[raspberry-vi] Re: R Pi not starting
- From: Michael A Ray <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: raspberry-vi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 16:12:13 +0100
Phil,
I hope the new image will work ok for you.
I haven't read all of your posts in full detail so I'm not sure where
you are at right now.
I think there might be some issues with the network sub-system not
always starting correctly. I believe this may be because the
configuration currently doesn't give the network layer enough time to
load and settle before dhcpcd tries to get an ip address.
I will grab the boot files from a later Arch image and incorporate them
into my image.
Unfortunately there are some issues with firmware and the Broadcom sound
driver messing up text-to-speech so my image has to do some fiddly stuff
to preserve older configs.
It's a bit complicated but I have summarised it below...
1. The Broadcom sound driver module
Before approximately April 25 this year the Broadcom sound driver module
which is necessary to provide sound on the Pi did not have direct memory
access (DMA) capability. Somebody called Xavier Martinez wrote a DMA
upgrade for the driver. Unfortunately this made espeak tts stutter very
badly. So we have to use a Broadcom sound driver version from before
April 25 this year.
2. Firmware changes
On 7/7/2013 there was a change to the firmware which resulted in severe
clipping of the last syllable of tts utterances. To illustrate this,
pressing the dollar character in the console resulted in SpeakUp saying
'do', approximately fifty percent of the first syllable of 'dollar'.
Clearly this was unuseable.
The net result of these two problems is that my Arch image has to
prevent updating of both the Broadcom sound driver and the firmware when
the user does an upgrade with:
sudo pacman -Syu
This is achieved by naming some packages in the 'IgnorePkg' switch in
/etc/pacman.conf.
I may be able to solve the clipping problem by re-compiling espeak but I
haven't confirmed this as yet.
None of the above is a serious problem for your compass project nor for
any normal use of the Pi. Being an image aimed at the visually impaired
I guess we are more interested in reliable tts than blisteringly fast
video and sound made possible by DMA.
While I'm explaining this stuff I should also tell those who have joined
since the earlier part of the year that I did spend an awfully long time
trying to get SpeakUp to run on Raspbian, but could not get it to run
without crashing the kernel with a 'kernel oops' every few minutes.
This is caused somehow by a mechanism called the 'VCHIQ', which stands
for 'video core hardware interface queue'.
This mechanism is used to queue both video and sound for processing by
the Broadcom GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).
For some reason this problem doesn't exist on Arch Linux, despite the
fact that VCHIQ is used by Arch Linux also. It is in fact a part of the
firmware and must be used by all OSes at the moment, at least until some
enterprising geek reverse-engineers the closed source Broadcom
components of the system.
My next job after getting version 1.1 of Accessible Arch up on the site
is to try to compile espeak in such a way as to solve the clipping
problem which will make it possible to run the latest firmware. And
after that the next job will be to try to get a talking GUI going.
Although I think Emacspeak is a pretty good solution for us.
The text-to-speech stutter problems in the Broadcom sound driver is not
likely to be fixed any time soon I think.
Mike
On 07/09/2013 14:09, Agent Orange wrote:
> Look forward to it Mike. I will hope in vein that something about the new
> image fixes my boot / crashing issues!
>
> Thanks for your efforts to bring us a talking Pi! I for one appreciate it,
> as I appreciate all the help I've received from others - Gym, Tim, Rill, etc
> - on this list in the short time I've been a member. It's a great resource.
> Thanks all of you.
>
> Phil
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mike Ray
> Sent: 05 September 2013 23:27
> To: raspberry-vi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [raspberry-vi] Re: R Pi not starting
>
> Phil,
>
> Well spotted. This is an error in my image. It is fixed in the 1.1 version
> which I will absolutely upload to the site this weekend.
>
> Mike
>
> On 03/09/2013 16:13, Agent Orange wrote:
>> Thanks guys, and Jim in particular, for all that awesome information.
