OESF Portables Forum
Everything Else => Zaurus Distro Support and Discussion => Distros, Development, and Model Specific Forums => Archived Forums => OpenBSD => Topic started by: mathemajikian on August 14, 2006, 01:09:27 pm
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So everyone can do a full OpenBSD install onto the Zaurus internal hdd, but we are still stuck with having to use Linux to boot. I understand that OpenBSD uses the flash-based Linux to load the OpenBSD kernel, but I don't understand why OpenBSD cannot boot the device itself or just be loaded into the flash space so that the internal hdd could be used as an /extraspace partition?
If the Linux in the flash space was removed and OpenBSD installed in its place would it be able to boot the Zaurus itself? If Linux could not be removed completely from flash could the Linux install be stripped down to nothing, flash space re-partitioned and OpenBSD installed on the rest of the flash space. Why can't OpenBSD use the flash area? Why must we continue to have Linux act as a boot-loader?
Here is a little program that could be modified to suit this purpose: http://www.mindrot.org/flashboot.html (http://www.mindrot.org/flashboot.html)
I would like to see this happen since the battery life of the device is reduced by using the internal hdd as OpenBSD's main environment. It would be nice to have the option of mounting the hdd when I wanted in order to reduce battery drain. Is this possible? What is holding up the OpenBSD development team from making this a reality? What would need to be done?
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Flash device support and jffs2, jffs2 would have to go into OpenBSD generally... probably not going to happen any time soon.
-Andy
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I was under the impression that you could just format the flash to whatever file system you wanted. Whats the difference between the flash memory installed in the Zaurus and that of a USB thumbdrive?
Flash device support and jffs2, jffs2 would have to go into OpenBSD generally... probably not going to happen any time soon.
-Andy
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I was under the impression that you could just format the flash to whatever file system you wanted. Whats the difference between the flash memory installed in the Zaurus and that of a USB thumbdrive?
Flash device support and jffs2, jffs2 would have to go into OpenBSD generally... probably not going to happen any time soon.
-Andy
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Access mechanism and no wear levelling, hence the necessary use of jffs2 to minimise writes.
-Andy