After a few hours of banging around, here are some breadcrumbs for the next soul who wanders this way:

1. The built-in routines only support 8 bit addressing. Full stop.

2. However, there's a smbus2.py library which can handle larger writes. I grabbed it from here and installed it in the python2.7 directory:

https://pypi.python.org/pypi/smbus2/0.2.0

1. Then, these folks wrote simple read-eeprom16.py and write-eeprom16.py files, based on smbus which seem stable enough. The reference is halfway down the page:

https://medium.com/@rxseger/i2c-interfacing-on-the-bus-pirate-and-raspberry-pi-to-serial-eeproms-for-a-hat-c776ea50f8f4

I renamed 'smbus' as 'smbus2' in the two files like this:

import sys
import smbus2
import time
bus = smbus2.SMBus(1)

That said, as written it does not currently support page read / page write, merely 16 byte chunks. So it's very slow. I'll see what I can do to speed things up.

Greetings.

I've followed instructions from @UFD to fix the built-in i2c routines and instead allow bit-banged i2c read and write. Thanks for all the work which went in to that post.

I'm attempting to read and write to a 24c512 EEPROM. Its device address is 0b101000. Per the datasheet the device is expecting a 16 bit address for reading and writing. Best I can tell, command line tools i2cget and i2cset are only sending 8 bits worth.

Here's a capture of me reading from device address 0x50, memory location 0x02. The stored data should be 0xAA.

Is there a way to force these in-built routines to use a word-sized address?I've looked here already without seeing anything obvious:

https://docs.onion.io/omega2-docs/i2c-python-module.html

Thanks for your time.

Do you have any other details to share?

@Scott-G Nice work!

Can you elaborate at all on your ethernet magjack LEDs? Am I correct to assume that they're functioning properly for 'link' and 'data'? How is that set up & configured on the Onion?

@crispyoz

I set up this machine to dual boot with a fresh copy of Ubuntu 18.0.4 installed. It took some time and a few false turns, but I'm able to compile my own 'hello world' file now:

file hello
hello: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, MIPS, MIPS32 rel2 version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib/ld-, with debug_info, not stripped

Next I'll work on rsync, etc, to automatically move the final build to my Omega 2+.

Thanks for the suggestion of running outside a virtual machine.

Here's the end of the trace which I started yesterday, plain make no -j6:

make[3] -C feeds/packages/utils/kmod compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libid3tag compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libgcrypt compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libidn2 compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/gnutls compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libvorbis compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libvorbisidec compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/utils/mariadb host-compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/net/nginx compile
make -r world: build failed. Please re-run make with -j1 V=s to see what's going on
/root/source/include/toplevel.mk:216: recipe for target 'world' failed
make: *** [world] Error 1
root@7f1783d8454f:~/source#

When I run with -j1 V=s, I get hundreds and hundreds of pages of output, scrolling past so quickly it's impossible to parse. This morning I'll make this big machine dual boot and see what happens.

@orlando-mendez Thanks that looks like a useful tool. I still can't get the docker image to compile without errors.

@Lazar-Demin

Having a hard time getting your B228 image to build. Any advice? Before I started, I cancelled / quit / deleted / removed all images and containers from my Windows 10 Docker system. Here's the trace:

C:\Users\ThinkStation>docker pull onion/omega2-source:b228
b228: Pulling from onion/omega2-source
7413c47ba209: Pull complete 0fe7e7cbb2e8: Pull complete 1d425c982345: Pull complete 344da5c95cec: Pull complete e222fd265b6c: Pull complete d9550b1ae9b6: Pull complete 828e762f4e38: Pull complete Digest: sha256:6bf05eb531ece478c1f22e3e7a9a522466e2a48f781c06a52df01afec2f10904
Status: Downloaded newer image for onion/omega2-source:b228
docker.io/onion/omega2-source:b228

C:\Users\ThinkStation>make
'make' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\Users\ThinkStation>docker run -it onion/omega2-source /bin/bash
Unable to find image 'onion/omega2-source:latest' locally
latest: Pulling from onion/omega2-source
Digest: sha256:6bf05eb531ece478c1f22e3e7a9a522466e2a48f781c06a52df01afec2f10904
Status: Downloaded newer image for onion/omega2-source:latest
root@7f1783d8454f:~/source# make
Collecting package info: doneing...eds/onion/avrdude
WARNING: Makefile 'package/feeds/onion/transmission-console-app/Makefile' has a dependency on 'Onion-Console', which does not exist
WARNING: Makefile 'package/feeds/onion/transmission-console-app/Makefile' has a dependency on 'transmission-daemon', which does not exist
WARNING: Makefile 'package/feeds/onion/zeromq/Makefile' has a build dependency on 'libuuid', which does not exist
make[2]: Entering directory '/root/source/scripts/config'
conf.c: In function 'check_stdin':
conf.c:78:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(_("aborted!\n\n"));
^~~~~~
conf.c:79:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(_("Console input/output is redirected. "));
^~~~~~
conf.c:80:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(_("Run 'make oldconfig' to update configuration.\n\n"));
^~~~~~
conf.c: In function 'conf_askvalue':
conf.c:90:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(_("(NEW) "));
^~~~~~
conf.c: In function 'conf_choice':
conf.c:291:5: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(_(" (NEW)"));
^~~~~~
conf.c: In function 'check_conf':
conf.c:439:6: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(_("\n Restart config...\n*\n"));
^~~~~~
conf.c: In function 'main':
conf.c:620:6: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
_("\n*** The configuration requires explicit update.\n\n"));
^
conf.c:674:4: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
fprintf(stderr, _("\n*** Error during writing of the configuration.\n\n"));
^~~~~~~
conf.c:678:4: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
fprintf(stderr, _("\n*** Error during update of the configuration.\n\n"));
^~~~~~~
conf.c:689:4: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
fprintf(stderr, _("\n*** Error during writing of the configuration.\n\n"));
^~~~~~~
make[2]: Leaving directory '/root/source/scripts/config'
time: target/linux/prereq#0.14#0.05#0.29
Checking 'rsync'... ok.
make[1] world
make[2] tools/compile

...
...
...
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/glib2 host-compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/utils/kmod compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libid3tag compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libgcrypt compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libidn2 compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/gnutls compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libvorbis compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/libs/libvorbisidec compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/utils/mariadb host-compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/net/nginx compile
make -r world: build failed. Please re-run make with -j1 V=s to see what's going on
/root/source/include/toplevel.mk:216: recipe for target 'world' failed
make: *** [world] Error 1
root@7f1783d8454f:~/source#

Forgive me if this is all really, really elementary. We're developing a few big projects where the Omega will be a bridge between ethernet and a handful of fast SPI chips. Python almost certainly won't be fast enough to keep up with everything, so it looks like cross-compilation from C is required.

I'm not a linux ninja, but can get around reasonably well with a search window on my second monitor:

Here's a list of rabbit holes I've been down over the past week:

1. On a Windows 10 workhorse machine, I installed Hyper-V and spun up a new Ubuntu 18.04 LTS image. Then tried working through all these steps: https://docs.onion.io/omega2-docs/cross-compiling.html I gave up after being error'd for more missing files and libraries than I can remember.

2. Disabled Hyper-V. Installed Docker Desktop for Windows 10. Tried working through these steps, including make menuconfig and selecting the proper processor, etc.:

https://docs.onion.io/omega2-docs/cross-compiling.html

https://onion.io/2bt-cross-compiling-c-programs-part-1/
https://onion.io/2bt-cross-compiling-programs/

Make -J6 fails, again, missing files and libraries.

1. Disabled Hyper-V. Somewhere in these forums someone shared a .vbox virtual disk image, 6 GB, hosted on Microsoft One Drive, a year or two ago. I downloaded it and spun it up. Make menuconfig showed that only the Omega 2 was selected, so I added the 2+. Make quits after a couple hours with errors.

2. Discovered this thread from July 2019:

http://community.onion.io/topic/3666/plans-to-update-the-onion-omega2-source-docker-container

Which mentions this new brand-new Docker image openwrt-18.06 b228:

https://hub.docker.com/r/onion/omega2-source/tags

So I started from scratch just now:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18362.356]
(c) 2019 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\ThinkStation>docker pull onion/omega2-source:latest
latest: Pulling from onion/omega2-source
Digest: sha256:6bf05eb531ece478c1f22e3e7a9a522466e2a48f781c06a52df01afec2f10904
Status: Image is up to date for onion/omega2-source:latest
docker.io/onion/omega2-source:latest

C:\Users\ThinkStation>docker run -it onion/omega2-source

root@ea7a8942a075:~/source# git pull

remote: Enumerating objects: 68, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (68/68), done.
remote: Total 97 (delta 68), reused 68 (delta 68), pack-reused 29
Unpacking objects: 100% (97/97), done.
From https://github.com/OnionIoT/source
ddd04310cb..52a1594fbb openwrt-18.06 -> origin/openwrt-18.06

• [new branch] openwrt-18.06-dev -> origin/openwrt-18.06-dev
  Updating ddd04310cb..52a1594fbb
  Fast-forward
  .config.O2 | 67 +-
  .config.O2-minimum | 15 -
  .config.O2Dash | 6051 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  CHANGELOG.md | 30 +
  build_info.json | 2 +-
  files/etc/config/dhcp | 9 +-
  files/etc/config/network | 17 +-
  files/etc/uci-defaults/12_onion_version | 2 +-
  package/kernel/linux/modules/video.mk | 511 ++++-
  target/linux/ramips/base-files/etc/board.d/01_leds | 1 +
  target/linux/ramips/base-files/etc/board.d/02_network | 6 +-
  target/linux/ramips/base-files/etc/diag.sh | 1 +
  target/linux/ramips/base-files/lib/ramips.sh | 3 +
  target/linux/ramips/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh | 1 +
  target/linux/ramips/dts/OMEGA2DASH.dts | 37 +
  target/linux/ramips/image/mt76x8.mk | 8 +
  target/linux/ramips/mt76x8/config-4.14 | 79 +
  17 files changed, 6792 insertions(+), 48 deletions(-)
  create mode 100644 .config.O2Dash
  create mode 100644 target/linux/ramips/dts/OMEGA2DASH.dts
  root@ea7a8942a075:~/source#

Ran Make Menuconfig. Everything seems correct, including the addition of libugpio for the cross-compile example. So I exit without saving the configuration.

