Troubleshooting
General information
- Always look at the log file for a detailed error message:
~/.local/var/pmbootstrap/log.txt
- Make sure, that you have the latest version. Your bug may already be fixed.
- Please report the bugs you have found in the issues, so we can fix them.
- Syslog is enabled, and will log to shared memory once the OS has booted. It can be read with the
logread
tool in BusyBox. The syslog is currently not preserved across reboots.
Specific troubleshooting pages
- Troubleshooting:boot
- Troubleshooting:display
- Troubleshooting:grsec (TL;DR: doesn't work)
- Troubleshooting:kernel
- Troubleshooting:Xorg
- Troubleshooting:HID buttons
Uncategorized errors
musl-*
/busybox-static-*
fails to build with a 404 error
Run pmbootstrap aportgen musl-armhf musl-aarch64
. The reason why this fails from time to time is, that we use Alpine's binary musl
lib c package for armhf
/aarch64
in the native chroot, to get the cross-compiler working. So the download URL inside the aports/cross/musl-*/APKBUILD
file must be in sync with the upstream version. This pmbootstrap command safely gets the new version, uses apk
to verify the signature of the package, generates the hash, and updates the APKBUILD
file. To make sure, that pmbootstrap aportgen
receives the latest musl
version, delete your HTTP cache right before by executing this command: pmbootstrap zap -hc
. Don't bother making a pull-request for this, as the fix is really trivial (see this commit). Just report it as issue, if it happens.
pmbootstrap is broken! But it worked yesterday!
Sorry! Revert to the last commit, that was known to work (git checkout $commit) and report an issue, if there is not already one. Consult with others in the IRC/matrix channel to find out, which commit was the last one that worked.
Permission denied: .../pmbootstrap/work/chroot_native/proc/1/cwd'
It looks like you have created your work folder as: pmbootstrap/work
, where pmbootstrap
is the folder with the checked out source code. That is not supported. Please run pmbootstrap shutdown
, then delete that folder, then run pmbootstrap init
again and choose another work folder (e.g. ~/.local/var/pmbootstrap
).
After that it should work - if this still does not resolve it, please open up an issue in the GitHub tracker.
can't create /dev/null
: Permission denied
Make sure that your working directory is mounted correctly. This can happen when working over NFS, or when you mounted the drive your working directory is on trough the file explorer (if that's the case, umount
it, and mount
it manually). This can probably happen on every drive mounted with nosuid
or similar.
Problems with installing gcc-armhf
or gcc-aarch64
The cross-compiler version of gcc needs to be in sync with Alpine's official version of gcc (otherwise there will be dependency errors regarding libc++.so or something like that). Please pull the latest pmbootstrap code, zap your chroots and try again. If it still does not work, run pmbootstrap aportgen gcc-armhf
. It should give you the newest version.
Please make an issue about this, if there is none in the tracker.
Figuring out booting problems
Add rc_logging=YES
to /etc/rc.conf
to have openrc log all its steps to /var/log/rc.log
. If you managed to get the system to boot far enough to have telnet access, add the port 24 telnet listener and you can mount the root device to view said log.
SSH / udev / touch screen do not work
- Make sure, that
DEVTMPFS
is enabled in your kernel config. Do not enableDEVTMPFS_MOUNT
.
I can't access the framebuffer device
cat /dev/random > /dev/fb0
returns:cat: write error: No such device
- This could be caused by a proprietary 3d driver enabled in the kernel config. Try to disable it (the actual config options may be different).
BusyBox does something different than the standard tool for the job, and this breaks building my package!
Example: unzip in BusyBox doesn't extract symlinks like the normal unzip implementation (#82).
Solution: Simply add unzip
to the makedepends in the APKBUILD, and the "real" unzip will be used (or in that case, try to get the sources in another archive format, such as .tar.bz2
, .tar.xz
, .tar.gz
).
Errors with ecryptfs
When your "work" folder is inside an ecryptfs mounted folder, /dev/random
may not work inside the chroot and you may have other issues. Try to move your work folder to another location, you can use /tmp
to test if this resolves the issue. You can change the location in pmbootstrap init
. See also: #61. (This doesn't seem to be an issue with newer versions of ecryptfs anymore.)
