How to Install pure Debian on Iomega EZ Media and Backup Center

pure_debian_on_iomega_ez.sh

# Relevant info about this:
https://forum.lede-project.org/t/lenovo-iomega-ez-media-backup-center/5031/ # "Lenovo Iomega EZ Media & Backup Center"
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,35331,35434#msg-35434 # "Lenovo iomega EZ support" but read entire thread if it is possible
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,15887 # "Debian on Iomega EZ Media & Backup Center" this is another thread about
https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096 # "Linux Kernel 4.14.1 Kirkwood package and Debian rootfs" Kernel and rootfs, thanks to this it is possible to run Debian
# Newer kernel guide:
https://gist.github.com/koczaj/a20ed52c969a8d0612986ca576067876
# Using a Debian box (it could be a VM) with the harddrive connected (it could be a minimal net-install Debian)
See ip with:
ip addr show
# connect remotely using:
user@outside:~/# ssh [email protected]
# We elevate permissions or even better install and config sudo
user@debian8vm:~/# su
root@debian8vm:~/# apt-get install sudo -y
root@debian8vm:~/# sudo adduser user sudo
user@debian8vm:~/# exit
root@debian8vm:~/# exit
user@outside:~/# ssh [email protected]
user@debian8vm:~/# sudo su
# install miscelaneous
root@debian8vm:~/# apt-get install u-boot-tools parted gdisk -y
# Should be already installed
root@debian8vm:~/# apt-get install wget tar -y
# if we want to read the hardware description table file
root@debian8vm:~/# apt-get install device-tree-compiler-y

# we create a directory to work whithin
root@debian8vm:~/# mkdir iomegaez
root@debian8vm:~/# cd iomegaez

# download needed files
# we could use kernel 4.12 or newer one 4.14
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/orud4fq131gtut9/linux-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-bodhi.tar.bz2
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/2gmcik1hu95i316/linux-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1-bodhi.tar.bz2
# we download Debian rootfs
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/wsyuzr69se20um2/Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2
# we download the hardware description tables for the Iomega EZ
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# wget https://forum.doozan.com/file.php?2,file=1456,filename=kirkwood-lenovo-iomega-ez.dtb,download=1 -O kirkwood-lenovo-iomega-ez.dtb
# if we want to check it out:
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# fdtdump kirkwood-lenovo-iomega-ez.dtb
# make directories for Kernel and Debian rootfs and uncompress them:
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# mkdir linux-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1-bodhi Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# tar -jxvf linux-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1-bodhi.tar.bz2 -C linux-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1-bodhi
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# tar -jxvf Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 -C Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi

# These are the files:
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# ls -lht ./linux-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1-bodhi/
# # total 32M
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 141K Nov 25 19:59 linux-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1.patch
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.3M Nov 24 02:48 linux-dtb-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1.tar
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8.4M Nov 23 20:56 linux-headers-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1_1.0_armel.deb
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  18M Nov 23 20:38 linux-image-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1_1.0_armel.deb
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 152K Nov 23 19:41 config-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1
# # -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3.7M Nov 23 04:40 zImage-4.14.1-kirkwood-tld-1

root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# ls -lht ./Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi/boot/
# # total 36M
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  39K Nov 30 03:02 uImage
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7.0M Nov 30 03:02 uInitrd
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  39K Nov 30 02:58 zImage.fdt
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root   64 Nov 30 02:55 uInitrd.bak
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7.0M Jul 23 21:15 initrd.img-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.7M Jul 20 05:11 uImage.bak
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8.1M Jul 16 05:06 linux-headers-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1_1.0_armel.deb
# # -rw------- 1 root root 2.4M Jul 16 04:43 System.map-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1
# # -rw------- 1 root root 3.7M Jul 16 04:43 vmlinuz-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1
# # -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3.7M Jul 16 01:42 zImage-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 150K Jul 16 00:21 config-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1
# # drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 15 19:14 dts



# Here there is a hardware descriptor table, but it has some problems, do not use.
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# ls -lht ./Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi/boot/dts/ | grep 'iomega-ez'
# # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  13K Jul 16 05:08 kirkwood-lenovo-iomega-ez.dtb

# Creating uImage & uInitrd and putting it to the disk
# We will work on boot directory from the rootfs dirtree
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# cd ./Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi/boot/
# we copy the zImage file to a zImage.fdt
root@debian8vm:~/(...)/boot# cp -a zImage-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1 zImage.fdt

# if we want to check it out (see the fdt data on the dtb file):
# root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# # fdtdump dts/kirkwood-lenovo-ix2-ng.dtb
# Do not use this file, use below instead:
# root@debian8vm:~/(...)/boot# # cat dts/kirkwood-lenovo-ix2-ng.dtb >> zImage.fdt

