Hello everyone,

 

I'm in the process of building a file/download server with a Banana Pi Pro using the JMB 321 SATA port multiplier.

 

Right now I'm just trying to build an image that will allow me to boot from an SSD, then I will deal with adding the JMB.

 

I compiled a fresh image following the menu options after executing ./compile.sh selecting bananapi/jessie/next and it boots up correctly except it does not detect the SSD I have connected directly to the SATA port.(does not show in blkid or fdisk -l)

 

Image name provide: Armbian_4.83_Bananapipro_Debian_jessie_4.3.4

 

Going thru the kernel logs, I found this:

Jan 26 20:22:03 localhost kernel: [    3.498489] ahci-sunxi 1c18000.sata: PHY power up failed.
Jan 26 20:22:03 localhost kernel: [    3.498557] ahci-sunxi: probe of 1c18000.sata failed with error -5

It says on armbian/banana-pi that "NAND is not supported yet" for kernel 4.3.3, does this mean the SATA port? If so, is there a 4.x kernel that does support it? Or am I just doing something wrong?

 

Has anyone been able to successfully accomplish what I am trying to do? (JMB with bootable SSD)

 

Thanks for any help, greatly appreciated.

 

 

Going thru the kernel logs, I found this:

ahci-sunxi 1c18000.sata: PHY power up failed.

 

Just the result of a simple web search for this exakt phrase above: http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.comp.boot-loaders.u-boot/248530

 

Apart from that: You know that using a PM is not the best idea? http://linux-sunxi.org/SATA#Caveats

Thanks, the patch that was provided on that site fixed the problem, rebuilt the kernel and can now detect detect the SATA port.

 

I am aware of the risks involved using the PM module, even by coping a large volume of data thru it the chip got hot to the touch. Will be keeping important data on a USB HD instead just in case.

 

Now that the SATA and PMP work I am try to make it boot from an SSD that is connected thru the PMP module. It doesn't detect any drive during the init phase, I'm guessing because either the module isn't included or enabled in the initramfs image.

 

I enable the pmp module by setting:

echo "options ahci-sunxi enable_pmp=1" > /etc/modprobe.d/ahci-sunxi.conf

I've tried to get to debug shell during the init process by setting "break=init" in /boot/boot.cmd to see if the module is there/enabled, but it just keeps booting.

 

1. Do modules get added to the initramfs image when u-boot is built?

2. Can I tell it to add that conf file when u-boot is built?

3. Is there a way I can get into the debug shell during init?

Which initrd are you talking about (please compare with https://github.com/igorpecovnik/lib/issues/103)? If you really want this setup I would build the PMP support not as a module (Y instead of M). Then it should work but you won't be able to use a SATA disk without the PMP in between.

This problem has been reported here:

 

http://forum.armbian.com/index.php/topic/691-banana-pro-testers-wanted-sata-drive-not-working-on-some-boards/