Booting RPI 2 B from USB fails

[armel2]

I used the new bootcode.bin to boot my rpi 2 from USB. i.e. SD card has a fat partition with bootcode.bin and the USB stick has a fat partition with the rest of the boot files and an ext4 partition with the rootfs. This works but only as long as I don't have any other USB device plugged in. If I plug in an USB ethernet adapter it wont boot or even show the rainbow screen. I also put the "timeout" file in the fat partition but this did not help either.
Any ideas how to fix this?

[LTolledo]

can you post your fstab?

also what is the version of your RPi2B?

[armel2]

I don't think the fstab will matter. It fails even before reaching the kernel or initrd.
The version is 1.1
I also did some more tests. I can boot from USB with other USB devices attached when I put the whole fat partition on the sd card. So I guess it won't be something power related.
I also see something going on on the network, which I guess is due to bootcode.bin trying to netboot.
I think it is most likely firmware related, dunno if the rpi 2 gets a lot of testing. Or maybe it does not like this particular USB ethernet adapter. I maybe try another one.

[LTolledo]

As my RPi2B is v1.2, I may not be able to reproduce your problem at my end.

Oh, FYI, I have successfully booted the my RPi2B v1.2 with just the USB stick or USB HDD (not use bootcode.bin on microSD, or no microSD at all).
a WiFi and keyb/mouse dongles were attached during boot.

bootcode.bin method (using a known fake microSD card) still works in the above setup.

[armel2]

Yeah with newer revisions it boots like the rpi 3, so you don't even need an sd card.
I also have an rpi 3 which boots from USB without problems with multiple devices attached. But my rpi 2b won't

[LTolledo]

If its any consolation to you I also tried USB booting an RPi1B using the bootcode.bin method.

1. microSD is a known fake microSD with "2GB" capacity.
2. USB boot device was a SanDisk CruzerFit 16GB flashed with the latest raspbian stretch image. (2018-06-27 at that time)
3. power supply for the setup was 5V 2.0A USB PSU bought from a dollar store.
4. microUSB power cable was rated 2.0A, also from the same dollar store.

at the time of initial boot, the setup was connected to an HDMI monitor, plugged to the other vacant USB ports were USB dongle for WIFi and Keyboard/Mouse. It booted fine.

Now I've modified the setup so I can have 2 USB attached HDDs (not SSD), 2TB and 1TB respectively. A powered USB2.0 Hub was used to connect the USB HDDs to RPi1B. Now its headless unit, accessed via RealVNC and/or SSH.

at the moment, its current uptime is

Code: Select all

~ $ uptime
 19:46:49 up 19 days, 14:18,  2 users,  load average: 0.31, 0.19, 0.18