# Important: We must put dtb data AT THE END of the zImage.fdt file.
root@debian8vm:~/(...)/boot# cat ../../kirkwood-lenovo-iomega-ez.dtb >> zImage.fdt
root@debian8vm:~/(...)/boot# #cp -a uImage uImage.bak
root@debian8vm:~/(...)/boot# #cp -a uInitrd uInitrd.bak
# This are the name of the images, initrd image is the same name as the file we use as source
root@debian8vm:~/(...)/boot# INITRD_IMAGE="initrd.img-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1"
root@debian8vm:~/(...)/boot# LINUX_TLD="Linux-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1"
# Create initramfs image:
root@debian8vm:~/(...)/boot# mkimage -A arm -O linux -T ramdisk -C gzip -a 0x00000000 -e 0x00000000 -n $INITRD_IMAGE -d $INITRD_IMAGE uInitrd
# # Image Name:   initrd.img-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1
# # Created:      Thu Nov 30 03:02:50 2017
# # Image Type:   ARM Linux RAMDisk Image (gzip compressed)
# # Data Size:    7245632 Bytes = 7075.81 kB = 6.91 MB
# # Load Address: 00000000
# # Entry Point:  00000000
# Create kernel image
root@debian8vm:~/(...)/boot# mkimage -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 0x00008000 -e 0x00008000 -n $LINUX_TLD -d zImage.fdt uImage
## Image Name:   Linux-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1
## Created:      Thu Nov 30 03:02:58 2017
## Image Type:   ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
## Data Size:    39273 Bytes = 38.35 kB = 0.04 MB
## Load Address: 00008000
## Entry Point:  00008000
# write the images to disk
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# dd if=uImage of=/dev/sdb bs=1MiB seek=10
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# dd if=uInitrd of=/dev/sdb bs=1MiB seek=20

# create partitions on the disk, using GPT since the disk is probably bigger than 2Tb
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# parted -s /dev/sdb mklabel gpt \
mkpart swap linux-swap 100MiB 8.1GiB \
mkpart rootfs ext3 8.1GiB 24.1GiB \
mkpart Data ext3 24.1GiB 100%

# this creates 100Mb unused space, 8gb for swap, 16gb for rootfs and rest of the disk for Data
# Chek out the partitions (we check using gdisk if it is correct swap should be code 82 and other two are 83)
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# parted /dev/sdb print
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# gdisk /dev/sdb -l
# IMPORTANT: don't bother if the virtual machine fails to recognize more than 1.6 or 1.8Tb, we can fix this later.
# we format and set label to 2nd partition
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb2 -L rootfs
# Create mountpoint and mount partition
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# mkdir /mnt/sdb2 && mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt/sdb2
# Copy the rootfs dirtree to mountpoint
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# tar -C ./Debian-4.12.1-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi/ -cvf - . | tar -C /mnt/sdb2 -xf -
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# sync; sync; sync
# unmount and remove mountpoint
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# umount /mnt/sdb2 && rmdir /mnt/sdb2
# IMPORTANT, if we Forget to set proper label as 'rootfs' the label is has to be on the filesystem
# it is not enough that if it was set as label on the GPT table
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# e2label /dev/sdb2
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# e2label /dev/sdb2 rootfs
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# e2label /dev/sdb2

# Now we can disconnect the harddrive and put in the Iomega EZ box
# We must connect a Serial TTL Cable as described here: https://forum.lede-project.org/t/lenovo-iomega-ez-media-backup-center/5031/13?u=braian87b
# Original bootargs and bootcmd (I copy mine here since we are gonna modify it) :
Marvell>> printenv
# # bootargs=console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/ram0 mtdparts=spi_flash:0x7e000@0(u-boot),0x1000@0x7f000(env),0x1000@0x7e000(env2) :::DB88FXX81:eth0:none
# # bootcmd=ide reset; ide read 0x40000 0x800 0x1800; ide read 0x900000 0x2000 0x2000; setenv bootargs $(console) $(bootargs_root) $(bootargs_mtd) $(bootargs_end); bootm 0x40000 0x900000;run bootcmd2
# # bootcmd2=ide dev 1;ide read 0x40000 0x800 0x1800; ide read 0x900000 0x2000 0x2000; bootm 0x40000 0x900000;

# Commands to boot, must be used with a USB-Serial-TTL cable
Marvell>> setenv bootargs 'root=/dev/sda2 init=/bin/systemd fsck.mode=force fsck.repair=yes console=ttyS0,115200 mtdparts=spi_flash:0x7e000@0(u-boot),0x1000@0x7f000(env),0x1000@0x7e000(env2)'
Marvell>> setenv bootcmd 'ide read 0x40000 0x5000 0x2000; ide read 0x2100000 0xA000 0x4000; bootm 0x40000 0x2100000'

