D-Link DNS-323 support dropped in Debian stretch

[Martin Michlmayr]

Support for the D-Link DNS-323 and Conceptronic CH3SNAS has been
removed in Debian stretch. The kernel is now too large to fit into
the flash on these devices.

The devices are supported in jessie, so there are still several years
of support ahead.

[Martin Michlmayr]

Can it be an option to run Stretch with older Kernel from jessie?

I don't know.

And can you please explain why it is dropped, I see that qnap TS-x09 is
still supported.

DNS-323 only has 1.5 MB space for the kernel. TS-x09 has 2 MB. We're
constantly pushing against these limits. 1.5 MB wasn't doable in
stretch and 2 MB is no longer doable in buster.

It depends also on Orion Chip and has also only 8 MB Flash. Only RAM
seem to be differnet.

The flash layout is different.

[Roger Shimizu]

[ loop debian-kernel ML ]

Post by Martin Michlmayr

Can it be an option to run Stretch with older Kernel from jessie?

I don't know.

And can you please explain why it is dropped, I see that qnap TS-x09 is
still supported.

DNS-323 only has 1.5 MB space for the kernel. TS-x09 has 2 MB. We're
constantly pushing against these limits. 1.5 MB wasn't doable in
stretch and 2 MB is no longer doable in buster.

armel support for sid kernel was (temporally) disabled last month, due
to over size (>2MB).
I just added armel back last weekend by extend the limit from 2MB to
2.7MB, which means it drops support for qnap.

There's one possibility that can bring back qnap, or even D-Link DNS device:
- create a new flavour for armel, such as armel-none-mini
- the new flavour will disable many features that other common kernels
have, such as wireless, crypto, etc.

The question is whether it deserves the effort, not only creating the
new flavour, but also maintaining it during the whole buster period.
So I want to know how many active users for D-Link DNS and QNAP devices now?

Cheers,

[basti]

Post by Roger Shimizu
So I want to know how many active users for D-Link DNS and QNAP devices now?
Cheers,

Hello Roger,

I Plan to reactivate my DNS-323 for Tests and MPD Usage.
I also have some QNAP TS (TS-219P, TS-219P+, 2x TS-421) all are
Production Systems.

[Leigh Brown]

Hello,

Post by Roger Shimizu
[ loop debian-kernel ML ]

Post by Martin Michlmayr

Can it be an option to run Stretch with older Kernel from jessie?

I don't know.

And can you please explain why it is dropped, I see that qnap TS-x09 is
still supported.

DNS-323 only has 1.5 MB space for the kernel. TS-x09 has 2 MB. We're
constantly pushing against these limits. 1.5 MB wasn't doable in
stretch and 2 MB is no longer doable in buster.

I think with a small amount of effort it can be done.

Post by Roger Shimizu
armel support for sid kernel was (temporally) disabled last month, due
to over size (>2MB).
I just added armel back last weekend by extend the limit from 2MB to
2.7MB, which means it drops support for qnap.

I'm pleased it has returned because I have two Dreamplugs and they load
the kernel from SD and there is no 2MB limitation. I am using Stock
Debian with a stock kernel and stock u-boot, which I am very pleased
about.

Post by Roger Shimizu
- create a new flavour for armel, such as armel-none-mini
- the new flavour will disable many features that other common kernels
have, such as wireless, crypto, etc.

I certainly think that if people are using Debian successfully then some
effort should be expended to continue support if the hardware still
works.

I've done this before and these custom kernels tend to be quite tailored
to the device, which may result in quite a few variants. Is that
possible?

Post by Roger Shimizu
The question is whether it deserves the effort, not only creating the
new flavour, but also maintaining it during the whole buster period.
So I want to know how many active users for D-Link DNS and QNAP devices now?

Here is a patch that will reduce the size of the kernel a bit and
doesn't
(in my opinion) make the kernel any less useable (or less "Debian").
I'm
not aware of any Marvell devices that would need VT support, is that
correct?

-rw-r--r-- 1 leigh leigh 1986320 Mar 23 12:10 vmlinuz-4.16.0-rc6-marvell

Regards,

Leigh.
--
diff --git a/debian/config/armel/config.marvell
b/debian/config/armel/config.marvell
index c5703aeeb..7235cb767 100644
--- a/debian/config/armel/config.marvell
+++ b/debian/config/armel/config.marvell
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ CONFIG_SUN_PARTITION=y
##
# CONFIG_CRYPTO_FIPS is not set
CONFIG_CRYPTO_SHA256=m
+CONFIG_CRYPTO_MANAGER_DISABLE_TESTS=y

##
## file: drivers/ata/Kconfig
@@ -633,6 +634,11 @@ CONFIG_FB_XGI=m
##
CONFIG_THERMAL=m
CONFIG_KIRKWOOD_THERMAL=m
+#
+##
+## file: drivers/tty/Kconfig
+##
+# CONFIG_VT is not set

##
## file: drivers/tty/serial/8250/Kconfig
@@ -754,6 +760,8 @@ CONFIG_CC_OPTIMIZE_FOR_SIZE=y
## file: lib/Kconfig.debug
##
# CONFIG_SCHEDSTATS is not set
+# CONFIG_CRC32_SLICEBY8 is not set
+CONFIG_CRC32_SLICEBY4=y

##
## file: mm/Kconfig

[Wookey]

Post by Roger Shimizu
[ loop debian-kernel ML ]
The question is whether it deserves the effort, not only creating the
new flavour, but also maintaining it during the whole buster period.
So I want to know how many active users for D-Link DNS and QNAP devices now?

