lkml.org 
[lkml]   [1998]   [Oct]   [21]   [last100]   RSS Feed
Views: [wrap][no wrap]   [headers]  [forward] 
 
Messages in this thread
/
Date
From
SubjectRe: Motherboard design specifically for Linux
On Wed, 21 Oct 1998, Simon Kenyon wrote:

> > One other small ROM that will check the Flash ROM's checksum and/or a jumper
> > on the board, and if it fails beep a tune on the speaker, and then expect a
> > raw Flash ROM image sent to it on the first serial port?
> >
> > That's the simplest way I think. A floppy could be used, too, but that'd mean
> > more complexity in the 'small ROM'.

> a floppy would be much better
> and then again, what about ls-120?

Floppies are more generic. You don't want to have to support every
conceivable device in an "emergency" flash ROM. But you could put enough
code to load and execute something from a floppy in 64k or so. (I've done
it) This also had better not be writable. As one of the stupid people that
has nuked his "emergency" flash, 'tis best to keep these things from
possibly being screwed.

I don't know how much flash ROM's cost, but I think it would be infinitely
cool to put a kernel and minimal filesystem in ROM (~5-7MB, less if
compressed -- like debian's "base") to allow booting from any device Linux
supports. This would also allow such cool things as diskless clients that
can net boot.

-- Bob

./'^`\._./'~`\._./'~`\._./'~`\._./'#`\._./'~`\._./'~`\._./'~`\._./'^`\.
/ Rube Goldberg? Bah! Amateur! I give you..Windows 98! Linux everywhere \
| Linux, because everyone's work is mission critical. ANYTHING inside. |
|_Bob McElrath (mcelrath@wisconsin.cern.ch) Univ. of Wisconsin at Madison_|
\.___________________________________________________________________./


-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/

\
 
 \ /
  Last update: 2005-03-22 13:45    [W:0.914 / U:0.036 seconds]
©2003-2020 Jasper Spaans|hosted at Digital Ocean and TransIP|Read the blog|Advertise on this site