ERROR: unsatisfiable constraints
Unsatisfiable constraints means, that Alpine's package manager can't resolve packages properly. Most likely this is because Alpine updated a package and the postmarketOS repository has not been adjusted yet. Here are instructions on how you can fix this locally - but make sure that the postmarketOS community is informed as well, so the pmOS binary repos can be upgraded, too.
This is how it looks like, when GCC got upgraded:
ERROR: unsatisfiable constraints: libstdc++-6.4.0-r6: breaks: g++-armhf-6.4.0-r5[libstdc++=6.4.0-r5] satisfies: world[libstdc++] g++-6.4.0-r6[libstdc++=6.4.0-r6] g++-6.4.0-r6[libstdc++=6.4.0-r6] gcc-6.4.0-r6[so:libstdc++.so.6] lzip-1.19-r1[so:libstdc++.so.6] gcc-6.4.0-r6: breaks: g++-armhf-6.4.0-r5[gcc=6.4.0-r5] satisfies: world[gcc] g++-6.4.0-r6[gcc=6.4.0-r6] build-base-0.5-r0[gcc]
So we need to update our GCC cross-compilers, too:
$ pmbootstrap aportgen gcc-armhf
$ pmbootstrap zap
$ pmbootstrap build --ignore-depends gcc-armhf
This compiles a new armhf cross-compiler, that is compatible with the one from Alpine. We need the --ignore-depends
switch, because abuild
will try to install a build-base-armhf
package otherwise, that we don't have (it probably gets generated if you use Alpine's official bootstrap scripts). Replace armhf
with aarch64
as necessary.
upstream repo broken
(This is very unlikely and has only happened once.) postmarketOS is based on Alpine Linux testing. Maybe they have triggered a rebuild and it failed, so now the package is not available. You could try to install the latest stable package, as a workaround (although that may introduce other bugs!). Here's an example.
Serial Console Debug Cable (early boot debugging)
For some devices it's possible to get early boot output using a debug cable that provides access to the UART. Unfortunately manufacturers don't use to publish the details and it is endusers who in some cases have figured it out:
- Here's one such cable for Nexus 4 and another for Nexus 5.
- This article goes a step further with Google Nexus devices.
- Sony has published information about how to access the UART port on their Xperia series
- The Replicant wiki has useful information on this as well.
On fastboot devices, you may have to enable UART debugging with fastboot oem uart-on
.
By default, all output from the initramfs get redirected to /pmOS_init.log
. If you want the output through the debug cable you need to add PMOS_NO_OUTPUT_REDIRECT
to your kernel command line.
See Serial debugging.
Proprietary Blobs
Many devices require proprietary blobs for enabling certain peripherals (wifi/bluetooth/cellular/GPS). These repositories appear to contain blobs for a large percentage of devices out there.
Force reboot
On some phones, you can hold down the power button for ten seconds to force a reboot. If that does not work: On other phones, you have to hold the power button down for a full minute (or hold it together with volume down). On some phones, it might take even longer (3 minutes or so).
Phone shows the telnet message, a black screen, or doesn't leave the bootloader or Samsung/Google/... splash screen
See: Troubleshooting:boot
My device runs the Linux kernel (e.g. Android), but the vendor does not provide the source
- Ask kindly via e-mail.
- If they don't provide the source, team up with gpl-violations.org. You have the legal right to get the source, because the Linux kernel is under the GPLv2!
- Another option is using prebuilt kernels
I have ported postmarketOS to my device and the screen doesn't get updated
There is a known bug where if you execute cat /sys/class/graphics/fb0/modes > /sys/class/graphics/fb0/mode
exactly one frame is drawn, and the screen isn't updated otherwise.
"if running weston from ssh, use --tty to specify a tty"
Specify a tty in weston's commandline. The correct syntax is: weston --tty=1
.
Weston and fbsplash -s <image> do not work
If Weston returns an error because it could not access /dev/tty1
, even when you specify it on the command line as above, you may need to enable Virtual Terminals in the kernel config.
You can enable CONFIG_VT
using pmbootstrap menuconfig
and checking under Device Drivers -> Character devices -> Virtual terminal
My screen is red!
There are some buggy framebuffer drivers (e.g. in LG Nexus 5) that report incorrect data. You can override it with:
weston --pixman-type=2
More information on issue #54
Errors with grsec-based kernel on the host system
WARNING: No provider for dependency...
