Help me. Restore factory system guruplug...is it possible without a JTAG Board?

[j031005]

Hi

I did an “apt-get update”  (or “apt-get dist-upgrade”) and I lost the access to my guru plug. Apparently, the ssh service isn’t working… Can you help me? I do not have a JTAG board.

Best regards,

[sdaau]

Apparently, as I can see from GuruPlug Plus - Rootfs - Factory Reset?, you cannot "restore factory settings" without a JTAG

I just wished the company could state that in clear words somewhere - but I guess, any company that puts out devices on the market, with PSUs so hot you can boil water on, probably does not want to clearly say that you have to pay extra for a JTAG cable for restoring factory settings ...

[edmc]

Given your terse description, it appears you haven't updated the bootloader.  So can you not boot an alternative OS from somewhere else and, using that, replace the kernel and rootfs on your Guruplug's internal flash?

[Mike Levin]

You don't really want to do a factory reset... that's what got you into that mess in the first place. It's a latent bug on the version of Debian they used on some of the plugs. Instead, just learn how to unbrick your plug. I went through the exact same thing.

Here are my instructions http://shankserver.org/2010/09/unbrick-sheevaplug/

It boils down to getting a very reliable USB thumb drive--usually an old 512MB one.

Use the EISA tool from Sourceforge, and not the official installer, which has lots of issues.

Become a master of connecting to your SheevaPlug using the provided mini-USB-looking serial cable, and interrupting start-up to get to the Marvell>> prompt.

[SmurfHunter]

You don't really want to do a factory reset... that's what got you into that mess in the first place. It's a latent bug on the version of Debian they used on some of the plugs. Instead, just learn how to unbrick your plug. I went through the exact same thing.

Here are my instructions http://shankserver.org/2010/09/unbrick-sheevaplug/

It boils down to getting a very reliable USB thumb drive--usually an old 512MB one.

Use the EISA tool from Sourceforge, and not the official installer, which has lots of issues.

Become a master of connecting to your SheevaPlug using the provided mini-USB-looking serial cable, and interrupting start-up to get to the Marvell>> prompt.

That's for a Sheevaplug - it has a built-in JTAG.  In order to do this on a Guruplug, you need to purchase the separate JTAG board.  Kind of a rip-off, I know 

[Mike Levin]

Oops sorry, posted too quick. I recognized that symptom (happened to me) without paying attention to platform. Apologies.