Flashing a Soekris 4526 Node using FreeBSD: Introduction

This how-to document is designed to walk people through the process of installing the software on a Soekris 4526 board using a PXE boot on a FreeBSD operating system. This is the kind of board you might buy from Metrix.net.

Software Requirements

FreeBSD [OpenBSD and NetBSD commands are similar enough that proficient users should be able to translate the FreeBSD commands offered here.
wget or links
Cu [installed by default with Tip in FreeBSD]
lrzsz

Hardware Requirements

One Ethernet port
One serial port [We found that a USB-RS232 Serial Connector worked as well.]
One crossover cable
One cat5e cable
One null-modem cable
One power-over-ethernet injector [POE]

Conventions

Three different command line prompts will be used:

$ indicates the normal user;
# indicates the root user; and

All key strokes (e.g. Shift, Control, Enter, etc...) will use the following syntax: <key> [e.g. <Shift>, <Ctrl>, etc.].

VI Tutorial

For text editing, we use VI, but feel free to use whatever text editor you like. Some useful vi commands:

<i> - enter the edit mode to change text
<Esc> - to escape the edit mode
:q! - to exit without saving changes
<Shift>zz - to save changes and exit

Proceed to Step 1

Flashing Your 4526 Soekris Node: Step 1

You need to make a "tftpboot" directory then move to the new directory

$ mkdir /tftpboot
$ cd /tftpboot

Download the files you need for the initial flash.
- $ wget http://cuwireless.net/files/netbsd.gz
- $ wget http://cuwireless.net/files/pxeboot_ia32_com0_19200.bin
You are almost there. You just need to make the files readable by everyone. [You must be root to do this.)
- $ chmod -R 744 /tftpboot

Proceed to Step 2

Flashing Your 4526 Soekris Node: Step 2

Step 2: Setup the Network for PXE Booting

DHCP Server [You will need root privileges for this step.]
1. # pkg_add -r ics-dhcp3-server
2. Now we need to change the configuration file. We do that with vi.
  - # vi /usr/local/etc/dhcpd.conf
  - Make the file look like this:
    [Remember to type <i> to edit the text, <Esc> to stop editing, and <Shift>ZZ to exit.]
    
    ddns-update-style ad-hoc;
    
    subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
    option routers 192.168.1.101;
    option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
    range 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.100;
    }
    
    class "pxe-clients-ia32" {
    match if substring(option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
    next-server 192.168.1.101;
    filename "pxeboot_ia32_com0_19200.bin";
    }
    
    class "netbsd-pxe-clients-ia32" {
    match if substring(option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 17) =
    "NetBSD:i386:libsa";
    next-server 192.168.1.101;
    filename "tftp:netbsd.gz";
    }
3. Restart the dhcp server and make sure that the dhcp server is running by entering:
  - # dhcpd &
  - # pgrep dhcpd
  - Entering the last code should give you a number. If it doesn't, your dhcpd.conf file needs to be reviewed.
TFTP Server [You will need root privileges for this step.]
1. Now you need to edit the TFTP Server Configuration. TFTPD requires the INETD service. You will need to edit "/etc/inetd.conf"
  1. # vi /etc/inetd.conf
  2. Move to the line below and put the cursor on the "#". Press DEL to remove the "#" mark.
    
    tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/libexec/tftpd tftpd -l -U 777 -s /tftpboot
  3. Exit VI
We also need to edit the /etc/remote file as follows.
- # vi /etc/remote
- Add the following lines at the end of the file:
  
  #cuwin node stuff
  cuw0:dv=/dev/cuad0:br#19200:pa-none:dc:
Reboot and Check
1. Reboot the computer: $ shutdown -r now
2. When the computer reboots, you will want to run the following commands:
  - # dhcpd &
  - # pgrep inetd
    Entering the last code should give you another number. If it doesn't, you tftp service is not running and you should revisit step 2B.
  - # pgrep dhcpd
    Entering the last code should give you a number. If it doesn't, your dhcpd.conf file needs to be reviewed.

Proceed to Step 3

Flashing Your 4526 Soekris Node: Step 3

Step 3: PXE Boot the Node
[You will need root privileges for this step.]

Plug the crossover cable into your computer's Ethernet port and the "Data" port on the POE injector. Make sure that the POE injector has power [there should be a green light on top to indicate that it has power]. Now plug the null-modem cable into the serial port on your computer and the serial port on the Soekris board.

Now you will need to run the tip program as root in order to update the BIOS of the node.

