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Old 04-08-2009, 04:26 AM   #1
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How to create a bootable CF?

In the "Reflash from CF Howto", it says that putting a line "boot" in config.txt and iLiad will boot from CF and chroot to CF.

I am trying to replace the whole X window and GTK+ to newer version. So, booting from CF is the safest way to do the experiement. Before replacing any file in root partition, I want to make sure I can boot from CF. Still not successful. Here is my steps:

1. make a ext2 partition on CF and mount it on iLiad
2. replicate root partition to cf. "cp -a" /bin /etc /sbin (and other dir) to cf under iLiad console
3. cp config.txt to cf
4. put zImage.gz, zImage.gz.md5, initrd.gz, initrd.gz.md5 in CF/images
5. reboot just as doing reflash. I got stuck in the default screen with progress bar turned from black to white cell by cell and showing no progress any further. In logfile.txt, there is only a line: "Boot from CF:".

Any comments or advice?

Last edited by ericshliao; 04-08-2009 at 05:12 AM.
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Old 04-08-2009, 04:55 AM   #2
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Currently, I think it might be that incomplete replication of root partition caused cf failed to boot. Here is the list of directories that I copied to cf (using cp -a):
/bin, /boot, /dev, /etc, /home, /lib, /mnt/settings, /old-root, /proc, /sbin, /sys, /usr, /var
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Old 04-08-2009, 10:33 AM   #3
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It will not help here, but /sys and /proc are not 'real' directories. They are virtual file systems maintained by the kernel. So it's not meaningfull to copy them...
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Old 04-08-2009, 11:06 AM   #4
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I just removed /proc and /sys on CF and boot from CF. There was something difference. In the previous case, the screen just stopped after progress bar turned to all white. In the later case (after removed the two dirs), after progress bar turned to all white, iLiad seems to boot again automatically, but this time it boot from root partition on iLiad.

Does it mean that bootloader can go further in the previous case? In this case, bootloader found root partition on cf was ok, so bootloader transferred execution right to root partition on cf, and system just failed because incomplete root partition. In the later case, bootloader found that there was no /proc and /sys on cf, so bootloader decided to reboot without cf.

Last edited by ericshliao; 04-08-2009 at 11:56 AM.
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Old 04-08-2009, 12:38 PM   #5
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Just found some useful info. I will try it later.
http://forum.irexnet.com/viewtopic.p...r=asc&start=15

Last edited by ericshliao; 04-08-2009 at 12:44 PM.
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Old 04-08-2009, 11:37 PM   #6
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As instructed by poiuy in the above url, I made a bootable cf from app.image released by iRex. But it won't work if I use "dd" to copy root partition to cf (dd if=/dev/tffsa1 of=/dev/hda1). Besides, the size of cf will be converted to 76mb after dd. Anyway, I have a bootable cf now.

Added:
After creating a bootable cf from app.image, I copied some dirs from root partition to cf. Now I have a bootable cf with updated firmware and my own settings. It's a perfect testbed for experiement.

Added 2:
With this cf, I can manipulate iLiad root partition with my desktop. It will be much convenient.

Last edited by ericshliao; 04-09-2009 at 01:47 AM.
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Old 04-09-2009, 01:49 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ericshliao View Post
Now I have a bootable cf with updated firmware and my own settings. It's a perfect testbed for experiement.
Nice!
  • Does shell access work normally?
  • Is the kernel on the CF?
  • How long does it take to boot?
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Old 04-09-2009, 02:10 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hansel View Post
[*]Does shell access work normally?[/LIST]
Shell access is retained. I can run dropbear and confirm that "config.txt" resides on /. If "config.txt" does not exist in /, it means that iLiad does not boot from CF. Your newlister still works on the CF. Everything is just the same with ordinary iLiad.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hansel View Post
[*]Is the kernel on the CF?
I don't know exactly. But I guess not. Because I only dd root partition.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hansel View Post
[*]How long does it take to boot?
I didn't notice it. Roughly speaking, no significant delay noticed.
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Old 04-09-2009, 04:04 AM   #9
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After dd app.image to CF, there is something that I can't explain. Please see the attached two images. I used a 128MB CF.
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Old 04-09-2009, 04:21 AM   #10
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I guess the first image shows partition info, and the second image shows filesystem info.
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Old 04-09-2009, 05:51 AM   #11
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I just found a strange thing. My shell access disappeared. I found it disappeared because I couldn't execute dropbear from shell script. I have to download and install again. But newlister is still running. It's a proof that shell access disappeared after installed, or there won't be newlister installed on my iLiad.

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Old 04-09-2009, 07:25 AM   #12
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Hooray!
I have a 128MB root partition on cf now.
After created a bootable cf, use resize2fs and it will expand the filesystem from 76mb to 128mb (the size of my cf). Now I can put other shared objects in cf without removing anything.
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Old 04-10-2009, 01:11 AM   #13
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I just found one thing:
Even when boot from CF, the system still use /mnt/settings on iLiad, not /mnt/settings on cf. That's to say, every modification made to /mnt/settings on cf won't take effect.

Added:
This problem should be fixed if I edit "/etc/fstab" and remark the line with "/mnt/settings". Then system boot from cf won't mount /dev/tffsa7 on /mnt/settings, and /mnt/settings on cf will be used.

Last edited by ericshliao; 04-10-2009 at 02:12 AM.
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Old 04-13-2009, 05:14 AM   #14
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Is it possible to have a bootable cf with 2 partitions? Say a 500MB ext2/3 for the os, and the rest vfat for books?
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Old 04-13-2009, 05:37 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hansel View Post
Is it possible to have a bootable cf with 2 partitions? Say a 500MB ext2/3 for the os, and the rest vfat for books?
I had a similiar thought, too. I don't know the answer right now because I am using a 128mb cf for boot, its small size makes me never need to worry about making a second partition.
I guess the answer should depend on the bootloader. I will give it a try later, after I fixed the FBReader problem with new libs.
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