Normal behavior. it means, that your "user" repository (the repository with all custom compiled packaged from pmOS, such as your device package and kernel) does not have the dependencies from the official Alpine Linux repositories (such as cryptsetup
, iw
, htop
, ...) when indexing it. But these dependencies are in the official repositories, so they will be found when you try to install something. Usually the package indexing is done on all repositories at once in Alpine (then you wouldn't get the error), but pmOS does it only on the "user" repository.
ERROR: busybox-1.27.0-r1.post-install: script exited with error 127
Normal behavior. We use a x86_64 version of apk
to set up the chroots. When setting up the armhf chroot, the armhf post-installation code can't be executed, and that's where the errors come from. But we run "apk fix" right afterwards - with the armhf architecture, because we have an armhf version of apk installed inside the chroot now - and this runs the installation scripts again.
sh: can't create /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register: nonexistent directory
This issue is known to happen in Alpine Virthardened. These commands should fix it:
sudo modprobe binfmt_misc sudo mount -t binfmt_misc none /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
If it still does not work, it is probably not supported by your host Linux distribution's kernel (CONFIG_BINFMT_MISC
). Try to use another kernel.
ERROR: /mnt/pmbootstrap-packages/x86_64/qemu-user-static-repack-2.8-r6.apk: UNTRUSTED signature
You don't have your own package signing key imported, which gets generated when you compile a package for the first time. pmbootstrap should automatically import it, but when you hit ^C
during that, it may go wrong.
Your generated key is in ~/.local/var/pmbootstrap/config_abuild
, all imported keys are in ~/.local/var/pmbootstrap/config_apk_keys
.
A quick fix is deleting all packages:
./pmbootstrap zap -p
See issue #270 for more information and don't hesitate to reopen if this didn't work for you.
Fastboot does not detect my device!
Maybe you need to install udev rules on your host Linux distribution. Arch has the android-udev package for example, which uses the rules from here.
If that does not help, it might be necessary to set the flash_fastboot_vendor_id
in your deviceinfo (this was necessary for the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX). Try to search the web for your device name and "fastboot vendor id".
Invalid sparse file format at header magi
In some devices (e.g.: bullhead, titan), when flashing the system (pmbootstrap flasher flash_system
), it works but fastboot complains of Invalid sparse file format at header magi
.
$ ./pmbootstrap.py flasher flash_system [23:02:58] (native) install android-tools [23:02:58] (native) flash system image target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes Invalid sparse file format at header magi sending sparse 'system' 1/1 (274101 KB)... OKAY [ 9.452s] writing 'system' 1/1... OKAY [ 12.584s] finished. total time: 22.036s [23:03:20] Done
It happens when your device expects a sparse system image. The workaround is as follows:
- Set
deviceinfo_flash_sparse=true
in deviceinfo - Add
libsparse
todepends=
.
For more information, see issue #299
Installed version newer than the version in the repositories
You have a program installed in one of your chroots with a higher version, than what is available in the binary package repositories (either from upstream or the packages you have built yourself).
Example how this can happen:
- Git branch switch to one which increased the version of
postmarketos-mkinitfs
- Build
postmarketos-mkinitfs
- Install it in a chroot (e.g. by running
pmbootstrap install
) - Branch switched to
master
- All packages got zapped, but not the chroots
- Build
postmarketos-mkinitfs
again (this time it has a lower version count!)
Solution: Simply zap your chroot! When it gets set up again, it will use the current package version.
Newer version in binary package repositories than in aports folder
You have built a package earlier, and the branch you are currently working in has a lower version in the aports folder.
Example how this can happen:
- Git branch switch to a feature branch which increased the version of
postmarketos-mkinitfs
- Build
postmarketos-mkinitfs
- Switch to
master
branch - Run just about any
pmbootstrap
command, it will print this warning:
Package 'postmarketos-mkinitfs' in your aports folder has version X, but the binary package repositories already have version Y
Solution: Run pmbootstrap zap -m
to delete the mismatched binary packages.
Note: If that does not help it, you can manually delete that specific packages from your aports folder: sudo rm ~/.local/var/pmbootstrap/packages/*/postmarketos-mkinitfs*.apk
and run pmbootstrap index
to re-index all packages. See also: #466, #474
Screen output flicker and inactivity
If you notice a very brief flicker upon boot, but immediately disappears and screen turns black, you might have a buggy framebuffer Qualcomm MDSS MDP3 driver.
You can try patching the source code by removing the function assigned to the mdp3_interface->off_fnc
in the mdp3_ctrl.c
file.
