1 Topic by valloc (edited by valloc 2015-05-06 00:18:09)

  • Registered: 2015-05-05
  • Posts: 4

Topic: Novena not booting with Senoko attached

Hello everyone, I received my laptop a few days ago and wow, it's an absolute work of art. It works like a charm too; but only when Senoko isn't attached.

When I boot it with Senoko attached, I get the following messages on the UART and the system will just stop without ever showing anything on the LCD:

U-Boot SPL 2014.10-rc3-00039-gc5efead (Oct 17 2014 - 19:41:27)
wait_for_sr_state: Arbitration lost sr=93 cr=80 state=2020
i2c_init_transfer: failed for chip 0x50 retry=0
force_idle_bus: sda=0 scl=0 sda.gp=0x5c scl.gp=0x55
force_idle_bus: failed to clear bus, sda=0 scl=0
i2c_init_transfer: give up i2c_regs=021a0000
Error reading SPD on DDR3.
Fatal DDR error 0x55

With everything but Senoko attached it all works fine.

I've tried attaching Senoko after Novena succesfully runs, but wasn't able to update-senoko.

Any clues?

  • xobs
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  • Registered: 2014-05-25
  • Posts: 442

Re: Novena not booting with Senoko attached

That's very interesting.

Senoko is an I2C device, and is attached to the same I2C bus as the SPD chip on the DDR3 RAM.  For some reason, Senoko is pulling those pins low, which is preventing Novena from querying the SPD EEPROM on boot.  So Novena doesn't know what kind of RAM is installed.

There is a "Reflash" button on Senoko.  What happens if you disconnect the battery, hold down that button, and plug AC into Senoko?  Does that allow Novena to boot even when Senoko is attached?

You can try reflashing Senoko with the latest firmware:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install firmware-senoko
update-senoko
  • Registered: 2015-05-05
  • Posts: 4

Re: Novena not booting with Senoko attached

Hey xobs, thanks for the quick reply!

I should've probably mentioned that the above error only appears when I have Senoko attached and I plug AC into Novena. Plugging AC into Senoko, with or without the Reflash button held, results in absolutely nothing; no power LED nor anything on the UART.

  • xobs
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  • Registered: 2014-05-25
  • Posts: 442

Re: Novena not booting with Senoko attached

You should avoid plugging AC into Novena while Senoko is attached, especially if the battery is attached.  This can result in the battery charging through the back-current, which it's not designed to cope with.

If you disconnect the battery, hold down Reflash, and connect AC to Senoko, does Novena boot?  Holding down Reflash while applying power puts it in update mode, and should allow Novena to power up.  If you're not seeing anything at all, report it to Crowd Supply at support@crowdsupply.com and they will arrange a replacement.

  • Registered: 2015-05-05
  • Posts: 4

Re: Novena not booting with Senoko attached

Yeah, pelrun on IRC warned me about that, so all my Senoko tests have been without the battery. No matter what I do, plugging AC into Senoko won't power Novena, unfortunately. I guess I'll contact Crowd Supply and run in Desktop mode for a while!

Thanks for you help, xobs.