So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day.

Posted by: FieroSTi

So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 18/05/2015 00:05

I only get a heartbeat LED. No matter what. It won't power up from DC, it won't power up from AC and it can't be found by emplode. I though maybe the bootloader was corrupted, so I tried an update. It didn't work.

Here's the boot log:

Code:
empeg-car bootstrap v1.02 20001106 ([email protected])



Seriously. That's it. Doesn't seem healthy.

I suppose it's worth mentioning that this unit worked perfectly fine, albeit with a bit of IDE noise on the pre-outs last Thursday night, but then Friday morning I started my car and it just wouldn't boot. Not sure what happened.
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 18/05/2015 00:09

Tried another boot cycle.

I got this instead

Code:
empeg-car bootstrap v1.02 20001106 ([email protected])
Couldn't lockdown flash (ram fault?)
If there is anyone present who wants to upgrade the flash, let them speak now,
or forever hold their peace...it seems not. Let fly the Penguins of Linux!


...and then I tried booting another few dozen times. Every time I got this:

Code:
empeg-car bootstrap v1.02 20001106 ([email protected])
(undefined instruction vector)


Hmm. Seems this unit is pretty well hosed. I wonder what the heck happened?
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 18/05/2015 00:34

At this point, I would dig out the serial null-modem cable, and reflash the kernel over serial.
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 18/05/2015 00:36

Kernel only, you think? I haven't tried that yet. Worth a shot.
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 18/05/2015 00:38

No dice. Kernel flash utility can't find the unit either.
Posted by: Roger

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 18/05/2015 09:44

Code:
If there is anyone present who wants to upgrade the flash, let them speak now,
or forever hold their peace...


IIRC, this part is from the (usually) non-upgradeable part of flash. If it's not managing to run to this point consistently, then I suspect that your flash chip (or something else worse) is hosed somehow.

Code:
Couldn't lockdown flash (ram fault?)


...which is sort of implied by this.

And the "hold their peace" part is the prompt to the serial upgrader, so in case I am wrong, it might be worth persevering a few times with the upgrader, in case it does get to this point and then successfully reflash.
Posted by: Shonky

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 18/05/2015 13:08

It's quite possible the reprogramming the flash will recover it (flash can drop bits and the like so an erase/program can do wonders).

However, even if it does get to that point it doesn't reflash *everything* though does it? That's the whole point of it being non-upgradeable so it's somewhat protected against bricking it. In this case you really do want to program that bit.
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 19/05/2015 02:05

So, how can i be sure I'm programming the flash? I mean, are we talking JTAG here? I can't get this unit to be found by emplode or any kind of flashing utility that I know of.

It just seems like a hardware failure to me. I think this unit had a memory expansion board installed in it some years ago. Perhaps that's failed?
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 19/05/2015 02:15

Alright. I finally got emplode to find it. But it doesn't help.



...and I got logoedit to find it. But again; bad news.

It freezes here.

Code:
found empeg unit: entering program mode
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 19/05/2015 10:34

Ugh. Yeah, maybe disable the expansion board if possible.
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 19/05/2015 21:44

Okay. I didn't install it, so I'm not sure how well it was originally done. I'll pull that and report back.
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 20/05/2015 00:12

Best removed with a (carefully masked) heat gun.
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 14/01/2016 16:27

In case anybody is interested, it turns out that it was a bad RAM board. Today, I finally removed the dead memory expansion board and then had to use the kernel flash utility to fix the corrupted flash. After that, I imaged a drive and currently have it sitting on my desk playing away. Wonderful.


EDIT: I guess I lied. I loaded a few tunes, rebooted the unit and got a No Hard Drive error. Now, I can't get the unit to "recognize" the drive. A serial boot log with a Samsung 256GB mSATA card reveals that the IDE interface can see the drive, but is filled with what appear to be IDE read errors. Check it out.

A good log booting this SSD in my MKII:

Code:
empeg single channel IDE

Probing primary interface...
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xffaa
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0xff55
hda: SAMSUNG MZMTD256HAGM-00004, ATA DISK drive
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xffba
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0xff55
hda: SAMSUNG MZMTD256HAGM-00004, ATA DISK drive
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xffaa
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0xff55
hda: SAMSUNG MZMTD256HAGM-00004, ATA DISK drive
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xffaa
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0xffff
hda: SAMSUNG MZMTD256HAGM-00004, ATA DISK drive
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xffaa
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0xff55
hda: SAMSUNG MZMTD256HAGM-00004, ATA DISK drive
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xffba
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0xff55
hda: SAMSUNG MZMTD256HAGM-00004, ATA DISK drive
ide0 at 0x000-0x007,0x038 on irq 6
hda: SAMSUNG MZMTD256HAGM-00004, 244198MB w/0kB Cache, CHS=31130/255/63, LBA48
empeg-flash driver initialized



...and the same exact drive, with the same exact cable attempting to boot in this MKIIa.

Code:
empeg single channel IDE
Probing primary interface...
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xfbff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xfbaa
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0xff55
hda: SAISQNC IZIT@216HACM)00004, ATA DISK drive
ide0 at 0x000-0x007,0x038 on irq 6
hda: SAISQNC IZIT@216HACM)00004, 7559MB w/0kB Cache, CHS=15359/16/63
empeg-flash driver initialized


The unit finds the drive, but reports bad characters for the Maker and Model Number, as well as only reporting 7.6GB of drive size. Again, this exact drive and cable work fine in my other player. I tested and verified all 44 IDE header pin connections to the motherboard. Do I have an issue with my IDE bus somehow?

Also, I'm not sure how relevant this is, but the kernel flash utility is unable to automatically reboot the player while it's powered on. I physically have to remove the power and plug it back in before the kernel flash will start. This behavior has changed since I last updated the kernel. Does this indicate some error, specifically?
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 15/01/2016 19:08

Most likely a loose solder joint on the IDE header on the mainboard. You can see which bit is stuck: 0x0400.
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 15/01/2016 22:27

I was worried you'd say that. No dice. I touched that pin up, then just for fun went over every other pin on the IDE connector with a Weller WESD51 set to 630F, using .015" 62/36/2 silver solder and some acid-free flux. I can test continuity from the tips of the header pins to the solder blobs on the board for all 44 pins.

Is the IDE controller built-in to the StrongARM? If so, are there pins there that I should be looking at? If not, where is it on the board?

Okay, I went through the complete boot log and found this:

Code:
empeg-flash driver initialized
smc chip id/revision 0x3349
smc_init couldn't find card


Looks like the ethernet controller is not being recognized. May be an issue with the PCMCIA bus from the StrongArm? I read a bit of the datasheet and noticed the two PCMCIA busses. I figure this is where the IDE controller and Ethernet controller reside?
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 03:10

Ahh.. ethernet controller also not working? That triggers a memory..

It was either the ethernet chip or the USB chip, which when failed, would also interfere with the IDE bus. I forget which, and I forget what the resolution is.

But that's all here, in older threads, somewhere.

EDIT: as usual, the BBS search engine and I don't get along.. it finds 2000 non-relevant "matches" when I search for "smc_init couldn't find card" here.

Perhaps someone with better search fu than I could try the lookup?
Posted by: drakino

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 03:45

Using a third party search engine scoped only to the boards should help.

https://www.google.com/#q=site:empegbbs.com+ethernet+failure+ide

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Aempegbbs.com+ethernet+failure+ide
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 05:24

Thanks a ton, gents. I've never really been great with the BBS search, but frankly I was surprised that Google didn't turn up much.

I found three or four threads dealing with these exact symptoms where it was strongly suggested a failed SMC chip had caused IDE issues. Diagnosis seems fairly conclusive. Mark, you recommended me to check pin 6 of the IDE header to fix stuck bit 0x0400 indicated by the hijack IDE tests. The IDE pinout identifies this as D9 on the parallel bus. Cross-referencing the LAN91C96 datasheet, that appears to be pin 8. Sounds about right?

I'll lift that pin tomorrow when I get back to my desk. If that works, I'll order a chip or two from Mouser. They're crazy expensive at $17.40 apiece, but I guess I'll just be thankful they're still available over 15 years later.

LAN91C96 Datasheet
http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/91c96.pdf
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 14:33

0x0400 would correspond to signal D10.
I thought I had labelled that pin on the IDE, but perhaps got it off by one.

If you do put in an order to Mouser, then perhaps get some Chip Quik as well.

Cheers

Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 14:38

Could you perhaps provide a complete (failed) boot log here first. It would help us in pinpointing the problem. Thanks.
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 16:15

Alright, D10. So, I need to lift pin 9 on the LAN91C96. Thanks again.

I think I might even have come ChipQuik left over from another project, but I usually put in ~$200-$300 worth in a Mouser order almost quarterly. Couldn't hurt to have more.

Here's the whole log. No other glaringly obvious issues to me, but you're the pro. It even seems to recognize the extremely fragile CS4231A...

Code:


empeg-car bootstrap v1.02 20001106 ([email protected])
If there is anyone present who wants to upgrade the flash, let them speak now,
or forever hold their peace...it seems not. Let fly the Penguins of Linux!

e000 v1.04
Copying kernel...
Calling linux kernel...
Uncompressing Linux..................................... done, booting the kernel.
Linux version 2.2.17-rmk5-np17-empeg55-hijack-v518 ([email protected]) (gcc version 2.95.3 20010315 (release)) #2 Tue Jun 3 14:28:51 EDT 2014
Processor: Intel StrongARM-1100 revision 11
Checking for extra DRAM:
c1000000: wrote ffffffff, read e28cc001
NetWinder Floating Point Emulator V0.94.1 (c) 1998 Corel Computer Corp.
empeg-car player (hardware revision 9, serial number 30102293) 16MB DRAM
Command line: mem=16mCalibrating delay loop... 207.67 BogoMIPS
Memory: 15000k/16M available (996k code, 20k reserved, 364k data, 4k init)
Dentry hash table entries: 2048 (order 2, 16k)
Buffer cache hash table entries: 16384 (order 4, 64k)
Page cache hash table entries: 4096 (order 2, 16k)
POSIX conformance testing by UNIFIX
Linux NET4.0 for Linux 2.2
Based upon Swansea University Computer Society NET3.039
NET4: Linux TCP/IP 1.0 for NET4.0
IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP
TCP: Hash tables configured (ehash 16384 bhash 16384)
IrDA (tm) Protocols for Linux-2.2 (Dag Brattli)
Starting kswapd v 1.5 
SA1100 serial driver version 4.27 with no serial options enabled
ttyS00 at 0xf8010000 (irq = 15) is a SA1100 UART
ttyS01 at 0xf8050000 (irq = 17) is a SA1100 UART
ttyS02 at 0xf8030000 (irq = 16) is a SA1100 UART
Signature is 206f6972 'rio '
Tuner: loopback=0, ID=-1
show_message("Hijack v518 by Mark Lord")
empeg display initialised.
empeg dsp audio initialised
empeg dsp mixer initialised
empeg dsp initialised
empeg audio-in initialised, CS4231A revision a0
empeg remote control/panel button initialised
empeg usb initialised, PDIUSBD12 id 1012
empeg state support initialised 0089/88c1 (save to d0005b80).
empeg RDS driver initialised
empeg power-pic driver initialised (first boot)
RAM disk driver initialized:  16 RAM disks of 4096K size
empeg single channel IDE
Probing primary interface...
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xfbff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xfbaa
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0xff55
hda: SAISQNC IZIT@216HACM)00004, ATA DISK drive
ide0 at 0x000-0x007,0x038 on irq 6
hda: SAISQNC IZIT@216HACM)00004, 7559MB w/0kB Cache, CHS=15359/16/63
empeg-flash driver initialized
smc chip id/revision 0x3349
smc_init couldn't find card
Partition check:
 hda: hda1 < hda5 > hda2 hda3 hda4
RAMDISK: ext2 filesystem found at block 0
RAMDISK: Loading 320 blocks [1 disk] into ram disk... |/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\done.
EXT2-fs warning: checktime reached, running e2fsck is recommended
VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem).
empeg-pump v0.03 (19980601)
Press Ctrl-A to enter pump...Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 03:05
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 17:37

Yeah, looks good apart from the SMC chip.
So probably just that.

