Re: How do I clone a Debian Distro from a 32Gb Class 10 MicroSD card to a 16Gb Class 10 A1 MicroSD card?
On Sat, Sep 18, 2021 at 08:39:41AM -0400, The Wanderer wrote:
> I'm used to seeing ISOLINUX for bootable CDs, and something (I've never
> been sure what) for bootable USB drives, but have/had never learned what
> was/is used for bootability on SD cards.
It's simple. First, you look at the processor's architecture.
GRUB is used on x86, modern POWER (think IBM p-Series) and ARM64 (but
you have to use a server hardware for that).
For x86 there's also syslinux, lilo, and direct UEFI kernel boot (aka EFIStub).
Older POWER (and PowerPCs) used kboot, but I have no personal experience
with them.
u-boot is ARM and ARM64, maybe RISC-V (no personal experience with that).
silo is for UltraSPARCs.
I even do not want to know what they're using on MIPS, HPPA or Itanium
for boot, but there's definitely something.
Next you look at the platform-specific detail.
For x86 the biggest (and only) choice you have is between BIOS and UEFI.
For ARM it's somewhat rough, but manageable if you happen to have an
appropriate datasheet. Theoretically, each SOC has its own, unique way of
booting. Practically acquiring right u-boot configuration and patches is
all it takes.
UltraSPARCs and modern POWERs are easy (you have no choice, that is),
but good luck on getting the hardware. It's costly, and barring that
Talos thing comes in the form of a typical rack-mount server.
And whatever you're using as a boot media does not matter at all, unless
you're doing something very exotic, like [1].
Reco
[1] https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/3178
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