Editing Moving system directories to a flash card

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'''This method is ''not recommended'', as it is more fragile, and less usable than straight flash booting. Please use the steps outlined in the [[booting from a flash card]] article instead!'''

== What is this page ==
this page describes the setup on my own N800, I hope it can be useful to others, it surely helps me each time I update the system and I must remember what I had done.

== Why might want to read this ==
* you regularly run out of space while trying out new programs
* you don't want to reflash /home each time you reflash your tablet
* you would like the 'rwx' permissions logic also on the flash card
* you want a LARGE /home partition

== Why you should consider an other method ==
[[booting from a flash card]] describes a possibly better method for solving most of the above points.  in the [[Talk:Ext2_file_system_on_flash_card_partition | talk page]] you will read why you should follow that method and not this one.  as far as I managed to understand, what I describe is totally useless and anybody able to understand the above reasons would be able to figure out all that I've been writing here.  unfortunately, I have a very faulty memory and I need wiki pages to remind me what to do each time I have to do it, so I softly insist on not removing this otherwise useless page.

I strongly advice you not to follow my method and to try [[booting from a flash card]], but if you do and you have comments about it, please correct me where I'm definitely totally wrong.  don't tell me "you're definitely totally wrong", just correct the text.  thanks.  and no, I don't like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_letter capital letters] after the full stop.

a much safer approach is not doing any of these experiments and just enjoy your tablet as it is.  it's a beautiful tool, isn't it?

== Needed ==

* a working N800
* an internal flash card of 2Gigs or more.
* maybe a standalone linux desktop
* one hour time and some [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Chamomile chamomile]

== First time ==
=== Partitioning ===
follow the steps on [[partitioning a flash card]], deciding how much space you want to reserve for /usr and how much for /home.

on my system, I have slightly less that 0.5G for /usr and 1.5G for /home, respectively in partitions 2 and 3.  I have left a small 1st partition on the card because some hardware might otherwise think the flash card is corrupt and might want to "recover" it...

in general, it will not be a good idea to remove the card from the machine at any time and it will not be a good thing to put the card into anything else than your N800...

=== Copying your data to the new file systems ===
after you have created the partitions and have initialized them, mount them somewhere (for example /mnt/usr and /mnt/home) and copy /usr/* and /home/* there, keeping attributes
 cp -a /usr/* /mnt/usr
 cp -a /home/* /mnt/home
this will cost time so don't allow your N800 to die because of a low battery!

=== Setting things up ===
after you have done this, I think the best way to go is reflashing your machine (apart from the above cp instructions, you also made a backup, didn't you?) and follow the steps in the next section.  this will clean up a lot of space on your internal memory.

== After a reflash ==

things might work also without a backup, but make one anyway, unless you trust me blindly and you want to test the procedure.

short list of things to do:
=== Reflash the machine ===

=== Remove useless packages ===
things like the tutorial and I can't remember what else...  I used the Application manager to remove everything which was removable.

=== Boot with flash card in place ===

=== Test your old partitions ===

this needs a few more words

after you have become root, do this:
 #!/bin/sh
 
 # create the mount points for testing
 mkdir /mnt/usr
 mkdir /mnt/home
 
 # create the startup script
 cat > /etc/init.d/mount_custom << EOF
 insmod /mnt/initfs/lib/modules/2.6.21-omap1/mbcache.ko
 insmod /mnt/initfs/lib/modules/2.6.21-omap1/ext2.ko
 MOUNT_ROOT=/mnt/
 mount /dev/mmcblk0p2 ${MOUNT_ROOT}usr
 mount /dev/mmcblk0p3 ${MOUNT_ROOT}home
 EOF
 
 # register it for early execution
 chmod +x /etc/init.d/mount_custom
 cd /etc/init.d; for i in 2 3 4 5; do ln -s ../init.d/mount_custom /etc/rc$i.d/S15mount_custom

=== Reboot and check ===
now reboot and it's up to you how you want to check that /mnt/usr and /mnt/home contain what you expected

=== New files to old /usr ===
copy the new files from /usr to /mnt/usr
 cp -a /usr/* /mnt/usr
as for the first time, this too will take time so be patient and do not let your N800 suffer electricity hunger.

=== Back to work ===
edit the '''/etc/init.d/mount_custom''' script setting '''MOUNT_ROOT=/''' and reboot if you dare.

things should "just work" and if they don't then there's a mistake in the procedure so please let me know about it or correct the description yourself.