Enter su and the root password when prompted.
Now you will need to access the node console. At the command prompt, enter: # tip cuw0
You will need to reboot your node.

A successful PXEboot looks like this:

Pre-boot eXecution Environment  PXE-2.0 (build 082)
Copyright (C) 1997-2000  Intel Corporation
 
 
CLIENT MAC ADDR: 00 00 24 C3 A8 40
CLIENT IP: 192.168.1.9  MASK: 255.255.255.0  DHCP IP: 192.168.1.101
GATEWAY IP: 192.168.1.101
 
 
>> NetBSD/i386 PXE Boot, Revision 1.1
>> (rgmussel@cuw.ojctech.com, Sun Apr 23 07:50:45 CDT 2006)
>> Memory: 582/64512 k
Press return to boot now, any other key for boot menu
Starting in 0
PXE BIOS Version 2.1
Using PCI device at bus 0 device 6 function 0
Ethernet address 00:00:24:c3:a8:40
net_open: client addr: 192.168.1.9
net_open: subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
net_open: net gateway: 192.168.1.101
net_open: server addr: 192.168.1.101
net_open: file name: tftp:netbsd.gz
2159776+33612688-

Proceed to Step 4

Flashing Your 4526 Soekris Node: Step 4

Step 4: Upgrade the node

Log into the node using the root password. [usually "changeme"]
You need to change a few variables to enable the upgrade.
- > stty <space> erase Control-v <Backspace>
- > ifconfig sip0
  Find a line that looks something like this:
  inet 10.168.64.254 netmask 0xffffff00
- > ifconfig sip0 inet 10.168.64.254 netmask 0xffffff00 -alias
- > ifconfig sip0
  You should now see a line that looks something like this:
  inet 192.168.1.7 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255.
- Ping the server to verify your connection:
  > ping 192.168.1.101 -c 5
  You should see lines like this:
  64 bytes from 192.168.1.101: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.656 m

Let's upgrade the node:

> upgrade -f -C blah@192.168.1.101:/tftpboot/upgrade.tgz
[where blah is your user name.]
If that is successful, you should see something like this:

 
fdisk: DIOCGDEFLABEL: Invalid argument
fdisk: DIOCGDINFO: Invalid argument
Disk: /dev/rwd0d
NetBSD disklabel disk geometry:
cylinders: 977, heads: 4, sectors/track: 32 (128 sectors/cylinder)
total sectors: 125056

BIOS disk geometry:
cylinders: 977, heads: 4, sectors/track: 32 (128 sectors/cylinder)
total sectors: 210453442400

Partition 0:
NetBSD (sysid 169)
     start 32, size 62512 (31 MB, Cyls 0-488/2/17)
Making partition 0 active.
Preparing for upgrade on /dev/wd0e.
/dev/rwd0e: 30.5MB (62512 sectors) block size 8192, fragment size 1024
using 4 cylinder groups of 7.63MB, 977 blks, 1920 inodes.
super-block backups (for fsck_ffs -b #) at:
32, 15664, 31296, 46928,
Installing the upgrade.

Because you won't be an authenticated user, you will be prompted to verify that you want to continue. Answer yes.

The authenticity of host '192.168.1.101 (192.168.1.101)' can't be established.
DSA key fingerprint is a8:75:fe:7d:46:b7:a8:05:65:77:43:7a:67:e7:a4:fc.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?yes

You will also need to enter your password on the freebsd computer.

Warning: Permanently added '192.168.1.101' (DSA) to the list of known hosts.
Password:
100% |*************************************|  4041 KB  237.68 KB/s    --:-- ETA
Updating etc/fstab
Updating primary bootstrap
Updating active partition
Disk: /dev/rwd0d
NetBSD disklabel disk geometry:
cylinders: 977, heads: 4, sectors/track: 32 (128 sectors/cylinder)
total sectors: 125056

BIOS disk geometry:
cylinders: 977, heads: 4, sectors/track: 32 (128 sectors/cylinder)
total sectors: 210453442400

Partition 1:
NetBSD (sysid 169)
     start 62544, size 62512 (31 MB, Cyls 488/2/17-977)
Making partition 1 active.
Copying existing /etc/cuw_config.
Upgrade complete (/dev/wd0e).
 #

After that runs, type the following at the command line to reboot the node:
$ reboot

You will want to exit Tip now. Do that, you should first unplug the serial cable, then enter the following command: <Ctrl>~D [i.e. <Ctrl>-<Shift>-~, release the keys, and then <Ctrl>-<Shift>-d].

Congratulations! If you made it this far, you are ready to put the node on the roof and get to work!