Linux booting from USB HD / USB interface devices
David Ford
I've been doing some research in this area. There are a few
motherboards that I've come across that are capable of booting from a
USB hard drive and I'm interested in collecting a lot of opinions and
"yeah, i've done that" comments. The end application for this is to
mount a motherboard in a 4x4 truck to process dash data and sensory
input (i.e. GPS, atmospheric, fire department data, etc), provide
digitized maps (GIS), network connectivity via wireless, and be the
radio/mp3/cd player etc.
The most promising vendor I've found so far is Gigabyte, one of the
better motherboards appears to be the GA-8IGX model.
_Please note_, I'm specifically trying to use a USB harddrive, not a
floppy. I want the smallest number of devices required to run the
system and floppy media is just too unreliable. I'm also intending on
putting the harddrive several feet away from the motherboard -- the
system's physical profile has to be flexible.
1) Most motherboard vendors (that mention Linux) are indicating Linux
2.4.x for support. How is the USB Mass storage support in 2.4.19+?
2) There are some vague comments about some devices requiring the
ability to boot, are there some USB hard drives that are incapable of
acting as a boot device?
3) I don't suspect there is anything tricky or nonstandard that I'd need
to do on the USB drive, do I need corrected?
4) What kind of USB hard drives are well supported in Linux?
5) What kernel issues do I need to be aware of?
USB Interface devices
As part of the above project, I'd like to build a digital dash, full
bidirection data flow. Sensor data into computer, control data out.
I.e. read fuel, oil, speed, engine computer data, etc as sensory inputs
and for output send data to control regular lighting, special lighting,
fans, etc. I'm really lacking in research results here, -any- feedback
for this would be appreciated.
Comments or answers appreciated. I promise to put up a web page with
all the gadget details as I go along.
David
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Matthew Dharm
> Linux booting from USB HD
>
> 2.4.x for support. How is the USB Mass storage support in 2.4.19+?
It works nicely for many people.
> 2) There are some vague comments about some devices requiring the
> ability to boot, are there some USB hard drives that are incapable of
> acting as a boot device?
Yes. They are few, tho. The USB-IF is currently working on a bootability
standard to eliminate this problem.
> 3) I don't suspect there is anything tricky or nonstandard that I'd need
> to do on the USB drive, do I need corrected?
No correction.
> 4) What kind of USB hard drives are well supported in Linux?
See www.linux-usb.org for a link to a list of good devices.
> 5) What kernel issues do I need to be aware of?
THe stock kernel won't work. There are patches floating around to make
this work. Basically, the kernel needs to pause for a couple of seconds
before attempting to mount the root fs so that the plug-n-pray detection
can work, identify the drive, and get going.
Matt
--
Matthew Dharm Home: mdhar...@one-eyed-alien.net
Maintainer, Linux USB Mass Storage Driver
Okay, this isn't funny anymore! Let me down! I'll tell Bill on you!!
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User Friendly, 4/1/1998
David Ford
http://blue-labs.org/ranger.php
Matthew Dharm wrote:
>>2) There are some vague comments about some devices requiring the
>>ability to boot, are there some USB hard drives that are incapable of
>>acting as a boot device?
>>
>>
>
>Yes. They are few, tho. The USB-IF is currently working on a bootability
>standard to eliminate this problem.
>
Is there a list of these somewhere that point out components that I
should avoid?
>
>THe stock kernel won't work. There are patches floating around to make
>this work. Basically, the kernel needs to pause for a couple of seconds
>before attempting to mount the root fs so that the plug-n-pray detection
>can work, identify the drive, and get going.
>
I'll go look for these patches, pointers are welcome of course.
Matthew Dharm
> Thank you for your reply. I've started a rough draft of this project,
> http://blue-labs.org/ranger.php
>
> Matthew Dharm wrote:
>
> >>2) There are some vague comments about some devices requiring the
> >>ability to boot, are there some USB hard drives that are incapable of
> >>acting as a boot device?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Yes. They are few, tho. The USB-IF is currently working on a bootability
> >standard to eliminate this problem.
> >
>
> Is there a list of these somewhere that point out components that I
> should avoid?
Not to my knowledge. USB bootability is a very touch-and-go thing for the
BIOS vendors right now... hopefully the specification being worked on now
will help.
> >THe stock kernel won't work. There are patches floating around to make
> >this work. Basically, the kernel needs to pause for a couple of seconds
> >before attempting to mount the root fs so that the plug-n-pray detection
> >can work, identify the drive, and get going.
> >
>
> I'll go look for these patches, pointers are welcome of course.
Sorry, no pointers. See if you can find a linux-usb-devel or
linux-usb-users archive. You're searching for something that introduces a
"delay" (good keyword) in the boot process.
Matt
--
Matthew Dharm Home: mdhar...@one-eyed-alien.net
Maintainer, Linux USB Mass Storage Driver
Sir, for the hundreth time, we do NOT carry 600-round boxes of belt-fed
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-- Salesperson to Greg
User Friendly, 12/30/1997
Randy.Dunlap
| On Sun, Jul 28, 2002 at 11:40:01AM -0400, David Ford wrote:
| > Thank you for your reply. I've started a rough draft of this project,
| > http://blue-labs.org/ranger.php
Not much progress so far?
[snip]
| > >THe stock kernel won't work. There are patches floating around to make
| > >this work. Basically, the kernel needs to pause for a couple of seconds
| > >before attempting to mount the root fs so that the plug-n-pray detection
| > >can work, identify the drive, and get going.
| > >
| >
| > I'll go look for these patches, pointers are welcome of course.
|
| Sorry, no pointers. See if you can find a linux-usb-devel or
| linux-usb-users archive. You're searching for something that introduces a
| "delay" (good keyword) in the boot process.
There have been 2 such patches that I know of.
a. One is from Eric Lammerts (subj: Using USB floppy drive for root floppy)
on Dec. 23, 2001 (on the linux-kernel mailing list).
<http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=100912381726661&w=2>
b. 2001-10-26: Booting a USB disk:
<http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-usb-users&m=100408963708374&w=2>
Neither of these patches will apply cleanly to 2.4.1[89].
I am working with 'a.'.
It now applies and builds cleanly, so I'm trying to test it.
My turn for a question:
What files do I need to copy to a USB boot disk to be able to
successfully boot a Linux kenrel?
I'm already building the kernel with usb-storage support and all of
the required SCSI support in the kernel.
Won't I need to put the kernel as the primary boot image,
i.e., don't use a boot loader on the USB storage device,
since the boot loader won't have USB storage I/O capabilities?
Does anyone know of a HOWTO for this?
I'm currently trying to use the zip-install and/or install-from-zip
mini-howtos.
--
~Randy
Matthew Dharm
> My turn for a question:
> What files do I need to copy to a USB boot disk to be able to
> successfully boot a Linux kenrel?
> I'm already building the kernel with usb-storage support and all of
> the required SCSI support in the kernel.
You should have a full linux install on that disk. It is, after all, going
to be the root fs.
> Won't I need to put the kernel as the primary boot image,
> i.e., don't use a boot loader on the USB storage device,
> since the boot loader won't have USB storage I/O capabilities?
Depends on your motherboard. Some BIOSes allow loaders like LILO to work
because they provide the translation between the int13h calls and the USB
stack.
Matt
--
Matthew Dharm Home: mdhar...@one-eyed-alien.net
Maintainer, Linux USB Mass Storage Driver
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User Friendly, 11/24/97