UEFI boot from eMMc fails (Solved)

[wizard]

@knownuthin

Solved for Lenovo Thinkpad 11e and maybe for others, see this topic: viewtopic.php?p=110305#p110305

Quote from this topic: viewtopic.php?t=7436

However I can't get boot to happen if I move everything to the Dell 3040 eMMc drive using the frugalpup process.

I have a similar problem with a converted Chromebook. It is UEFI boot only and has a eMMc internal drive. It boots fine from USB, but fails if Puppy is installed to the eMMc drive, grub can't find the maIn .sfs file. Tried lots of iterations, no luck so far. I do have MX LInux installed and running on it, but MX ain't no Puppy.

wizard
Top

[rcrsn51]

grub can't find the maIn .sfs file.

This is not the fault of GRUB - the problem is in the Puppy initrd. It's the job of the initrd to find the Puppy .sfs files.

Some Puppies like Fossa have trouble with emmc drives.

The Starter Kit has no problems with emmc. My converted Chromebooks all work that way.

[wizard]

Thanks @rcrsn51

Should have noted that I tried Fossapup64 9.5, F96ce_4 and Bookworm64-10 all with the same results. Do you have any suggestions for a fix?

wizard

[rcrsn51]

Do you have any suggestions for a fix?

I already gave you one.

[rcrsn51]

Bookworm64-10

I just installed this to an emmc drive using the Multi Installer and it worked fine on a UEFI boot.

[wizard]

Does the Multi Installer refer to FrugalPup?

Thanks
wizard

[wizard]

@rcrsn51

Ok, found the Multi-installer, will try it and report back.

Thanks
wizard

[wizard]

@rcrsn51

Thanks for running the test on BW64-10

My hardware=Thinkpad 11e Chromebook (2014), 4gb ram, 16gb eMMc internal drive, with Seabios conversion.

It boots BW64-10 from USB OK and can run MX-Linux from the eMMc. Can't get any Puppy to boot from the eMMc so far. Here's what I have tried from your suggestion:

Downloaded Multi-installer, Grub2, and EFI files from: https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic ... 58#p95358
Used your instructions to:
-Use Gparted to configure the eMMc as GPT with fat32 & ext4 partitions, fat32 as bootable.
Multi-installer to:
-install grub2 bootloader to eMMc fat32
-install BW64-10 ISO to eMMc ext4
-copy content of grubmenu.txt to eMMc fat32 /EFI/grub/grub.cfg

Reboot to eMMc gives this error (same I'm getting with other install methods):
Thanks
wizard

emmc-booterror2.jpg (76.42 KiB) Viewed 2288 times

[rcrsn51]

Here is a problem I have seen with emmc hardware. If you do a soft reboot instead of a cold start, the system gets confused about the name of the emmc drive. It may change from mmcblk0 to mmcblk1.

Check you grub menu stanza. Which one is shown there?

[wizard]

@rcrsn51

Here's the content of grub.cfg:

Code: Select all

### For a USB install, change pmedia=atahd to pmedia=usbflash AND delete pdev1=xxxx ###

menuentry "BookwormPup64_10.0 on mmcblk1p2" {
  echo "Booting ..."
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 9d56d38a-b469-4594-8c14-75da28012105
  linux /bw64-10/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd pdev1=mmcblk1p2 psubdir=bw64-10 pfix=fsck
  initrd /bw64-10/initrd.gz
}


menuentry "Reboot" {
  reboot
}

menuentry "Power off" {
  halt
}

Thanks
wizard

[rcrsn51]

Change pdev1=mmcblk1p2 to pdev1=mmcblk0p2.
Do a cold start.

Or remove the pdev1 argument.

If the boot fails and ends with a prompt, type the command: blkid

Does it show any emmc parititions?

The Starter Kit avoids this situation by using UUIDs to identify locations.

[wizard]

@rcrsn51

Tried both:

Change pdev1=mmcblk1p2 to pdev1=mmcblk0p2.
Do a cold start.
Or remove the pdev1 argument.

Same error

blkid shows nothing if the USB is not plugged in and shows the id for the USB when it is.

Just doesn't find that eMMc.

Thanks
wizard

[rcrsn51]

What model is this converted Chromebook?

Does the UEFI firmware identify the emmc drive as a boot device?

I don't know why my setup boots and your does not. It feels like a timing problem in the Bookworm initrd.

[wizard]

@rcrsn51

My hardware=Thinkpad 11e Chromebook (2014), 4gb ram, 16gb eMMc internal drive, with Seabios conversion.

Does the UEFI firmware identify the emmc drive as a boot device?

Yes

Very puzzling since MX-linux installs and boots OK

Thanks
wizard

[bigpup]

Not a cure for your issue, but some info for you.

I too have a Chromebook I converted to using Puppy Linux.
I changed the bios firmware to what is provided by mrchromebox.tech.

The only version of Puppy to boot from the internal drive is eslacko64, which is an experimental build, to test some changes to init.
viewtopic.php?t=1109

Maybe something in this topic can help you.

All other Puppy versions I tried, did the same as you are seeing.

I just stopped trying to install and boot from the internal emmc drive.

