Re: nslu2 startup with automatic fat-slug detection
On Tue, Jun 26, 2007 at 10:13:15AM +0930, Rod Whitby wrote:
> Marc Singer wrote:
> > I'm curious if we want to allow APEX to automatically detect more
> > memory on startup. The code in APEX that reconfigures the memory
> > controller and then scans memory to determine the amount of memory
> > installed on the slug appears to be working properly in 64MiB and
> > 128MiB slugs. I'm working through testing the upgrade for APEX right
> > now.
>
> I'm all for apex reporting whatever memory it detects. That's the only
> way we will find any remaining bugs. Someone who is replacing RAM chips
> in an embedded device should be a person who will not be totally
> surprised if there is an outstanding bug in a configuration that has not
> been well tested.
>
> BTW, we have tested Apex 1.5.6 on a 256MB slug too, and it seems to work
> well (ask Rob Lockhart for the chip configuration details). That one
> also has a 16MB flash replacement. We're calling it an "ObeseSlug" :-)
Great. I've tested APEX 1.5.8 on my 128MiB slug. The default startup
will scan for up to 256MiB of RAM (the maximum that the IXP42x can
address).
I recall that there was a thread of discussion about automatically
upgrading APEX when a new package is installed. Was this resolved?
In order for me to install a new APEX, I had to take the
/boot/apex.flash image, byte swap it, and then put the sercomm header
on it. I can also put a copy of apex with all of those steps already
taken into /boot so that it is really easy to upgrade (or downgrade
for that matter).
Generally, I'm not in favor of redundancy of this sort. There should
be a simple tool for handling this, but I haven't seen one. I suppose
the alternative would be for me to write a small tool that is capable
of installing APEX into flash. It would be easy to look for an
existing version in the target partition and then do the swaps and
headerization.
Now that I write this, I think I'll do this in any case. If it's
usefull, then so be it.
Cheers.
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