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Posts: 2,152 | Thanked: 1,490 times | Joined on Jan 2006 @ Czech Republic
#181
Originally Posted by torx View Post
Doubt this will make any difference, but i used the tar program that came along with the latest firmware. It was there by default, never had to install it despite what the instructions said.
Well there is a reason for using GNU tar and it is documented in the wiki. It it precisely because default tar makes incomplete copy and causes reboot like you described.
 
Posts: 2,152 | Thanked: 1,490 times | Joined on Jan 2006 @ Czech Republic
#182
Originally Posted by GeerGuy View Post
If/when there is new firmware, will I have to go through this procedure again and start with a clean system or is it possible to upgrade and keep all the installed programs and setting?
Yes, you need to start with clean system.

If newer firmware is similar to older one you can boot both systems and decide which one you keep, so far this was true with most (or all?) n and n+1 firmwares released but it is not rule or course. Also you can later recover data from older system if you forget to backup something. Personally I like the opportunity to start from scratch since my system accumulates some garbage over time.

In fact it would be relatively easy to copy over all user installed software from older system. I'm not sure it is always good idea but mostly it may be useful. It can be done by scanning things in /var/lib/dpkg on old system, reconstructing original packages (package details are in /var/lib/dpkg/info) and reinstalling automatically on new system.
 
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Posts: 231 | Thanked: 21 times | Joined on May 2007 @ Singapore
#183
Originally Posted by fanoush View Post
Well there is a reason for using GNU tar and it is documented in the wiki. It it precisely because default tar makes incomplete copy and causes reboot like you described.
Damn right you are! I've got it working now after using GNU tar!

Many thanks for you help and your contribution to our community!
 
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Posts: 3,096 | Thanked: 1,525 times | Joined on Jan 2006 @ Michigan, USA
#184
Originally Posted by torx View Post
Alright, i need some pointers here.

I followed the procedures and had everything set up properly. However, when i boot up using the MMC partion, it works fine for about 30s and reboots.

So this morning, i reflashed the firmware, installed dbserver and xterm, and followed the procedures again. Same thing, works fine for 30s and reboots.



Doubt this will make any difference, but i used the tar program that came along with the latest firmware. It was there by default, never had to install it despite what the instructions said.
Yes tar is there by default on all firmware, but it is busybox not genuine GNU tar. Follow the instruction completely ie: use GNU tar and see if that fixes your problem. busybox tar will not copy everything.....
 
Posts: 28 | Thanked: 4 times | Joined on Jun 2007
#185
Hello,

So I've been enjoying dual boot from MMC Ext2 for the last couple of days. Today, my N800 died on me cause it was out of battery. When I plugged in the charger, it gave me the usual boot menu, and I chose MMC Ext2. But then, it keeps rebooting over and over again (with boot menu appears each time).

I then booted into Internal Flash, did the fsck -fy /dev/mmcblk0p2 thing, and rebooted. Now it doesn't give me the boot menu anymore! It boots right into my Internal Flash!

Any idea why? What should I do to fix it?

Thanks!
 
Posts: 28 | Thanked: 3 times | Joined on Jul 2007
#186
Questions....

I have spent the last couple of hours trying to set up my N800 to boot from an external 1GB SD card following the instructions on this page: http://maemo.org/community/wiki/HowT..._From_MMC_card

When I attempt to boot from the mmc it boots from flash (without informing me that it is booting from flash)

When I attempt to boot from 2nd partition on mmc ext2 it gives me an error and reverts to the flash boot.

The instructions on post #1 of this thread show the command prompt of an N770. I have had some problems with the directions as they aren't detailed (i.e. using the GNU tar... is one suppose to overwrite the tar in /bin/? ). Also, the syntax for vi'ing vi /mnt/initfs/bootmenu.sh are kind of sketch, as it instructs:

Change the line
GETKEY="evkey -u -t 1000 /dev/input/event1"
to
GETKEY="evkey -u -t 1000 /dev/input/event2"

The actual line in my bootmenu.sh reads:

GETKEY="evkey -u -t 1000 /dev/input/${EVNAME}" ... aparently a variable for event.

So the question I have is, which one of these tutorials is the correct one for booting from an mmc? This thread or the the actual Maemo wiki? And what things need to be done differently for an n800 setup on an EXTERNAL mmc (besides the obvious mmcblk1p1, etc)?
 
Posts: 28 | Thanked: 3 times | Joined on Jul 2007
#187
Like an idiot, I had a typo in bootmenu.conf ....

(Thanks rwhitby on IRC for the help... Coopers Pale Ale it is)
 
Posts: 4,030 | Thanked: 1,633 times | Joined on Jul 2007 @ nd usa
#188
Originally Posted by re2st View Post
Hello,

So I've been enjoying dual boot from MMC Ext2 for the last couple of days. Today, my N800 died on me cause it was out of battery. When I plugged in the charger, it gave me the usual boot menu, and I chose MMC Ext2. But then, it keeps rebooting over and over again (with boot menu appears each time).

I then booted into Internal Flash, did the fsck -fy /dev/mmcblk0p2 thing, and rebooted. Now it doesn't give me the boot menu anymore! It boots right into my Internal Flash!

Any idea why? What should I do to fix it?

Thanks!

Reboot with the N800 unplug.

Hope this helps.

bun
 
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Posts: 221 | Thanked: 182 times | Joined on Jul 2007 @ Central Illinois
#189
Thought I'd add my 2 cents...

I just got an N800. I updated to the latest firmware (4.2007.26). I bought this A-Data 8gb SDHC (Class 6) card from newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211180

It worked just fine as a FAT32 card in either slot. I tried to use it to boot from mmc using the tutorial here (and elsewhere). I tried various partition sizes for the DOS and the ext2 partitions. I tried both FAT16 and FAT32 for the DOS partition. Nothing worked. I could copy the root filesystem over just fine, and even mount it and see the files. But when I tried to boot from it, it would fail and then boot to internal flash. I also tried updating the kernel to the patched version that allows for faster access to the mmc cards. No difference.

Then I tried this Transcend 4gb SD card from newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820163159

I made the DOS and ext2 partitions the same size (approx 1.9G) and formatted the DOS partition FAT16. NOW I was able to successfully boot from the internal mmc card.

So, I don't know WHY the 8gb SDHC card didn't work. I think I saw one report of another user getting an A-Data 8gb SDHC to boot, but perhaps he/she had a different model (maybe Class 2?). Anyway, I'd be interested to hear if others have had success with other brands of 8gb SDHC cards. For now I guess I'll have to stick with the 4gb SD card.
 
Posts: 28 | Thanked: 4 times | Joined on Jun 2007
#190
Here is where I got my 2 8GB SD cards.

I partitioned 2GB for FAT32 and the rest for FAT16.

All works fine, no problem whatsoever. I have done this several times (literally several times, reformat, repartition, reflash and so on). I have also tried both pre- and post- SDHC patch. The pre-SDHC patch did a little weird thing for me, at some point (after I installed and uninstalled a bunch of apps, I couldn't install and/or uninstall anything when I boot from the Ext2 ), hence I patched and re-flashed and did the whole dual boot thing all over again.

Works fine now, except that I notice a little "loss" on the capacity of the card (it says 5GB + 2 GB on my MMC2 now)

Hope that helps
 
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