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vassilis-bourdakis avatar image
vassilis-bourdakis asked

Rpi 3B+ with official 7in touchdisplay fails on fresh install of 2.80~11-large_20

hello all,

after having my rpi 3B+ running 2.70~3-large_12 since March (without missing a beat!) and following the latest release of the large VenusOS, decided to try and install that onboard.

New 16GB flash was prepared via BalenaEtcher with 2.80~11-large_20 .

Powered up with just the ethernet cable (MPPT and BMV usb cables unplugged) on this fresh card, screen comes up, (logo quartersize and upside down - OK np with that) and stops at the quartersize logo with command prompt under it (raspberrypi2 : don't remember exactly the character, but the typical *nix terminal screen...) No keyboard onboard (will bring one this evening and try again!)

Problem is that I cannot get the remote console up on my PC, so cannot install https://github.com/kwindrem/SetupHelper tools and get on with the config work.


Same version of OS on a rpi4 standalone at home booted up fine, remote console easily accessible either with IP or venus.local, no problems.

I fear that being stuck there may have something to do with the 7in official rpi touch screen that is hooked on it.

So, Q, anyone came across that, any clever solutions I could try? Not v.keen on ripping it off and bringing it home for testing.

Needless to say, removing the sd, fitting the old 2.70 one, system fires up fine.

Second Q, any decent tool to backup the whole SD with all it's partitions and data to my HD?

cheers


V.

Venus OS
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8 Answers
Kevin Windrem avatar image
Kevin Windrem answered ·

Try 

/opt/victronenergy/swupdate-scripts/remount-rw.sh
rm -rf /etc/venus/headless
reboot

at the command prompt. That might get you to the local GUI.

Starting with v2.80, the /root file system is mounted read only by default, so you need to change it to read/write before making any changes.

You probably know this already but the display configuration is in u-boot/config.txt. You can mount /boot from the SD card on your PC and edit config.txt from there.

You can also look at the gui log:

tail -40 /var/log/gui/current | tai64nlocal

to see if there is anything causing it to not run.

You might look at your router's DHCP table to make sure the PI was given an IP address.

That's all I can think of.

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tommas avatar image tommas commented ·

hi @Kevin Windrem, probably my fault but whatever im trying im not getting the screen run. (early with 2.60 i had it run and done it with a youtube video.) but i needed to update(because i wanted to try this bms feature https://github.com/Louisvdw/dbus-serialbattery/wiki/How-to-install) so did the total start from the bottem. new image on sd card, into pi2 enabled ssh, and put in the thing from your github (https://github.com/kwindrem/RpiDisplaySetup). no result only strange beheauvior in the command line. So tried it with usb stick, also nothing. As im getting a little bit crazy can you tell me what am i doeing wrong? or doesnt this work on pi2 with os2.77?


thanks in advance,

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Kevin Windrem avatar image
Kevin Windrem answered ·

Nothing in the GUI log indicating an issue that I can see.

I would dig into /u-boot/config.txt to see what is needed to correct your display. On my RPI 4, there was nothing I needed to do except rotate the display (lcd_rotate=2). If there are any fame buffer lines, try removing them

If you set up ssh keys, then your root login won't get wiped out by a software update. There is a brief description of ssh keys in the root access document but there are really only two things you need to do:

Create an ssh key on your host if you haven't done so already then push the key to Venus OS.

In the unix world the commands are:

ssh-keygen

creates the key on the host. This only needs to be done once as the same key is used by every target

ssh-copy-id root@venus.local (or ip address)

pushes the key to your Venus OS system.

Obviously, the ssh key will not survive a freshly flashed SD card which puts you back to having to connect with a web browser to set a root password I can't explain why this didn't work with your system, but I do think there are some settings needed to get the system onto VRM so you can use the remote console from there.