# To persist chages to flash chip on the PCB (you could try to boot first to see if everything is working
Marvell>> saveenv

# try to boot (to see if it works)
Marvell>> boot

# Now it must boot properly, check the IP of the box and connect using SSH or continue using serial
# username: root
# password: root
# If the vm didn't recognize all the capacity of the harddrive, now we could fix that easily
# If we run:
root@debian:~# parted /dev/sda print
# Wil say:
# # Warning: Not all of the space available to /dev/sda appears to be used, you can
# # fix the GPT to use all of the space (an extra 8589934592 blocks) or continue
# # with the current setting?
# We put:
Fix
# This will align a little the end of the last partition, now we must resize completely the last partition
root@debian:~# parted -s /dev/sda resizepart 3 100%
# Another way it could be to remove the 3rd partition and create it again, but I do not recommend it, I didn't try it by myself
root@debian:~# parted -s /dev/sda rm 3 mkpart Data ext3 24.1GiB 100%
# now data partition it should fill the rest of the disk
root@debian:~# parted /dev/sda print
# Enable Swap partition
root@debian:~# mkswap /dev/sda1
# # Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 8 GiB (8592445440 bytes)
# # no label, UUID=c37d2e4c-dd32-40e5-9d4a-cea151d02389
root@debian:~# free -h
# #               total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
# # Swap:            0B          0B          0B
root@debian:~# swapon /dev/sda1
root@debian:~# free -h
# #               total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
# # Swap:          8.0G          0B        8.0G

cat<<'EOF' >> /etc/fstab
/dev/sda1       none            swap    sw                   0       0
EOF


# TODO: try LEDE, try USB boot, apt-get upgrade, LEDS and buttons, auto spindown disk, etc, etc

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Special thanks and acknowledgmentto: Ein (thanks for your dedication on this!),
bobafetthotmail for be the first to push me to try, Bodhi, armik, Mijzelf and all the help on the Doozan and Lede-Project Forums

I connected the adapter to NAS (without any VCC pin to the PCB), i saw a strange behavior; it seems that the NAS it not booting the correct image.

Here is a gist with the boot process: iomega_ez.out

I guess that I done something wrong, but I can realize what.

Done!

boot.out

The USB-TTL cable came failed; the pins were incorrect inside. (no TX). Once i've got TX (to interrupt boot proccess) i done:

Marvell>> setenv bootcmd 'ide read 0x40000 0x5000 0x2A00; ide read 0x2100000 0xA000 0x5000; bootm 0x40000 0x2100000'
Marvell>> saveenv 
Marvell>> setenv bootargs 'root=/dev/sda2 init=/bin/systemd fsck.mode=force fsck.repair=yes console=ttyS0,115200 
Marvell>> saveenv
Marvell>>boot

The root password is "root".

I attach a picture showing how I connected de PL2303 to NAS board.

@ziprasidone146939277

Correct, for TTL you should only connect TX, RX and GND, never connect VCC.

did you wrote the kernel and initramfs images to this two locations on the HD ?

root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# dd if=uImage of=/dev/sdb bs=1MiB seek=10
root@debian8vm:~/iomegaez/# dd if=uInitrd of=/dev/sdb bs=1MiB seek=20

or you are trying to boot using USB? for USB you need also to change the boot args. default ones won't work.

lol, I managed to get it working with kernel version 6, I'll clean up all these steps at some moment on a new gist, but for the moment:

# to use the partition number
Marvell>> setenv bootargs 'root=/dev/sda2 init=/bin/systemd fsck.mode=force fsck.repair=yes console=ttyS0,115200 mtdparts=spi_flash:0x7e000@0(u-boot),0x1000@0x7f000(env),0x1000@0x7e000(env2)'
# to use the partition label
Marvell>> setenv bootargs 'root=LABEL=rootfs init=/bin/systemd fsck.mode=force fsck.repair=yes console=ttyS0,115200 mtdparts=spi_flash:0x7e000@0(u-boot),0x1000@0x7f000(env),0x1000@0x7e000(env2)'
 
# Linux Kernel 4:
Marvell>> setenv bootcmd 'ide read 0x40000 0x5000 0x2000; ide read 0x2100000 0xA000 0x4000; bootm 0x40000 0x2100000'
# Linux Kernel 5:
Marvell>> setenv bootcmd 'ide read 0x40000 0x5000 0x2A00; ide read 0x2100000 0xA000 0x4000; bootm 0x40000 0x2100000'
# Linux Kernel 6:
Marvell>> setenv bootcmd 'ide read 0x800000 0x5000 0x3200; ide read 0x2100000 0xA000 0x4000; bootm 0x800000 0x2100000'

using a higher position 0x800000 made the trick.
works: Debian-6.5.7-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi

@braian87b , will you update the solution and links to get it worked with Debian-6.5.7-kirkwood-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi ?