Debian Ramdisk 2010-01-07 (armel)
Debian Ramdisk (armel) 2010-01-07 is a root file system that is derived from the Debian (armel) distribution and is trimmed down to fit (compressed) in a 5MB partition in on-board flash, and roughly 12 megs of RAM (once uncompressed). The bootloader will copy the ramdisk.gz image from on-board flash or an ATA flash card into RAM where the kernel will find and uncompress it during start up.
EABI is a new application binary interface (ABI) for Linux that offers performance improvements over the old ABI through use of softfloat instructions for floating point arithmetic, a more efficient syscall convention, and the option to use VFP hardware if the CPU has it. See the EABI FAQ for details.
The EuroTech Debian ramdisk uses Microwindows/Nano-X as its GUI environment.
The following files are included in this release:
ramdisk.gz - Ramdisk image
cmdline.txt - used to boot on systems not using the u-boot bootloader
cmdline_bitsyx.txt - used to boot the BitsyX
snapshot.txt - output on debug port of a booting system
MD5SUMS - checksums of files in this release
Usage Download the ramdisk.gz image from the link above and copy it to an ATA flash card. Also copy onto the card, the kernel zImage file for the kernel you want to use. Note that you must use an EABI version of the kernel, such as the one provided here.
For systems such as the BitsyXb, BitsyG5, TurboXb, Sphere, VIX, Portal, and VGX, which use the u-boot bootloader, a set of u-boot configuration files is needed. See this topic for all the available files, download the appropriate files and copy them to the card. You will need at a minimum start.txt, ramdisk root_config.txt, and a tty_config.txt file for your system. A hw_config.txt file for your system's frame buffer is recommended for best performace of the video demonstration programs included in this distribution.
For PXA systems such as the BitsyX, AGX, and GCX, which do not use the u-boot bootloader, a kernel command line is required to direct the kernel to mount this file system during start up. Download a cmdline.txt file as shown below and copy it to the card.
Now insert the card, and boot your system. The kernel and ramdisk root file system will be loaded from the card, and Linux will start. Booting from the card this way allows you to try different kernels and ramdisks until you satisfied - without having to erase and reprogram on-flash memory.
If and when you want to install the kernel and ramdisk and boot from on-board flash, instead of the ATA flash card, follow these instructions:
For boards using the u-boot bootloader, download the ramdisk_from_flash root_config.txt file and reboot the system. For boards not using the u-boot bootloader, create a file named ProgramFlash.ads! on the card. The bootloader will erase everything in on-board flash (except the bootloader itself) and program (copy) the images on the ATA card to on-board flash. The kernel and ramdisk will be loaded from on-board flash and the ramdisk will be uncompressed and mounted when Linux starts.
Remove the ATA flash card to prevent an unnecessary erase/reprogramming of on-board flash the next time you reboot. See the bootloader manual for more information.
Command lines On the BitsyX, use this cmdline.txt.
On AGX and GCX, use this cmdline.txt.
Verification MD5SUMS provides MD5 checksums for all files in this release.
History This ramdisk root file system is derived from Debian and supersedes our previous 2009-03-09 release.
|
All Forums
Embedded Linux
Debian Ramdisk 2010-01-07 (armel)
Forum Locked
Send Topic to a Friend
Printer Friendly
Posted - 08 Jan 2010 : 14:06:01