Your configuration changes were NOT saved.

root@ea7a8942a075:~/source# make -j6

WARNING: Makefile 'package/feeds/onion/transmission-console-app/Makefile' has a dependency on 'Onion-Console', which does not exist
WARNING: Makefile 'package/feeds/onion/transmission-console-app/Makefile' has a dependency on 'transmission-daemon', which does not exist
WARNING: Makefile 'package/feeds/onion/zeromq/Makefile' has a build dependency on 'libuuid', which does not exist
Checking 'rsync'... ok.
time: target/linux/prereq#0.14#0.00#0.26
WARNING: your configuration is out of sync. Please run make menuconfig, oldconfig or defconfig!
make[1] world
make[2] tools/compile
make[2] package/cleanup
make[3] -C tools/flock compile
make[3] -C tools/sed compile
...
This of course fails after two hours:

make[3] -C feeds/packages/net/vsftpd compile
make[3] -C feeds/packages/net/vsftpd compile
make -r world: build failed. Please re-run make with -j1 V=s to see what's going on
/root/source/include/toplevel.mk:216: recipe for target 'world' failed
make: *** [world] Error 1

root@16fae4e217a9:~/source# make -j7 V=s
WARNING: Makefile 'package/feeds/onion/transmission-console-app/Makefile' has a dependency on 'Onion-Console', which does not exist
WARNING: Makefile 'package/feeds/onion/transmission-console-app/Makefile' has a dependency on 'transmission-daemon', which does not exist
WARNING: Makefile 'package/feeds/onion/zeromq/Makefile' has a build dependency on 'libuuid', which does not exist
make[1]: Entering directory '/root/source'
make[2]: Entering directory '/root/source'
make[2]: Entering directory '/root/source'
make[3]: Entering directory '/root/source/target/linux'
make[4]: Entering directory '/root/source/target/linux/ramips'
...

Then hundreds and hundreds of pages of compiler output, which I won't even include here, but it fails again after two hours with this text:

make[3]: Leaving directory '/root/source/package/firmware/linux-firmware'
time: package/firmware/linux-firmware/compile#5.49#5.02#813.85
make[2]: Leaving directory '/root/source'
package/Makefile:103: recipe for target '/root/source/staging_dir/target-mipsel_24kc_musl/stamp/.package_compile' failed
make[1]: *** [/root/source/staging_dir/target-mipsel_24kc_musl/stamp/.package_compile] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory '/root/source'
Build failed - please re-run with -j1 to see the real error message
/root/source/include/toplevel.mk:216: recipe for target 'world' failed
make: *** [world] Error 1
root@16fae4e217a9:~/source#

Finally, my questions:

I'm comfortable using Microchip's IDE tools, where there's a file browser on the left part of the window, I can see and easily open tons of different source files, etc.

How do I get something similar set up for Omega? I don't mind using nano, etc for simple python scrips but it's too restrictive for big projects. Something like Eclipse or Atom would be amazing. I can even dual boot this machine if it's useful - VirtualBox, Hyper V, etc don't seem to like giant dual screen machines and I can't work in a single 1024 x 768 window.

Is there a way to set up an IDE that... sorry for bad phrasing... points to my docker system, assuming I can get the docker image to compile properly in the first place?

Google search for 'IDE with Docker compiler' seems to get out in the weeds really, really quickly.

Thanks for reading. I really, really want this platform to work for us in several upcoming products. But I've never had to fight so hard just to get a silly 'hello world' to run.

On the 2+, has anyone experimented with remote update system such as SWUpdate? Trying to figure out the best way to remotely manage and update a whole flock of these boards, many of which may be offline or firewalled on a network which doesn't see the outside world.

There's no real reason for them to phone home during regular operation; I'm sure a USB-based solution could work as well. But I'd be happier if updates were encrypted so our business logic wan't floating around the Internet in plain text.

John

@Scott-G Thanks for the feedback. I'd love to have the LEDs tied deep in to the kernel for 'link' and 'data' but I agree it'd be a lot of work. Neat project, thanks for sharing.

@Scott-G Nice work!

Can you elaborate at all on your ethernet magjack LEDs? Am I correct to assume that they're functioning properly for 'link' and 'data'? How is that set up & configured on the Onion?

@Johan-Erasmus Stupid question, I'm sure, but where exactly is your sample 'hello world' C file in your virtual machine? There's so many directories, even inside ~/omega, that I'm all turned around.

Thanks in advance.

This is all for tonight... I edited line 33 in write-eeprom.py like this:

# time.sleep(0.1) # needs some time to finish write, or fails [Errno 5]
time.sleep(0.004) # datasheet calls for ~ 5 ms wait

Which gives at 32k write time of ~16 seconds.

Sorting out the page write function will make a big difference as well.