>> Jim, I've been trying some of your commands, and now I can move around
>> through the directory structure, which is a good start!
>>
>> I've noticed that things look different depending on how I log on.
>>
>> If I log on as "user" I get a prompt which says "User@Arch Pi $".
>> Whereas, if I log on as "root", I get a prompt which says "Bash 4.2".
>> Why the different prompts, and what does bash 4.2 mean?
>>
>> Is it something to do with having "root" privilages? What is the
>> purpose of the root directory. I see that I can only get into /the
>> root if I am logged on as root, but it's empty according to ls.
>> What's the purpose of the root directory?
>>
>> That's a great tip about increasing the punctuation level with Numlock
>> 0 plus F12. Is it possible to make changes like this and have Speakup
>> save them for the next session?
>>
>> I'm trying to work the cat command. I'm at the User@Arch Pi prompt
>> and I can tell that my current directory is /home/user. I type ls -1
>> and see that one of the files in this directory is readme. So I type
>> cat readme so see the contents of this file. But I get the message
>> "no such file or directory". If I just type readme, I get the message
>> "Bash: readme: Command not found" How can I use the cat command to read
> this and other files?
>> I'm also finding that I can't run either of the scripts in this
>> directory to expand the size of the partition as I get similar
>> messages. Am I doing something wrong? Is there something I need to
>> know about entering commands or executing files?
>>
>> If I wanted to read readme in an editor, which is the best one to use
>> with Speakup? I've heard of VI and nano.
>>
>> I've tried using VI with limited success. I understand that it has an
>> insert mode for inserting text (accessed by pressing i) and a command
>> mode for everything else (accessed by pressing ESC when in insert
>> mode). I get commands like DD to delete the current line, and x to
>> delete the char under the cursor. And that seems to work, more or
>> less. But I can't get VI to save and close reliably. For example,
>> pressing ESC and then ZZ does not appear to save a file and then close
>> VI. I'm having to do :W to save the file, and then Alt F2 to close VI
>> - I can't find any other command, including Esc Q, which will close VI
>> and return me to the system prompt. Is there some reason why ESC ZZ or
> ESC WQ does not close VI and save the file?
>> If there's an easier editor to use, I could give that a go. Is
>> Emacspeak an editor and is that better than VI on this distro?
>>
>> When typing ls -1, is there another parameter I can add to get one
>> screen at a time when there are lots of files? They scroll off the
>> top of the screen at the moment.
>>
>> In Windows, .exe denotes an executable application file, and .txt or .bat
>> denotes a text file or script. Is there a way of identifying different
>> file types in Linux?
>>
>> I better stop there for now or you'll get board of me very quickly!
>>
>> Thanks for your patience.
>>
>> Phil
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jim Kutsch,
>> KY2D
>> Sent: 02 September 2013 20:11
>> To: raspberry-vi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [raspberry-vi] Re: R Pi not starting
>>
>> Phil,
>> Don't worry about the questions, ask away. There are plenty of us on
>> the list who will help.
>>
>> To address your specific questions, if I remember to do a shutdown
>> before powering off, it's rare. I've just cut power several times with
>> no issue. Of course, if you are in the middle of editing something
>> with files open or if you have started a complicated command and spun
>> it off into the background, then a powerdown would be unwise and may
> corrupt something.
>> As for learning the command line interface, there are several good
>> resources. The shell (the piece of the Linux system that provides the
>> CLI) is basically similar enough between Linux distributions that any
>> Linux tutorial would help you get started.
>>
>> To get you started and give you a few things you can try out, here are
>> some commands you will find useful:
>>
>> ls will list the files in the current directory. I always use "ls -1"
>> so it lists the files one per line. Using "ls -l" will give you a
>> "long" listing which shows you the owner and group, permissions, and
>> date/time of modification.
>>
>> cat x where x is a file name will display the contents of that file.
>>
>> Date will show you the system date and time.
>>
>> The directory structure is a tree structure similar to that on windows
>> except that the forward slash is used and / itself is the root of your
>> filesystem. So., /home/jim would be, for example, my home directory.
>> cd or chdir will take you to another directory, such as cd /etc will
>> put you in the /etc directory and cd x would take you to subdirectory
>> x in your current directory. A double period (..) is shorthand for up
>> one level. So, if you were in /home/jim, then cd .. would take you up
>> to /home. The pwd (print working directory) command will always show
>> you where you are. You can make new subdirectories by using mkdir x
>> which would create a directory x in your current directory. Using
>> mkdir /home/jim/x would create a directory x inside /home/jim no matter
> what directory you were in when you ran the command.
>> One thing I advise everyone starting with Speakup to do is increase
>> the punctuation levels so you are sure to hear all the punctuation. At
>> least until you really become familiar with Linux, hearing all
>> punctuation is important. Hold the 0 key on your side keyboard and
>> press F11 until it says level 4 then do the same thing with holding 0 and
> pressing F12.
>> All CLI commands and a lot of other things are documented in a manual
>> in the system. The command "man date" will give you the manual pages
>> for the date command.
>>
>> Enjoy and bring your questions,
>> Jim
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Agent Orange
>> Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 1:02 PM
>> To: raspberry-vi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [raspberry-vi] Re: R Pi not starting
>>
>>
>> Thanks Mike it will be good to speak.
>>
>> This is my first time ever using Linux or a Pi so I'm about to ask
>> lots of really dumb questions.
>>
>> Once logged in, do I shut down properly before powering off by typing
>> sudo shutdown -h now?
>>
>> Is there a beginners guide to the Linux command line which will
>> explain the basics of the linux file system, key commands, etc? I've
> searched online.
>> There is plenty of info, but nothing that I have been able to find
>> which walks a user through is first time at a linux command line.
>>
>> Phil
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mike Ray
>> Sent: 02 September 2013 17:11
>> To: raspberry-vi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [raspberry-vi] Re: R Pi not starting
>>
>> Phil,
>>
>> There is a long and detailed history of efforts to get tts and the
>> speakup screen-reader going on the Pi.
>>
>> I will email you off-list with my phone number so we can speak.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> On 02/09/2013 16:35, Agent Orange wrote:
>>> Mike, and all,
>>>
>>> As I mentioned earlier, new R Pi boards made by Radio Spares use a
>>> Hynix rather than a Samsung chip. This is causing many older R Pi
>>> images to fail to boot. I understand that this issue is likely to
>>> effect all rev 2 Ri Pi boards manufactured by Radio Spares since
>>> around
>> March / April 2013.
>>> This has caused Mike's accessible Arch Pi Linux image to fail to boot.
>>>
>>> I have found a solution which works on my R Pi Model B from Radio Spares:
>>>
>>> 1. Download the latest standard Arch Linux image and write it to
>>> your SD card.
>>>
>>> 2. Copy the following three files from the SD card to your PC:
>>>
>>> bootcode.bin,
>>> fixup.dat, and
>>> start.elf
>>>
>>> 3. Overwrite your SD card using the accessible Arch Linux image.
>>>
>>> 4. Copy the three files mentioned above from your computer and use
>>> them to replace the equivalent files on your SD card which contains
>>> the accessible Arch Linux distro.
>>>
>>> 5. Put the SD card into your R Pi and boot as usual. The boot
>>> messages will be spoken and username and password can be entered.
>>> Espeak appears to be unaffected.
>>>
>>> This is my first time using the Pi so all I have done is overcome the
>>> boot failure and achieve a successful boot, I have not tested any
>>> other aspect of the OS.
>>>
>>> Mike - might be worth having a play and seeing if you want to
>>> incorporate these files into your updated image to prevent others
>>> from experiencing this issue? If you have a dropbox account, I'd be
>>> happy to let you have the three files which I used.
