From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mail22.messagelabs.com ([193.109.255.115]) by pentafluge.infradead.org with smtp (Exim 4.14 #3 (Red Hat Linux)) id 19VVpz-0007Sk-Mi for ; Thu, 26 Jun 2003 13:26:51 +0100 Received: from stevejunior (unknown [192.168.200.17]) by netstar.stirling-dynamics.com (Postfix) with SMTP id 963799802 for ; Thu, 26 Jun 2003 13:26:15 +0100 (BST) Message-ID: <007201c33bde$3d3be5e0$11c8a8c0@stevejunior> From: "Stephen Brown" To: References: <000f01c33bd2$2a579660$11c8a8c0@stevejunior> <1056625602.27553.73.camel@passion.cambridge.redhat.com> Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 13:26:58 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: quick question List-Id: Linux MTD discussion mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , hi, its a DOC 2000 , onboard 8 MB, it resides on the p5e module, Ampro have specifically changed the hardware to suit their SBC, which includes a bios copy from eprom, they provide utility tools similar to the 'm-sys' ones, except are specifically designed for Ampro, if you use the 'm-sys' tools the SBC won't boot as 'im assuming' the bios cannot be copied from eprom as the first bios screen wont load, this creates a DOS partition as well as a bios area stored close to the boot sector. 1st problem is, compiling the kernel for the Ampro p5e module takes a good half day!! 2nd problem, the preparation for a standard 'm-sys DOC' is not the same as in the specific tools that are written for the p5e module. I tried quite a few different kernel compiles ( include MTD - etc etc - also tried the ones default with kernel 2.4.4 and the latest ones from web ) to try and make the DOC compatible with the real-time linux kernel, recompiled with RTLinux pre-1, but couldnt get it to work, this takes up a lot of time! so.. i opted to load the RTLinux kernel and root filesystem from the DOS partition, that resides on the p5e module, using 'loadlin' , this loads into memory using initrd as the p5e module has 32 MB sdram, the system is finished and I am happy with its performance but ... looking ahead into the future 'if' the hardware has to stay the same it would be nice to have a non-volatile area so to store network information etc, instead at the moment I can change on the fly, until I power down, or... I can create a new ROOT filesystem (*.gz) , change a few scripts etc, for permanent changes. I cannot recompile the kernel for Red Hat 7.2 and RTLinux to include ext3 fs, so I have learned to live with it as ext2. This is why I have an interest in the 'IDE PRO' if maybe it can provide a solution via the IDE bus, without a lot more time consuming kernel compiling, the other option was a seperate DOC from 'm-sys' that could interface with our pc-104 stack which Im assuming would require me to recompile the kernel, which in turn would have a knock on effect to my development PC and all modules compiled for the target p5e etc etc... blah blah... i dont mind doing it but obviously an alternative would be better , while we are tied with the current hardware.. kind regards stephen ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Woodhouse" To: "Stephen Brown" Cc: Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 12:06 PM Subject: Re: quick question > On Thu, 2003-06-26 at 12:00, Stephen Brown wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > what do you all think about this: > > > > http://www.m-sys.com/content/products/product.asp?PID=17&FILE=DOCIdePro&FAM= > > doc > > > > if I used this as a standard IDE device does this mean that I wouldn't > > require any MTD drivers for linux and just use the standard IDE? > > > > if so could I format this as EXT2 fs and contain my ROOT file system on it? > > or would I still run the risk of power failure disk error etc? > > You'd want EXT3 not EXT2, presumably, but yes -- it should just work. > > You still have the same fundamental problem that you're running a > journalling file system atop a journalling pseudo-filesystem which > emulates a block device, but unlike the reports I've heard about most > CompactFlash devices, I'd expect that M-Systems have at least managed to > make the firmware within the device itself reliable w.r.t. > power-failure. > > > I mean I can load my ROOT fs into memory so thats not a problem, see the > > thing is at the moment I can't get the MTD drivers to work with the onboard > > 'Msys D-O-C' on an Ampro p5e module, reason being is Ampro use part of the > > FLASH to store the bios for the ampro board and have specific tools for > > formatting etc, > > That's interesting... can you describe the problems? Precisely what type > of DiskOnChip is it, is it detected correctly by the hardware driver? Is > it only the NFTL code which is unhappy? etc. > > -- > dwmw2 > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The > service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive > anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit: > http://www.star.net.uk > ________________________________________________________________________ > ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Woodhouse" To: "Stephen Brown" Cc: Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 12:06 PM Subject: Re: quick question > On Thu, 2003-06-26 at 12:00, Stephen Brown wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > what do you all think about this: > > > > http://www.m-sys.com/content/products/product.asp?PID=17&FILE=DOCIdePro&FAM= > > doc > > > > if I used this as a standard IDE device does this mean that I wouldn't > > require any MTD drivers for linux and just use the standard IDE? > > > > if so could I format this as EXT2 fs and contain my ROOT file system on it? > > or would I still run the risk of power failure disk error etc? > > You'd want EXT3 not EXT2, presumably, but yes -- it should just work. > > You still have the same fundamental problem that you're running a > journalling file system atop a journalling pseudo-filesystem which > emulates a block device, but unlike the reports I've heard about most > CompactFlash devices, I'd expect that M-Systems have at least managed to > make the firmware within the device itself reliable w.r.t. > power-failure. > > > I mean I can load my ROOT fs into memory so thats not a problem, see the > > thing is at the moment I can't get the MTD drivers to work with the onboard > > 'Msys D-O-C' on an Ampro p5e module, reason being is Ampro use part of the > > FLASH to store the bios for the ampro board and have specific tools for > > formatting etc, > > That's interesting... can you describe the problems? Precisely what type > of DiskOnChip is it, is it detected correctly by the hardware driver? Is > it only the NFTL code which is unhappy? etc. > > -- > dwmw2 > > > ______________________________________________________ > Linux MTD discussion mailing list > http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-mtd/ > > ________________________________________________________________________ > This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The > service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive > anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit: > http://www.star.net.uk > ________________________________________________________________________ > ________________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit: http://www.star.net.uk ________________________________________________________________________