=== Restoring without a Backup ===

in a bare N8x0 after a reflash you would see a totally empty menu and the system would offer you reinstalling all programs.  you can still use this option also on the setup described above.

on the other hand, if you follow the above instructions, your application menu would not be empty and in general your palmtop would look a lot like as if you had not just reflashed it.  this is quite obvious, as reflashing the internal memory will not affect your /usr nor /home partitions.

unfortunately even if your application menu would offer you just the same options as before the reflash, it is extremely application dependent if a program will work out of the box or not.  as a general rule, assume they won't work and that you need doing a restore from a backup anyway.

on one occasion I preferred not using a backup and I used the application menu as a list of things to reinstall.  this helped me to clean up my repository list, which was quite messed up after that trouble with repostory/repository...

=== Power Consumption ===

the power consumption of the machine does go up this way and, more importantly, it will not be able to work once the charge is too low to read/write the flash cards.  so this setup DOES shorten your autonomy...  I did consider stepping back, but a quick check on the usage of my /usr partition convinced me otherwise: even if I removed 30% of the installed programs I would still have zero space for user files.

[[Category:Users]]

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Editing Moving system directories to a flash card

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Out of date}}
+'''This method is ''not recommended'', as it is more fragile, and less usable than straight flash booting. Please use the steps outlined in the [[booting from a flash card]] article instead!'''
+== What is this page ==
+this page describes the setup on my own N800, I hope it can be useful to others, it surely helps me each time I update the system and I must remember what I had done.
-'''This method is ''not recommended'', as it is more fragile, and less usable than straight flash booting. Please use the steps for [[booting from a flash card]] instead!'''
+== Why might want to read this ==
-== Why move directories to a flash card ==
 * you regularly run out of space while trying out new programs
 * you don't want to reflash /home each time you reflash your tablet
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 * you want a LARGE /home partition
-== Alternative ==
+== Why you should consider an other method ==
-[[Booting from a flash card]] allows you to have your entire system running from a flash card, and thus to have your Home directory limited only by the size of the flash card.
+[[booting from a flash card]] describes a possibly better method for solving most of the above points.  in the [[Talk:Ext2_file_system_on_flash_card_partition | talk page]] you will read why you should follow that method and not this one.  as far as I managed to understand, what I describe is totally useless and anybody able to understand the above reasons would be able to figure out all that I've been writing here.  unfortunately, I have a very faulty memory and I need wiki pages to remind me what to do each time I have to do it, so I softly insist on not removing this otherwise useless page.
-The reasons for doing this, rather than following the instructions here, are detailed in [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}| the discussion page]] of the page describing creating ext2 partitions for your tablet.
+I strongly advice you not to follow my method and to try [[booting from a flash card]], but if you do and you have comments about it, please correct me where I'm definitely totally wrong.  don't tell me "you're definitely totally wrong", just correct the text.  thanks.  and no, I don't like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_letter capital letters] after the full stop.
-This page details the steps the author followed to solve a problem, and represents his personal experiences.
+a much safer approach is not doing any of these experiments and just enjoy your tablet as it is.  it's a beautiful tool, isn't it?
-It is strongly advised that if you have these issues, that you try [[booting from a flash card]].
 == Needed ==
@@ Line 24: / Line 22: @@
 * an internal flash card of 2Gigs or more.
 * maybe a standalone linux desktop
-* one hour and some [[:wikipedia:Roman_Chamomile|chamomile]]
+* one hour time and some [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Chamomile chamomile]
 == First time ==
 === Partitioning ===
-[[Partitioning a flash card | Partition your flash card]], deciding how much space you want to reserve for /usr and how much for /home.
+follow the steps on [[partitioning a flash card]], deciding how much space you want to reserve for /usr and how much for /home.
-Suggested values for partition sizes are 500MB for /usr and 1.5GB for /home, respectively in partitions 2 and 3.  Leave a small FAT16 partition on the card in 1st position to prevent other systems considering that the card is corrupted and trying to "recover" it...
+on my system, I have slightly less that 0.5G for /usr and 1.5G for /home, respectively in partitions 2 and 3.  I have left a small 1st partition on the card because some hardware might otherwise think the flash card is corrupt and might want to "recover" it...
-It is suggested that you leave the card in your N800.
+in general, it will not be a good idea to remove the card from the machine at any time and it will not be a good thing to put the card into anything else than your N800...
 === Copying your data to the new file systems ===