>>>
>>> Phil
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Agent Orange [mailto:agentorange@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
>>> Sent: 02 September 2013 15:25
>>> To: 'raspberry-vi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
>>> Subject: RE: [raspberry-vi] Re: R Pi not starting
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Mike,
>>>
>>> I have tried booting the Pi with both speakers and headphones
>>> connected to the 3.5mm socket.
>>>
>>> I can't look for the Pi on my network as my router only has a single
>>> Ethernet port which is the one my PC uses to connect to it.
>>>
>>> I've found it claimed that taking the files bootcode.bin, fixup.dat,
>>> and start.elf from the latest Wheezy image and using these to
>>> overwrite the same files in the image which won't boot, might fix the
>> problem.
>>> I'll try it and see. If it doesn't work, I'll also try taking these
>>> three files from the latest Arch linux distro and see whether that works.
>>>
>>> Here's where I first read this suggestion:
>>>
>>> http://www.xbmchub.com/forums/raspberry-pi-discussion/4924-%5Bimg%5D-
>>> r
>>> asp-el
>>> ec-8gb-6.html
>>>
>>>
>>> Phil
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> [mailto:raspberry-vi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael A Ray
>>> Sent: 02 September 2013 14:52
>>> To: raspberry-vi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> Subject: [raspberry-vi] Re: R Pi not starting
>>>
>>> Hello Phil,
>>>
>>> I was not aware of the change to the board. I can't remember what
>>> version of firmware is in the image on the download page but I know
>>> it is pre
>>> 07/07/2013 because the firmware after that causes a problem with the
>>> text to speech.
>>>
>>> Have you tried to find the Pi on your network with something like
>>> nmap or by looking at the ADSL router to see if you can find what IP
>>> address has been issued by it?
>>>
>>> I am about to upload a new and slightly fixed version of the Arch
>>> image but it will be the same firmware version and has a kernel
>>> compiled by me to version 3.6.11.
>>>
>>> Do you have a speaker or phones connected to the 3.5mm jack when you
> boot?
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>> On 02/09/2013 14:31, Agent Orange wrote:
>>>> So it looks like I'm writing the image correctly and so have the
>>>> card formatted at the same time.
>>>>
>>>> The trouble shooting page at
>>>>
>>>> http://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting
>>>>
>>>> Describes my symptoms at section 1.4, and says that
>>>>
>>>> . Older images do not load boot code for revB boards with the Hynix
> chip.
>>>> Use release 2013-02-09 (?) or later. (I observe a single blip on the
>>>> green activity LED)
>>>>
>>>> I'm not really sure what this means, but I searched online and
>>>> discovered that this is a reference to the fact that Radio Spares
>>>> have changed from a Samsung chip to a Hynix chip, and that some
>>>> older images for the Pi will not work with this image. I think my
>>>> Pi may be one of these newer Hynix based models.
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps this is one for Mike - but does anyone know whether the
>>>> accessible Arch Linux distro boots OK with these models of the Pi?
>>>> Has anyone tried this distro on an RS model B Pi made since around
>>>> April
>>> this year?
>>>> Phil
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Tim Chase [mailto:raspberry-vi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
>>>> Sent: 02 September 2013 14:06
>>>> To: raspberry-vi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> Cc: agentorange@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> Subject: Re: [raspberry-vi] R Pi not starting
>>>>
>>>> On September 2, 2013, Agent Orange wrote:
>>>>> Do I need to format my 4GB SDHC card before burning the image to
>>>>> it, or will burning the image to the SC card be sufficient to
>>>>> format it correctly?
>>>>>
>>>>> Windows tells me the SD card is formatted as FAT32, is this OK for
>>>>> the Pi or does it need to be x4 or something?
>>>> If you properly write the image (using an image-writer rather than
>>>> just copying the image file to the disk), it should be the
>>>> equivalent of formatting the drive. Depending on the disk image you
>>>> use, it might show up as FAT32 or as an EXT partition.
