Trying to unbrick my APX120

I am using the instructions to unbrick my APX120 from this post, but I have run into issues below:

community.sophos.com/.../unbrick-apx120-break-bootdelay-0-recover-apx120

I can't seem to save the environment variables. When I run the "saveenv"

It says:

Saving Environment to NAND...
Erasing Nand...
Attempt to erase non page aligned data



Added TAGs
[edited by: Raphael Alganes at 2:18 PM (GMT -8) on 12 Jan 2024]
  • Hello  ,

    Thank you for reaching out to the community, you can not Unbrick APX 120 access point, the only bricked access points you can recover are as following:

    • Sophos Access Point AP 100, 100C, and 100X
    • Sophos Access Point AP 15 and 15C
    • Sophos Access Point AP 55 and 55C
    • Sophos Access Point APX 320 and 320X
    • Sophos Access Point APX 530
    • Sophos Access Point APX 740

    Ref: Recover bricked access points using the Sophos Flashing Tool.
    I'd suggest log a Create a Technical support case
     and get the appliance *replaced (RMAed).

    *Note: Advance hardware replacement is provided for SD-RED and APX Series Access Points which are managed by XG and XGS Series firewall appliances, if (i) the master firewall appliance is covered by the Enhanced Plus support plan AND (ii) the SD-RED/ APX Series Access Point is not older than 5 years.
    REF: Enhanced

    Thanks & Regards,
    _______________________________________________________________

    Vivek Jagad | Team Lead, Global Support & Services 

    Log a Support Case | Sophos Service Guide
    Best Practices – Support Case


    Sophos Community | Product Documentation | Sophos Techvids | SMS
    If a post solves your question please use the 'Verify Answer' button.

  • I came across a few APX120 that had a faulty NAND chip, so maybe your APX has faulty one.
    Power cycle your APX and post the uboot log.

    You need to short SO/SIO1 for a fraction of a second in the right moment, the nand will not be available now.
    Try to set the bootdelay to 5s, power cycle the APX and enter uBoot.

  • If the flash or the uBoot environment is corrupted you will never get the flashtool and the APX together.

    So,
    the good old Weller WTHA or a Hakko FR-810B is needed for salvaging

  • I tried the shorting trick to break uboot again and this time it was able to recognize the nand and save environment variables. But now I am running into a new issue, the APX120 is boot looping after tftpboot, see below. I am TFTP booting the latest APX.uimage (version: 11.0.021-1) from my firewall. When I try to enter failsafe it asks for a login and I can't seem to get root.

    U-Boot 2012.07 [Chaos Calmer unknown,unknown] (Nov 02 2018 - 08:13:09)
    
    smem ram ptable found: ver: 1 len: 3
    DRAM:  256 MiB
    @machid : 0x8010100
    NAND:  spi_nand: spi_nand_flash_probe SF NAND ID 0:ef:ab:21
    SF: Detected W25M02GV with page size 2 KiB, total 256 MiB
    SF: Detected MX25L1605D with page size 4 KiB, total 2 MiB
    ipq_spi: page_size: 0x100, sector_size: 0x1000, size: 0x200000
    258 MiB
    MMC:
    In:    serial
    Out:   serial
    Err:   serial
    machid: 8010100
    flash_type: 0
    Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
    Net:   MAC0 addr:94:87:c6:be:90:98
    PHY ID1: 0x4d
    PHY ID2: 0xd0b2
    ipq40xx_ess_sw_init done
    eth0
    
