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OpenBSD Configuration and Installation via Serial Port on Soekris

Introduction

You've just bought a Soekris board without thinking too much about it... don't worry, it works like a charm :-).

I'm going to explain how I was able to put OpenBSD on my Soekris with a CompactFlash drive.

Materials Used

For my installation, I needed:

  • A DB9 Female/Female serial cable (also called NULL-MODEM)
  • A USB to serial port cable (I no longer have serial ports on my machines)
  • A network cable connected to interface 1 (the first one) of the Soekris for the PXE boot to work
  • A Compact Flash card (Kingston Elite Pro 16GB 133X) (SanDisk is preferred for compatibility reasons)
  • And finally, the Soekris 5501-70

Prerequisites

Before starting, certain things need to be set up. I won't explain how all the services below work, so I'll simply provide my configurations. However, I invite you to check out:

My DHCP and TFTP server has the IP address 192.168.10.107 here.

DHCP Server

Here's my DHCP configuration:

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ddns-update-style ad-hoc;
option domain-name-servers 212.27.40.241, 212.27.40.240;
option routers 192.168.10.138;
log-facility local7;
subnet 192.168.10.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
 range 192.168.10.70 192.168.10.80;
 filename "pxeboot";
 next-server 192.168.10.107;
 option root-path "/var/lib/tftpboot";
}

Don't forget to restart the DHCP server after making changes.

TFTP Server

For TFTP, go to /var/lib/tftpboot and do this:

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cd /var/lib/tftpboot
wget http://ftp.arcane-networks.fr/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/i386/bsd.rd
wget http://ftp.arcane-networks.fr/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/i386/pxeboot
mkdir etc
touch etc/boot.conf
chmod -Rf 777 .

Then edit the boot.conf file and insert these lines:

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set tty com0
stty com0 19200
boot bsd.rd

Don't forget to restart your TFTP server.

Soekris BIOS

Connection via Minicom

Launch minicom:

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$ minicom -s

Then go to:

  • Serial port configuration
  • Baud rate/Parity/Bits
  • Set it to 19200 8N1 (key combination c+a+q)

Save everything and exit to validate the configuration. Now you're connected.

Boot

Let's configure the Soekris BIOS. Use your com port to connect to it and press Ctrl+P at boot to enter the BIOS:

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POST: 012345689bcefghips1234ajklnopqr,,,tvwxy

comBIOS ver. 1.33  20070103  Copyright (C) 2000-2007 Soekris Engineering.

net5501

0512 Mbyte Memory                        CPU Geode LX 500 Mhz

Pri Mas  ELITE PRO CF CARD 16GB          LBA Xlt 1024-255-63  15761 Mbyte

Slot   Vend Dev  ClassRev Cmd  Stat CL LT HT  Base1    Base2   Int
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0:01:2 1022 2082 10100000 0006 0220 08 00 00 A0000000 00000000 10
0:06:0 1106 3053 02000096 0117 0210 08 40 00 0000E101 A0004000 11
0:07:0 1106 3053 02000096 0117 0210 08 40 00 0000E201 A0004100 05
0:08:0 1106 3053 02000096 0117 0210 08 40 00 0000E301 A0004200 09
0:09:0 1106 3053 02000096 0117 0210 08 40 00 0000E401 A0004300 12
0:14:0 104C AC23 06040002 0107 0210 08 40 01 00000000 00000000
0:20:0 1022 2090 06010003 0009 02A0 08 40 80 00006001 00006101
0:20:2 1022 209A 01018001 0005 02A0 08 00 00 00000000 00000000
0:21:0 1022 2094 0C031002 0006 0230 08 00 80 A0005000 00000000 15
0:21:1 1022 2095 0C032002 0006 0230 08 00 00 A0006000 00000000 15
1:00:0 100B 0020 02000000 0107 0290 00 40 00 0000D001 A4000000 10
1:01:0 100B 0020 02000000 0107 0290 00 40 00 0000D101 A4001000 07
1:02:0 100B 0020 02000000 0107 0290 00 40 00 0000D201 A4002000 10
1:03:0 100B 0020 02000000 0107 0290 00 40 00 0000D301 A4003000 07

 5 Seconds to automatic boot.   Press Ctrl-P for entering Monitor.

comBIOS Monitor.   Press ? for help.

Once inside, set the date and time:

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time HH:MM:SS
date YYYY/MM/DD

Now for some brief explanations about the boot process. Enter the BIOS again and use the show command to see the available options:

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> show

ConSpeed = 19200
ConLock = Enabled
ConMute = Disabled
BIOSentry = Enabled
PCIROMS = Enabled
PXEBoot = Enabled
FLASH = Primary
BootDelay = 5
FastBoot = Disabled
BootPartition = Disabled
BootDrive = 80 81 F0 FF
ShowPCI = Enabled
Reset = Hard
CpuSpeed = Default

The BootDrive devices are indicated as follows:

  • 80: hard disk (IDE or SATA)
  • 81: compact flash
  • F0: PXE

We'll boot from PXE to launch the OpenBSD installation:

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boot F0

OpenBSD Installation

Perform your installation as you normally would, except it would be good not to set up a swap partition to avoid stressing the Compact Flash.

Then, toward the end of the installation, don't forget to specify that you also want to use the com port to connect:

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Change the default console to com0? [no] yes
Available speeds are: 9600 19200 38400 57600 115200.
Which one should com0 use? (or 'done') [9600] 19200
Saving configuration files...done.

Then reboot, and once again we'll touch the BIOS one last time to specify the boot order:

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set BootDrive=81 80 F0 FF
reboot

There are subtleties described below due to the short lifespan of compact flash. We'll do everything possible to preserve it as much as possible.

Remove Access Information

Let's remove access information on the compact flash with the noatime option in fstab:

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/dev/wd0a / ffs rw,noatime 1 1
/dev/wd0d /var ffs rw,nodev,nosuid,noatime 1 2

Add MFS Filesystems

Add MFS filesystems to your data that changes regularly:
MFS: Using a Filesystem in RAM

Watchdog

I strongly recommend enabling the watchdog:
Setting up a Watchdog

Updating OpenBSD

For updates, simply specify during installation that you want to upgrade the system. Then, after rebooting, download the etcXX.tgz file of the OpenBSD version you're upgrading to in /tmp and run this command:

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sysmerge -s etcXX.tgz

You'll then see menus for merging your configurations.

FAQ

Why doesn't the OS boot on first attempt? I have to do a cold boot for it to work.

I had messages like these:

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open(hd0a:/etc/boot.conf): Unknown error: code 102
boot>
booting hd0a:/bsd: open hd0a:/bsd: Unknown error: code 102
 failed(102). will try /bsd
boot>
booting hd0a:/bsd: open hd0a:/bsd: Invalid argument
 failed(22). will try /bsd
Turning timeout off.
boot>

Forced to reset at the Monitor (BIOS) level, and therefore do a Cold boot for the OS to boot, what a joke...

To solve the problem, there are 2 solutions:

  • Change your Flash card to a more compatible one (SanDisk for example, as indicated on the Soekris site)

References