[Voyage-linux] Max CF size for WRAPs/ALIX

[Michael Grollman]

Edwin,

Assuming you get past the format issues, one thing that's great about using
1GB CF with voyage is that one can afford to make multiple partitions on the
CF, allowing you to have multiple root choices.  This makes it possible to
do fairly easy over-the-air full OS replacements, which can be a real plus
when the CF is installed in hard to reach places.  We do this all the time
with a nice tight distro like Voyage, setting up a small /dev/sda1 as a
/boot, and then an /dev/sda2 and /dev/sda3 that are basically full copies of
each other.

Cheers,

- Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: voyage-linux-bounces+mgrollman=cox.net at list.voyage.hk
[mailto:voyage-linux-bounces+mgrollman=cox.net at list.voyage.hk] On Behalf Of
Edwin Whitelaw
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 8:09 PM
To: Kim-man 'Punky' TSE
Cc: voyage-linux
Subject: Re: [Voyage-linux] Max CF size for WRAPs/ALIX

Punky,

I typically pre-format using

mke2fs /dev/sda1 after using fdisk to wipe the original vfat  and create 
a bootable Linux partition.

Then do

tune2fs -c0 /dev/sda1

followed by running /usr/sbin/voyage.update from the extracted tarball.

buffalo1:~# cat /proc/partitions
major minor  #blocks  name

   3     0    1000944 hda
   3     1     500944 hda1

Seems it recognizes the CF but I'm not sure why sda1 is created as only 
512MB.

Still, the same CF loaded with the WRAP install causes disk errors 
during boot.  Any idea as to how large a CF can be used in the older WRAPs?

Thanks,

Edwin

Kim-man 'Punky' TSE wrote:
> Edwin,
>
> I don't know what exact way you formatted the disk, but did you try 
> /usr/local/sbin/format-cf.sh to do so?  You may also try to disable 
> DMA with ide=nodma in kernel parameters in the bootloader.
>
> and what does "cat /proc/partitions" return?
>
> Regards,
> Punky
>
>
> Edwin Whitelaw wrote:
>> As it becomes increasingly difficult to buy a CF smaller than 1GB, it 
>> begs the question as to the maximum CF supported for use in the now 
>> discontinued but still serviceable WRAP boards.  I've installed 
>> Voyage for WRAP on a couple of 1GB SanDisk CFs  and while it did 
>> boot, there were a number of errors that looked uncomfortably like 
>> those from a failing hard disk (details can be provided) and the boot 
>> time was very long.  I have been able to get some 512MB CFs but as of 
>> the last few days, those products are no longer available.
>>
>> Also, the same 1GB CFs loaded for ALIX boot in 30s and run without 
>> error, but they only show up as 512MB.
>>
>> /var/log/dmesg shows:
>>
>> hda: SanDisk SDCFH-1024, CFA DISK drive
>> ide0 at 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6 on irq 14
>> Probing IDE interface ide1...
>> hda: max request size: 128KiB
>> hda: 2001888 sectors (1024 MB) w/1KiB Cache, CHS=1986/16/63, DMA
>> hda: hda1
>>
>> but df returns:
>>
>> buffalo1:~# df
>> Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
>> rootfs                  485106    133520    326539  30% /
>> udev                     10240        20     10220   1% /dev
>> /dev/hda1               485106    133520    326539  30% /
>> /dev/hda1               485106    133520    326539  30% /dev/.static/dev
>> tmpfs                   128572         0    128572   0% /lib/init/rw
>> tmpfs                   128572         0    128572   0% /dev/shm
>> tmpfs                     8192       360      7832   5% /rw
>>
>> I preformatted the CF before running voyage.update.  Did I do 
>> something wrong here?  Is the update script re-running fdisk, mke2fs, 
>> etc?
>>
>> Granted, I can't see any immediate need for more than 512MB but it 
>> does seem strange to have what could best be described as an 
>> artificial limitation.
>>
>> Comments?  Enlightenment?
>>
>> Thx,
>>
>> Edwin
>>
>
>

-- 
<=+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=>
Edwin Whitelaw, P.E.
New River Valley Unwired, LLC
2200 Lonesome Dove Dr
Christiansburg, VA 24073
540-239-0318


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