    (APX120) # nand erase.chip
    
    NAND erase.chip: device 1 whole chip
    Erasing at 0xffe0000 -- 100% complete.
    OK
    (APX120) # tftpboot APX.uimage
    eth0 PHY0 Down Speed :10 Half duplex
    eth0 PHY1 Down Speed :10 Half duplex
    eth0 PHY2 Down Speed :10 Half duplex
    eth0 PHY3 Down Speed :10 Half duplex
    eth0 PHY4 up Speed :1000 Full duplex
    Using eth0 device
    TFTP from server 192.168.1.8; our IP address is 192.168.1.11
    Filename 'APX.uimage'.
    Load address: 0x84000000
    Loading: #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             #################################################################
             ###
    done
    Bytes transferred = 17219613 (106c01d hex)
    (APX120) # bootm 0x84000000#config@4
    ## Booting kernel from FIT Image at 84000000 ...
       Using 'config@4' configuration
       Trying 'kernel@1' kernel subimage
         Description:  ARM OpenWrt Linux-3.14.43
         Type:         Kernel Image
         Compression:  uncompressed
         Data Start:   0x840000e4
         Data Size:    16970916 Bytes = 16.2 MiB
         Architecture: ARM
         OS:           Linux
         Load Address: 0x80208000
         Entry Point:  0x80208000
    node name: signature@1
         Sign algo:    sha256,rsa4096
         Sign value:   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
       Verifying Hash Integrity ... sha256+ OK
    ## Flattened Device Tree from FIT Image at 84000000
       Using 'config@4' configuration
       Trying 'fdt@4' FDT blob subimage
         Description:  ARM OpenWrt Sophos-APX device tree blob
         Type:         Flat Device Tree
         Compression:  uncompressed
         Data Start:   0x85044dc8
         Data Size:    33944 Bytes = 33.1 KiB
         Architecture: ARM
    node name: signature@1
         Sign algo:    sha256,rsa4096
         Sign value:   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
       Verifying Hash Integrity ... sha256+ OK
       Booting using the fdt blob at 0x85044dc8
       Loading Kernel Image ... OK
    OK
       Loading Device Tree to 86ff4000, end 86fff497 ... OK
    eth1 MAC Address from ART is not valid
    Using machid 0x8010100 from environment
    
    Starting kernel ...
    
    Press the [f] key and hit [enter] to enter failsafe mode
    Press the [1], [2], [3] or [4] key and hit [enter] to select the debug level
    Please press Enter to activate this console.
    Booting. (Version: 11.0.021-1)
    Checking The AP model
    Starting network configuration for ethernet interface over DHCP.
    Cloud certificate validation pending.
    dnsserver entries are missing
    [
    Format: Log Type - Time(microsec) - Message - Optional Info
    Log Type: B - Since Boot(Power On Reset),  D - Delta,  S - Statistic
    S - QC_IMAGE_VERSION_STRING=BOOT.BF.3.1.1-00120
    S - IMAGE_VARIANT_STRING=DAABANAZA
    S - OEM_IMAGE_VERSION_STRING=CRM
    S - Boot Config, 0x00000021
    S - Reset status Config, 0x00000010
    S - Core 0 Frequency, 0 MHz
    B -       261 - PBL, Start
    B -      1338 - bootable_media_detect_entry, Start
    B -      1678 - bootable_media_detect_success, Start
    B -      1691 - elf_loader_entry, Start
    B -      5068 - auth_hash_seg_entry, Start
    B -      7209 - auth_hash_seg_exit, Start
    B -    577087 - elf_segs_hash_verify_entry, Start
    B -    694221 - PBL, End
    B -    694245 - SBL1, Start
    B -    785250 - pm_device_init, Start
    D -         7 - pm_device_init, Delta
    B -    786695 - boot_flash_init, Start
    D -     52832 - boot_flash_init, Delta
    B -    843666 - boot_config_data_table_init, Start
    D -      3836 - boot_config_data_table_init, Delta - (419 Bytes)
    B -    850871 - clock_init, Start
    D -      7563 - clock_init, Delta
    B -    862908 - CDT version:2,Platform ID:8,Major ID:1,Minor ID:1,Subtype:0
    B -    866322 - sbl1_ddr_set_params, Start
    B -    871420 - cpr_init, Start
    D -         2 - cpr_init, Delta
    B -    875802 - Pre_DDR_clock_init, Start
    D -         4 - Pre_DDR_clock_init, Delta
    D -     13176 - sbl1_ddr_set_params, Delta
    B -    889541 - pm_driver_init, Start
    D -         2 - pm_driver_init, Delta
    B -    959696 - sbl1_wait_for_ddr_training, Start
    D -        28 - sbl1_wait_for_ddr_training, Delta
    B -    975317 - Image Load, Start
    D -    152332 - QSEE Image Loaded, Delta - (297752 Bytes)
    B -   1128077 - Image Load, Start
    D -      1447 - SEC Image Loaded, Delta - (2048 Bytes)
    B -   1138488 - Image Load, Start
    D -    224121 - APPSBL Image Loaded, Delta - (458523 Bytes)
    B -   1363008 - QSEE Execution, Start
    D -        60 - QSEE Execution, Delta
    B -   1369207 - SBL1, End
    D -    677070 - SBL1, Delta
    S - Flash Throughput, 2008 KB/s  (758742 Bytes,  377699 us)
    S - DDR Frequency, 537 MHz
    