See example patch: 05_fix_mdp3_ctrl_off.patch
Screen output messed up
If the output on the screen is not aligned correctly (see picture) it's probably because you have a wrong value in /sys/class/graphics/fb0/bits_per_pixel
.
You can try patching the source code by setting a different video mode (RGB/ARGB/RGBA/YCRYCB/...).
See example patch: 06_fix_mdss_fb_rgb_mode.patch
Packaging for aarch64: ./config.guess: unable to guess system type
This happens in packages built with autoconf (./configure; make; make install), when it ships an outdated config.guess file in the source code. Adjust your APKBUILD's prepare()
function like done in #698.
Device reboots
- If your device always reboots after the same time (e.g. 2 minutes) after booting, you probably need to feed (or disable) a watchdog. Try to search your kernel config for watchdog, and also the internet for watchdog + your phone name.
- Android: The kernel config option
CONFIG_ANDROID_LOW_MEMORY_KILLER
may cause reboots. Please check if you have disabled it. If this helps you, please let us know, so we can consider checking for this option. - Android: it is possible to get the
dmesg
log from just before the crash after the reboot if you enable some kernel options.
ERROR: ... BAD archive
If you pmbootstrap log
shows something similar to the following:
(005853) [22:25:47] (native) % apk --no-progress add -u qemu-user-static-repack qemu-user-static-repack-binfmt WARNING: Ignoring /mnt/pmbootstrap-packages/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz: No such file or directory (1/2) Installing qemu-user-static-repack (2.8-r9) ERROR: qemu-user-static-repack-2.8-r9: BAD archive (2/2) Installing qemu-user-static-repack-binfmt (2.8-r9) 1 error; 20 MiB in 36 packages (005853) [22:25:53] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
...then downloading a package (in this case qemu-user-static-repack
) failed. Please delete the broken package and try it again:
$ cd ~/.local/var/pmbootstrap/ # go into your work folder, as specified in 'pmbootstrap init'
$ sudo rm -v cache_apk_*/qemu-user-static-repack-* # adjust the failing package name accordingly
My Android device does not have partition labels, how do I know where to put the boot.img file etc?
- Search online for the partitions, they are probably documented somewhere.
- Try to dump all partitions. Run `file` on them, it should roughly tell you the contents. If that does not help, run binwalk.
- file output: check if it is a kernel (vmlinuz),
boot.img
file or just "data". - In case you have "data", don't flash anything there, we probably can't generate that format yet. Please open an issue in GitHub or ask on the channel.
- file output: check if it is a kernel (vmlinuz),
- You can also look at recovery zips from other Android ROMs, that were released for your device. Extract it and look at
META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script
, search for commands starting withrun_program("/sbin/busybox", "dd"
, they are for flashing partitions.
- In one example, there was
run_program("/sbin/busybox", "dd", "if=/tmp/boot.blob", "of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4");
, which means that aboot.blob
file gets flashed to/dev/block/mmcblk0p4
. Thatboot.blob
file is also in the recovery zip - run thefile
program on it (see above).
- In one example, there was
mkbootimg: error: argument --dt: can't open '/boot/dt.img'
This happens when you have deviceinfo_bootimg_qcdt
enabled (which is correct when pmbootstrap generated it that way), but your kernel does not generate the /boot/dt.img
file.
Please adjust your kernel APKBUILD
as follows:
- add
dtbtool
tomakedepends
- extend your
build()
function like this - and your
package()
function like that
See #688 for a plan to automatically generate the linux APKBUILD right.
pmbootstrap builds packages that it should download from the binary repo/that are already built
Most likely, this is issue #1023! |
Try to disable the "timestamp based rebuilds" feature in "pmbootstrap init" as a workaround and please report this as a bug. We need the following for the bug report:
- *enable* timestamp based rebuilds
pmbootstrap -v install
(let it run until it starts building the package it should not build)pmbootstrap log
(we need the log from here!)
During initramfs generation: "modprobe: WARNING: Module drm not found in directory /lib/modules/..."
This means, that a module can not be put in an initramfs. When you are not using a mainline kernel, it is likely that there are no modules configured, but the code is built directly into the kernel. This means, it is expected and can be ignored.
du: unrecognized option: summarize
If you are using Alpine Linux and you encounter this issue, you will need to install the coreutils
package.
sudo apk add coreutils