USB flash disconnects

[aftos]

Hi all,
after doing a wipe cache/factory reset on my iMX6 (MCE), i can't mount the usb flash and play a movie! When i plug it, it mounts normally (i can also see it's size in file manager), but after 3-4 seconds it only appears on the list (in file manager stops showing its size) and if i try to access it i get the error message:"Path not found or invalid"

Any ideas?

ps: SilentlyScreaming, if you can remember my story, my droidbox was initially an iMX6 Android, which i format it successfully to MCE. Then, i reformat it back to android to test something with a friend of mine. Since then, i have constantly problems.

 

[aftos]

UPDATE:

I flashed to android.USB flash works with video players of android (mplayer etc) but when i open XBMC i get the same error. It seems that something is not set right to xbmc (?)

 

[ChrisM]

OK, can you try copying everything off the USB device, format it to FAT32 (please DON'T select the Quick Format option), and make sure the cluster size etc is all reset to default. Then copy the files back onto the device, and see whether XBMC can seem or not. With the current Android firmware, can you let me know the path to the USB device (something like mnt/USB devices/USB1 (made up example)).

 

[aftos]

Thanx for your reply. I'll try this when i get back home.

By the way, i've seen the same problem with Raspberry Pi here:
http://forum.stmlabs.com/showthread.php?tid=6558
and it seems to be a .conf file problem. I'm not sure if this is same as here though. Can you check it in the meantime?
Thanx

 

[ChrisM]

I've had a look through. Given the date of the posting, and the fact they're talking about an old beta version of XBMC for the Pi, I think we're looking at a similar error, but most likely with a different cause.
If formatting the USB device doesn't improve matters, can you let me know which firmware file (the filename would be great) you last flashed to your iMX6 - we'll see if flashing to an alternative one helps matters at all.

 

[aftos]

1) Formatted USB flash to FAT32 (no quick format) -> no good
2) Tried a microSD (fat32) -> no good (i.e. same as flash: movie players from android can see/play from microSD but XBMC sees nothing)

If I'm not wrong, i used the "DBX_1.1.5_220514.zip" from "Firmware Upgrade Instructions for iMX6 Devices" section and then did all the updates. Initially i wanted to flash the "Original XBMC (V12/Frodo)" but it's not possible to download it! It asks for login (can you check that, too?).

I'm asking for too much. I just want an XBMC (linux) which is able to save its settings!

 

[aftos]

UPDATE:

I flashed back to linux using the SDCard method (i always use this one). The files i used were:

- DBX-MCE-16apr2014-frodo-amlinux-update.zip
- factory_update_param.aml
- recovery.img

After finishing the flashing and rebooting, i waited for about 20 mins (as always) with the only difference that i left the SDCard in. I was always removing it right after reboot. Then i did all the updates (wizard etc) and before rebooting i tried the fat32-formated usb flash. It worked like a charm! I changed the settings of XBMC and then rebooted.

Still everything was working fine! Then i reformatted my usb flash to ntfs and... crap... same problem again.

Again, reformatted to fat32 and (fortunately) it's working!

Powered off the box, plugged it and ... it's working!

Wow! I really have no clue now! After doing the last firmware flash, it seems to work for fat32 only usb sticks. If I'm not wrong, i remember using NTFS with linux-box.

Something else to try?

ps: c'mon, let's solve this b***ch!!!

 

[ChrisM]

OK, I've factory reset my iMX6 . I believe it is on the April (Android) firmware. (If it helps, I get:
Build number: DroidBOX.JB-MR1.20140317
Kernel Version 3.0.101+
stane@stane-linux#1 Mon Mar 17 12:17:15 CET 2014
in the About Mediabox entry for settings.

I reformatted a little flash drive from FAT to NTFS on my PC, plugged it into my iMX6 and turned it on.
I then opened up ES File Explorer, navigated to storage/external_storage/sda1
The sda1 part could be different it depends on the amount of devices and their partitions. If you follow that route, you can't see your USB device under any of the folders in external_storage (when using NTFS partitions)?
If not, do you know which Android firmware you flashed? Ah, I should try scrolling up! So it is the May release.
Given that they're different firmwares, it is possible you should find the NTFS partitions in mnt/USB etc etc instead.
For what its worth, I didn't update from Google's Play Store nor install any of the NTFS-capable USB device-mounting programs around before doing the above.
If you still get nowhere, perhaps we should try the April firmware on your iMX6.

 

[Ahmed]

Hi,There

Dose this resolve your issue ?

Thanks
Ahmed

 

[aftos]

Hi again.
I'm back after vacation. Well... no! I still haven't managed to make this work! The usb flash mounts (and stays mounted) only if it's formatted to fat32. When i format it to NTFS, when i connect it a popup message shows up saying that the usb-flash is connected, but after 2-3 secsonds it disconnects without any warning.

Using filemanager, i'm able to "see" the stick but when i try to enter it i get the message:"Path not found or invalid"

I would like to flash another versiono (older or newer) but i see that all links are removed for some reason ( i've already read why).

I'll try to ssh and see if i can do something with it, even though i'm almost sure that i'm not going to manage anything.

ps: just a reminder, last time i flashed was with the april's 2014 firmware (linux), which i just re-tried.