  • I tried firmware 2.3.2-1 and I couldn't get root:

    U-Boot 2012.07 [Chaos Calmer unknown,unknown] (Nov 02 2018 - 08:13:09)
    
    smem ram ptable found: ver: 1 len: 3
    DRAM:  256 MiB
    @machid : 0x8010100
    NAND:  spi_nand: spi_nand_flash_probe SF NAND ID 0:ef:ab:21
    SF: Detected W25M02GV with page size 2 KiB, total 256 MiB
    SF: Detected MX25L1605D with page size 4 KiB, total 2 MiB
    ipq_spi: page_size: 0x100, sector_size: 0x1000, size: 0x200000
    258 MiB
    MMC:
    In:    serial
    Out:   serial
    Err:   serial
    machid: 8010100
    flash_type: 0
    Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
    incorrect device type in rootfs
    Partition rootfs not found!
    Error, no UBI device/partition selected!
    ## Booting kernel from FIT Image at 84000000 ...
       Using 'config@4' configuration
       Trying 'kernel@1' kernel subimage
         Description:  ARM OpenWrt Linux-3.14.43
         Type:         Kernel Image
         Compression:  uncompressed
         Data Start:   0x840000e4
         Data Size:    16758376 Bytes = 16 MiB
         Architecture: ARM
         OS:           Linux
         Load Address: 0x80208000
         Entry Point:  0x80208000
    node name: signature@1
         Sign algo:    sha256,rsa4096
         Sign value:   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
       Verifying Hash Integrity ... sha256+ OK
    ## Flattened Device Tree from FIT Image at 84000000
       Using 'config@4' configuration
       Trying 'fdt@4' FDT blob subimage
         Description:  ARM OpenWrt Sophos-APX device tree blob
         Type:         Flat Device Tree
         Compression:  uncompressed
         Data Start:   0x850112f8
         Data Size:    34822 Bytes = 34 KiB
         Architecture: ARM
    node name: signature@1
         Sign algo:    sha256,rsa4096
         Sign value:   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
       Verifying Hash Integrity ... sha256+ OK
       Booting using the fdt blob at 0x850112f8
       Loading Kernel Image ... OK
    OK
       Loading Device Tree to 86ff4000, end 86fff805 ... OK
    eth1 MAC Address from ART is not valid
    Using machid 0x8010100 from environment
    
    Starting kernel ...
    
    Press the [f] key and hit [enter] to enter failsafe mode
    Press the [1], [2], [3] or [4] key and hit [enter] to select the debug level
    f
    - failsafe -
    /etc/preinit: line 1: telnetd: not found
    (none) login: Please reboot system when done with failsafe network logins
    

  • I tried 11.0.021-1 and when I press enter to activate console it asks for the login and I enter root as username and fail the authentication 3 times, then I get root but the device restarts after a few seconds.

