Re: Dedicate Zaurus Drive to OpenBSD

On 10/24/07, Jesse Scott <mathemajikiangmail.com> wrote:
> Nick Guenther wrote:
> > Unless I'm mistaken, and the bootloader is not in
what Linux
> > calls/dev/mtdblock0.
> The boot manager is located in mtdblock0, and mtdblock1
is used by the
> sharp emergency linux. mtdblock2 and mtdblock3 are user
space.

So... would doing this work?:
1) boot into rescue linux
2) Insert a card with a copy of OpenBSD's bootloader on it
3) $ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mtdblock0
4) $ dd if=/mnt/cf/boot of=/dev/mtdblock0
5) Reboot
6) Watch OpenBSD boot directly
?

(For the archives: Don't try this at home (unless you know
what you're doing))

> >> Also, with 4-8GB CF prices reasonably low, has
anyone successfully
> >> replaced the microdrive with a solid state CF?
 Any visible performance or
> >> battery efficiency gains?
> >>
> There have been successful micro drive swap outs. See
the following link :
> http://mersenne.homeunix.net/zaurusforums/viewtopic
.php?t=146

oooh, interesting.
The only part of these instructions that I don't have the
skills for
is "3. You have a soldering iron and skills necessary
to use it. " ...
but looking through the rest the only part that mentions
solder is the
copper wire that /may/ exist that needs to be unsoldered
(which
google=http://ww
w.fixyourowntv.com/howtosolder.php tells me that
indeed requires soldering skills).
But that's only /if/ that wire exists.

-Nick

I successfully replaced my microdrive in my SL-C3000 with a
8Gb CF card. In
my zaurus, the copper wire did exist, but it was already
unsoldered, so I
just left it as is. Replacing the drive was as easy as
replacing any cf
card, except the microdrive is a bit thicker and requires
slightly more
force to pull out.

As for efficiency and battery life, the drive definitely
seeks faster,
especially when waking up from sleep, but note that I'm
mounting it with
noatime and softdep. Battery life feels the same but I
haven't tested that
out a lot. One nice noticeable effect is that the CF card
doesn't vibrate. I
could previously feel the drive write when I was holding it,
but no more.


HTH, 

JP


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-armopenbsd.org [mailto:owner-armopenbsd.org] On Behalf Of Nick
Guenther
Sent: October 24, 2007 13:52
To: armopenbsd.org
Subject: Re: Dedicate Zaurus Drive to OpenBSD

(For the archives: Don't try this at home (unless you know
what you're
doing))

> >> Also, with 4-8GB CF prices reasonably low, has
anyone successfully
> >> replaced the microdrive with a solid state CF?
 Any visible performance
or
> >> battery efficiency gains?
> >>
> There have been successful micro drive swap outs. See
the following link :
> http://mersenne.homeunix.net/zaurusforums/viewtopic
.php?t=146

oooh, interesting.
The only part of these instructions that I don't have the
skills for
is "3. You have a soldering iron and skills necessary
to use it. " ...
but looking through the rest the only part that mentions
solder is the
copper wire that /may/ exist that needs to be unsoldered
(which
google=http://ww
w.fixyourowntv.com/howtosolder.php tells me that
indeed requires soldering skills).
But that's only /if/ that wire exists.

-Nick

Nick Guenther wrote:
> On 10/24/07, Jesse Scott <mathemajikiangmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> Nick Guenther wrote:
>>     
>>> Unless I'm mistaken, and the bootloader is not
in what Linux
>>> calls/dev/mtdblock0.
>>>       
>> The boot manager is located in mtdblock0, and
mtdblock1 is used by the
>> sharp emergency linux. mtdblock2 and mtdblock3 are
user space.
>>     
>
> So... would doing this work?:
> 1) boot into rescue linux
> 2) Insert a card with a copy of OpenBSD's bootloader on
it
> 3) $ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mtdblock0
> 4) $ dd if=/mnt/cf/boot of=/dev/mtdblock0
> 5) Reboot
> 6) Watch OpenBSD boot directly
> ?
>
> (For the archives: Don't try this at home (unless you
know what you're doing))
I think you have to have a special tool / connector to write
to 
mtdblock0 via the JTAG connector.
See here: 
http://odn.excite.co.jp/world/url/bo
dy/?wb_url=http%3A%2F%2Fpc.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fdocs%2F2004
%2F1115%2Fpda38.htm&wb_submit=%83E%83F%83u%83y%81%5B%83W
%96%7C%96%F3&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2

Jesse