Where are the User LED blink codes documented for a BeagleBone Black?

[nolo...@gmail.com]

I attempted to flash the eMMC image on a BeagleBone Black, but I've lost control of the device. At minimum, I lost SSH, HTTP and other network connectivity, and I suspect the device may be bricked.

I'm now trying to decipher the User LED blink codes to understand the device state and where things may have gone wrong. The BeagleBone Black SRM (http://www.adafruit.com/datasheets/BBB_SRM.pdf) has a section on User LEDs (Section 6.6, page 56), but it does not offer the blink codes.

Where are the User LED blink codes provided or documented?

Thanks in advance.

[Robert Nelson]

On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 9:06 PM, <nolo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I attempted to flash the eMMC image on a BeagleBone Black, but I've lost
> control of the device. At minimum, I lost SSH, HTTP and other network
> connectivity, and I suspect the device may be bricked.

Well, physical damage is the only way to brick this board..

> I'm now trying to decipher the User LED blink codes to understand the device
> state and where things may have gone wrong. The BeagleBone Black SRM
> (http://www.adafruit.com/datasheets/BBB_SRM.pdf) has a section on User LEDs
> (Section 6.6, page 56), but it does not offer the blink codes.
>
> Where are the User LED blink codes provided or documented?

The only real LED blink code is on bootup, a solid pattern

[] [] [] [] - off
[x] [] [] [] - on, starting mmc scan...
[x] [x] [] [] - scanning mmc...
[x] [x] [x] [] - processed boot script...
[x] [x] [x] [x] - jumping into boot...

Beyond that, the "flasher" does a cyclon pattern...

Otherwise the led's are just software triggers in linux controlled by gpio:

usr0: heartbeat
usr1: mmc0
usr2: cpu0
usr3: mmc1

If they stop, the core stopped..

Regards,

--
Robert Nelson
https://rcn-ee.com/

[nolo...@gmail.com]

> Where are the User LED blink codes provided or documented?

The only real LED blink code is on bootup, a solid pattern

[] [] [] [] - off
[x] [] [] [] - on, starting mmc scan...
[x] [x] [] [] - scanning mmc...
[x] [x] [x] [] - processed boot script...
[x] [x] [x] [x] - jumping into boot...

Beyond that, the "flasher" does a cyclon pattern...

OK, thanks. This is what I see (LEDs oriented to top of view). The device has been sitting steady state for about an hour or two:

[ethernet]   [] [x] [] []

That's after the failed flash, after the reboot, with the microSD card removed, and with the ethernet cable installed.

Another state I encountered I could not find information on was the "2 short blinks of all 4 LEDs followed by a long pause" (that was repeated). I encountered it after the flashing operation but before the reboot. I let the device sit 8 hours hoping it would eventually settle in the "4 LEDs all on" state after the flash, but it never got there.

Any ideas what state the device is in?

(I'll start another thread (if needed) on recovery once I can research the current state).

-----

If it matters, the Debian 8.2 image (SHA256 47142683...) from [1] and the instructions at [2] kinda got me here. I suspect the problem is mostly lies in [2] because I found it to be very under-specified.

[1] http://beagleboard.org/latest-images
[2] http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian#Flashing_eMMC

Jeff

[Robert Nelson]

On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 10:11 PM, <nolo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> > Where are the User LED blink codes provided or documented?
>>
>> The only real LED blink code is on bootup, a solid pattern
>>
>> [] [] [] [] - off
>> [x] [] [] [] - on, starting mmc scan...
>> [x] [x] [] [] - scanning mmc...
>> [x] [x] [x] [] - processed boot script...
>> [x] [x] [x] [x] - jumping into boot...
>>
>> Beyond that, the "flasher" does a cyclon pattern...
>>
> OK, thanks. This is what I see (LEDs oriented to top of view). The device
> has been sitting steady state for about an hour or two:
>
> [ethernet] [] [x] [] []
>
> That's after the failed flash, after the reboot, with the microSD card
> removed, and with the ethernet cable installed.
>
> Another state I encountered I could not find information on was the "2 short
> blinks of all 4 LEDs followed by a long pause" (that was repeated). I
> encountered it after the flashing operation but before the reboot. I let the
> device sit 8 hours hoping it would eventually settle in the "4 LEDs all on"
> state after the flash, but it never got there.

On average it takes about 5mins/GB to flash the eMMC.. So with the
debian images, anything over 20 minutes and something has gone wrong..

>
> Any ideas what state the device is in?
>
> (I'll start another thread (if needed) on recovery once I can research the
> current state).
>
> -----
>
> If it matters, the Debian 8.2 image (SHA256 47142683...) from [1] and the
> instructions at [2] kinda got me here. I suspect the problem is mostly lies
> in [2] because I found it to be very under-specified.
>
> [1] http://beagleboard.org/latest-images
> [2] http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian#Flashing_eMMC

For jessie 8.2, grab one of these:

http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian#Debian_Image_Testing_Snapshots

All the files marked as "eMMC-flasher" will flash the eMMC on bootup..

Everything else will just run from the microSD card.. (note you may
have already ran one of these, but you just never logged in..)