    U-Boot 2012.07 [Chaos Calmer unknown,unknown] (Nov 02 2018 - 08:13:09)
    
    smem ram ptable found: ver: 1 len: 3
    DRAM:  256 MiB
    @machid : 0x8010100
    NAND:  spi_nand: spi_nand_flash_probe SF NAND ID 0:ef:ab:21
    SF: Detected W25M02GV with page size 2 KiB, total 256 MiB
    SF: Detected MX25L1605D with page size 4 KiB, total 2 MiB
    ipq_spi: page_size: 0x100, sector_size: 0x1000, size: 0x200000
    258 MiB
    MMC:
    In:    serial
    Out:   serial
    Err:   serial
    machid: 8010100
    flash_type: 0
    Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
    incorrect device type in rootfs
    Partition rootfs not found!
    Error, no UBI device/partition selected!
    ## Booting kernel from FIT Image at 84000000 ...
       Using 'config@4' configuration
       Trying 'kernel@1' kernel subimage
         Description:  ARM OpenWrt Linux-3.14.43
         Type:         Kernel Image
         Compression:  uncompressed
         Data Start:   0x840000e4
         Data Size:    16970916 Bytes = 16.2 MiB
         Architecture: ARM
         OS:           Linux
         Load Address: 0x80208000
         Entry Point:  0x80208000
    node name: signature@1
         Sign algo:    sha256,rsa4096
         Sign value:   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
       Verifying Hash Integrity ... sha256+ OK
    ## Flattened Device Tree from FIT Image at 84000000
       Using 'config@4' configuration
       Trying 'fdt@4' FDT blob subimage
         Description:  ARM OpenWrt Sophos-APX device tree blob
         Type:         Flat Device Tree
         Compression:  uncompressed
         Data Start:   0x85044dc8
         Data Size:    33944 Bytes = 33.1 KiB
         Architecture: ARM
    node name: signature@1
         Sign algo:    sha256,rsa4096
         Sign value:   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
       Verifying Hash Integrity ... sha256+ OK
       Booting using the fdt blob at 0x85044dc8
       Loading Kernel Image ... OK
    OK
       Loading Device Tree to 86ff4000, end 86fff497 ... OK
    eth1 MAC Address from ART is not valid
    Using machid 0x8010100 from environment
    
    Starting kernel ...
    
    Press the [f] key and hit [enter] to enter failsafe mode
    Press the [1], [2], [3] or [4] key and hit [enter] to select the debug level
    Please press Enter to activate this console.
    
    Warning: Bad CRC, using default environment
    (none) login: root
    Password:
    Login incorrect
    (none) login: root
    Password:
    Login incorrect
    (none) login: root
    Password:
    Booting. (Version: 11.0.021-1)
    Checking The AP model
    Login incorrect
    Mar 30 10:46:57 login[128]: invalid password for 'root' on 'consPlease press Enter to activate this console.
    
    
    
    BusyBox v1.23.2 (2023-03-30 10:36:59 UTC) built-in shell (ash)
    
