnt worked i would have gone out and purchased another cable and wired them all.
In the old serial days you also needed a null modem to get to machines talking to each other. I threw mine out years ago :-)
The null modem is like a ethernet crossover cable anyway so all i did was hunt down the null modem wiring diagrams and then map out how the pins on my female cable plug need to connect to the thecus board.
Soldering the board was not an option for me. I'm ok at soldering but slipups can be disasterous.
Do you have an electronic multimeter?
Have you tested the pin combinations to ensure that you do not have any shorts. I'm thinking that a short here could cause the garbled output. Either that or incompatible language settings.
If you find any shorts i recommend removing the header and cleaning up all of the solder and then simply poking the stripped wires into the correct holes. It worked for me :-)
Whatever you do when you have it all connected take the female end of the cable (which you'll be connecting to your other computer) and use a multimeter to check that it's connected to the correct pin on the thecus board (test on the back of the board). It's really important to test the end result (everything plugged in together). Test for shorts too.
What console program are you using? I was using hyperterminal in windows where setting the baud, stop bits and flow control is pretty easy.
Remember too that you need to open the console connection before you even power on the thecus.
The boot sequence is a bit strange. Sometimes it can take just 5 seconds or so to get to the redboot interrupt point (the ^c point) and others it can take up to 15 seconds. Dont ask me why...
Your scenario is a little different to mine because you're going to have to restore a lot more than i did. I only had to change a single file and i had the old version backed up. I have a good idea of whats needed though so i should be able to help a bit.
What computer environment do you have available? Windows, linux, both???
I'm asking because you'll need an unpacked version of the thecus firmware. I already have one for 2.1.01 which i could zip and email to you if you're limited to windows. You'll need this if you're planning to restore the thecus firmware rather than continuing with the debian install.
I had the luxury of a second machine which i was able to install debian on. Afterwards i realised that this probably wasn't necessary but it helped.
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ramdg
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Post by ramdg on Dec 5, 2006 14:57:03 GMT 7
Ok great, looks like where getting somewhere. I'll get a multimeter this afternoon. I"m pretty sure the header sits very well on the pcb, but I'm willing to take it off. I'm running ubuntu/xp, I used several programs but mostly I use screen in ubuntu. I guess I'm doing something wrong on making the right connections on the serial connector on the computerside. The rest is all clear to me. This might sound stupid but how do you termine the connectionnumbers on the serialconnector. Since you determine it from the front and the back of the connector making the numbers switch aswell. I appreciate your help and I think we can get this job done.
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Post by dbridges on Dec 5, 2006 18:47:14 GMT 7
I was lucky my plug has the numbers printed on it. Here's how i did it... Female 9 pin serial ---------> Thecus pin no.Pin 2 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 3 (in second picture) Pin 3 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 2 (in second picture) Pin 5 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 5 (in second picture) Pin 6 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 4 (in second picture) Female plug REAR of board (from the perspective of the serial connection) A multi meter is essential for this kind of thing and they always come in handy for other things like testing batteries and the voltage on cpu fan headers.
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ramdg
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Posts: 11
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Post by ramdg on Dec 5, 2006 22:08:31 GMT 7
Ok bought a multimeter, a new 9 pin serial connector, some tape and I also took along a null-modem cable. I'm taking the header off the pcb now.
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ramdg
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Post by ramdg on Dec 5, 2006 23:20:10 GMT 7
Ok the header is off the pcb. I've hooked up the cables as you have mentioned in your photo's (this is really idiotproof ;D). I've tested the cable on diode position and they all go to zero. So it's seems okay. Can you tell how the hyperterminal works. I'm constantly swithing between ubuntu and xp. I prefer xp with this kind of stuff. I've used screen but there is no readout. I'm starting to freak out. I'm gonna give one more try.
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ramdg
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by ramdg on Dec 6, 2006 3:28:49 GMT 7
I'm starting to think my satabackplane is f**cked up. I'm gonna see how I can get my hands on another backplane for testing. For now my project is on hold. Two weeks and not a tiny progress....pppfff
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Post by dbridges on Dec 6, 2006 4:30:45 GMT 7
Hang on just a bit yet... The serial console wont show anything at first but i'll get to that... Remember. The photo of the sata riser that i posted was taken from the side that the disks connect. I removed the sata riser from the disk cage. Use the resistance (ohm) setting on the multimeter; probably the same as the diode. Diodes are one directional, resistors dual directional. The wiring details that i specified are the final ones and include the wiring crossover for a null modem so you shouldn't need a separate null modem. One thing. Serial ports aren't commonly used anymore. Check your device manager and ensure that your serial port is enabled. Mine wasn't and i had to enable it in the bios first. You never know, you have to check everything. edit: Ignore that. You wont be able to choose com 1 in hyperterminal if the port isn't active. The hyperterminal setup... Here it is. To start the thecus must be powered off. At first you'll get the blank screen. I personally deliberately disconnect and reconnect. It shouldn't make a difference but it makes me feel better Next attach the power cord to the thecus and press the power button. Press enter in the console program a number of times. It doesn't hurt it and it can help to get things going. If you have a good look at the riser you'll notice that it's just pathways to the mainboard socket. There's no way to really mess it up if you've cleaned up all of the solder and there's no short circuits then everything should be ok.
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Post by spiken on Dec 6, 2006 14:50:12 GMT 7
Here's how i did it... Female 9 pin serial ---------> Thecus pin no.Pin 2 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 3 (in second picture) Pin 3 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 2 (in second picture) Pin 5 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 5 (in second picture) Pin 6 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 4 (in second picture) According to this link you do not have to cross TX and RX pin . My N2100 already have pin out to attach a serial port .
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Post by dbridges on Dec 7, 2006 4:30:24 GMT 7
Here's how i did it... Female 9 pin serial ---------> Thecus pin no.Pin 2 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 3 (in second picture) Pin 3 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 2 (in second picture) Pin 5 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 5 (in second picture) Pin 6 (in first picture) ----------> Pin Hole 4 (in second picture) According to this link you do not have to cross TX and RX pin . My N2100 already have pin out to attach a serial port . That is both correct and incorrect and i'll explain why I'll go over the top but serial communication is old school and not too many people are up on it these days. The instructions at that link are for adding a serial PORT of the MALE variety. To use this port (and this is not mentioned on that link) to connect the thecus to another computer's serial port, you will need both a serial cable and a null modem (or laplink cables). A null modem crosses the TX and RX pins for you. In this respect the instructions on that page are 110% correct. Now for my instructions... I didn't have a null modem (and i wasn't about to go out and buy one) but i did have a cable which had a 9 pin female plug. I cut the other end off the cable and stripped back the wires. I then mapped out (drew it up on paper) the thecus to serial port mapping followed by the null modem mapping and finally the mapping to the female port. I could then trace through the diagram to determine the mapping that i needed to use to incorporate the null modem wiring into my final solution. Therefore, my instructions are also correct because, I created my own laplink cable wired directly to the thecus SATA riser board. It's the inclusion of the null modem wiring that resulted in me deliberately crossing the TX and RX pins. Oh and the newer models don't have the serial port header. Thecus must of figured that we didn't need it From what i've read the kernel doesn't include serial port support anyway so even if you had a permanently wired serial port you couldn't use it. It's only purpose is for accessing redboot. When the great god of time shines down on me i'd like to investigate whether the redboot installed on the thecus includes telnet support. That would make life a little easier.
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