I am trying to reinstall the b2 os using the instructions at http://download.excito.net/web/BubbaTwo ... index.html# (installation and reinstallation of software) and the image from http://update.excito.net/install/latest/bubba-two/. this gives me a zip image containing a folder called "install" my question is twofold 1) should I have copied the two files this contains onto the root of the pendrive, or should I have just copied the whole folder across? and 2) what other reason can anybody out there think of why the process has left me with a hosed system, no web interface, no ssh access?
Any help / advice would be much appreciated
(initially wrongly posted in feature requests - duh)
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reinstallation
Hi Carl,
I've also had problems using the restore image on a USB memory stick.
I first tried according to the instructions (unzipping it with the existing zip-file directory structure to the memory stick), when the LED hadn't stopped flashing at 2hz rate (faster than at a normal boot I think), after 5 hours I tried again with the files moved to root as in Miles' point 1 above. That failed too.
Now I retried it again as per the instructions, and still nothing happens.
The memory stick is formatted with FAT32, default windows XP block size, the files are on the only and active partition. The WAN port is connected to the internet.
Anything else I should look out for?
Thanks!
Cheeseboy
I've also had problems using the restore image on a USB memory stick.
I first tried according to the instructions (unzipping it with the existing zip-file directory structure to the memory stick), when the LED hadn't stopped flashing at 2hz rate (faster than at a normal boot I think), after 5 hours I tried again with the files moved to root as in Miles' point 1 above. That failed too.
Now I retried it again as per the instructions, and still nothing happens.
The memory stick is formatted with FAT32, default windows XP block size, the files are on the only and active partition. The WAN port is connected to the internet.
Anything else I should look out for?
Thanks!
Cheeseboy
What has most likely happend is that the usb stick that you have does not contain a partition table, and the bootloader that we use can not handle sticks without partition table.
What will happen then is that the bootloader will enter "install" mode and start flashing the LED on bubba. Then nothing will happen since the bootloader cant find out what to do since it can not read the USB-stick. So Bubba will blink forever doing nothing.
There are a couple of ways of proceeding with this:
* Try another usb-stick, the one I am using the most is a SanDisk 2GB U3 smart.
* Use an external usb-drive (FAT / FAT32) formatted. The usbdisks always seem to have a partition table.
* Use fdisk (cfdisk does not work) to delete the old partition(s) on the stick. This is possible on linux, but sofar I have not been able to use windows to modify the usb-stick. Then create a new partition and write the partition table to the disk.
/PA, Excito
What will happen then is that the bootloader will enter "install" mode and start flashing the LED on bubba. Then nothing will happen since the bootloader cant find out what to do since it can not read the USB-stick. So Bubba will blink forever doing nothing.
There are a couple of ways of proceeding with this:
* Try another usb-stick, the one I am using the most is a SanDisk 2GB U3 smart.
* Use an external usb-drive (FAT / FAT32) formatted. The usbdisks always seem to have a partition table.
* Use fdisk (cfdisk does not work) to delete the old partition(s) on the stick. This is possible on linux, but sofar I have not been able to use windows to modify the usb-stick. Then create a new partition and write the partition table to the disk.
/PA, Excito
The partition tables looked fine on the two memorysticks I tried . I finally got it to work with a USB-hdd.
I followed the same procedure with the USB memory sticks and the USB harddrive. I used fdisk on Ubuntu to wipe out the existing partitions, created a new one, made it active, marked it as Win98 FAT32, wrote the partition table to disk, formatted the partition with mkfs.vfat with the -F switch set to 32.
Interestingly the partition table has some remarkable differences after this procedure, but it still fails.
It is a mystery to me. But I did notice that all the failing USB sticks also failed to mount automatically in Ubuntu when inserted. If this is relevant or not, I'll leave for someone else to investigate....
Oh, and I also tried holding the bloody powerbutton until my thumb had a nice impression of the button to no avail. And I also tried to release it quickly, none of which made any difference.
Cheers,
Cheeseboy
I followed the same procedure with the USB memory sticks and the USB harddrive. I used fdisk on Ubuntu to wipe out the existing partitions, created a new one, made it active, marked it as Win98 FAT32, wrote the partition table to disk, formatted the partition with mkfs.vfat with the -F switch set to 32.
Interestingly the partition table has some remarkable differences after this procedure, but it still fails.
It is a mystery to me. But I did notice that all the failing USB sticks also failed to mount automatically in Ubuntu when inserted. If this is relevant or not, I'll leave for someone else to investigate....
Oh, and I also tried holding the bloody powerbutton until my thumb had a nice impression of the button to no avail. And I also tried to release it quickly, none of which made any difference.
Cheers,
Cheeseboy
Hi
How did you finally solve it?
I'm getting very frustrated.
I made a mistake on the network config and now have to re-install everything.
So Feature Request number 1: Rescue Image !
I tried the usb,
i tried a freecom thoughdrive and stuck it into my old bubba and created
a win95 fat32 and mkfs.vfat -F 32
again nothing but blinking lights...
Is there a trick with holding or releasing the power button?
Eek
How did you finally solve it?
I'm getting very frustrated.
I made a mistake on the network config and now have to re-install everything.
So Feature Request number 1: Rescue Image !
I tried the usb,
i tried a freecom thoughdrive and stuck it into my old bubba and created
a win95 fat32 and mkfs.vfat -F 32
again nothing but blinking lights...
Is there a trick with holding or releasing the power button?
Eek
Hi,
Try using your old bubba to run fdisk on the usb-stick.
Delete all partitions, if there is no partitiontable fdisk will tell you that it looks strange when you press 'p'.
Create a new partitontable and write it to the usb-stick.
Exit fdisk and format the partition. Put the install-image on the stick.
In the root-directory you should put the intire "install" directory, not just the files.
Regarding the button, on the current version (first version) of the install image you can actually hold the button too long (30sec needed or so) casing bubba to reboot once it has the install process up and running but prior to completion. This will be fixed in new release that we are working on.
Press the button and release it when the LED starts to blink.
/PA, EXcito
Try using your old bubba to run fdisk on the usb-stick.
Delete all partitions, if there is no partitiontable fdisk will tell you that it looks strange when you press 'p'.
Create a new partitontable and write it to the usb-stick.
Exit fdisk and format the partition. Put the install-image on the stick.
In the root-directory you should put the intire "install" directory, not just the files.
Regarding the button, on the current version (first version) of the install image you can actually hold the button too long (30sec needed or so) casing bubba to reboot once it has the install process up and running but prior to completion. This will be fixed in new release that we are working on.
Press the button and release it when the LED starts to blink.
/PA, EXcito
FWIW, the B2 install process worked for me. I think I used "b2-install-1.0-rc7.zip" at the time. Unzip to a USB stick, plug in and turn on with power-button depressed, and wait 15..30 min or so for light to stop blinking.
Make sure you unzip in such a way that the top-level on the USB stick is a directory called "install".
-jcw
Make sure you unzip in such a way that the top-level on the USB stick is a directory called "install".
-jcw
I took my USB disk instead of a memory stick and created a 1GB FAT32 partition on it with the same steps I took on the failing memory sticks, and then it worked...Hi
How did you finally solve it?
EDIT: The powerbutton didn't seem to make any difference, I tried all kinds of holding in and letting go.
I also tried formatting my mem-sticks in a number of different ways, but it just wouldn't have it. Both mem-sticks were of the same cheap-o unbranded kind that we buy for give-aways with our logo printed on them at work...