    FIRMWARE_VERSION: 11.0.021-1
    root@(none):/#
    root@(none):/# ls
    bin       download  lib       proc      sbin      usr
    config    etc       mnt       rom       sys       var
    dev       init      overlay   root      tmp       www
    root@(none):/# cd bin
    root@OpenWrt:/bin# ls
    add_mesh_iface.sh         false                     ps
    add_radio_mapping.sh      fgrep                     pwd
    add_ssh_pubkey.sh         fsync                     remove_dcs_schedule.sh
    add_time_base_scan.sh     grep                      remove_wifi_ifaces.sh
    add_wifi_iface.sh         gunzip                    rm
    ap_caps.sh                gzip                      rmdir
    apx_packet_capture.sh     ipcalc.sh                 scan_mesh.sh
    ash                       iptables.sh               sed
    base64                    kill                      sh
    board_detect              ln                        sleep
    busybox                   lock                      sophos_login
    cat                       login                     start_dropbear.sh
    chgrp                     login.sh                  stat
    chmod                     ls                        sync
    chown                     mkdir                     tar
    config_generate           mknod                     touch
    cp                        mktemp                    true
    create_vxlan_tunnel.sh    mod_wifi_iface.sh         ubus
    date                      mount                     umount
    dcs_schedule.sh           mv                        uname
    dd                        netmsg                    update_config.sh
    df                        netstat                   update_image.sh
    dmesg                     nice                      vi
    echo                      pidof                     zcat
    egrep                     ping
    enable_remote_logging.sh  ping6
    root@OpenWrt:/bin# [
    Format: Log Type - Time(microsec) - Message - Optional Info
    Log Type: B - Since Boot(Power On Reset),  D - Delta,  S - Statistic
    S - QC_IMAGE_VERSION_STRING=BOOT.BF.3.1.1-00120
    S - IMAGE_VARIANT_STRING=DAABANAZA
    S - OEM_IMAGE_VERSION_STRING=CRM
    S - Boot Config, 0x00000021
    S - Reset status Config, 0x00000010
    S - Core 0 Frequency, 0 MHz
    B -       261 - PBL, Start
    B -      1338 - bootable_media_detect_entry, Start
    B -      1678 - bootable_media_detect_success, Start
    B -      1691 - elf_loader_entry, Start
    B -      5068 - auth_hash_seg_entry, Start
    B -      7209 - auth_hash_seg_exit, Start
    B -    577087 - elf_segs_hash_verify_entry, Start
    B -    694221 - PBL, End
    B -    694245 - SBL1, Start
    B -    785250 - pm_device_init, Start
    D -         7 - pm_device_init, Delta
    B -    786695 - boot_flash_init, Start
    D -     52832 - boot_flash_init, Delta
    B -    843666 - boot_config_data_table_init, Start
    D -      3836 - boot_config_data_table_init, Delta - (419 Bytes)
    B -    850871 - clock_init, Start
    D -      7566 - clock_init, Delta
    B -    862910 - CDT version:2,Platform ID:8,Major ID:1,Minor ID:1,Subtype:0
    B -    866324 - sbl1_ddr_set_params, Start
    B -    871421 - cpr_init, Start
    D -         2 - cpr_init, Delta
    B -    875804 - Pre_DDR_clock_init, Start
    D -         4 - Pre_DDR_clock_init, Delta
    D -     13176 - sbl1_ddr_set_params, Delta
    B -    889543 - pm_driver_init, Start
    D -         2 - pm_driver_init, Delta
    B -    959626 - sbl1_wait_for_ddr_training, Start
    D -        27 - sbl1_wait_for_ddr_training, Delta
    B -    975245 - Image Load, Start
    D -    152334 - QSEE Image Loaded, Delta - (297752 Bytes)
    B -   1128005 - Image Load, Start
    D -      1446 - SEC Image Loaded, Delta - (2048 Bytes)
    B -   1138416 - Image Load, Start
    D -    224120 - APPSBL Image Loaded, Delta - (458523 Bytes)
    B -   1362935 - QSEE Execution, Start
    D -        60 - QSEE Execution, Delta
    B -   1369157 - SBL1, End
    D -    677020 - SBL1, Delta
    S - Flash Throughput, 2008 KB/s  (758742 Bytes,  377700 us)
    S - DDR Frequency, 537 MHz
    

  • Hi,

    try with fw image APX.v2.1.1-1.uimage, reboot and enter failsafe.
    From here use the official release and update procedure.

    (APX120) # nand erase.chip
    (APX120) # tftpboot APX.v2.1.1-1.uimage
    (APX120) # bootm 0x84000000#config@4
    
    Starting kernel ...
    
    Press the [f] key and hit [enter] to enter failsafe mode
    Press the [1], [2], [3] or [4] key and hit [enter] to select the debug level
    Please press Enter to activate this console.
    Booting. (Version: v2.1.1-1)
    Checking The AP model
    Starting network configuration for ethernet interface over DHCP.
    dnsserver entries are missing
    Cloud certificate validation pending.
    UTM certificate validation pending.
    dnsserver entries are missing
    ..
    ..
    
    # press enter ...
    
    BusyBox v1.23.2 (2018-11-27 07:01:45 UTC) built-in shell (ash)
    
    FIRMWARE_VERSION: v2.1.1-1
    root@OpenWrt:/# cd bin
    root@OpenWrt:/bin# https://d2apih4urmzzdu.cloudfront.net/v2.3.2-1/APX.uimage
    root@OpenWrt:/bin# update_image.sh APX.uimage
    
    # wait a few minutes ...

  • Thank you with firmware v2.1.1-1 I was able get root access and update the image to 11.0.021-1 and also 2.3.2-1 , but both reboot. I'm not sure if its normal.