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vassilis-bourdakis avatar image
vassilis-bourdakis answered ·

just to add, that I did power off then disconnected the ribbon cable to the rpi (but in hindsight forgot to undo the power/i2c/whatever else connects them!) to no avail.

rpi3B+ 7in screen incompatibility?

V.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image
Kevin Windrem answered ·

The RPI builds come up in headless mode which is why you are seeing the logo and command prompt.

I think SSH is also disabled but certainly with no SSH password. You should be able to change all that via the GUI through a web browser.

You might also try going back to your original SD card with 2.70~3-large_12 on it and using the on-line update to the latest large release candidate. If you aren't on the internet, putting the .swu file on a USB stick should allow you to upgrade also. These upgrade paths preserve all your settings and all my SetupHelper based packages will reinstall.

I don't know of any incompatibility between the RPI 3B+ and the official Raspberry PI 7" touchscreen.

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vassilis-bourdakis avatar image
vassilis-bourdakis answered ·

thanks @Kevin Windrem,


a few points:

I'm quite familiar with getting in the gui (remote console on LAN - http://venus.local/) once rpi first boots, done it over a dozen times with different versions over the last year. Thing is I cannot get into it either via ip or the venus.local! didn't try to ssh but iirc you have to activate that from the remote console first before running. OTOH I see other distros that simply touch a file named ssh on the /boot partition and that enables ssh access. Will try that as well.

Boat has it's own router wired to the rpi, so no issues with network (checking from home now via remote console with 2.70~3)

Online update with update feed set to latest release candidate and image type large comes up with error during checking. If I change to image type normal, it comes up with a suggestion for v2.80~14 but it's no good for me, need signalk!

Before going to a manual update via swu, I wonder if 2.70~3-large SD partitioning is compatible with 2.80, was reading something that it may be not but didn't pay attention as I was planning to do a full new install. would that work?

Finally, as mentioned above, I'd rather keep my working version as is and fully configured so I can revert back by simply swapping sd cards. Are you familiar with any tool that would happily restore the partitions and all data from the current SD so that I can revert back to it if needed?


cheers

V.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image
Kevin Windrem answered ·

From your description, it sounds like the PI never finishes booting. The logo does block much of the screen so even the last screenful of messages can't be seen. You can eliminate the logo by adding the following to cmdline.txt (everything on one line):

logo.nologo


I found the only real way to capture the boot process was to connect a serial terminal to the PI. I bought the ADAFRUIT serial cable and it works perfectly.

If you can mount the /data partition on your PC, you can look for errors in /data/log/messages and possibly /data/log/dmesg --- if the PI gets far enough to write to the file!!

I updated my RPI 4 from v2.7.something to v2.80~14 via on-line updates then to v2.70~3-large with a USB stick and it worked fine. I don't know of any partitioning issues other than upgrading from v2.6 which is mentioned in Victron's documentation for the large version.

I'm Mac based here so my tools may not apply to you. I use ApplePiBaker to clone the SD cards. Others use dd on the command line but I had limited success with that approach. I'm not sure what you'd use on Windows.

I use Paragon ExtFs for Mac to mount the unix volumes and can modify them with standard Mac editing tools.

I also run Ubuntu under Parallels and use gparted to manipulate volumes that way including moving the /data partition from one SD card to another.

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vassilis-bourdakis avatar image
vassilis-bourdakis answered ·

Kevin,

slightly odd things happen...

back to the boat with a small usb wired keyboard. Tried again the new sd, system boots and comes with the ready logged in prompt:

root@raspberrypi2:~#

I can type, change dir, vi, whatever!

so booting process is done, system runs, but no remote console...

running out of ideas tbh.

re tools, I'll have to "borrow" wife's macbookpro, all mine are win10 and following a small search, I've not got anywhere regarding cloning full sds for backup purposes.

cheers

V

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vassilis-bourdakis avatar image
vassilis-bourdakis answered ·

thanks @Kevin Windrem for the help!

brought the pi back home.

