Pi hangs when start.elf replaced

[SupremeSpod]

My pi hangs when I copy any of the armxxx_start.elf files over the start.elf file and reboot.

I've tried with different SD cards and I still seem to have the same problem. Has anyone else had the same trouble?

Also can someone point me in the right direction for the source URI's for my sources.list file? I'd like to have a play with some of the source code for the packages I've installed.

Thanks.

[joan]

For Debian edit /etc/apt/sources.list and add deb-src lines by duplicating the deb lines, e.g.

deb [arch=amd64,i386] http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free

You'll need to do a sudo apt-get update afterwards before you can sudo apt-get source package

I've copied the elf files to start.elf on many occasions. Perhaps yours are corrupt?

[bredman]

Some people have reported that they cannot edit the boot partition of their RPi, any changes are lost or corrupted after a reboot.

This is probably related to the type of SD card that you are using.

Try using a Windows or Linux PC to change the contents of your SD card. You should be able to drag-and-drop to copy the files.

[RaTTuS]

if you try and copy on the RPi check any errors in
/var/log/syslog
after a
sync
it maybe that your boot partition has been currupted.
try doing a
rpi-update

[lavers]

I think a recent firmware update fixed a bug that was corrupting the boot partition when it was written to (don't quote me on that though ). I did a rpi-update the other day and the process of writing the new firmware to the boot partition seemed to have corrupted it and my Pi would not boot. I just took the card out and ran a fsck on it from my other machine, and that solved it.

Edit: Just glanced at the commit logs and I don't see anything about that, so I must have been imagining things. Either way, there does seem to be a known problem about that partition getting corrupted when written to.

[dom]

Edit: Just glanced at the commit logs and I don't see anything about that, so I must have been imagining things. Either way, there does seem to be a known problem about that partition getting corrupted when written to.

It was this source update:
https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/co ... 3b9d562b2d
and this binary update:
https://github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-firmware/ ... 3abaac11fd

We believe the problem is fixed. However you still need one successful firmware update to get the fixed kernel, which if you are suffering the problem may be tricky.

I suggest downloading latest kernel from github. E.g.
wget https://github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-firmware/ ... kernel.img
sudo cp kernel.img /boot/kernel.img
sudo reboot

Then run rpi-udpate.

If your firmware is already corrupt, then downloading latest bootcode.bin, loader.bin, start.elf, kernel.img from github, and putting those on sdcard, then running rpi-update should do it.

[PaulCheffus]

Edit: Just glanced at the commit logs and I don't see anything about that, so I must have been imagining things. Either way, there does seem to be a known problem about that partition getting corrupted when written to.

It was this source update:
https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/co ... 3b9d562b2d
and this binary update:
https://github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-firmware/ ... 3abaac11fd

We believe the problem is fixed. However you still need one successful firmware update to get the fixed kernel, which if you are suffering the problem may be tricky.

I suggest downloading latest kernel from github. E.g.
wget https://github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-firmware/ ... kernel.img
sudo cp kernel.img /boot/kernel.img
sudo reboot

Then run rpi-udpate.

If your firmware is already corrupt, then downloading latest bootcode.bin, loader.bin, start.elf, kernel.img from github, and putting those on sdcard, then running rpi-update should do it.

Hi

Just ran rpi-update this evening on my 8GB Transcend Class 10 card and it corrupted the partition. I was previously using the later firmware as I had done one update to #242 and it was ok with that. If I do the same update to my 8GB Kingston Class 4 card its fine. I reformatted the boot partition in Windows Disk Management then copied the files from the Kingston card which allowed it to boot.

Cheers

Paul

[SupremeSpod]

Thanks for your suggestions everyone.

This morning(16/08/2012) I ran an "apt-get update" followed by "aptitude" as "root", aptitude told me I had 10 packages to upgrade. I set "aptitude" to install the upgrades - these included "boot loader updates", I issued a reboot and now I can't access my "Pi" via ssh and considering that I'm at work and my "Pi" is at home this means my lunchtime "Pi" tinkering has gone for a burton.

I guess I'll re-install the "2012-07-15-wheezy-raspbian" image and start from the beginning - which is all part of the fun I suppose.

On the topic of the "2012-07-15-wheezy-raspbian" image, when is this going to be updated with the latest builds etc?

[joan]

...
I guess I'll re-install the "2012-07-15-wheezy-raspbian" image and start from the beginning - which is all part of the fun I suppose.
...

When you get home have a look at the LEDs as you try to boot up. You may have a corrupted start.elf.

If so take the card out and pop it into another machine. Run chkdsk on Windows or sudo dosfsck -r /dev/sd?1 on Linux to repair the (unmounted) file system. Mount the sd card and copy the appropriate elf file to start.elf.

Quicker than a reinstall.

[SupremeSpod]

...
I guess I'll re-install the "2012-07-15-wheezy-raspbian" image and start from the beginning - which is all part of the fun I suppose.
...

When you get home have a look at the LEDs as you try to boot up. You may have a corrupted start.elf.

If so take the card out and pop it into another machine. Run chkdsk on Windows or sudo dosfsck -r /dev/sd?1 on Linux to repair the (unmounted) file system. Mount the sd card and copy the appropriate elf file to start.elf.

Quicker than a reinstall.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.
It does beg the question though, how are the ELF files being corrupted when they're being downloaded via aptitude or rpi-update...

Oh well, as I mentioned, part of the fun.

[Oliv']

Edit: Just glanced at the commit logs and I don't see anything about that, so I must have been imagining things. Either way, there does seem to be a known problem about that partition getting corrupted when written to.

It was this source update:
https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/co ... 3b9d562b2d
and this binary update:
https://github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-firmware/ ... 3abaac11fd

We believe the problem is fixed. However you still need one successful firmware update to get the fixed kernel, which if you are suffering the problem may be tricky.

I suggest downloading latest kernel from github. E.g.
wget https://github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-firmware/ ... kernel.img
sudo cp kernel.img /boot/kernel.img
sudo reboot

Then run rpi-udpate.

If your firmware is already corrupt, then downloading latest bootcode.bin, loader.bin, start.elf, kernel.img from github, and putting those on sdcard, then running rpi-update should do it.

Hello, I had the same problem, tried to copy the kernel.img file, reboot and everything went fine but still hang when I did a rpi-update. So I use your 2nd solution, it worked and I can now performed and 'rpi-update'

Thanks

[SupremeSpod]

Thanks for your help all.

I started with the base Raspbian release on my SD cards, updated them to the latest bootloader, kernel image etc, ensured they booted OK, then updated the cmdline.txt file to point to SDA2 and updated my core software. All is now well with "Huey and Dewie"

I must say that the boot process is now much more reliable.