Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Thanks for the quick response, here is the err mess:
__________________________________________________

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /packages/ on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apache/1.3.33 Server at elkins.org Port 80

_______________________________________________

Not quite sure what is the problem?

bun

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

It looks like you're trying to access the packages with a browser. You need to add the repository to your Application Manager or directly edit your file:

and add the line:

The file is in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

From OS2008, just click on this link to add the repository:
http://www.gronmayer.com/it/dl.php?id=128

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Hi,
I've followed the process and have now booted the latest 2008 from my 8GB internal card. However, the other partition, which should presumably have ended up formatted as FAT is not accessible. I did elect to create the first partition with only ~1GB space, leaving the rest to the root filesystem, but I can't set up swap memory on the internal drive and assume that the FAT partition must exist for this to work.

Unfortunately, my SD reader on my Ubuntu box can't read the SDHC card (I didn't try before putting 2008 on it, so I don't know f that is why, but assume that it is just too old to support SDHC), so I'm stuck with sorting it out on the N800.

Anyway, I eventually tried using File Manager on the N800 to format the Internal Memory Card, which is initially displayed with a Repair option, but it will not format, as the card (presumably the first 1GB partition) is apparently in use.

As I was typing this, I swapped the card into the external slot and went for a format with File Manager, half expecting the worst, and not being at all surprised to find that the whole card got formatted and not just the 1GB partition.

So, I've got to follow the process again, which is no biggy, but want to avoid being stuck with no swap. I'm not immediately bothered by the loss of 1GB space, so would welcome suggestions as to how I can format the 1GB partition with FAT and avoid the problem, or deal with the swap in a different fashion.

Please consider that a quick response might catch me before I've finished doing the process again in the hope that I can sort out the issues afterwards.

Cheers.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

I was stupid to think that I couldn't figure it out for myself, especially when I RTFI again and noticed the bit about using mkdosfs.

Oh well. All good now. Nothing to see here. Please move along!

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Thanks for this, should be fun to try :)

One question; is there an advantage to putting the OS on the second partition or is that just recommended so when you plug the N800 into a windows machine you see the first FAT partition? I have a 512 card I use on the internal slot (it's small, but it was a spare card doing nothing) that I really only need 2 partitions on; ext2 and swap. I don't care about any part of it working through the USB connection (and I run Linux anyway, so I can still use it).

Just wanted to ask before I start hacking up the posted script to use the first partition. Also, it would be nice if the target partition(s) were set up as variables in the script, so you only had to edit 1 line; just a thought.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

The advantage is that it just works with zero tweaking.
Yes. Also you see card mounted in file manager and you can create swap on it easily via control panel applet. It is simply the most compatible way. If you want first partition just for swap you can still keep it as FAT and have swap file there. AFAIK swapping to file is done via direct device i/o just like with real partition so there is no additional overhead or slowdown.

Still, using one ext2 partition should work too (maybe with some minor system tweaks).

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

I have a kind of weird issue. I am booting OS2008 from internal SD card. For some reason my MicroB browser is using only Monospace fonts! So, when I go to Google, or pretty much any other webpage, I get monospace fonts which are huge and hard to read. I went to config:about and tried tweaking some of the fonts but nothing seems to change. Has anyone had trouble with font corruption or issues with fonts in MicroB web browser when booting OS2008 from MMC? When I boot from Flash my MicroB fonts are fine.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Did you clone your OS using the instructions in this thread? The built-in Busybox tar command historically had issues copying font files, which is why gnu tar is recommended.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

there is similar bug for opera, did you clone the system by rsync?
https://maemo.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=838

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

I cloned the OS using the instructions in this thread. I solved this problem yesterday by re-cloning the OS and now the correct fonts are used by the browser. I don't know what caused the issue. Like I said, even changing the about:config file didn't do anything so I think the fonts were corrupted (the font files were present in the correct directory).

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Is there a (definitive) Wiki somewhere explaining the pros and cons and possibilities of using different filesystems (esp. wrt. OS and swap file/partition)?

I suspect quite a few people here don't absolutely need FAT for Windows access but apparently OS2008 still requires it to be able to automount an OS partition on the MMC/SD cards. Would it be worth lobbying the Maemo folks for including ext2/3 (automount) support in the kernel? Has the ext3 (with journalling) proven reliable and not overly stressful on the frequently used sectors of the partition?