The CS4231A isn't as fragile as first thought either.
A few years ago I discovered the issues there were due to
a poorly documented reset pin -- really easy fix.

Again, there's a thread here (somewhere!) on that one.

EDIT: http://empegbbs.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/307148

Worth doing while you are in there.

Cheers
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 17:48

I may be counting data bits from the wrong direction.
Normally, it is D5 that gets "stuck" on the SMC chip.
Counting from the left (rather than the right)
would give "D5" from the 0x0400 pattern..

So try that as well.
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 18:31

Lifted pin 9, same output. Then, I lifted pin 8 just to be thorough. Still nothing. As a last ditch resort, I pulled the entire chip. Here's a new boot log with the SMC removed:

Code:
empeg-car bootstrap v1.02 20001106 ([email protected])
If there is anyone present who wants to upgrade the flash, let them speak now,
or forever hold their peace...it seems not. Let fly the Penguins of Linux!

e000 v1.04
Copying kernel...
Calling linux kernel...
Uncompressing Linux..................................... done, booting the kernel.
Linux version 2.2.17-rmk5-np17-empeg55-hijack-v518 ([email protected]) (gcc version 2.95.3 20010315 (release)) #2 Tue Jun 3 14:28:51 EDT 2014
Processor: Intel StrongARM-1100 revision 11
Checking for extra DRAM:
c1000000: wrote ffffffff, read e28cc001
NetWinder Floating Point Emulator V0.94.1 (c) 1998 Corel Computer Corp.
empeg-car player (hardware revision 9, serial number 30102293) 16MB DRAM
Command line: mem=16m
Calibrating delay loop... 207.67 BogoMIPS
Memory: 15000k/16M available (996k code, 20k reserved, 364k data, 4k init)
Dentry hash table entries: 2048 (order 2, 16k)
Buffer cache hash table entries: 16384 (order 4, 64k)
Page cache hash table entries: 4096 (order 2, 16k)
POSIX conformance testing by UNIFIX
Linux NET4.0 for Linux 2.2
Based upon Swansea University Computer Society NET3.039
NET4: Linux TCP/IP 1.0 for NET4.0
IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP
TCP: Hash tables configured (ehash 16384 bhash 16384)
IrDA (tm) Protocols for Linux-2.2 (Dag Brattli)
Starting kswapd v 1.5 
SA1100 serial driver version 4.27 with no serial options enabled
ttyS00 at 0xf8010000 (irq = 15) is a SA1100 UART
ttyS01 at 0xf8050000 (irq = 17) is a SA1100 UART
ttyS02 at 0xf8030000 (irq = 16) is a SA1100 UART
Signature is 206f6972 'rio '
Tuner: loopback=0, ID=-1
show_message("Hijack v518 by Mark Lord")
empeg display initialised.
empeg dsp audio initialised
empeg dsp mixer initialised
empeg dsp initialised
empeg audio-in initialised, CS4231A revision a0
empeg remote control/panel button initialised.
empeg usb initialised, PDIUSBD12 id 1012
empeg state support initialised 0089/88c1 (save to d0005d80).
empeg RDS driver initialised
empeg power-pic driver initialised (first boot)
RAM disk driver initialized:  16 RAM disks of 4096K size
empeg single channel IDE
Probing primary interface...
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0x0400
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0x0000
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffff
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xaaaa
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x5555
hda: SAISQNC IZIT@216HACM)00004, ATA DISK drive
ide0 at 0x000-0x007,0x038 on irq 6
hda: SAISQNC IZIT@216HACM)00004, 7559MB w/0kB Cache, CHS=15359/16/63
empeg-flash driver initialized
smc chip id/revision 0x0003
smc_init couldn't find card
Partition check:
 hda: hda1 < hda5 > hda2 hda3 hda4
RAMDISK: ext2 filesystem found at block 0
RAMDISK: Loading 320 blocks [1 disk] into ram disk... |/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\done.
EXT2-fs warning: checktime reached, running e2fsck is recommended
VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem).
empeg-pump v0.03 (19980601)
Press Ctrl-A to enter pump...Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 03:05


