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From: Konstantin Kulikov <k.kulikov2@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2023 17:23:02 +0300
Message-ID: <CAD+eXGTTMaoPAoXLn_QcPVMxtOn00Cn+4q9btipbpKco1foUDA@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: loading an apkovl from an external USB stick
To: Unicorn <unicorn@regrow.earth>
Cc: ~alpine/users@lists.alpinelinux.org
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nlplug-findfs: found apkovl /media/mmcblk0p1/alpine.apkovl.tar.gz
nlplug-findfs: FOUND! setting timeout to 0
...
nlplug-findfs: exit due to timeout (0)

Try removing apkovl from mmc and increasing timeout "usbdelay=3D10"

On Tue, Jan 17, 2023 at 1:40 PM Unicorn <unicorn@regrow.earth> wrote:
>
> Thank you Konstantin for these pointers!
>
> The code is indeed too hard for me to understand at a glance, so I
> examined the debug output first. The first thing that I noticed is that
> there is absolutely no mention of the sda or sda1 device in the entire
> process, so I assume that the device either does not get recognized or
> it gets ignored for some reason.
>
> I looked for anything related to USB and found that nlplug-findfs does
> look for USB devices in /sys/bus/usb/devices:
>
> "nlplug-findfs: trigger_thread: scanning /sys/bus/usb/devices"
>
> However while other things like the microSD card mmcblk0, the internal
> eMMC mmcblk1 and the SPI flash are found, the sda device never appears.
> Could this be a driver issue perhaps?
>
> Here is the full boot output for anybody interested to help:
> https://paste.debian.net/hidden/04716725/
>
> Best,
> Edin
>
> On Tue Jan 17, 2023 at 6:44 AM CET, Konstantin Kulikov wrote:
> > initramfs-init calls nlplugfs[0] which finds apkovls on disks. Its
> > code[1] is a bit hard to understand, but it has many debug statements
> > so try to add "debug_init=3D1" to kernel cmdline and continue from
> > there.
> >
> > [0]: https://git.alpinelinux.org/mkinitfs/tree/initramfs-init.in#n581
> > [1]: https://git.alpinelinux.org/mkinitfs/tree/nlplug-findfs/nlplug-fin=
dfs.c
> >
> > On Sun, Jan 15, 2023 at 11:21 PM Unicorn <unicorn@regrow.earth> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I am trying to learn to make proper use of the power of lbu and apkov=
l with my ARM SBC, but I am confused by a few things here.
> > > Firstly, the "apkovl" kernel cmdline option is quite poorly documente=
d, at least I could only find one somewhat complete documentation in the wi=
ki, in the PXE boot article [0]. However I do not seem to be able to get on=
e of the mentioned formats to work.
> > >
> > > A bit of background: I have the generic ARM archive extracted to mmcb=
lk0p1, so it boots from that partition. I then tried to save/load the apkov=
l file from the second partition, mmcblk0p2. I was able to achieve this wit=
h the following kernel cmdline option:
> > > apkovl=3D/media/mmcblk0p2/myhostname.apkovl.tar.gz
> > >
> > > I assume that this only works because the partition is automatically =
mounted there at boot. If somebody can also explain what determines which p=
artitions get automatically mounted, please enlighten me, because this is a=
lready quite confusing to me. :)
> > >
> > > Now I tried to save/load the apkovl from an external USB stick on the=
 sda1 partition. I noticed that this partition does NOT get automatically m=
ounted in /media/, so the previous solution does not work. However the othe=
r formats that are mentioned in the abovementioned article [0] also do not =
work. I tried the following:
> > > apkovl=3Dsda1
> > > apkovl=3Dsda1:vfat:/myhostname.apkovl.tar.gz
> > > apkovl=3Dsda1:vfat:myhostname.apkovl.tar.gz
> > > apkovl=3Dsda1:myhostname.apkovl.tar.gz
> > >
> > > These should work according to the explanation on that page, but do n=
ot.
> > >
> > > I asked on IRC and ikke linked the code of the initramfs-init.in file=
 of mkinitfs to me [1], however I do not see support for this syntax in tha=
t file. So either the wiki is wrong here, or this is already handled by som=
ething else before the $KOPT_apkovl variable gets used by the script.
> > >
> > > I would really appreciate advice on how the automatic mounting of par=
titions in /media/ actually works and how the apkovl option is correctly us=
ed. I'll happily contribute my learnings back to the wiki. :)
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Edin
> > >
> > > [0] https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/PXE_boot
> > > [1] https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/mkinitfs/-/blob/master/init=
ramfs-init.in#L42
>