-After creating the partitions and initializing them, mount them at /mnt/usr and /mnt/home, and copy /usr/* and /home/* there, keeping file attributes:
+after you have created the partitions and have initialized them, mount them somewhere (for example /mnt/usr and /mnt/home) and copy /usr/* and /home/* there, keeping attributes
   cp -a /usr/* /mnt/usr
   cp -a /home/* /mnt/home
-Ensure your N800 is plugged in, since this operation will take some time.
+this will cost time so don't allow your N800 to die because of a low battery!
 === Setting things up ===
+after you have done this, I think the best way to go is reflashing your machine (apart from the above cp instructions, you also made a backup, didn't you?) and follow the steps in the next section.  this will clean up a lot of space on your internal memory.
-First, reflash your tablet, after carefully backing up any data you will need later, to free up space in internal memory and get back to factory settings.
+== After a reflash ==
-Then use the Application manager to remove packages which are safe to remove. Some examples of packages which can safely be removed are the Maemo tutorial and documentation packages.
+things might work also without a backup, but make one anyway, unless you trust me blindly and you want to test the procedure.
-Boot the system with flash card in place, and ensure that your old data is there. To do this, [[Root access | become root]] and create a custom boot script which will mount partitions from your flash card:
+short list of things to do:
+=== Reflash the machine ===
+=== Remove useless packages ===
+things like the tutorial and I can't remember what else...  I used the Application manager to remove everything which was removable.
+=== Boot with flash card in place ===
+=== Test your old partitions ===
+this needs a few more words
+after you have become root, do this:
   #!/bin/sh
@@ Line 64: / Line 75: @@
   # register it for early execution
   chmod +x /etc/init.d/mount_custom
-  cd /etc/init.d; for i in 2 3 4 5; do ln -s ../init.d/mount_custom /etc/rc$i.d/S15mount_custom ; done
+  cd /etc/init.d; for i in 2 3 4 5; do ln -s ../init.d/mount_custom /etc/rc$i.d/S15mount_custom
+=== Reboot and check ===
+now reboot and it's up to you how you want to check that /mnt/usr and /mnt/home contain what you expected
-Now reboot and check that /mnt/usr and /mnt/home contain your data.
+=== New files to old /usr ===
-You will need to re-copy your system files on top of your back-up of /usr to ensure a consisten system:
+copy the new files from /usr to /mnt/usr
   cp -a /usr/* /mnt/usr
-As before, this will take time and plug in your tablet.
+as for the first time, this too will take time so be patient and do not let your N800 suffer electricity hunger.
-Edit '''/etc/init.d/mount_custom''' again, setting '''MOUNT_ROOT=/''' and reboot if you dare.
+=== Back to work ===
+edit the '''/etc/init.d/mount_custom''' script setting '''MOUNT_ROOT=/''' and reboot if you dare.
-Your flash card partitions will now be mounted at /usr and /home, and will hide the system directories underneath.
+things should "just work" and if they don't then there's a mistake in the procedure so please let me know about it or correct the description yourself.
 === Restoring without a Backup ===
-In a bare N8x0 after a reflash you will see an empty menu. You need to re-configure repositories and re-install all the applications you had before.
+in a bare N8x0 after a reflash you would see a totally empty menu and the system would offer you reinstalling all programs.  you can still use this option also on the setup described above.
-After following this procedure, when you re-flash your tablet, you should still see all of your applications and personal data, since /usr and /home will not be affected.
+on the other hand, if you follow the above instructions, your application menu would not be empty and in general your palmtop would look a lot like as if you had not just reflashed it.  this is quite obvious, as reflashing the internal memory will not affect your /usr nor /home partitions.
-However, even though applications will show up in the menu, many applications will be missing configuration files or other data required to run, and you will probably need to restore them from a back-up before using them again.
+unfortunately even if your application menu would offer you just the same options as before the reflash, it is extremely application dependent if a program will work out of the box or not.  as a general rule, assume they won't work and that you need doing a restore from a backup anyway.
-The list of applications which appears in the application menu will serve as a list of applications which you should re-install after a re-flash.
+on one occasion I preferred not using a backup and I used the application menu as a list of things to reinstall.  this helped me to clean up my repository list, which was quite messed up after that trouble with repostory/repository...
 === Power Consumption ===
-The power consumption of your tablet will be higher when using ext2 partitions on a Flash card, and your system will not work once the charge is too low to read/write the flash cards. This setup shortens your autonomy.
+the power consumption of the machine does go up this way and, more importantly, it will not be able to work once the charge is too low to read/write the flash cards.  so this setup DOES shorten your autonomy...  I did consider stepping back, but a quick check on the usage of my /usr partition convinced me otherwise: even if I removed 30% of the installed programs I would still have zero space for user files.
-[[Category:N8x0]]
+[[Category:Users]]
-[[Category:Power users]]