Checked that I can backup the working SD card using Disk Drill (not really a disk imaging tool, but does a decent job at backing up sector by sector the SD in a .dmg file)

Restored .dmg file in another 32GB SD using BalenaEtcher.

Booted off this new one (just playing it safe!), and with a usb stick, upgraded to 2.80~11-large-20 in one go (no mid steps!)

Funny thing is that on rebooting I'm where I was with a fresh install of 2.80~11-large: quarter size logo and prompt.

connected to local home wifi (different ip) venus.local works I can see that everything is running on remote console...

didn't have a spare usb keyboard at home, so sshed to the pi only to find that root pswd was not there, so back to remote console, set it again, ssh works fine. From there checked the Gui log which looks OK:

root@raspberrypi2:~# tail -40 /var/log/gui/current | tai64nlocal
2021-08-25 10:41:17.482618500 INFO  [CmManager] Add technology "/net/connman/technology/ethernet"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.483022500 INFO  [CmManager] Add technology "/net/connman/technology/bluetooth"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.483394500 INFO  [CmManager] Add technology "/net/connman/technology/wifi"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.490149500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/vegetty" changed: "Console" - "0"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.502259500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/dbus-modbustcp" changed: "Modbus" - "0"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.514835500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/dbus-pump" changed: "Function" - "0"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.522660500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/mosquitto" changed: "MqttLocal" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.530489500 INFO  [Service] up "/service/mosquitto"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.539295500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/mosquitto" changed: "MqttVrm" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.549182500 INFO  [Service] Restart "/service/mosquitto"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.557081500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/dbus-mqtt" changed: "MqttLocal" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.565120500 INFO  [Service] up "/service/dbus-mqtt"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.578600500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/dbus-mqtt" changed: "MqttVrm" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.591415500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/mqtt-rpc" changed: "MqttLocal" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.601634500 INFO  [Service] up "/service/mqtt-rpc"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.610811500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/mqtt-rpc" changed: "MqttVrm" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.621192500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/openssh" changed: "RemoteSupport" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.631628500 INFO  [Service] up "/service/openssh"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.644746500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/openssh" changed: "SSHLocal" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.654685500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/openssh" changed: "VncInternet" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.685948500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/ssh-tunnel" changed: "RemoteSupport" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.698416500 INFO  [Service] up "/service/ssh-tunnel"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.722573500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/ssh-tunnel" changed: "VncInternet" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.734635500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/websockify-c" changed: "VncLocal" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.748163500 INFO  [Service] up "/service/websockify-c"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.762507500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/dbus-generator-starter" changed: "Function" - "0"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.778503500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/dbus-generator-starter" changed: "FischerPandaAutoStartStop" - "0"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.794078500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/vesmart-server" changed: "Bluetooth" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.802750500 INFO  [Service] up "/service/vesmart-server"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.817904500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/socketcand" changed: "Socketcand" - "0"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.832277500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/node-red" changed: "NodeRed" - "0"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.842496500 INFO  [Service] DBus service "/service/signalk-server" changed: "SignalK" - "1"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.854928500 INFO  [Service] up "/service/signalk-server"
2021-08-25 10:41:17.873776500 INFO  ScreenSaver::enable
2021-08-25 10:41:17.873784500 INFO  ScreenSaver::screenOn
2021-08-25 10:41:17.873786500 INFO  Buzzer::setBuzzer: false
2021-08-25 10:43:40.357617500 QVNCServer new incoming connection from "127.0.0.1"
2021-08-25 10:43:40.424821500 QVNCServer Client protocol version RFB 003.0

rebooted once / twice for good measure, nada.

Eventually did your suggested trick:

/opt/victronenergy/swupdate-scripts/remount-rw.sh 
rm -rf /etc/venus/headless 
reboot

and it worked!

So, to start with many thanks for that!

but how am I meant to deal with that if I cannot get easily back into my rpi? Does it have to be like that, or would it be best to change something in the whole setup? just wondering!


cheers

V.

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