Wish to boot from the SD card

mmather · 07-01-2010, 04:32 PM

It would be nice to be able to boot an OS from the SD card without flashing it.

Then it would be easy and safe to experiment with all sorts of stuff.

If it fails, just remove the OS from the SD card and reboot normally.

This can be done with a TomTom gps (the models that have an SD card), so why not here.

Ken Maltby · 07-02-2010, 12:26 AM

Well... I guess all you would need is to extract the code used to boot into the current
highly integrated linux OS. Then write a version that could boot from the SD. Of course
the new OS would have to be written to run an ARM9 processor and its support chips as
they are implemented in the JBL hardware. Then you would need the code to use the
JBL's buttons/keys and the display interface. You know that the ARM9 includes some
optimazations to help it integrate with linux, right? By linux I don't mean the fullblown
OS that you might be used to on a PC or netbook.

Let us know how you come out with that.

Luck;
Ken

mmather · 07-02-2010, 10:39 AM

Well ... I thought that, when you want to update your system, the following happens:
1. You put a bunch of stuff on the SD card, including a kernel, code to do the update to the flash memory, and the code to be put onto the flash memory. (The last encrypted, and to be decrypted in the process.)
2. You boot from the SD card.
3. The updating happens automatically.
So, it seemed that it would be easy to keep that kernel on the SD card and supply your own init. No flashing would be done, and you would be in control.
Because this has not been done yet, I must be wrong.

mmather · 07-06-2010, 06:38 PM

Well, I have looked at the upgrade files for the JB and the Libre, and it provides part of the answer to my own question. (The JB download was JL04-v035d.zip)

It turns out that the upgrade file for the Libre is one encrypted file. You cannot do much with that.

But the JB upgrade file is actually a number of files, and one of them appears to be a shell script that does the upgrade. So, I imagine that, if you change that shell script to do other stuff, it might be very interesting. Anyone done that on any of these readers?

07-01-2010, 04:32 PM	#1
mmather Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: aluratek libre	Wish to boot from the SD card It would be nice to be able to boot an OS from the SD card without flashing it. Then it would be easy and safe to experiment with all sorts of stuff. If it fails, just remove the OS from the SD card and reboot normally. This can be done with a TomTom gps (the models that have an SD card), so why not here.

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07-02-2010, 12:26 AM	#2
Ken Maltby Wizard Posts: 4,466 Karma: 6900052 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Heart of Texas Device: Boox Note2, AuraHD, PDA,	Well... I guess all you would need is to extract the code used to boot into the current highly integrated linux OS. Then write a version that could boot from the SD. Of course the new OS would have to be written to run an ARM9 processor and its support chips as they are implemented in the JBL hardware. Then you would need the code to use the JBL's buttons/keys and the display interface. You know that the ARM9 includes some optimazations to help it integrate with linux, right? By linux I don't mean the fullblown OS that you might be used to on a PC or netbook. Let us know how you come out with that. Luck; Ken

07-02-2010, 10:39 AM	#3
mmather Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: aluratek libre	Well ... I thought that, when you want to update your system, the following happens: 1. You put a bunch of stuff on the SD card, including a kernel, code to do the update to the flash memory, and the code to be put onto the flash memory. (The last encrypted, and to be decrypted in the process.) 2. You boot from the SD card. 3. The updating happens automatically. So, it seemed that it would be easy to keep that kernel on the SD card and supply your own init. No flashing would be done, and you would be in control. Because this has not been done yet, I must be wrong.

07-06-2010, 06:38 PM	#4
mmather Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: aluratek libre	Well, I have looked at the upgrade files for the JB and the Libre, and it provides part of the answer to my own question. (The JB download was JL04-v035d.zip) It turns out that the upgrade file for the Libre is one encrypted file. You cannot do much with that. But the JB upgrade file is actually a number of files, and one of them appears to be a shell script that does the upgrade. So, I imagine that, if you change that shell script to do other stuff, it might be very interesting. Anyone done that on any of these readers?

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