Or would a separate ext2-formatted partition (of ~256MB?) be better suited for swap/virtual memory? Presumably that way a trashed swap wouldn't take down the whole OS (on its own partition).

I'm planning to use the current cloning scripts with 512MB FAT32 + ~1.3GB ext3 scheme (with data on external card) but perhaps there's room for "non-fat" evolution in the future? Sometime next year there might also be the new LogFS in the mix... (a journalled and wear-levelling flash FS for larger partitions than the jffs2)

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Is anyone available online today to assist in getting through these procedures? I'm getting as far as trying to install wget and get the following error msg (and this is just the first one):

Err http://repository.maemo.org chinook/free wget 1.10.2-2osso2
503 Service Unavailable [IP: 8.12.96.16 80]

Is anyone available to help?

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

This isn't the case. I have two 8Gb SD cards, both formatted as single partition ext3. I was able to simply tar the rootfs and copy it to my internal SD card.

OS2008 happily boots from ext3

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Well, wget and e2fsprogs are still not available. I just downloaded source and compiled them in scratchbox.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Thanks Jeff. I'd somehow gotten the wrong impression since the scripts (or was it also the wiki?) appeared to include FAT in the given scenarios. I'll try to learn more about the ideal (which may be a personal preference) setup but for now my wife has taken possession of the N800... :cool:

I also realize I posted to a wrong thread as I didn't even notice this being under the OS2007 title but posted directly to a searched post. Glad you still noticed it.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Maybe someone can help me ...

I have cloned my N800 with os 2007 befor in the past and each time it worked just great . but now i am on os 2008 . no matter what way i use to clone os 2008 it starts to copy the files over to my card but then stops . it is like it slows down till it comes to a stop . last night even 8 hours latter and still on the same file .I shut off wireless closed all programs and even reflashed my device so the system is very clean. it is a 1gb card partition 50/50 ..I don;t understand it this has never happen to me it always went fast. I do have the boot menu install also .


Has this happen to anyone other then me and if so how did you fix it ..

I wish there was just a wiki just for n800 and os 2008 . maybe i am missing something with 2008.. but i have did this 20+ times and i still can not get it to go..


Thank you

Computerfreek

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by theredbaron View Post
I have a kind of weird issue. I am booting OS2008 from internal SD card. For some reason my MicroB browser is using only Monospace fonts! So, when I go to Google, or pretty much any other webpage, I get monospace fonts which are huge and hard to read. I went to config:about and tried tweaking some of the fonts but nothing seems to change. Has anyone had trouble with font corruption or issues with fonts in MicroB web browser when booting OS2008 from MMC? When I boot from Flash my MicroB fonts are fine.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Millhouse
Did you clone your OS using the instructions in this thread? The built-in Busybox tar command historically had issues copying font files, which is why gnu tar is recommended.

I'm having the exact same font problem with microb and I too cloned following the instructions found in this thread. Is there any way to fix the font problem without re-cloning?

I've already installed KDE on top of the clone and have it all configured. I just noticed the font problem last evening and would really, really like to not have to install/configure KDE all over again :(

Alternatively, is there a way I can re-clone Maemo without having to reinstall KDE? I can't think of a way - but you never know.

Thanks :)

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Ok... so FYI, I figured out why my fonts are broken in microb. I've re-cloned Maemo and re-installed KDE making sure to use the correct tar app along the way. I checked the browser after each step of the KDE install and it appears that one of the files used for KDE install (SUP.tgz) is at fault for breaking the microb fonts.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

I don not know how to use SD card on the Tablet?

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Kudos to all the contributors, esp Milhouse and Schmot!!!
Not being a Linux-savvy-dude I was however able to follow the procedures and clone OS2007 to SD.
2 questions though:

1) it looks like rootfs takes an extra 100M or so...is it because initial fs is compressed (jfss2) and the cloned one isn't (ext2)?

2) VERY IMPORTANT FOR ME: can I flash the OS on SD to upgrade to OS2008? This would be AWESOME...to preserve OS2007 on flash and toy with OS2008 at the same time.
My biggest beef with OS2007 is crappy Skype performance (100% crashes after 10 min or so...no matter what I tried).

Thanks a bunch....