>>>>
>>>> -tim
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ===========================================================
>>>> The raspberry-vi mailing list
>>>> Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
>>>> Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>>>> Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the
>>>> Raspberry Pi
>>> Foundation.
>>>> This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the
>>>> views
>>> and attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not
>>> reflect those of the Foundation.
>>>> Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
>>>>
>>>>
>>> --
>>> Michael A. Ray
>>> Analyst/Programmer
>>> Witley, Surrey, South-east UK
>>>
>>> Ham Radio Call-sign: G4XBF, licensed since 1982
>>>
>>> Don't just sit there, learn something
>>>
>>> Raspberry VI:
>>> http://www.raspberryvi.org/
>>> NVDA, the best free screen-reader in the world:
>>> http://www.nvda-project.org/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ===========================================================
>>> The raspberry-vi mailing list
>>> Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
>>> Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>>> Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the
>>> Raspberry Pi Foundation.
>>>
>>> This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the
>>> views and attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not
>>> reflect those of the Foundation.
>>>
>>> Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
>>>
>>> ===========================================================
>>> The raspberry-vi mailing list
>>> Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
>>> Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>>> Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the
>>> Raspberry Pi
>> Foundation.
>>> This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the
>>> views
>> and attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not reflect
>> those of the Foundation.
>>> Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
>>>
>> --
>> Michael A. Ray
>> Analyst/Programmer
>> Witley, Surrey, South-east UK
>>
>> Don't just sit there, learn something
>>
>> Interested in accessibility on the Raspberry Pi?
>> Visit: http://www.raspberryvi.org/
>>
>> From where you can join our mailing list for visually-impaired Pi
>> hackers
>>
>> ===========================================================
>> The raspberry-vi mailing list
>> Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
>> Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>> Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the Raspberry
>> Pi Foundation.
>>
>> This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the
>> views and attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not
>> reflect those of the Foundation.
>>
>> Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
>>
>> ===========================================================
>> The raspberry-vi mailing list
>> Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
>> Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>> Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the Raspberry
>> Pi Foundation.
>>
>> This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the
>> views and attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not
>> reflect those of the Foundation.
>>
>> Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
>>
>> ===========================================================
>> The raspberry-vi mailing list
>> Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
>> Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>> Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the Raspberry
>> Pi Foundation.
>>
>> This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the
>> views and attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not
>> reflect those of the Foundation.
>>
>> Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
>>
>> ===========================================================
>> The raspberry-vi mailing list
>> Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
>> Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>> Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the Raspberry Pi
> Foundation.
>> This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the views
> and attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not reflect those
> of the Foundation.
>> Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
>>
>
> --
> Michael A. Ray
> Analyst/Programmer
> Witley, Surrey, South-east UK
>
> Don't just sit there, learn something
>
> Interested in accessibility on the Raspberry Pi?
> Visit: http://www.raspberryvi.org/
>
> From where you can join our mailing list for visually-impaired Pi hackers
>
> ===========================================================
> The raspberry-vi mailing list
> Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
> Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the Raspberry Pi
> Foundation.
>
> This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the views and
> attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not reflect those of
> the Foundation.
>
> Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
>
> ===========================================================
> The raspberry-vi mailing list
> Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
> Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the Raspberry Pi
> Foundation.
>
> This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the views and
> attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not reflect those of
> the Foundation.
>
> Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
>
>
--
Michael A. Ray
Analyst/Programmer
Witley, Surrey, South-east UK
Ham Radio Call-sign: G4XBF, licensed since 1982
Don't just sit there, learn something
Raspberry VI:
http://www.raspberryvi.org/
NVDA, the best free screen-reader in the world:
http://www.nvda-project.org/
===========================================================
The raspberry-vi mailing list
Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
-----------------------------------------------------------
Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the Raspberry Pi
Foundation.
This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the views and
attitudes expressed by the subscribers to this list do not reflect those of the
Foundation.
Mike Ray, list creator, January 2013
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