 

[aftos]

Here i go again
After half an hour or various tries, i came up with the idea to mount the usb stick manually.

So, i ssh'ed to droidbox and listed the "/media" folder. Right above all files/folders there was a message about an error with my stick (can't remember the message now). So, i umount'ed the stick and re-mounted it with option "-t ntfs". Guess what? It worked!!! Here what i did:

1) ssh'ed to droidbox (ssh [email protected])
2) cd /media
3) umount -l NAME_OF_USB_STICK (if you list the contents of "/media" folder you should see the name first with the error message)
4) mount -t ntfs /dev/sda1 /media/NAME_OF_USB_STICK

Now you can also logout. As long as the stick is connected it should work.

Unfortunatelly, if you disconnect it or reboot the box you must redo this process.

I hope this workaround will help somebody who has encountered the same problem as me.

 

[ChrisM]

Thanks for the info, I don't think we came across this issue with the previous firmware image. It is possible that customers were only using FAT/FAT32 partitioned drives. I'm assuming there is a Linux equivalent of autoexec.bat - I'm trying to check which approach is the most universal amongst different distros, then check if the file/location is both writable (or CHMOD-able if not) and survives a reboot. If that can be done, then the change would only need to be implemented once per firmware flash, rather than each reboot. In the meantime, depending on the SSH client you're using, it should be possible to have those commands automatically sent upon a successful connection (for example on the Bitvise SSH client, there is an Execute command field under the Terminal tab. I'm assuming there is some sort of ¦ symbol that can be inserted in a single line for multiple commands to be stacked up?
I tend to only dip into Linux distros for quick tests or hard drive recovery procedures, but if I've not returned to this thread/you've not found a more semi-permanently solution within a week, give me a poke here and I'll see what else could be done.
I've passed on your observations to the rest of the team as well btw.

 

[ChrisM]

http://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...linux-startup-autoexec-bat-equivalent-177469/ is an old forum thread, but has some advice for automatically executing a script upon each boot. The question is whether MCE uses the same location, whether we have the right permissions to write to the directory, and whether changes made there survive a reboot.
I'll try and check it out.

 

[ChrisM]

Getting there, more detailed steps here - http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=66534
I've formatted an old thumbdrive as NTFS so I'm experimenting in between blog posts etc.

 

[ChrisM]

I've not forgotten this thread, but I've managed to soft-brick my iMX6 MCE device (didn't remove firmware files from a USB drive before rebooting). Once I get it up and running again, I'll carry on.

 

[ChrisM]

I've one more thing to try on the MCE device. If that doesn't work, and you have the time, @aftos do you fancy checking whether the http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=66534 link would be enough to keep the NTFS mounting automatic after each boot?

 

[aftos]

Hi again,
just returned here to say that after a very long research i couldn't manage to do anything. I tried all the above (from the links you suggested) but i've already knew that they wouldn't work because in my case the usb-stick is initially mounted normally as ntfs and after 2-3 seconds i get the error message:"Transport endpoint is not connected", where the stick was actually mounted (e.g. /media/sda1 ). That's why, when i try to use the stick from XBMC i get the error popup message:"Path not found or invalid".

Just a reminder: I've no problem when the stick is formated to fat32. I've also tried another stick with NTFS with no luck. Also, my droidbox, before switching back and forth from android to linux MCE, it WAS able to mount NTFS sticks.

 

[ChrisM]

Do you want to try the non-DroidBOX Gotham MCE firmware? Maybe it will restore whatever was lost during the Linux>Android>Linux process.

If you send an e-mail to [email protected] , with a link to your post - http://www.droidboxforums.com/posts/2714/ - and mention that SilentlyScreaming said to pass on the non-DroidBOX iMX6 MCE Gotham firmware, we'll send the link to you. If you want the DroidBOX Wizard add-on address, include your original order details (order ID (very long number from Amazon or eBay) and your account ID with Amazon/eBay).

 

[aftos]

Thanks SilentlyScreaming. I've just sent an e-mail. I'll try everything and, of course, i'll come back.

By the way, yesterday late night, while searching the internet for this problem, i saw a post where it was saying that, for some reason, something killed the ntfs-3g process! Take a look here:
http://tuxera.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=640

 

[aftos]

Here i go again. This time with only good news

I've installed the Gotham firmware and everything seems to work fine (settings also seem to be kepted even after rebooting the box).

This time though i followed a different installing method, so i'm not sure whether the problem's fault was the firmware or the way i was upgrading. Let me explain myself. Till now, everytime i wanted to change firmware, the steps followed were:
1) Insert sdcard with the new firmware.
2) Put a stick in the AV hole and plug the power
This process automatically did a clear/wipe cache and installed the firmware.

This time i did the following:
1) Put stick and plugged power (no sdcard was inserted!)
2) Selected from the menu both clear cache and reset format.
3) Inserted sdcard and selected the "Update from EXT" option
4) When installing finished, without rebooting, i plugged the USB stick to see if it was mounting properly (which was ok. I browsed a bit in it)
5) Rebooted the box

I really want to reformat to the previous firmware only to test if the problem occurs from the installing method, but after all this "history" i'm really afraid of doing so. Plus, that:"If it ain't broken, DON'T fix it"

Thank you for your support all this time