What Are The Dual Booting Possibilities Currently?

[neuroshock]

Hey All,

I'm trying to do some major catching up with the times and am going to try out Debian EABI on my 3100. I'd like to be able to keep a super stable platform that I could also boot into if possible such as Cacko or PdaXii13 at the same time. For performance issues I'd rather run both ROMs on my internal MD but would be willing to boot one from SD or wherever needed to accomplish the task if necessary. I know back in the day Uboot and some other utilities were being created with this option in their wishlist of functionalities...I don't know if they ever came about though.

Has our developement progressed far enough to allow this yet, if so can someone point me in the right direction to learn how?

Thanks Everyone!

-NeuroShock

[2or0]

Check the following page. I wrote a simple howto about dual boot.
http://yonggun.tistory.com/67

- Yonggun

[ZDevil]

@2or0:

Just tried your 2.6.24 kernel in the sharp bootloader way (following http://yonggun.tistory.com/67 ) but the system fails to boot up:

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

This is what I did:
#1 Extract modules-2.6.24-yonggun.tar.gz to the Debian root partition (on internal CF)
#2 Flash pdaXrom beta3 to NAND (resizing root partition to 53MB; after a NAND Flash Restore because I was running Debian with uboot)
#3 Flash zImage.bin.hda1(for sharp bootloader from http://yonggun.tistory.com/66 ), using Angstrom's updater.sh  

Did I miss anything or do anything wrong here?

Now I cannot even flash back to pdaXrom beta3 as the "OK" flash menu does not work after #3.

[malik]

okay, resizing the nand root partition gives the success. how can i do this for a cacko/debian eabi
dual booting on nand/sd? should i use the pdaxrom flashing tools?

[2or0]

@2or0:

Just tried your 2.6.24 kernel in the sharp bootloader way (following http://yonggun.tistory.com/67 ) but the system fails to boot up:

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

This is what I did:
#1 Extract modules-2.6.24-yonggun.tar.gz to the Debian root partition (on internal CF)
#2 Flash pdaXrom beta3 to NAND (resizing root partition to 53MB; after a NAND Flash Restore because I was running Debian with uboot)
#3 Flash zImage.bin.hda1(for sharp bootloader from http://yonggun.tistory.com/66 ), using Angstrom's updater.sh  

Did I miss anything or do anything wrong here?

Now I cannot even flash back to pdaXrom beta3 as the "OK" flash menu does not work after #3.

Strange. I don't have any problem now except that sub-system was reinitialized (all program I installed disappeared)  when I reflashed new debian kernel.

[ZDevil]

2or0, could you post a more detailed instruction on setting up this dualbooting (like which files to use, where to get them, and the exact steps)?

Sidenote: before flashing pdaXrom beta3, I tried Sharp ROM and Cacko. Both failed to boot complaining about HDD error.

I guess first I have to flash uboot again to see if something is messed up in the rootfs on the internal CF.

[ZDevil]

@2or0:
Hey, I am able to get into the D+B Emergency Mode. I have a brief look at the content of the internal CF and the fstab in flash (/mnt/mtdblock2) and things seem fine.
And I can load the Flash Menu again by rebooting from this mode pressing [OK].
Now thinking of flashing again, three questions:
-- Which ROM can work with your kernel 2.6.24 for sharp bootloader? (Sharp? Cacko? pdaX? Angstrom?)
-- Which updater.sh for which ROM?
-- Could you provide a md5sum so that I can check to see if my download is intact?
Thanks~!

[same]

hello,
this could be the best chance for ppl who use zaurus to watch videos with bvdd driver while using debian to navigate and all.
Debian is very interesting but watching movies from stage6 or online TVs is not possible.

I know it sucks to write howtos, but a minihowto wouldn't hurt, just to let starters know what to do without experimenting too much, or at least a reference to other dual boot setup howto to get the idea  

tx

[ZDevil]

I can also help with writing a (mini) howto (and clean up the obsolete information in the wiki) once I get dualbooting working on my Z.  This would be the most important update on the next customized/(relatively-)painless eabi rootfs.
2or0's solution is very promising because the Z now is so close to multiboot various OSs (at least Debian, pdaX, Angstrom) on nand/internal disk/cf/sd in a very straightforward fashion. I personally would see this as an ultimate project on the Z!    
Cortez's Poky way also works for many users, and has the same advantage of using the Sharp bootloader (so dual/multi-booting can be done more easily) and yet I have to check how his kernel is compatible with my rootfs tarball (i've already lost track of so much information after leaving the Z aside for a while...).  As long as things work both ways are equally good!

[ZDevil]

Just add one small thing: I had converted the rootfs on the internal flash from ext3 to ext2 a whlie ago, and the boot error said "No filesystem could mount root, tried: ext3"  
Would this be relevant to the failure of my 3200 to boot?

[2or0]

Just add one small thing: I had converted the rootfs on the internal flash from ext3 to ext2 a whlie ago, and the boot error said "No filesystem could mount root, tried: ext3"  
Would this be relevant to the failure of my 3200 to boot?

Sorry for my late reply. As you mentioned, it seems like file system problem.

Theses days I am too busy to build new kernel and to write some documents. But mini howto is all I did, nothing else.

[ZDevil]

Okay. Will Reinstall uboot -> Convert back to ext3 -> NAND Restore -> Flash xyz again. Will report here how it goes.

[ZDevil]

UPDATE: PROBLEM SOLVED!

I think there are a couple of things to add to 2or0's mini howto. Let me start a new thread.