    Starting kernel ...
    
    Press the [f] key and hit [enter] to enter failsafe mode
    Press the [1], [2], [3] or [4] key and hit [enter] to select the debug level
    Please press Enter to activate this console.
    Booting. (Version: 11.0.021-1)
    Checking The AP model
    Starting network configuration for ethernet interface over DHCP.
    Cloud certificate validation pending.
    dnsserver entries are missing
    Ethernet autoconfiguration (bound): IP:192.168.2.100/24, gateway:192.168.2.1, nameservers:192.168.2.1
    Ethernet link state changed to: up, Speed: 1000, Duplex: full
    No Direct-Attach chipsets found.
    qcawifi disable radio wifi0
    qcawifi disable radio wifi1
    qcawifi disable radio wifi0
    qcawifi disable radio wifi1
    qcawifi disable radio wifi0
    qcawifi disable radio wifi1
    qcawifi disable radio wifi0
    qcawifi disable radio wifi1
    [cloudclient] Last AP reboot was triggered by: power reset.
    Ethernet link state changed to: down
    

  • I have exactly the same error

    (APX120) # saveenv
    Saving Environment to NAND...
    Erasing Nand...
    Attempt to erase non page aligned data
    

    This is the system initialization prompts (short U26 pin 8)

    U-Boot 2012.07 [Chaos Calmer unknown,unknown] (Nov 02 2018 - 08:13:09)
    
    smem ram ptable found: ver: 1 len: 3
    DRAM:  256 MiB
    @machid : 0x8010100
    NAND:  SF NAND unsupported id:0:0:0:0SF NAND unsupported id:0:0:0:0SF: Unsupported manufacturer 00
    spi_nand: Id could not be mapped
    SF NAND unsupported id:0:0:0:0SF NAND unsupported id:0:0:0:0SF: Unsupported manufacturer 00
    ipq_spi: SPI Flash not found (bus/cs/speed/mode) = (0/0/48000000/0)
    0 MiB
    MMC:
    *** Warning - readenv() failed, using default environment
    
    In:    serial
    Out:   serial
    Err:   serial
    machid: 8010100
    flash_type: 0
    Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
    No such device
    nand - NAND sub-system
    
    
    (APX120) # printenv
    baudrate=115200
    bootargs=ubi.mtd=rootfs root=mtd:ubi_rootfs rootfstype=squashfs rootwait
    bootcmd=bootipq
    bootdelay=2
    fdt_high=0x87000000
    flash_type=0
    fsbootargs=ubi.mtd=rootfs root=mtd:ubi_rootfs rootfstype=squashfs
    ipaddr=192.168.1.11
    machid=8010100
    stderr=serial
    stdin=serial
    stdout=serial
    

    Bricked version of system initialization:

