[LEDE-DEV] [PATCH] ar71xx: add Engenius ENH200EXT support

[Piotr Dymacz]

Hello Paul,

Sorry for a late reply.

On 06.04.2017 14:24, Paul Oranje wrote:
> Thanks for the info.
> The systematics for the generation of the build config from the makefiles is still quite obscure to me. A wiki lemma that puts some light in this would be welcome; once I do understand I may write one.

That would be really kind.

> See my questions/comments/replies in-line below.
>
> Ciao,
> Paul
>
>
>> Op 6 apr. 2017, om 09:51 heeft Piotr Dymacz <pepe2k at gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:
>>
>> Hello Paul,
>>
>> On 05.04.2017 23:23, Paul Oranje wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I’m wondering how to make LEDE build automatically an initramfs image (for use with u-boot tftp recovery boot), when the ENH200EXT is selected as the target device. By setting "CONFIG_TARGET_ROOTFS_INITRAMFS=y" a working image is build that can be tftp-booted alright, but I would prefer that it is build automatically beside the sysupgrade image.
>>>
>>> The context would, as requested, be "target/linux/ar71xx/image/generic.mk".
>>
>> The "generic" subtarget doesn't have included "ramdisk" feature:
>> https://github.com/lede-project/source/blob/master/target/linux/ar71xx/generic/target.mk#L2
>>
>> It's the one responsible for selecting the "TARGET_ROOTFS_INITRAMFS":
>> https://github.com/lede-project/source/blob/master/scripts/target-metadata.pl#L34
> Does that mean that the initramfs can only be triggered by manually setting “CONFIG_TARGET_ROOTFS_INITRAMFS=y” ?

AFAIK, yes.

> That would mean that the LEDE build-bots would not generate initramfs images and people would need for the initial install to build such images themselves. Likely I’ve not understood well how it works and what follows hints how to do it.
>
>> https://github.com/lede-project/source/blob/master/config/Config-images.in#L11
>>
>> On the other hand, "mikrotik" subtarget uses initramfs images as they are required for initial LEDE flash:
>> https://github.com/lede-project/source/blob/master/target/linux/ar71xx/mikrotik/target.mk#L2
>
> Adding "FEATURES += ramdisk” to the "Device/enh200ext” definition in "target/linux/ar71xx/image/generic.mk” does not work (tried it).

"FEATURES" variable belongs to the target, not particular device and 
thus cannot be changed/extended like this.

> Since the initramfs is only needed for some ar71xx target profiles, the FEATURES declaration should not be set in “target/linux/ar71xx/generic/target.mk”. If the FEATURE should be set in the context of a target.mk, then a new makefile "target/linux/ar71xx/engenius/target.mk" would be needed, or to what other makefile could/should "FEATURES += ramdisk” then be added ?

A separate subtarget just for one device is a bad idea. AFAIK, the only 
way to include initramfs by default would require extending "FEATURES" 
in ar71xx/generic subtarget target.mk config, but...

>> Is the initramfs image required for initial LEDE image flash on your device or is it just useful with recovery mode?
> The stock firmware cannot install a LEDE factory image, so the initramfs image is indeed needed for the initial install.

I'm not sure if enabling initramfs images for a whole subtarget just 
because of a single device makes sense at all. The preferred way is to 
have a working "factory" image for this device or at least detailed 
how-to for installing "sysupgrade" image inside vendor firmware, using 
some custom approach (failsafe?).

Can you explain what/where is exactly problem with upgrade from vendor 
firmware to LEDE on your device?

I have just extracted enh200ext-etsi-v1.5.1.0.bin (downloaded from [1]), 
and I see that it's based on very old OpenWrt version (KAMIKAZE, 
r20146). mtd and sysupgrade tools are there, also failsafe could be working.

What's more, vendor upgrade script is just a regular shell script 
(/etc/fwupgrade.sh) and doesn't look complicated. With little bit more 
effort you should be able to find out (based on this script code) how to 
prepare a working "factory" image.

If there is a working failsafe in this device, you could also make use 
of it and install LEDE with "mtd -r write...".

[1] http://www.engeniusnetworks.com/product/product.php?c=14&s=34&p=92

--
Cheers,
Piotr

>
>>
>>> From what I have understood so far, the clause would be something like:
>>>
>>> 	define Device/enh200ext
>>> 	  DEVICE_TITLE := Engenius ENH200EXT
>>> 	  DEVICE_PACKAGES := rssileds
>>> 	  BOARDNAME := ENH200EXT
>>> 	  CONSOLE := ttyS0,115200
>>
>> Side note: this is default under ar71xx target, drop this line in your next patch please.
> OK, I’ll drop the CONSOLE line.
>
>>
>> Defaults: https://github.com/lede-project/source/blob/master/target/linux/ar71xx/image/Makefile#L99
>>
>> --
>> Cheers,
>> Piotr
>>
>>> 	  IMAGE_SIZE := 8192k
>>> 	  IMAGES := initramfs.bin sysupgrade.bin
>>> 	  MTDPARTS := spi0.0:256k(u-boot)ro,64k(u-boot-env),6272k(firmware),1536k(failsafe),64k(art)ro
>>> 	endef
>>> 	TARGET_DEVICES += enh200ext
>>>
>>> The sysupgrade image is build, but the initramfs image is not build. I suppose an IMAGE/initramfs declaration must be added, but I do not know what to declare or call.
>>>
>>> Some help would be appreciated,
>>>
>>
>>
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>