How to update Kindle 2/DX/DXG with YifanLu's firmware from 3.2.1 to 3.4.2

[thatworkshop]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Depends what they updated, doesn't it?

I haven't heard of any new features, so I am guessing it was miscellaneous bugfixes (updated libs, cross off SSL3 and support TLS). The KT probably already has many of those by default.
Except for the Downgrade Attack "bug", and I am not looking forward to having that "fixed".

Exactly. That's why, I'm still hesitant to update this thing (mainly because by every update they complicate stuff as and it's counter-productive... You see how MR [dev forum] is now less active compared to 2-3 years ago... Lab126 officially shoot us in the foot!). I might, eventually, but would like to kexec to it... Not permanently.

[newman]

Originally Posted by knc1

1) You can't disable "support for swap" in the kernel build, at least not in the most recent kernel versions that I have seen Amazon using (which would be prior to 5.6.5).

Interestingly I found CONFIG_SWAP option in /proc/config.gz and it's set to y, so swap is technically enabled in the YifanLu's 2.6.22 kernel which is on 2/DX with 3.x FW. So, swap is compiled-in, however memory is set firm to 128 MB in config:

CONFIG_CMDLINE="console=ttymxc0,115200 mem=128M ro ip=none root=/dev/mmcblk0p1 lpj=2654208 panic=10 quiet"

The same is in dmesg:

Kernel command line: console=ttymxc0,115200 mem=128M ro ip=none root=/dev/mmcblk0p1 lpj=2654208 panic=10 quiet

According to http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/a/lin...eference.html:

Name
mem — Force memory usage.

Synopsis
mem= n[KMG]

Set the specific ammount of memory used by the kernel. [...] n specifies the amount of memory to force [...].

Having swap on DX is getting even more complicated, it seems.

[knc1]

Hmm...
This must be my month for being wrong.
NiLuJe caught me on one just a few days ago that he PM'd me about.

CONFIG_SWAP ?
I certainly don't remember that one.
My only excuse, I was thinking of the mainstream kernel and not considering this is a patched kernel.

As it so happens, I do have a PC sitting here, running a virgin, built-here, 2.6.11 kernel - and it will have its build tree still on it.
So I could (or still can) have checked it out by turning on the second PC sitting to my right.

The built-in command line - -
That is another one that I don't recall 2.6.11 having, but they may have backported it.
The reason for it was so funky options could not be passed to the kernel from the u-boot environment.

Still should not be a problem -

• Its a text string stored in the kernel image.
• It doesn't effect virtual memory or user memory, only the **real** memory the kernel is allowed to use.
  And if it used that much, user land would be S.O.L. for having space to run anything.

Again, that behavior may have been patched by Amazon.

In this case, and in newer firmwares, the reason for a stored command line is the: ip=0 option, which disables the kernel's ability to network boot.
Otherwise, these devices would be too simple to jailbreak.
And that will be hard to text edit in the image, since there are more than a single character in a real ip address.

- - - -

Somebody check me on the above -
I may have set a new record for number of times wrong in a single post.

[newman]

Originally Posted by knc1

CONFIG_SWAP ?
I certainly don't remember that one.
My only excuse, I was thinking of the mainstream kernel and not considering this is a patched kernel.

Seems to me part of the vanilla kernel: http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/SWAP.html. The important thing being... it's on my DX , so, building Busybox'es swapon should work if mem=128M limit does not affect virtual memory (thanks!).

Originally Posted by knc1

3) Wait three weeks (until the 2015.08 release happens) then download Buildroot(.org), twiddle Kmenu buttons, build your own support to live in /mnt/usr/* (check our external system layout plan - just because I documented it doesn't mean I can remember it.)

Keep in mind that you may have to do a bit of fudging/editing of BR to get it to use the very old kernel headers and library versions used by the 3.x series firmware.
IIRC, you need to be building for the i.MX31 SoC.

Hmm...
Building for something that old -
It might be better to just skip BR and use NiLuJe's toolchain to build Busybox directly (as it where, without the "help" of a build system other than its own).

Looked at BR and looks like a fun but a far away from being able to build for DX immediately (will keep on playing with it).

So, I thought about NiLuJe's toolchain. Is it kindle-x-tc-2014.08.N.tar.gz from https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88004, right? I gave it a try but it's not ready for general use, is it?

$ ./x-compile.sh K2
* Setting environment up . . .

* Building zlib . . .

tar (child): /usr/portage/distfiles/zlib-1.2.8.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

Is there a documentation how to use it properly? /usr/portage/distfiles/ looks a bit hardcoded.

[NiLuJe]

@newman: It pretty firmly expects to run on a Gentoo system.

That said, you could work-around that by checking out the Portage tree in the right place, and downloading the right sources, but that's probably a bit of a pain.

But technically, the only part that depends on a Gentoo system isn't the toolchain build, but the build of everything else, which you probably don't really care about anyway, since this is the stuff needed for all my packages (which reminds me, it pretty firmly expects a checkout of my personal dev tree, too ).


More to the point for you, the toolchain build itself isn't automated (because I need to monitor it in detail each time), cf. the beginning of the script.
Keep in mind that, for the K2/K3, the TC isn't an exact match to the target device, and will require hoop jumping (in the form of *FLAGS tweaks, mostly) to build stuff that even has a remote chance to run on the device. Again, that's heavily documented in the script.

On a sidenote, you really, really want to work from the snapshots though, the releases are nearly a year old.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@newman: It pretty firmly expects to run on a Gentoo system.
- - - -

Help me a bit here, the K2/DX/DXG require a setup for the i.MX31, correct?

I might have one laying around from when I built those sets of kernel modules.

@newman: What OS is your host system? (Name and version)

[knc1]

Originally Posted by newman

- - - -
Looked at BR and looks like a fun but a far away from being able to build for DX immediately (will keep on playing with it).
- - - -

There are def_configs for the i.MX6 series of SoC products.
Start by editing one of those for i.MX31

You will want to set the libc version to close to whatever the 2.5.8 is built against (I forget what/which).

You need to include a kernel headers specification of 2.6 (or 2.6.11 - whatever works).

You will want to specify an external kernel and a custom kernel location (so once the freescale/amazon/lab126 replica is built, you don't have to do it repeatedly).

You will want to build the 'way back machine' toolchain once (that works) and then specify it and use it as an external toolchain.

After that, the several thousand packages should build and 'just work' on the series two devices.

- - - -

The above is much easier for the devices running the 5.6.x firmware - they are based on new enough things that there is still support in BR for them (or it was recently deleted and can be cherry-picked and reversed).
And there are only two processors involved the i.MX50 or maybe its the i.MX51 (PW-1) and the i.MX6SL (single core, light) for which there is a def_config.

- - - -

My base ARMhf system that allows current Debian/Ubunta binaries to run in USBstorage (with a tad bit of patchelf'ing) never picked up any interest.

But if you dig through the archives of either distribution - you should find a complete set of everything pre-built for you (you just have to go back old enough in the ARM soft float stuff) - and then run it in a qemu-static/chroot as arm native.

[NiLuJe]

From a K3, which, IIRC, is similar to what we're talking about here:

[root@kindle root]# /lib/libc.so.6 
GNU C Library stable release version 2.5, by Roland McGrath et al.
Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.
There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Compiled by GNU CC version 4.1.2.
Compiled on a Linux 2.6.15 system on 2008-06-10.
Available extensions:
        crypt add-on version 2.1 by Michael Glad and others
        GNU Libidn by Simon Josefsson
        GNU libio by Per Bothner
        NIS(YP)/NIS+ NSS modules 0.19 by Thorsten Kukuk
        Native POSIX Threads Library by Ulrich Drepper et al
        Support for some architectures added on, not maintained in glibc core.
        BIND-8.2.3-T5B
Thread-local storage support included.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/bugs.html>.
[root@kindle root]# uname -a
Linux kindle 2.6.26-rt-lab126 #5 Sat Sep 1 14:28:26 PDT 2012 armv6l unknown
[root@kindle root]# cat /proc/cpuinfo 
Processor       : ARMv6-compatible processor rev 3 (v6l)
BogoMIPS        : 511.18
Features        : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp java 
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 6TEJ
CPU variant     : 0x1
CPU part        : 0xb36
CPU revision    : 3
Cache type      : write-back
Cache clean     : cp15 c7 ops
Cache lockdown  : format C
Cache format    : Harvard
I size          : 16384
I assoc         : 4
I line length   : 32
I sets          : 128
D size          : 16384
D assoc         : 4
D line length   : 32
D sets          : 128

Hardware        : Amazon MX35 Luigi Board
Revision        : 35020
Serial          : "B006XXXXXXXXXXXX"
BoardId         : "SP1B000000000000"

Except the kernel might be even older on 2.x, I build w/ 2.6.22 as a minimum.

Basically, if you intend to use a decent GCC version, the biggest hassle is the tremendously old glibc (and, depending on what you build, the sometimes wonky old kernel headers might come into play). Which is why my TC is built against glibc 2.9, and I mess with the FLAGS to make sure nothing too new gets pulled.
(That was mostly out of fear that glibc 2.5(.1) wouldn't build with a recent GCC, a fear which might actually be completely baseless [and/or easy to patch], but I've never bothered to look into it, because what I've been doing WorksForMe(TM) ).

[thatworkshop]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

Except the kernel might be even older on 2.x, I build w/ 2.6.22 as a minimum.