PS. In case anyone wonders if the Dell regular Bluetooth keyboard works (normal size, can't find the model # now)..it does - pretty good.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

1) Correct - your internal flash memory is 256MB, but to clone the OS it's recommended that you make available at least 512MB because of the internal compression

2) Not easily, and I admit this would be very handy (ie. to "flash" a FIASCO image direct to MMC/SD) - doing this has been discussed a few times on the forum, if I knew the commands to do this I'd write a script! :)

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Thanks Milhouse! One last (!) question: can I copy the content of SD into flash (reverse cloning)?
I want to use my N800 booted from SD at all times (just as a safety measure), but inevitably the 2 versions will be out-of-sync (due to updates and new sw installed).

Cheers

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

I guess it should be possible; The root filesystem for internal flash can be accessed by mounting /dev/mtdblock4 then erasing it (I'm not sure if it's possible to format the jffs2 partition) and tranferring your OS from MMC/SD...

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

I have followed instructions and cloned the OS 2007 to the internal SD card. There is one issue though. The vfat partition is only automounted after reboot. If I try to connect N800 to a pc via usb, it shows an error about internal memory card being in use. External card mounts fine. After disconnection, only external card is remounted on n800. I have to remount the vfat first partition manually for the device to. Funnily enough if I connect the usb cable and power on the device (after switching it off obviously) then all partitions appear on my desktop ready to be mounted. Is there any way of making it work properly so I can have the first partition being unmounted when connected to pc and mounted back when disconnected from pc. Thanks a lot for any suggestions.

Simon

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Yes, for small differences use rsync. For bigger ones it is best to recreate whole jffs2 image from current SD and flash it to internal flash while booted from mmc. The naive way -
mount /dev/mtdblock4 /opt
rm -rf /opt/*
tar clone from mmc2 to mtdblock4
would work too but will be far from optimal, mount and access time will be poor, jffs2 is journaled and there is nothing but journal so with this way the filesystem will consist of huge number of tiny records/logs of separate changes for removing/creating each file. Making new jffs2 image gives best performance. Search this forum for mkfs.jffs2 and flash_eraseall.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

No. You can't easily extract firmware image directly to SD card from the tablet. It is possible but quite complicated so I won't go to details. It is easier to do it on linux desktop PC but still it is complicated. You can unpack firmware to pieces and mount rootfs.jffs2 on PC and archive it via tar or copy to card. AFAIK there is no way to extract jffs2 image directly (i.e. no mtd modules in kernel and no mount). The easiest way is to flash new firmware to internal flash, then copy it to mmc and then possibly restore previous backup of internal flash.

Also you can boot both 2007 and 2008 rootfs from card/internal flash but you will not have full functionality. There is only one shared kernel and initfs partition and 2007 vs 2008 differ too much. You can boot 2007 with 2008's kernel and initfs but wifi won't work in 2007.

I am currently playing with kexec idea (i.e. booting more kernels) but it is far from usable state. And this route will be more complicated since you would need to have more initfs partitions too. Perhaps it is too complicated for average person to be practical.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Thanks Fanoush! It has sorted the problem straight away. Now I can enjoy my N800 to a full extent!!.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

In xterminal I

cd /home
find

which brings up allot of directories so i find where the file is extracted to which says

./user/MyDocs/documents/initfs_flasher

so i copy that line

exec ./user/MyDocs/documents/initfs_flasher

It seems like it running but it runs for a long period and my processor manager says that osso-xterm 48% and Xomap is 41%

What am i doing wrong?

After step 5 I can't see the internal card i formatted in the memory section. I'm sure It's just a line of code im not familiar with to run. I dont know shell or terminal command codes.


n800
OS2008
8 Gig MMC

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

drop the 'exec' part, exec command is not doing what you think it does, it replaces current process (i.e. shell) which is not what you want.

so either it should be something like

or

Also I take for granted that you already extracted the archive (tar zxvf initfs_flasher.tgz)

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Fanoush' Web site/download location (http://fanoush.wz.cz/maemo/#initfs) appears to be down. Is there an alternative? Is the tool small enough someone could attach it to a post?