    Format: Log Type - Time(microsec) - Message - Optional Info
    Log Type: B - Since Boot(Power On Reset),  D - Delta,  S - Statistic
    S - QC_IMAGE_VERSION_STRING=BOOT.BF.3.1.1-00120
    S - IMAGE_VARIANT_STRING=DAABANAZA
    S - OEM_IMAGE_VERSION_STRING=CRM
    S - Boot Config, 0x00000021
    S - Reset status Config, 0x00000010
    S - Core 0 Frequency, 0 MHz
    B -       261 - PBL, Start
    B -      1338 - bootable_media_detect_entry, Start
    B -      1678 - bootable_media_detect_success, Start
    B -      1692 - elf_loader_entry, Start
    B -      5068 - auth_hash_seg_entry, Start
    B -      7210 - auth_hash_seg_exit, Start
    B -    577089 - elf_segs_hash_verify_entry, Start
    B -    694418 - PBL, End
    B -    694442 - SBL1, Start
    B -    785453 - pm_device_init, Start
    D -         7 - pm_device_init, Delta
    B -    786898 - boot_flash_init, Start
    D -     52811 - boot_flash_init, Delta
    B -    843849 - boot_config_data_table_init, Start
    D -      3838 - boot_config_data_table_init, Delta - (419 Bytes)
    B -    851055 - clock_init, Start
    D -      7569 - clock_init, Delta
    B -    863098 - CDT version:2,Platform ID:8,Major ID:1,Minor ID:1,Subtype:0
    B -    866511 - sbl1_ddr_set_params, Start
    B -    871608 - cpr_init, Start
    D -         2 - cpr_init, Delta
    B -    875989 - Pre_DDR_clock_init, Start
    D -         4 - Pre_DDR_clock_init, Delta
    D -     13174 - sbl1_ddr_set_params, Delta
    B -    889728 - pm_driver_init, Start
    D -         2 - pm_driver_init, Delta
    B -    959701 - sbl1_wait_for_ddr_training, Start
    D -        27 - sbl1_wait_for_ddr_training, Delta
    B -    975303 - Image Load, Start
    D -    152200 - QSEE Image Loaded, Delta - (297752 Bytes)
    B -   1127929 - Image Load, Start
    D -      1444 - SEC Image Loaded, Delta - (2048 Bytes)
    B -   1138329 - Image Load, Start
    D -    223905 - APPSBL Image Loaded, Delta - (458523 Bytes)
    B -   1362631 - QSEE Execution, Start
    D -        60 - QSEE Execution, Delta
    B -   1368853 - SBL1, End
    D -    676517 - SBL1, Delta
    S - Flash Throughput, 2010 KB/s  (758742 Bytes,  377357 us)
    S - DDR Frequency, 537 MHz
    
    
    U-Boot 2012.07 [Chaos Calmer unknown,unknown] (Nov 02 2018 - 08:13:09)
    
    smem ram ptable found: ver: 1 len: 3
    DRAM:  256 MiB
    @machid : 0x8010100
    NAND:  spi_nand: spi_nand_flash_probe SF NAND ID 0:ef:ab:21
    SF: Detected W25M02GV with page size 2 KiB, total 256 MiB
    SF: Detected MX25L1605D with page size 4 KiB, total 2 MiB
    ipq_spi: page_size: 0x100, sector_size: 0x1000, size: 0x200000
    258 MiB
    MMC:
    In:    serial
    Out:   serial
    Err:   serial
    machid: 8010100
    flash_type: 0
    Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
    Creating 1 MTD partitions on "nand1":
    0x000000000000-0x000010000000 : "mtd=0"
    UBI: attaching mtd2 to ubi0
    UBI: physical eraseblock size:   131072 bytes (128 KiB)
    UBI: logical eraseblock size:    126976 bytes
    UBI: smallest flash I/O unit:    2048
    UBI: VID header offset:          2048 (aligned 2048)
    UBI: data offset:                4096
    UBI error: ubi_read_volume_table: the layout volume was not found
    UBI error: ubi_init: cannot attach mtd2
    UBI error: ubi_init: UBI error: cannot initialize UBI, error -22
    UBI init error 22
    Error, no UBI device/partition selected!
    Wrong Image Format for bootm command
    ERROR: can't get kernel image!
    Creating 1 MTD partitions on "nand1":
    0x000000000000-0x000010000000 : "mtd=0"
    UBI: attaching mtd2 to ubi0
    UBI: physical eraseblock size:   131072 bytes (128 KiB)
    UBI: logical eraseblock size:    126976 bytes
    UBI: smallest flash I/O unit:    2048
    UBI: VID header offset:          2048 (aligned 2048)
    UBI: data offset:                4096
    UBI error: ubi_read_volume_table: the layout volume was not found
    UBI error: ubi_init: cannot attach mtd2
    UBI error: ubi_init: UBI error: cannot initialize UBI, error -22
    UBI init error 22
    Error, no UBI device/partition selected!
    Wrong Image Format for bootm command
    ERROR: can't get kernel image!
    resetting ...

  • First, thank you very much for the steps!

    Secondly,

    You need to short SO/SIO1

    You mean J1's GND and U26's pin 8?