On DXG v2.5.8 (i.MX31L), kernel version is 2.6.22 too.
To be exact:

Linux kindle 2.6.22.19-lab126 #3 PREEMPT Thu Jan 13 18:13:20 PST 2011 armv6l unknown

On DXG v2.5.5, kernel version was (IIRC) 2.6.16 though, but not sure.

[knc1]

We dug up all of these details back when we where deciding what Kindles to support with KUAL.

The K2/DX/DXG related stuff should be posted somewhere as a result.

But I think it was 2.6.11, without the real-time (rt) patch, for the i.MX31.

The K-1 isn't even a Freescale SoC, its a TI SoC - with barely enough memory to boot and a uClibc based system.
All part of the reasons for no KUAL on the K-1.

[newman]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

On a sidenote, you really, really want to work from the snapshots though, the releases are nearly a year old.

Where do I find it?

Originally Posted by knc1

@newman: What OS is your host system? (Name and version)

I am on Fedora 22. Supports ARM but arm7+ only.

Originally Posted by knc1

There are def_configs for the i.MX6 series of SoC products.
Start by editing one of those for i.MX31

Can I start from configs/freescale_imx31_3stack_defconfig?

Originally Posted by idoit

On DXG v2.5.5, kernel version was (IIRC) 2.6.16 though, but not sure.

2.5.5 is kernel-2.6.22 as well (more exactly 2.6.22.19) see released GPL sources.

@NiLuJe: Currently I try to prepare cross build for the sake of trying swapon on DX with 3.x FW. Incidentally your USBnet hack contains parts of Busybox (which contains swapon). Couldn't you easily build it? If not I'll keep trying.

[NiLuJe]

@newman:

Switching my bb config is annoying. Might be faster to just build the full-fledged swapon from util-linux.

EDIT: Or not. Hard-dep on mkostemp(), which was introduced in glibc 2.7.

EDIT²: So here goes a bare-bones bb (mkswap/swaponoff).

[knc1]

Originally Posted by newman

- - -
I am on Fedora 22. Supports ARM but arm7+ only.
- - -
Can I start from configs/freescale_imx31_3stack_defconfig?
- - -

Second (easy) one first -
I have no idea, but that one sounds like a good starting point by its name.

- - - -

I was speaking of running in a chroot under qemu, native Debian toolchain, system libs, etc.
So the level of ARM support in Fedora makes no difference.

But to get there the Fedora pieces are:
1) Can you run one of these (F-17) under F-22?
http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat...emu-arm-static
Even if not, that page should demonstrate the Fedora naming convention for the qemu-static emulator you need.

2) Then you will need binfmt_misc support installed on F-22.
Your looking for something like these:
http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/se...fmt_misc.ko%29

Those are the only things Fedora that you need to run Debian/ARMel in a chroot.
Ahh...
Along the lines of this:
https://wiki.debian.org/EmDebian/Cro...p.2Fmultistrap

(debootstrap is a bash script - even Fedora should be able to run that. )

As I recall, it is a two stage process -
The first you run under Fedora/Bash -
The second stage you have to chroot into the just populate chroot environment and "tell" debootstrap to run stage two (which must run native - in this case ARMv5 IIRC).


I am pretty sure Potato is the flavor you will need (and I think twobob and I where using Woody for the K-3 through K-5).
https://www.debian.org/releases/pota...ts-new.en.html

Here is the home of Debian 2.2 (Potato):
http://archive.debian.org/debian/dists/Debian-2.2/

And it will be pulling binaries from here:
http://archive.debian.org/debian/dis...in/binary-arm/

And Debian 3.0 (woody):
http://archive.debian.org/debian/dists/Debian-3.0/

There are directions here (MR) about creating and using this armel chroot under qemu-static.
There are even 'starter' images posted (twobob, brianmaine)

If you go that route, you'll have to do an rpm search for the Fedora build of debootstrap - - at least they used to stock one.

- - - -

There, see how far that gets you - report back on any problems you find because I think everything posted here is for Woody.

[newman]

@NiLuJe: Thank You for the Busybox!

I did this:

[root@kindle us]# dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/us/swapfile bs=1M count=1
1+0 records in
1+0 records out

[root@kindle us]# ./busybox mkswap /mnt/us/swapfile 
Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 1044480 bytes
UUID=bfec37b9-a5b7-46c1-a081-394768e00208

[root@kindle us]# ./busybox swapon /mnt/us/swapfile 
swapon: /mnt/us/swapfile: Invalid argument

And "swapon: swapfile has holes" is in dmesg. How could it be with holes? (It's the same even if I try to activate the swap via swapon -a and a record in /etc/fstab.)

Perhaps I need to use (loop?) swap partition after all?

[NiLuJe]

Try putting it in base-us instead, us is a weird crappy fuse proxy.

That, and a 1MB file might be too small.