ts-7000
[Top] [All Lists]

[ts-7000] Re: Ts-7400: How to reload on board flash fs.

To:
Subject: [ts-7000] Re: Ts-7400: How to reload on board flash fs.
From: "tcumming123" <>
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:54:17 -0000
--- In  Triffid Hunter <> wrote:
>
> I've only worked with the ts7250 and ts7260, but the
> following worked for me:

I've done what you suggest with the sdcard, and it worked. In the
ts7400 case, there's no redboot. Instead it boots Linux directly, see:

http://www.embeddedarm.com/linux/linuxbootloader.htm

In fact the above url is almost information overload.

To start, it says:

"The TS-7400 board has Linux installed by default on onboard flash.
Upon bootup, The board will boot within 1.1 seconds to a Linux prompt
on UART #0 (/dev/ttyAM0), powered with various Busybox commands. At
this point, if you type 'exit' from the serial shell, the TS-7400 will
then attempt a full Debian Linux bootup from the SD card on partition
#3. If the SD card is not present or the EXT2 filesystem does not pass
a basic sanity test or the special file "/notrootfs" exists, a
demonstration version of a miniature Linux distribution contained on
the onboard flash itself is instead booted."

I /think/ that what I want to do is get in and muck with the Linux in
the onboard flash mentioned above. However, I'm not going to muck with
it until I can be absolutely sure that I can recover when (not if :) I
screw it up.

I also don't quite follow what where the, "demo version of a miniature
Linux distro" comes from. If it's in onboard flash (I'd expect it to
be) I think just want to blow it away to make room for my stuff. If I
know I can reinstall the initial booted Linux, I wouldn't need it.

thanx, tom


> 
> mount an nfs share somewhere, then:
> 
> close any apps with open write handles
> 
> mount -o remount,ro /
> for I in {0..2}; do dd if=/dev/mtdblock/$I of=/mnt/nfs/mtdblock$I; done
> 
> which should give you a bit-for-bit backup of the data in flash.
> 
> IIRC, only mtdblock1 has stuff you can play with - the others are
redboot 
> and other boot-related things, but it's good to back them up anyway.
Last 
> time I checked, there's an option in the kernel to make redboot etc 
> read-only so you can't break it, but I don't know if that's enabled
in the 
> ts-supplied kernels.
> 
> redboot has the option of loading a kernel via tftp and booting an nfs 
> root system which doesn't use the flash filesystem on mtdblock1 at
all - 
> if you're paranoid, I suggest you familiarise yourself with this
process 
> first.
> 
> 
> You will have to find out how similar the ts7260 and ts7400 are
before you 
> know how much of my advice you can take verbatim and how much needs
to be 
> refactored for your system.
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, 5 Dec 2007, tcumming123 wrote:
> 
> > I'm considering running my app out of the ts-7400 on board flash,
> > because it's small, and using the sd-card only as data.
> >
> > However, before I start modifying the on board flash filesystem, I
> > want to be sure I can get back to the factory installed fs just in
> > case I screw it up really bad and can't boot.
> >
> > I'm sure I remember seeing how to do this on one of the docs on ts's
> > website, but I sure can't find it now. Has any one seen the docs? Has
> > anyone been through the process, and does it work?
> >
> > Thanx, tom
>




 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ts-7000/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ts-7000/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
     
    

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

Disclaimer: Neither Andrew Taylor nor the University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering take any responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU