[gentoo-user] question regarding usb gadget / eth usb

[gentoo-user] question regarding usb gadget / eth usb

[meino.cramer]

Hi,

I bought this little tiny linux board:
http://www.acmesystems.it/arietta

I setup a sdcard as described there and the board boots --
as far as I can tell, since the user led on the board starts to 
play the heartbeat blues ;)

Now...

I cannot access the board.

As far as I understood the docs, the board uses ethernet over usb
and I thought (read: dont know for sure), that gentoo should
load the appropiate kernel modules itsself ... but it doesnt.

The modules which are there:

/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_cdc.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_serial.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_ncm.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_midi.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_dbgp.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_ffs.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_hid.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_audio.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_acm_ms.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_ether.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/gadgetfs.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_multi.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_mass_storage.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_webcam.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/legacy/g_printer.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/udc
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/udc/udc-core.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_fs.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_ecm.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/u_ether.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_obex.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_rndis.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_ecm_subset.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/u_serial.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_acm.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_mass_storage.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_eem.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_serial.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/function/usb_f_ncm.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/gadget/libcomposite.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/host
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/host/xhci-hcd.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/host/ehci-hcd.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/host/ohci-pci.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/host/uhci-hcd.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/host/ehci-pci.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/host/ohci-hcd.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/storage
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/storage/usb-storage.ko
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/class
/lib/modules/3.17.2-RT/kernel/drivers/usb/class/usblp.ko

(I stripped modules which are not of interest here off the list.)

The modules, which are loaded currently (I loaded some "suspicious
modules" manually:


Module                  Size  Used by
usb_f_rndis            13696  0 
u_ether                10405  1 usb_f_rndis
libcomposite           37813  1 usb_f_rndis
udc_core                6734  1 libcomposite
vfat                    9727  0 
fat                    51160  1 vfat
usb_storage            46780  0 
nfnetlink_queue         9095  0 
nfnetlink_log           7199  0 
nfnetlink               5189  2 nfnetlink_log,nfnetlink_queue
nvidia_uvm             35436  0 
snd_seq                47642  0 
snd_usb_audio         117739  0 
snd_usbmidi_lib        19523  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_rawmidi            18198  1 snd_usbmidi_lib
snd_seq_device          5044  2 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi
nvidia              11006492  43 nvidia_uvm
8250_pci               33154  0 
mt352                   5948  1 
dvb_bt8xx              13000  3 
8250                   27922  1 8250_pci
serial_core            21124  1 8250
bt878                   7579  1 dvb_bt8xx
bttv                  115243  2 bt878,dvb_bt8xx
btcx_risc               3139  1 bttv
tveeprom               14281  1 bttv
xhci_hcd               98265  0 
videobuf_dma_sg         8600  1 bttv
ohci_pci                2968  0 
videobuf_core          15135  2 bttv,videobuf_dma_sg
ohci_hcd               27742  1 ohci_pci
snd_hda_codec_via      19230  1 
snd_hda_codec_generic    50309  3 snd_hda_codec_via
i2c_algo_bit            5159  1 bttv
snd_hda_intel          18379  1 
snd_hda_controller     16045  1 snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec          89009  4 snd_hda_codec_via,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
snd_hwdep               6132  2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                80429  4 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
ehci_pci                3528  0 
ehci_hcd               41668  1 ehci_pci
snd_timer              18167  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd                    57793  14 snd_usb_audio,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_via,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device



I used nmap to scan the subnet...but only my fritzbox and and
my beaglebone were found..,

The board itsself runs (currently and only for testing) the
image provided by acmesystem, which is a debian wheezy as far
as I know.

How can I us ethernet over usb with Gentoo to access the Arietta G25
module... ?

Thank you very much in advance for any help!
Best regards,
mcc

[gentoo-user] Re: question regarding usb gadget / eth usb

[James]

 <meino.cramer <at> gmx.de> writes:


> http://www.acmesystems.it/arietta

A very neat looking device for arm9.

> I setup a sdcard as described there and the board boots --
> as far as I can tell, since the user led on the board starts to 
> play the heartbeat blues ;)

> Now...

> I cannot access the board.


It looks (quick scan of their site only) like the vendor is only supporting
their debian image. So I would work with that image to profile and gain
insight into what the kernel supports/needs and aget everything working
first with their debian image....

> As far as I understood the docs, the board uses ethernet over usb
> and I thought (read: dont know for sure), that gentoo should
> load the appropiate kernel modules itsself ... but it doesnt.

Look carefully at the docs the vendor supplies. Reseach what is
typcially included with a generic arm9 processor and what features
they make available, to the pins on there board. There might me
a serial port console hardwared to a grooup of 2 or 3 pins. You might
have to "toggle" some of the debian software to activate the serial
console, as it is normal for embedded board vendors to support a lesser
number of pins on the circuit board to minmize the size, while claiming
a greater number of features that (possibly) exist in sofware. Often you
have to pay extra for keen features to be enable. 

