[Voyage-linux] Re: Voyage-Current

[n schembr]

Using Extlinux to boot my systems has been great. 

Why Extlinux?  The boot hardware never moves! 

 I have had issues with hardware moving during the boot process.  example  The boot loader finds the usb device at sdc1 and the kernal finds sda1.

I know that I can use Grub and lilo to set the correct hardware init order or something like that.  But, I have not needed to do anything with extlinux(syslinux)

I do not have time to run this example... 
Example: 
untar  voyage-current 
cd voyage-current 

fdisk /dev/sdb
(one linux partition, set it to boot)

mkfs -t ext2 /dev/sdb1
tune2fs -c 0
mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt

cd voyage-current 
rsync -aH ./ /mnt/

cd /mnt/boot

#extlinux is part of syslinux. I'm not sure where I linstalled it from.  You will also need the #mbr.bin
cp /boot/extlinux /mnt/boot/
cp /boot/mbr.bin /mnt/boot/
cp /boot/extlinux.conf /mnt/boot/

vi /mnt/boot/extlinux.conf
DEFAULT voyage-current
display /boot/extlinux.display
prompt 1
timeout 40

LABEL voyage-current
KERNEL /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-486-voyage
APPEND vga=0x0f01 initrd=/boot/ initrd.img-2.6.17-486-voyage root=/dev/sda1 ro

LABEL smp
KERNEL /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-686
APPEND vga=0x0f01 initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-26-686 root=/dev/sda1 ro

#I'm not sure if # is a comment in this file.  extlinux.display is a text file displayed before boot. 

pwd
/mnt/boot/
./extlinux $PWD
...... /dev/sdb1

# Note:  Not /dev/sdb1 and  not >> "look before your leap".
cat mbr.bin >/dev/sdb

cd /
umount /mnt

You can boot from the new drive. The boot drive will be lables sda1. 

I plug the boot drive into the systems usb host adapter.  If I need other drives I plug them into hubs. I've never had an issue with the boot.... almost. 
If you have two boot drives,  you can boot from the one you are not expecting; but, I have never had the grub type error. 

Grub error: boot kernel and initrd from drive Y and mount drive Z as the root.

I'll write this up on the wiki.   

Nicholas A. Schembri 
State College, PA USA






----- Original Message ----
From: "Kim-man "Punky" TSE" <punkytse at punknix.com>
To: n schembr <nschembr at yahoo.com>
Cc: voyage-linux at voyage.hk
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 11:19:09 AM
Subject: Re: [Voyage-linux] Re: Voyage-Current

Hi Nicholas,

Can you share you experience on how to use extlinux to boot from usb 
drives?  I think some of the list members to see how.

Punky

n schembr wrote:
> I'm looking at the Voyage-Current for a new project and I want to know what parts of the subsystem are in development?   Is the base system stable?  Would you drop it in a hole where you could never touch it again?  
>
> I'm using extlinux to boot from usb drives.  I use rsync to clone my systems. I was up and running Voyage-current is 5 Minutes. 
>
>
>
> Thank you for your time,
>
>
> Nicholas A. Schembri
> State College, PA USA
>
> Ps. great work on Voyage 2.0, 70 days uptime,  no Issues.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Kim-man 'Punky' TSE <punkytse at punknix.com>
> To: Solomon Asare <solomonasare at yahoo.com>
> Cc: voyage-linux at voyage.hk
> Sent: Saturday, September 9, 2006 4:36:38 AM
> Subject: [Voyage-linux] Re: Voyage-Current Installation Problems
>
> Hi Solomon,
>
> You will need to go through steps 1-6 in 
> ./usr/local/sbin/voyage.update.  The new voyage.update script will need 
> enhancement for sure.
>
> - Punky
>
> Solomon Asare wrote:
>   
>> Hi,
>> I have been trying to install voyage-current on a PC
>> platform.
>>
>> I realised the scripts do not modify /etc/inittab as
>> expected. I do not get control of the console after
>> booting. I had to modify /etc/inittab manually to gain
>> control.
>>
>> Also the bootstrap and console settings are not
>> recalled when re-installing.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>> solomon.
>>   
>>     
>
>
>   


-- 
Regards,
Punky
P U N K N ! X  . c o m
Technology + Lifestyle
(http://www.punknix.com)

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