I put Puppy versions on a SD card and boot Puppy from it.
No problem booting anything from the SD card.
The SD card is much bigger in size 128GB, compared to the internal emmc 16GB.
It hardly shows on the side of the laptop, barely sticking out of the reader slot.
I use the internal drive for storage.

[wizard]

@bigpup

Thanks Big, good to know it's not just my particular Chromebook. It is puzzling since:
1. The Seabios (mrchromebox) sees the eMMc as a boot drive
2. If you boot BW64 from the USB it sees the eMMc
3. MX-linux can install and boot from the eMMc

Think that @rcrsn51 is probably right, it's something in initrd.gz when booting from the eMMc.

Thanks
wizard

[rcrsn51]

My Chromebook conversions all involve the full ROM replacement with the UEFI payload. Maybe there is some difference in how Puppy boots that way vs with the SeaBIOS ROM.

I have found that opening the case and removing the WP screw is a fairly simple task. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to do it for various models.

With newer Chromebooks, it's even easier. Open the case. Unplug the battery from the motherboard. Reboot off AC. Do the conversion. Reconnect the battery.

[Edit] I'm guessing that you are NOT reformatting the emmc drive but are leaving it as GPT. But you are trying to boot it with Grub4Dos. That's not going to work.

[wizard]

@rcrsn51

My Chromebook conversions all involve the full ROM replacement with the UEFI payload

That's what was done on this Thinkpad 11e, a full ROM replacement. The case was opened and the write protect screw was removed beforehand.

[Edit] I'm guessing that you are NOT reformatting the emmc drive but are leaving it as GPT. But you are trying to boot it with Grub4Dos. That's not going to work.

Good guess, but the eMMc has been tried with both GPT and MSDOS partition tables and formatted accordingly. never installed grub4dos, always using grub2. I've also tried installing MX-linux, plus BW64 install in same partition, then adding a menu entry for BW64 in the MX-liux grub.cfg. Get the same errors.

Thanks
wizard

[rcrsn51]

then adding a menu entry for BW64 in the MX-liux grub.cfg.

Could you post the GRUB entry for that?

It's a mystery why my BookwormPup boots and yours does not. I can't see why its initrd would behave differently.

[wizard]

@rcrsn51

Here's the last grub.cfg, check line 111. I've tried multiple iterations for the BW64 entry without success. This one tries to copy the MX entry syntax. We may be just looking at a differences in the hardware or maybe in the version of Seabios, mine was installed about 3 weeks ago.

Thanks
wizard

[rcrsn51]

Code: Select all

linux /bw64/vmlinuz net.ifnames=0 root=UUID=3675127c-925a-40e7-8c93-be861e4e3501 pmedia=usbflash pdrv=3675127c-925a-40e7-8c93-be861e4e3501 psubdir=/bw64 ...

This style didn't work for me either. My line is just

Code: Select all

linux /BookwormPup64/vmlinuz  pdev1=mmcblk0p2 psubdir=BookwormPup64  ...

[peterw]

Don't know if this helps. I multi-boot my2014 Chromebook with the BIOS converted with the MrChromebox utility script to be a UEFI laptop. I have increases the storage and generally I run a Distro such as Mint and add the extras to its bootloader:

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
menuentry "Fatdog 812 (sda2/fatdog)" {
set root='hd0,gpt2'
linux /fatdog/vmlinuz rootfstype=ramfs
initrd /fatdog/initrd
echo Booting ...
}

menuentry "Slacko (sda2/slacko)" {
set root='hd0,gpt2'
linux /slacko/vmlinuz root=UUID=f9c6170c-92ae-4dc5-a88f-108999ab8754 psubdir=/slacko
initrd /slacko/initrd.gz
echo Booting ...
}
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

[rcrsn51]

I have concerns about the new pdrv boot argument.

Also, I don't understand the root= argument. A Puppy frugal install has not needed it since Puppy 2.x.

[wizard]

@rcrsn51

linux /BookwormPup64/vmlinuz pdev1=mmcblk0p2 psubdir=BookwormPup64 ...

Tried your syntax, it still can't find the main .sfs

Thanks
wizard

[esos]

"linux /BookwormPup64/vmlinuz pdev1=mmcblk0p2 psubdir=BookwormPup64"

I dont know if boot stanza pdev exists in puppies. bdev for mxlinux.
Just read bookworm README.txt if any pdev exist.
I would delete pdev.
Good luck!

[rcrsn51]

The pdev1 boot argument has been in Puppy forever and still works.

[bigpup]

Try booting to the boot menu and not having it proceed with the boot.
Just change to a different selection.
That should stop it from auto booting the first entry.

Wait about 1 minute or more.

Then select a Puppy to boot.

Any affect?

[rcrsn51]

@wizard: Which exact Thinkpad 11E model do you have? The Baytrail? Do you know its Chromebook ID name?

[wizard]

@rcrsn51

Thinkpad 11e (Baytrail/Glimmer) MPN: 20DB-S03L00

Thanks
wizard

[wizard]

@bigpup

Good idea, but I waited 3 minutes and it gave the same errors

Thanks
wizard