N1 – Page 3 – Yet Another Needless Site

Lost USB connection between USB hard drive and Phicomm N1 after a while

Carrot 2018-12-14

My N1 box lost connection to USB hard drive after a while, and dmesg shows something like this:

[    1.000000] usb usb1-port1: disabled by hub (EMI?), re-enabling...
[    1.000000] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
[    1.000000] print_req_error: I/O error, dev sda, sector 0
[    1.000000] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Synchronizing SCSI cache
[    1.100000] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Synchronize Cache(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=0x07 driverbyte=0x00

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[ 1.000000] usb usb1-port1: disabled by hub (EMI?), re-enabling...

[ 1.000000] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 2

[ 1.000000] print_req_error: I/O error, dev sda, sector 0

[ 1.000000] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Synchronizing SCSI cache

[ 1.100000] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Synchronize Cache(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=0x07 driverbyte=0x00

I tried replacing my cable, moving the USB hard drive toContinue reading

Unbricked my first Phicomm N1

Carrot 2018-12-08

It turns out that Phicomm T1 (not N1)’s firmware could be flashed onto N1, with “erase bootloader” enabled. To connect N1 to computer I need to remove the lid ofContinue reading

My script for installing Armbian 5.67 into Phicomm N1

Carrot 2018-12-08

Modified from the original script from Armbian 5.67, credits to them. It seems that u-boot on Phicomm N1 hardcoded 0x27400000 for reading / storing its environment variables, and is overwrittenContinue reading

Specify MAC address for eth0 in Armbian on Phicomm N1

Carrot 2018-12-08

I’m still not clear why but Armbian on Phicomm N1 was unable to get the factory set MAC address. Instead, it uses a random address each time it boots. ToContinue reading

Installing Armbian Ubuntu 18.04 (4.19 kernel) on Phicomm N1

Carrot 2018-12-02

The script install.sh shipped with Armbian works well. But if we’re willing to sacrifice the boot logo, the first partition can starts at offset 128M, instead of 700M as usedContinue reading

Partition table format of Phicomm N1

Carrot 2018-12-02

Found at offset 0x2400000 of /dev/mmcblk1:

Offset      0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7   8  9  A  B  C  D  E  F

02400000   4D 50 54 00 30 31 2E 30  30 2E 30 30 00 00 00 00   MPT 01.00.00    
02400010   0D 00 00 00 97 1F E1 05  62 6F 6F 74 6C 6F 61 64       ??bootload
02400020   65 72 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00   er        @     
02400030   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00                   
02400040   72 65 73 65 72 76 65 64  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   reserved        
02400050   00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00  00 00 40 02 00 00 00 00             @     
02400060   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  63 61 63 68 65 00 00 00           cache   
02400070   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 10 00 00 00 00 00                   
02400080   00 00 C0 06 00 00 00 00  02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     ?            
02400090   65 6E 76 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   env             
024000A0   00 00 80 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 50 07 00 00 00 00     €       P     
024000B0   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  6C 6F 67 6F 00 00 00 00           logo    
024000C0   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00                   
024000D0   00 00 50 08 00 00 00 00  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     P             
024000E0   72 65 63 6F 76 65 72 79  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   recovery        
024000F0   00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00  00 00 C0 2A 00 00 00 00             ?    
02400100   01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  72 73 76 00 00 00 00 00           rsv     
02400110   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 80 00 00 00 00 00             €     
02400120   00 00 40 2D 00 00 00 00  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     @-            
02400130   74 65 65 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   tee             
02400140   00 00 80 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 40 2E 00 00 00 00     €       @.    
02400150   01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  63 72 79 70 74 00 00 00           crypt   
02400160   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00                   
02400170   00 00 40 2F 00 00 00 00  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     @/            
02400180   6D 69 73 63 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   misc            
02400190   00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00  00 00 C0 31 00 00 00 00             ?    
024001A0   01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  62 6F 6F 74 00 00 00 00           boot    
024001B0   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00                   
024001C0   00 00 40 34 00 00 00 00  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     @4            
024001D0   73 79 73 74 65 6D 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   system          
024001E0   00 00 00 50 00 00 00 00  00 00 C0 36 00 00 00 00      P      ?    
024001F0   01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  64 61 74 61 00 00 00 00           data    
02400200   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 C0 4A 01 00 00 00             繨    
02400210   00 00 40 87 00 00 00 00  04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     @?

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Offset 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

02400000 4D 50 54 00 30 31 2E 30 30 2E 30 30 00 00 00 00 MPT 01.00.00

02400010 0D 00 00 00 97 1F E1 05 62 6F 6F 74 6C 6F 61 64 ??bootload

02400020 65 72 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00 er @

02400030 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

02400040 72 65 73 65 72 76 65 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 reserved

02400050 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 40 02 00 00 00 00 @

02400060 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 63 61 63 68 65 00 00 00 cache

02400070 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 10 00 00 00 00 00

02400080 00 00 C0 06 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ?

02400090 65 6E 76 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 env

024000A0 00 00 80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 50 07 00 00 00 00 € P

024000B0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6C 6F 67 6F 00 00 00 00 logo

024000C0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00

024000D0 00 00 50 08 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 P

024000E0 72 65 63 6F 76 65 72 79 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 recovery

024000F0 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 2A 00 00 00 00 ?

02400100 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 72 73 76 00 00 00 00 00 rsv

02400110 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 00 00 00 00 00 €

02400120 00 00 40 2D 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 @-

02400130 74 65 65 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 tee

02400140 00 00 80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 40 2E 00 00 00 00 € @.

02400150 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 63 72 79 70 74 00 00 00 crypt

02400160 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00

02400170 00 00 40 2F 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 @/

02400180 6D 69 73 63 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 misc

02400190 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 31 00 00 00 00 ?

024001A0 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 62 6F 6F 74 00 00 00 00 boot

024001B0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00

024001C0 00 00 40 34 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 @4

024001D0 73 79 73 74 65 6D 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 system

024001E0 00 00 00 50 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 36 00 00 00 00 P ?

024001F0 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 61 74 61 00 00 00 00 data

02400200 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 4A 01 00 00 00 繨

02400210 00 00 40 87 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 @?

Looks like it’s using format below:

PartitionTable:
    16bytes: [signature]  # = 'MPT\x0001.00.00\x00\x00\x00\x00'
    uint32: [number_of_partitions]
    array of `PartitionEntry`
    checksum of partition entries

PartitionEntry:
    16bytes: [lable]
    uint64: [size_in_bytes]
    uint64: [start_off_in_bytes]
    uint64: [mask]  # Defined in DTB. But what is it?

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PartitionTable:

16bytes: [signature] # = 'MPT\x0001.00.00\x00\x00\x00\x00'

uint32: [number_of_partitions]

array of `PartitionEntry`

checksum of partition entries

PartitionEntry:

16bytes: [lable]

uint64: [size_in_bytes]

uint64: [start_off_in_bytes]

uint64: [mask] # Defined in DTB. But what is it?

Found some code about this: Structure definition of partitions (and mask?), The partition table structure. IContinue reading

Change boot logo of Phicomm N1

Carrot 2018-12-02

Dump logo from /dev/logo: dd if=/dev/logo of=logo.dmp bs=1M. Unpack dumped partition using aml-imgpack. But note that all opens need to be fixed. The original author uses text mode to manipulateContinue reading

Script for installing Armbian (3.14 kernel) to Phicomm N1

Carrot 2018-11-26

Update: I suggest to use this script instead if you care about (a bit) more free disk space and/or want to change the box’s boot splash image. From GitHub, slightlyContinue reading