Bug 12771

Summary:	RPi 4 boot failure with builds 162 and 163
Product:	IPFire	Reporter:	Lincoln Rickwood <ljrickwood>
Component:	u-boot	Assignee:	Assigned to nobody - feel free to grab it and work on it <nobody>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	Crash
Priority:	- Unknown -
Version:	3
Hardware:	aarch64
OS:	Linux
See Also:	https://bugzilla.ipfire.org/show_bug.cgi?id=12684
Attachments:	Screensnap of Rpi4 boot looping error

Description Lincoln Rickwood 2022-02-02 16:18:33 UTC

Created attachment 977 [details]
Screensnap of Rpi4 boot looping error

I have a new RPi 4, which is therefore likely to have the 1.4 firmware.

The 162 release notes said;
  If you have the Revision 1.4 board, please try the Core Update 162 build at:
  www.ipfire.org - IPFire 2.27 - Core Update 162
  and report if it works

I’ve tried installing IPFire 162 and 163 (the latter from the nightly builds) via several mSSDs (16GB class 10, 64GB class 10 and class 4).

Every installation attempt ends in a looping error;
  mmc1: ADMA error: 0x02000000
  mmc1: Error -5 whilst initialising SD card
(See also the attached screensnap.)

The mSSD cards were loaded via the traditional dd method. eg;
  sudo dd if=ipfire-2.27.2gb-ext4.aarch64-full-core162.img of=/dev/sdg status=progress bs=1M oflag=sync

I’m reasonably confident that the RPi4 and the mSSD cards work correctly, as I’ve been able to use the cards to successfully install Raspberry PI OS (32 and 64 bit) and Ubuntu server (64 bit) on the RPi4. And the same cards have been used to install IPFire successfully on a RPi3B.

Following this post (https://gitanswer.com/nixpkgs-raspberry-pi-4-can-t-mount-sd-card-during-boot-new-model-nix-980521497), I decompiled bcm2711-rpi-4-b.dtb, edited, and recompiled the file. The error remained unchanged, however.

Is the looping error another manifestation of the known issue with IPFire booting on the Rpi4 1.4 firmware?

Comment 1 Lincoln Rickwood 2022-02-03 13:45:05 UTC

Oops, my original report has a typo;

I've only tried booting from micro SD cards. Not from an SSD, micro or otherwise.

So, read mSD for mSSD, throughout. (ie s/mSSD/mSD/g)

Comment 2 Lincoln Rickwood 2022-02-03 18:48:00 UTC

Thanks to Arne.F, I have a workaround.

1. Updated the RPi4 eeprom as per https://jamesachambers.com/raspberry-pi-4-bootloader-firmware-updating-recovery-guide. Depending on the RPi4 version, this may not be necessary.

2. dd'd the 163 image to a µSD as before.

3. Installed the µSD in a USB adapter, and slotted the adapter into one of the RPi4 USB sockets. (And made sure there was no µSD card in the RPi4 µSD slot.)

4. Booted the RPi4.

5. Watched IPFire boot and install without a hitch.

IPFire has subsequently booted from the USB port without problems. (It still doesn't boot from the µSD slot.)