Editing Booting from a flash card

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This article covers the steps you need to follow to boot from a flash card with an [[Nokia N800|N800]] on [[Nokia N810|N810]]. The process is somewhat involved, so some familiarity with the command line is recommended.

Advanced users may wish to read [[advanced booting]] as well, for more advanced booting-related configuration and setup information.

== Why would we want to boot from a flash card? ==

* For more space to install applications.
* An easy-to-user bootable backup.
* To improve performance (note, this is dependent on the quality of your flash card).
 
== Gain root access ==

First of all you need to be able to gain [[root access]].

== Partition your card ==

Follow the instructions to [[partitioning a flash card|partition your card]].

== Install the necessary tools ==

First, we need to install wget, so open [[terminal|Xterm]] and, '''as root''', run:

apt-get install wget

Then run:

mkdir -p /home/user/bin
 cd /home/user/bin
 wget <nowiki>http://www.nmacleod.com/nokia/bin/nupgrade.sh</nowiki>
 wget <nowiki>http://www.nmacleod.com/nokia/bin/tar</nowiki>
 chmod +x nupgrade.sh tar

Then, to install the proper filesystem tools, temporarily add [[Extras-devel]] and run:

apt-get install e2fsprogs

'''NOTE: Do not upgrade existing packages with Extras-devel enabled as this may break things in new and interesting ways.'''

Remove Extras-devel when finished.

== Install bootmenu ==

Now we need to download and install fanoush's [http://fanoush.wz.cz/maemo/#initfs initfs flasher], so, '''as root''', run: 
''Note, although putting initfs_flasher in the directory given is not required, it ''cannot'' be placed on a FAT partition (i.e., one of the cards).''

cd /home/user/bin
 wget <nowiki>http://fanoush.wz.cz/maemo/initfs_flasher.tgz</nowiki>
 tar zxvf initfs_flasher.tgz
 cd /home/user/bin/initfs_flasher/

=== Configuration ===

This is an optional step, but if you want to customize the bootmenu to properly reflect your partitioning setup, change the partition labels, and a number of other options, then you'll need to rename the appropriate <code>bootmenu.conf.''device''.example</code> file to <code>bootmenu.conf</code> and edit it to your liking. The README included with flasher and the comments in the configuration file should be enough to tell you what everything is.

The [[flasher]] will ask you if you want to include your <code>bootmenu.conf</code> file if you renamed it properly.

=== Flash the initfs ===

cd /home/user/bin/initfs_flasher/
 ./initfs_flash

Follow the onscreen instructions. You can answer yes to all of these questions if you don't understand what they mean.

=== Set the default boot device ===

Once the initfs is flashed, you may wish to change to default boot device so the tablet will boot into your preferred partition without intervention. To do this, '''as root''', run:

chroot /mnt/initfs cal-tool --set-root-device ask:mmc2

To set the default to partition 2 on the internal card. If you would like to set the default to something else, the device is <code>mmc''#''</code> (where # is the partition number) for the internal card, and <code>mmc1''#''</code> for the external card. To set it back the default behavior of booting from the built-in flash, use <code>flash</code>.

On the [[Nokia N810|N810]] with latest [[Open development/Maemo roadmap/Diablo|Diablo]] version (5.2008.43-7), the device name is slightly different: <code>immc''#''</code> for the internal card and <code>mmc''#''</code> for the external one. For details see inside bootmenu.conf (or bootmenu.sh). The name is customizable and corresponds to the MENU_x_ID="name" line of the item x you want to select.

== Clone to the card ==

''Many thanks to milhouse for writing and maintaining this script.''

Now it's time to clone your install over to partition 2 of the internal card. The script works in stages to allow better control and error detection, and should take about 10 minutes to complete:

* 0 - Create ext2 filesystem on partition 2 of the Internal memory card
* 1 - Mount partition 2 as /opt
* 2 - Mount rootfs as /floppy
* 3 - Perform cloning process
* 4 - Commit filesystem updates and unmount /floppy and /opt

So, '''as root''', run:

cd /home/user/bin
 ./nupgrade.sh 0

If the following error occurs: "''Unable to locate mbcache.ko - aborting''"
follow the instructions per this link: [http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showpost.php?p=174911&postcount=336]
 
 ./nupgrade.sh 1
If the following error occurs:
 "Installing ext2.ko module and mounting Internal Flash card, second partition...
insmod: can't open '/mnt/initfs/lib/modules/current/ext2.ko': No such file or directory
mount: mounting /dev/mmcblk0p2 on /opt failed''" 
do the following (similar to the above remedy during error of "./nupgrade.sh 0") cp /mnt/initfs/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/ext2.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/ and repeat "./nupgrade.sh 1"

./nupgrade.sh 2
 ./nupgrade.sh 3
 ./nupgrade.sh 4
 reboot

Your device will reboot when done, and you can select the partition you want to boot from from the bootmenu.

== Remove the menu ==

If you decide you do not wish to see the bootmenu any longer, you can uninstall it by either [[updating the firmware|reflashing the whole OS image]], or just flashing the initfs (in Linux and OS X) by running:

sudo ./flasher-3.0 -F <FIASCO image> --flash-only=initfs -R

== Advanced booting ==

For more advanced configuration and setup information for booting-related stuff, please see [[advanced booting]].

[[Category:Power users]]
[[Category:N8x0]]

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Editing Booting from a flash card

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 * For more space to install applications.
-* An easy-to-use bootable backup.
+* An easy-to-user bootable backup.
 * To improve performance (note, this is dependent on the quality of your flash card).
 == Gain root access ==