The only difference I can see is that the last four IDE tests read the same write values. This is a good thing according to Tony's FAQ, but what exactly does it indicate? At this point, I wonder if it's an issue with the data line on the StrongArm itself. Is there anything else on the parallel bus that utilizes D8-D15? The PDIUSBD12 and CS4231A chips only seem to utilize D0-D7, and they're properly recognized by the kernel. I should really put an oscilloscope on the D10 line and see what (if anything) it does when the unit powers up. I found the expected waveform format in the datasheet.

Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 19:00

Originally Posted By: mlord
Yeah, looks good apart from the SMC chip.
So probably just that.

The CS4231A isn't as fragile as first thought either.
A few years ago I discovered the issues there were due to
a poorly documented reset pin -- really easy fix.

Again, there's a thread here (somewhere!) on that one.

EDIT: http://empegbbs.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/307148

Worth doing while you are in there.

Cheers


Aah, yes. I remember reading that thread several years ago. You're right, I should just do that while I'm in there. At least on my MKII which still works, anyway...

Thanks for all of your help so far, Mark.
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 20:21

Those are different data lines misbehaving now.

Tough to diagnose accurately, as there are so many devices on that bus. SMC, USB, IDE, cs4231a. All sharing the same pins.

But yeah, do the cs4231a fix just to be sure. That will eliminate it as a possible source of problems.

For the SMC chip, I'm not sure if just lifting one pin is enough, or if they all have to be lifted. EDIT: oh, you did that already!

But it STILL looks like just bad connections on the IDE to me. Maybe loose crimps on the ribbon cable, or ????

Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 16/01/2016 21:01

Hmm. Strange.

I knew there were 4 or 5 devices on that bus, I just wasn't sure which used which lines. From all of the datasheets, it looks like the USB and Crystal chip only use D0-D7. The SMC chip and IDE header both utilize all 16 bits. Not sure if anything else is on the bus.

Unfortunately, I did completely remove the SMC chip and the unit is still acting up.

I'm fairly certain that it's not an issue with the IDE cable as this drive and cable work perfectly in my MKII. I suppose it could still be a poor connection of the header to the board, but it would have to be a broken pad or trace or similar. I verified every pin with my multimeter. My thought is a damaged trace from the IDE header back to the StrongArm? Can you tell which lines are acting up now? I wish I knew more about CPU engineering and busses to troubleshoot this stuff myself, but I don't quite yet. I've found a few websites like this which have been helpful, though. If you can tell which lines look like they're acting up, I can try to do the same thing as the Crystal chip and run a jumper from the StrongArm right to the header. Perhaps I should verify continuity from the IDE header back to the SA to verify all 16 Bits as a start?

EDIT: No continuity back to the SA from the IDE header. Seems they're probably buffered.

EDIT 2: I found a handful of 74LVX4245 transceivers, no doubt matching the 3V logic of the SA to the 5V HDD. Alright, then...no direct bypassing.
Posted by: mlord

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 17/01/2016 13:44

Mmm.. if it's not the IDE cable, then perhaps the timing is off for whatever gizmo you are using to attach the SSD?

Does it work at all with a mechanical 44-pin drive attached?
Posted by: FieroSTi

Re: So, my MKIIa stopped booting the other day. - 17/01/2016 19:29

Unfortunately not. Same deal with a mechanical drive. I'll have to capture another boot log with some spinny platters, but im pretty sure it gave me similar errors if not exactly the same. I think what I'll do is put an oscilloscope on the data lines from the StrongArm without a drive attached to at least check that they're being asserted properly.