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Thanks for letting me know. This is free hosting so I don't know when it will be available again. Here is backup site
http://fanoush.webpark.cz/maemo/initfs_flasher.tgz
http://fanoush.webpark.cz/maemo/#initfs

Not everything is up to date there, I will gradually update what is missing. If you want something and link doesn't work, PM me.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Help step 6

After downloading the file from


http://fanoush.wz.cz/maemo/initfs_flasher.tgz

and
in xterminal

~ $ sudo gainroot
# cd /home/user/MyDocs/.documents/
# tar zxvf initfs_flasher.tgz
# cd initfs_flasher/
# ./initfs_flash

Type "yes", if appropriate, to make sure everything works correctly.

When i extracted the file from the tgz file i thought i would be the same as if i used winrar on my vista box. It is not must be extracted with "# tar zxvf initfs_flasher.tgz" in terminal (shell). The # indicates that you must be in root mode. The above code is for file extracted in document folder.

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

After following the instructions on the maemo.com wiki to partition and format the 8gb internal SD card - making sure the FAT partition was first on the card - I followed the excellent instructions at the start of this thread.

I had upgraded my N800 to OS2008, so cloned that 2008 to the card, and all booted properly. (I also installed KDE on that SD card)

I decided I didn't like OS2008 so back to 2007. Reinstalled initfs as per Fanoush's instructions so I could dual boot again and behold! 2007 on flash and 2008 on the SD card.

I can now test ethernet networking but still have my preferred OS as the every day environment. Happy happy!

The chances of a flasher to update the SD card are probably slim, but that would make my day complete.

Zebee

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Is anything NOT working, re 2008Os booted from SD, e.g. is the wifi working?
Do you now have as much space as you want for program installation?
Thanks

bun

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

No, the wifi isn't - I thought it was, but was wrong. (I was having wifi problems that morning, so thought the lack of proper connection was my base station)

Reading other threads, it seems I'd have to reflash the initfs in the boot loader which makes sense - the equivalent of remaking the initrd I guess. Pity it isn't possible to have two and select the right one in the bootloader itself rather than having to reflash.

Yes, I have heaps of room to install things, I installed KDE for example. I am not that interested in 2008 I find it considerably nastier to use than 2007, so will probably work out how to use it so I can experiment with emergency wired networking, but otherwise use 2007.

Zebee

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Well, you are more luckier than I. I just ran into problems despite the fact, I have done this more than a dozen times.

I was able to gather everythings ready for the clone, except partition of the card.

I start out with a 8G HCSD card. The card was new but was able to be read by the iT, I did the sfdisk partition with following #49 size, it gave "re-read partition failed, pls reboot" and my 8 g card is not able to be read by anything now, PC or Linux.

I tried another card, 2G card, not HCSD, same problem, "partition failed..." This one was interesting, the Fat partition worked and was able to be reformated under window. Now I am scare, $80 is at the stake. I may as well be quiet for awhile. very sad...........:(

My system was working perfect, with 4G/4G, now I dont know any more.


bun

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

I re-do the 2G card, it said "command to re-read partition failed, reboot system before using ...."

now what?


bun

Re: Cloning OS to SD Card: Simplified instructions
 

Well, I think I need help on this partition thing. It is getting weird.

I do a cat /proc/partitions, and found out that it still reads the int SD card as 1.2G vfat and .8 other partition, so I took the chance and follow thru with ./nupgrade.sh 0-4, and now it boots from mmc, and here is the cat partitions image,



The strange thing, control panel/memory does not show any free space, and file manage shows a corrupted/unformated int SD card. It recommends repair, but it cannot repair. I tried to format via thru file manager and failed. So, now 2 G int mem SD becomes a dedicated MMC booter, nothing else. Can somebody explain to me what is happening? I still think the partition is a problem.

Mil, could you please kind enough to walk me thru those partition meanings, thanks.

I do know mmcblk0p1 is int mem card partition 1 and mmcblk1p1 is ext mem card partition 1 so on so forth. I think i partition the int card to 1.2 G vfat but did not go thru the format procedure. now can I format via a PC or cable or card reader or just )*()*^ scream?

thanks in advance,

one more, I notice upon w95 partition, codes 6 are fat16, and code b are fat32, what is code C? mind to list the whole thing, thanks.


wifi works and got 500MB to install pgms, a happy/sad events.....



bun
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2.2007.50-2 N800 2G/4G MMC boot