RBoot issue

[pljakobs]

I have posted this over at the RBOOT repo, but maybe someone here has an idea?
raburton/rboot#64

pj

[mikee47]

For clarity, I've copied your original post here:

=========

I'm not sure this is an 'issue' the way it's meant, but I'm getting this a lot recently (using SMING):

 ets Jan  8 2013,rst cause:1, boot mode:(3,6)

load 0x40100000, len 1220, room 16
tail 4
chksum 0xda
load 0x3ffe8000, len 640, room 4
tail 12
chksum 0xa8
csum 0xa8

rBoot v1.4.2 - [email protected]
Flash Size:   32 Mbit
Flash Mode:   DIO
Flash Speed:  40 MHz

Resetting boot config.
Invalid rom selected, defaulting to 0.
Rom 0 at 0 is bad.
Rom -1 at 0 is bad.
Rom -1 at 0 is bad.
Rom -1 at 0 is bad.

What I have tried:

* re-flashing the app - no change

* make flashinit to clean the flash and then re-flashing the app - no change

* try a brand new ESP8266 - no change in one case and success in another.

I have had odd issues of having to re-boot the esp numerous times but since I've mostly been using a serial speed of 460800baud, all I saw is unprintable characters filling the screen. I ssume this is an intermittend issue, sometimes clearing itself with a few re-boots, or rather, I should say, in some cases, it happens in four out of five boots, in other cases, it happens in very boot in a resonable number of tries.

I have mostly suspected worn out flash cells, but this latest occurence is, as said, on a fresh out of the package ESP. I have many more and will try others, but if yo have any other xplanation, I would be glad to hear that.

Oh, just for completenes: here's my hwconfig:

make hwconfig

esp_rgbww_firmware: Invoking 'hwconfig' for Esp8266 (debug) architecture

{
    "name": "Two ROM slots with single SPIFFS",
    "comment": "",
    "arch": "Esp8266",
    "options": [
        "4m",
        "spiffs"
    ],
    "bootloader_size": "8K",
    "partition_table_offset": "0x003fa000",
    "devices": {
        "spiFlash": {
            "type": "flash",
            "size": "4M",
            "mode": "dio",
            "speed": 40
        }
    },
    "partitions": {
        "rom0": {
            "device": "spiFlash",
            "address": "0x00002000",
            "size": "992K",
            "type": "app",
            "subtype": "ota_0",
            "readonly": false,
            "encrypted": false,
            "filename": "$(RBOOT_ROM_0_BIN)",
            "unused_before": 0,
            "unused_after": 0
        },
        "rom1": {
            "device": "spiFlash",
            "address": "0x00102000",
            "size": "992K",
            "type": "app",
            "subtype": "ota_1",
            "readonly": false,
            "encrypted": false,
            "filename": "$(RBOOT_ROM_0_BIN)",
            "unused_before": 0,
            "unused_after": 0
        },
        "spiffs0": {
            "device": "spiFlash",
            "address": "0x00200000",
            "size": "512K",
            "type": "data",
            "subtype": "spiffs",
            "readonly": false,
            "encrypted": false,
            "filename": "$(SPIFF_BIN_OUT)",
            "build": {
                "target": "spiffsgen",
                "files": "$(SPIFF_FILES)"
            },
            "unused_before": 0,
            "unused_after": 0
        },
        "rf_cal": {
            "device": "spiFlash",
            "address": "0x003fb000",
            "size": "4K",
            "type": "data",
            "subtype": "rfcal",
            "readonly": false,
            "encrypted": false,
            "filename": "",
            "unused_before": 0,
            "unused_after": 0
        },
        "phy_init": {
            "device": "spiFlash",
            "address": "0x003fc000",
            "size": "4K",
            "type": "data",
            "subtype": "phy",
            "readonly": false,
            "encrypted": false,
            "filename": "$(FLASH_INIT_DATA)",
            "unused_before": 0,
            "unused_after": 0
        },
        "sys_param": {
            "device": "spiFlash",
            "address": "0x003fd000",
            "size": "12K",
            "type": "data",
            "subtype": "sysparam",
            "readonly": false,
            "encrypted": false,
            "filename": "",
            "unused_before": 0,
            "unused_after": 0
        }
    }
}

[mikee47]

Please note that Sming uses a fork of rBoot (#2258) located here https://github.com/mikee47/rboot/tree/sming. This was done to accommodate partition tables.

I've flashed the Basic_Ota sample to an ESP-12F for comparison: this uses a similar hardware config to yours.

 ets Jan  8 2013,rst cause:2, boot mode:(3,7)

load 0x40100000, len 1220, room 16 
tail 4
chksum 0xda
load 0x3ffe8000, len 640, room 4 
tail 12
chksum 0xa8
csum 0xa8

rBoot v1.4.2 - [email protected]
Flash Size:   32 Mbit
Flash Mode:   DIO
Flash Speed:  40 MHz

Found 'rom0' @ 0x00002000, size 0x000f8000, subtype 0x10 ///< Missing
Found 'rom1' @ 0x00102000, size 0x000f8000, subtype 0x11 ///< Missing
Booting rom 0 at 2000, load addr 4e200.

You can follow the logic here https://github.com/mikee47/rboot/blob/cc00071f593ef7d55c0c0a7b97828173f9cda89b/rboot.c#L392.

Comparing this log to yours I can make two observations:

First, the Resetting boot config message indicates that the rBoot config is corrupt (or has been wiped). You may see this once after running flashinit but in normal operation this shouldn't happen.

Second, the subsequent call to scan_partitions yields no results, which is why the device can't boot. Possible explanations:

1. The partition table is corrupted. Run make readmap to read the partition table off the device and display it, for comparison with make map. You can use make verifyflash to read back and verify all partitions (and the partition table).
2. rBoot is looking for the partition table in the wrong place. Try rebuilding and re-flashing just rBoot, make rebuild; make flashboot.

However, either of these I would expect permanent boot failure, not the erratic issue you describe. My first though is to check you have a stable power supply with adequate decoupling next to the esp8266. If the problem is reproduceable then perhaps adding debug statements to rboot might help?

[mikee47]

Another thought, does your application use OTA updates? If so, that could be implicated...

[pljakobs]

sorry, I never came back to this, I resolved it somehow, can't really remember.
I will have some more OTA / rBoot / partition table questions, but for those, I'll open a new discussion.