Cannot mount new partition

[sebastian.linux]

Hi,

I've created a new partition on my RSMMC with sfdisk. I've got two partitions, one formatted as vfat and the other one as ext2. I've successfully mounted the vfat one. But I haven't been able to mount the ext2 one.

These results may help to understand:

/ # sfdisk -l /dev/mmcblk0
Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 31360 cylinders, 4 heads, 16 sectors/track
Units = cylinders of 32768 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0
Device Boot Start End #cyls #blocks Id System
/dev/mmcblk0p1 1 15000 15000 480000 6 FAT16
/dev/mmcblk0p2 15001 31359 16359 523488 83 Linux
/dev/mmcblk0p3 0+ 0 1- 31+ 83 Linux
/dev/mmcblk0p4 0 - 0 0 0 Empty

/ # fsck.ext2 /dev/mmcblk0p2
e2fsck 1.37 (21-Mar-2005)
/dev/mmcblk0p2: clean, 11/131072 files, 16553/523488 blocks

/ # cat /etc/fstab
rootfs / rootfs defaults,errors=remount-ro,noatime 0 0
/dev/mmcblk0p1 /media/mmc1 vfat rw,noauto,nodev,noexec,nosuid,utf8,uid=29999 0 0
/dev/mmcblk0p2 /media/mmc2 ext2 defaults, errors=remount-ro, noatime 0 0

/ # cat /etc/mtab
rootfs / rootfs rw 0 0
/dev/root /mnt/initfs jffs2 rw 0 0
none /mnt/initfs/proc proc rw 0 0
none /mnt/initfs/sys sysfs rw 0 0
none /mnt/initfs/tmp tmpfs rw 0 0
/dev/mtdblock4 / jffs2 rw,rpsize=1024,rpuid=0,rpuid=30000 0 0
none /tmp tmpfs rw 0 0
/proc /proc proc rw 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs rw 0 0
none /dev tmpfs rw 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw 0 0
/dev/mmcblk0p1 /media/mmc1 vfat utf8,uid=29999,shortname=mixed 0 0

/media/mmc2 # mount /media/mmc2
mount: Mounting /dev/mmcblk0p2 on /media/mmc2 failed: No such device

/media/mmc2 # mount /dev/mmcblk0p2
mount: Mounting /dev/mmcblk0p2 on /media/mmc2 failed: No such device

Could anybody help me? Please...:confused:

[tolou]

Hi!

I can just confirm the very same problem on N800 with SD-card, no avail.
Searched the forum without any solution. It´s seems to be working occationally and someone tried to partition and format using another tool(preferably on Linux, but even Partition manager for Windows) with success, and not from "inside" the tablet.

Otherwise it could perhaps relate to the number of blocks partitioned or another setup parameter. Just keep trying with different sizes?! Heck, what do I know?

[sebastian.linux]

YEEEEEEES, I got it.

Just forgot to add ext2 modules to the kernel:
/ # insmod /mnt/initfs/lib/modules/current/ext2.ko

Now it works fine:
/ # mount /media/mmc2

As can be shown in these results:
/ # cat /etc/mtab
...
/dev/mmcblk0p1 /media/mmc1 vfat utf8,uid=29999,shortname=mixed 0 0
/dev/mmcblk0p2 /media/mmc2 ext2 errors=remount-ro 0 0

/ # df -h
Filesystem Size Used Available Use% Mounted_on
...
/dev/mmcblk0p1 468.5M 64.0M 404.5M 14% /media/mmc1
/dev/mmcblk0p2 495.1M 13.0k 469.5M 0% /media/mmc2

This is GREAT. But now comes the big question:
How can I use this ext2 partition to extend my rootfs. That is, I want to install apps in my MMC, not in my 770 internal memory. I think it can be done by linking files and directories to the 770. But could somebody explain me how?

BTW, I've also read something about "unions"... What's the best option?

Salut.
Sebas.:D :D :D

[tolou]

Hmm, I even tried the ext3 format with same results.
You shouldn´t be required to add that ext3.ko module if I´m not mistaken.

Now for the N800 we don´t have the /etc/init.d/minircS file that are mentioned to include the
insmod /mnt/initfs/lib/modules/current/ext2.ko
to be executed at startup.

I found a "similar" file: 'rcS' in that directory. Is that the correct one? Doesn´t seem to "do it" for me, anyways...

My purpose is to create a complete mirror installation/backup using bootmenu to choose and ultimately do the flashing of e.g. new OS versions etc. I´m a windows guy, but do have some unix experience at work.

[disq]

on the n800 you also need to install the mb_cache module prior to installing ext2.ko.

[penguinbait]

I´m a windows guy, but do have some unix experience at work.


well at least you recognize the problem and are working towards correcting it, thats the first step....:D :D :D

[tolou]

on the n800 you also need to install the mb_cache module prior to installing ext2.ko.

mbcache.ko
yeah! That made the trick, thanks 'disq'!

And the 'currrent' link to
/mnt/initfs/lib/modules/2.6.18-omap1
seems broken so had to explicitly set the right path

I'm getting there. Hehe.

[sebastian.linux]

I've been able to mount my ext2 partition automagically at startup.
The process has been described at:
http://sebas-nokia770.blogspot.com/2007/01/how-to-create-partition-without-pc.html

But now I need your help. I want to host /root and /home directories at my ext2 partition in my RS-MMC. To do that, I must remove those directories but leave symbolic link instead. Could somebody help me about that?

It is very important for me to know where exactly in the /etc/init.d/minircS file I should mount my memory card in order not to brick my tablet.

Thank you for your help.

[aflegg]

The approach I take is to leave the existing directories on the internal flash, but cp them to the card and then do a "bind" mount at startup, if the card is present:

mound -o bind /media/mmc1p2/root /root

This means you can remove the card and get back up and running without reflashing if something goes wrong.

[TA-t3]

If I were to do this I would also do it the way Andrew describes.

[sebastian.linux]

The approach I take is to leave the existing directories on the internal flash, but cp them to the card and then do a "bind" mount at startup, if the card is present:

mound -o bind /media/mmc1p2/root /root

This means you can remove the card and get back up and running without reflashing if something goes wrong.

But this way you don't get free available internal memory, do you?

My intention is to install a huge lot of applications on the memory card. Can I do that your way?

[aflegg]

Yes, you can delete a lot of the stuff you don't need in the directories underneath then, but still keep the structure and the key files there in case of emergency.

e.g. you could delete sample images, audio and video.

[sebastian.linux]

Yes, you can delete a lot of the stuff you don't need in the directories underneath then, but still keep the structure and the key files there in case of emergency.

e.g. you could delete sample images, audio and video.

Hi Aflegg. Maybe you could help me. I've tar'ed and untar'ed the whole IT2006 system to my mmc. If I could boot from the mmc, then everything would be solved. But I don't know how to do it. I've tried to replace my initfs by Fanoush's initfs_flasher, but it doesn't support my IT2006 (last) version.

What should I do? Is there another way to do it? Should I reflash a previous version ot IT2006 in order to use Fanoush's initfs_flasher? Create symlinks?

Thank you for your help.
Sebas.