Can't open NAND FLASH device

[druucifer]

Hello all, I am trying to fix my dad's OLPC but I have hit a brick wall, and I haven't been able to find an answers by searching the forums.

When I power on, I get the sad face and a message that says "Boot failed." I looked around and followed the directions on this page: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Activated_Update

I downloaded the filesystem image and fs.zip and placed them on a clean 4GB USB flash drive, that was formatted FAT32. I put this in the OLPC's USB slot, and then booted while holding down all the game keys. I then got this message:

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Trying disk:\fs.zip
Filesystem image found -   Signature valid
Can't open NAND FLASH device
ok


I can type things after the "ok" but it doesn't appear to recognize any basic linux commands. I tried this in each of the 3 USB slots, and I got the same message every time.

I then tried placing the same files on a clean formatted SD card (also FAT32 format.) I tried booting with all of the same keys held down, but it fails to recognize the card (it looks on the USB drive, the SD card, and the internet, before finally arriving at the sad face "boot failed" screen.) I then tried again with a different SD card, but I got the same result.

I'm beginning to think that the internal flash memory is fried. If that is the case, is it possible to fix myself? If not, can I ship this in for factory service? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[ektoric]

I can type things after the "ok" but it doesn't appear to recognize any basic linux commands.

The "ok" prompt has put you at the Open Firmware (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Open_Firmware), the equivalent of a "bios" on your desktop, but much more adaptive.

I'm beginning to think that the internal flash memory is fried. If that is the case, is it possible to fix myself? If not, can I ship this in for factory service? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Eventually NAND flash parts do go bad, if you use them extensively (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/How_to_Damage ... age_Device). But before we declare it bad, try tesing the flash (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XO_Self_Test). If it is really bad, it is "possible" to open up the XO, re-solder a new NAND part.

[druucifer]

Thanks for the reply! I tried running the self-tests and this is what I get.

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ok test /nandflash::full
Device /nandflash::full not found.

ok test /nandflash::help
Device /nandflash::help not found.

ok test /nandflash
Device /nandflash not found.

I tried the test command on the wifi and the SPI flash, and it worked for both of them. it just appears not to work on the nand flash.

I also ran memtest. I did get what looked like a bunch of errors (a bunch of stuff highlighted in red listed under "Failing Address") but I'm not sure if that is testing the nand flash or not.

I contacted one of the repair centers and they said a way to fix it on the cheap would be to run it off an SD card. Would I experience a significant difference in performance if I go this route? Thanks again for your help.

[ektoric]

Yep, it looks like your internal NAND has gone kaput. The memtest was for RAM. Having bad RAM can cause all sorts of weirdness to happen unexpectedly. There are ways to map out bad sectors of RAM thereby ignoring those and only using the good parts, but I don't know if the XO's distribution does that You might want to call your support center and ask about that bit as well.

If your RAM is good, running on an SD card is relatively straightforward. And no, you probably will not notice any performance impact.