I've just acquired a DNS-320, which I plan to use for some years. That
seems to be one generation newer than the 323 IIUC (kirkwood vs Orion).

Wookey

[Aaro Koskinen]

Hi,

Post by Roger Shimizu
- create a new flavour for armel, such as armel-none-mini
- the new flavour will disable many features that other common kernels
have, such as wireless, crypto, etc.

Disable all other features, except what's needed for disk access and kexec
(perhaps still leave serial console :)). Then with simple scripting boot
the full featured kernel from external storage using kexec. Such minimal
kernel should be fairly stable from maintenance point of view.

A.

[Ian Campbell]

Post by Aaro Koskinen
Hi,

Post by Roger Shimizu
- create a new flavour for armel, such as armel-none-mini
- the new flavour will disable many features that other common kernels
have, such as wireless, crypto, etc.

Disable all other features, except what's needed for disk access and kexec
(perhaps still leave serial console :)). Then with simple scripting boot
the full featured kernel from external storage using kexec. Such minimal
kernel should be fairly stable from maintenance point of view.

This, and similar things (like chainloading a more capable u-boot),
have been suggested repeatedly over the last few years, what is needed
is for someone to actually try/do it.

Ian.

[Roger Shimizu]

Post by Ian Campbell

Post by Aaro Koskinen
Hi,

Post by Roger Shimizu
- create a new flavour for armel, such as armel-none-mini
- the new flavour will disable many features that other common kernels
have, such as wireless, crypto, etc.

Disable all other features, except what's needed for disk access and kexec
(perhaps still leave serial console :)). Then with simple scripting boot
the full featured kernel from external storage using kexec. Such minimal
kernel should be fairly stable from maintenance point of view.

This, and similar things (like chainloading a more capable u-boot),
have been suggested repeatedly over the last few years, what is needed
is for someone to actually try/do it.

Yet another solution suggested repeatedly is chained u-boot.
If you can load a modern u-boot, you already take control over your
device and load any kernel image you want.

Cheers,

[Martin Michlmayr]

Post by Roger Shimizu
So I want to know how many active users for D-Link DNS and QNAP devices now?

I don't think there were ever many DNS-323 users. QNAP has an active
user base but the hardware is aging, so I think they will be able to
cope without buster (especially if LTS stretch could be done for
armel).

[basti]

Hello again,

I try to build and install my own kernel because of several problems.

How can I backup the current installed uKernel and uRamdisk to restore
it with kermit if self compiled is not workig?

At the moment I get an error:


No such file or directory: 'debian/config.defines.dump'

how can I rebuild this file? I have delete it becouse I have done some
changes at the defines in armel/marvell.

I use this guide
https://wiki.debian.org/HowToCrossBuildAnOfficialDebianKernelPackage

Best regards,
Basti

[Martin Michlmayr]

Post by basti
How can I backup the current installed uKernel and uRamdisk to restore
it with kermit if self compiled is not workig?

It's been a while but I'm pretty sure you can do:

cat /dev/mtdblock2 > uKernel
cat /dev/mtdblock3 > uRamdisk

and then http://www.cyrius.com/debian/orion/d-link/dns-323/recovery/

Unfortunately, recovery on the DNS-323 is a pain.

[basti]

I have try to restore a Kernel /Ramdisk backuped via

cat /dev/mtdblock2 > uKernel
cat /dev/mtdblock3 > uRamdisk

The System wont start with error "Bad CRC checksum".

[Ian Campbell]

Post by basti
I have try to restore a Kernel /Ramdisk backuped via
cat /dev/mtdblock2 > uKernel
cat /dev/mtdblock3 > uRamdisk
The System wont start with error "Bad CRC checksum".

Did you try to restore with cat ... > /dev/mtdblock?

Some devices require being written with flashcp rather than dd or cat
directly (something to do with OOB checksums or something like that).

BTW flash-kernel uses /dev/mtd<N> for most things, only the "slug" case
uses /dev/mtdblock<N>. I don't know which applies in your case.

Ian.

[basti]

Post by basti
I have try to restore a Kernel /Ramdisk backuped via
cat /dev/mtdblock2 > uKernel
cat /dev/mtdblock3 > uRamdisk
The System wont start with error "Bad CRC checksum".

Did you try to restore with cat ... > /dev/mtdblock?

Some devices require being written with flashcp rather than dd or cat
directly (something to do with OOB checksums or something like that).

BTW flash-kernel uses /dev/mtd<N> for most things, only the "slug" case
uses /dev/mtdblock<N>. I don't know which applies in your case.

Ian.

Yes, i have try to restore it via

cat uKernel > /dev/mtdblock2
cat uRamdisk -> /dev/mtdblock3

Thanks for your tip. I will try flashcp next time.