Understand this about "ARM" processors. ARM ltd owns reference designs
and implementations. Different vendors either license and modify (customize)
the arm processor or license from another licensee a unique arm
implementation. So the Vendors 100% control the actual processor's features
and most use a matrix to figure out what and whom to make available to
it's customers. I. E. there is no such thing as a "Arm 9" processor
because there are thousands of variants. This is one the keenest reasons
for theirn(ARM Ltd) success as their licensees have a granularity of control
over their products that no other silicon (wholesaler) vendor allows,
except for expensive custom FPGA and ASIC based processors.

So this also means that both the NSA and Other countries intelligence
services can have undocumented features (backdoors if you like) into
any hareware that you purchase; not limited to ARM.

Your vendor holds the keys to what you seek. However, over time folks
discover things by "brute force experimentation" very simimlar to
software hacking...... WRT (& others) has many images that work on many
different arm processors, so that is also a good keyword to include in your
searches.

If you are stuck on running gentoo on an arm 9, find a reference
implementation for embedded gentoo on an arm-9 and start there. If
that does not exist, start with the debian embedded linux the vendor
offers. Arm 9 emulator on your workstation might also help decyphering
and debugging codes and hardware in the arm 9 family.


Good hunting!
James

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: question regarding usb gadget / eth usb

[meino.cramer]

Hi James :)

James <wireless@tampabay.rr.com> [14-11-14 02:38]:
>  <meino.cramer <at> gmx.de> writes:
> 
> 
> > http://www.acmesystems.it/arietta
> 
> A very neat looking device for arm9.
> 
> > I setup a sdcard as described there and the board boots --
> > as far as I can tell, since the user led on the board starts to 
> > play the heartbeat blues ;)
> 
> > Now...
> 
> > I cannot access the board.
> 
> 
> It looks (quick scan of their site only) like the vendor is only supporting
> their debian image. So I would work with that image to profile and gain
> insight into what the kernel supports/needs and aget everything working
> first with their debian image....

The first (and only) thing I wanted to do with the debian image was 
to check, whether the board is ok and running (no case of warranty).

After that: GENTOO! :))

> 
> > As far as I understood the docs, the board uses ethernet over usb
> > and I thought (read: dont know for sure), that gentoo should
> > load the appropiate kernel modules itsself ... but it doesnt.
> 
> Look carefully at the docs the vendor supplies. Reseach what is
> typcially included with a generic arm9 processor and what features
> they make available, to the pins on there board. There might me
> a serial port console hardwared to a grooup of 2 or 3 pins. You might
> have to "toggle" some of the debian software to activate the serial
> console, as it is normal for embedded board vendors to support a lesser
> number of pins on the circuit board to minmize the size, while claiming
> a greater number of features that (possibly) exist in sofware. Often you
> have to pay extra for keen features to be enable. 

In the meanwhile I found the IP Adress, the board is falling back to.
I managed to setup RNDIS and Ethernet over USB and could ifconfig
an new usb0 to an appropiate address.
Finally I found the password for that board and could login via ssh.
O happy day! (read: "Oh happy early night"...I started 3:00 o'clock this
morning...hrrmppphhf)

> Understand this about "ARM" processors. ARM ltd owns reference designs
> and implementations. Different vendors either license and modify (customize)
> the arm processor or license from another licensee a unique arm
> implementation. So the Vendors 100% control the actual processor's features
> and most use a matrix to figure out what and whom to make available to
> it's customers. I. E. there is no such thing as a "Arm 9" processor
> because there are thousands of variants. This is one the keenest reasons
> for theirn(ARM Ltd) success as their licensees have a granularity of control
> over their products that no other silicon (wholesaler) vendor allows,
> except for expensive custom FPGA and ASIC based processors.
> 
> So this also means that both the NSA and Other countries intelligence
> services can have undocumented features (backdoors if you like) into
> any hareware that you purchase; not limited to ARM.
> 
> Your vendor holds the keys to what you seek. However, over time folks
> discover things by "brute force experimentation" very simimlar to
> software hacking...... WRT (& others) has many images that work on many
> different arm processors, so that is also a good keyword to include in your
> searches.

  ...will look for a stage 3 image/archive of gentoo for this little
  beast. Many distribution are too colorful ;) and to much "emulating
  ...hrrrmmmm.... known OSes" for me. I do like more these old school
  stuff...not so much OK/CANCEL decisions to confirm that I really
  want what I have confirmed, which is my will.
  Just:Do it! ... so in the worts case, my faults remain /my/ faults
  ;)

  Ok, I could log into the board in the meanwhile and it seems to
  work. Mission accomplished.
  Next will be to setup GENTOO for that board.

  By the way: It is really fascinating...when UNIX recognized the
  electrical light of the world, computers had a printer and a 
  keyboard and were of the size of a greater room. And one could
  count the CPU cycles in realtime. PDP10/PDP11 and friends...
  Now...I login into a board of 5cm x 2.5cm size and I am nearly
  sure that it will be possible to run SIMH on it to emulate 
  a PDP11/PDP10 and start one of the old UNIX system tapes...
  and with a little luck with 100% of the original speed.
  

> If you are stuck on running gentoo on an arm 9, find a reference
> implementation for embedded gentoo on an arm-9 and start there. If
> that does not exist, start with the debian embedded linux the vendor
> offers. Arm 9 emulator on your workstation might also help decyphering
> and debugging codes and hardware in the arm 9 family.

  ...ARM9 emulator...nice idea.
  Does such thing exists for Linux?

> 
> Good hunting!

  ...thanks! Your good wish has already worked!
  I got access to the board 8)

> James

Best regards,
Meino

[gentoo-user] Re: question regarding usb gadget / eth usb

[James]

 <meino.cramer <at> gmx.de> writes:


> Hi James :)

>   ...ARM9 emulator...nice idea.
>   Does such thing exists for Linux?


http://www.thefreecountry.com/emulators/arm.shtml

> > Good hunting!

>   ...thanks! Your good wish has already worked!
>   I got access to the board 8)

I'm always glad to hear of your successes....

It looks like the "arm9" is a moderized "Arm Thumb" processor.

ARM926EJ-S™ ARM® Thumb® Processor

So there is a rich archives of codes for the arm thumb. Exactly
what the new processor you have on your new board compared to the
legacy features of the "Arm Thumb" is something you are going to
have to research, test and verify. Arm codes from older devices
usually run on newer arm processors, but not always. Indianess and
similar issue abound, but they are usually well documented, including
examples.

https://www.linaro.org/projects/

Linaro is moving arm linux, particularly but not limited to 64bit arm,
forward at light speed. It is a formidable collection of coders.
Many have connections to the legacy arm communities, like the Arm Thumb.

Much of the Arm Thumb legacy codes will run natively on the Aarch64 Arm
processors. Im pretty sure you'll be able to run an Aarch64 arm chip
like a cluster of arm thumb procesors. Aarch64 is purported to support
2 or 3 simultaneously running and different Operating Systems, concurrently.
It is a brave new world and arm is the place to be. Even AMD has several Arm
 (64 bit)server SOC in the process of being rolled out!

> Best regards,
> Meino


James

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: question regarding usb gadget / eth usb

[meino.cramer]

James <wireless@tampabay.rr.com> [14-11-15 13:34]:
>  <meino.cramer <at> gmx.de> writes:
> 
> 
> > Hi James :)
> 
> >   ...ARM9 emulator...nice idea.
> >   Does such thing exists for Linux?
> 
> 
> http://www.thefreecountry.com/emulators/arm.shtml
> 
> > > Good hunting!
> 
> >   ...thanks! Your good wish has already worked!
> >   I got access to the board 8)
> 
> I'm always glad to hear of your successes....
> 
> It looks like the "arm9" is a moderized "Arm Thumb" processor.
> 
> ARM926EJ-S™ ARM® Thumb® Processor
> 
> So there is a rich archives of codes for the arm thumb. Exactly
> what the new processor you have on your new board compared to the
> legacy features of the "Arm Thumb" is something you are going to
> have to research, test and verify. Arm codes from older devices
> usually run on newer arm processors, but not always. Indianess and
> similar issue abound, but they are usually well documented, including
> examples.
> 
> https://www.linaro.org/projects/
> 
> Linaro is moving arm linux, particularly but not limited to 64bit arm,
> forward at light speed. It is a formidable collection of coders.
> Many have connections to the legacy arm communities, like the Arm Thumb.
> 
> Much of the Arm Thumb legacy codes will run natively on the Aarch64 Arm
> processors. Im pretty sure you'll be able to run an Aarch64 arm chip
> like a cluster of arm thumb procesors. Aarch64 is purported to support
> 2 or 3 simultaneously running and different Operating Systems, concurrently.
> It is a brave new world and arm is the place to be. Even AMD has several Arm
>  (64 bit)server SOC in the process of being rolled out!
> 
> > Best regards,
> > Meino
> 
> 
> James

Hi James,

sorry for the delay...I was not at home this weekend.

quemu is offered via emerge...will try that first. By the way:
I think the CPU on my Arietta board is a 32 bit thingy.You wrote about
64 bit thumb code...executed by a cluster of 32 bit ARM CPUs...I have
one Arietta board...or...what did I get confused here totally
<scratching my head... ;) >


Best regards,
Meino