Auto start Debian after reboot

[pe...@snowweb.co.uk]

I've install Alt-F0.1RC2 on my DNS-323 hardware version B1 and it installed flawlessly.

I've then installed Debian Squeeze, which went pretty well too.

However, this morning, when I started the DNS-323 and after trying for nearly an hour to access it over SSH, finally checked the web interface, which I expected to be dead, but it wasn't! It was proudly displaying the Alt-F login screen!

I logged in and told it to execute Debian again. Again it said that I'm on my own, but sadly this is only likely to be until I reboot. I wonder if someone can tell me how I can get Debian to launch automatically each time I fire up the NAS?

Any help, much appreciated! Thanks.

[Joao Cardoso]

Take a look at Services->User->user->Configure, it allows you to specify a script (that you have to write) to execute at boot time.

If all you want from Alt-F is to run Debian, why don't you flash Debian itself? http://www.cyrius.com/debian/orion/d-link/dns-323/

[Peter Snow]

Appreciate your reply Joao.

I checked out the possibility of running Debian natively, but it is suggested that I don't do this if I'm unable to make a serial cable to restore if anything goes wrong and I don't think I have the time to deal with that if something does go wrong, so I'm afraid that that would be my very last option.

I also checked out the possibility of doing your suggestion - Services->User->user->Configure, allowing me to specify a script to run which I will write. I suspect that this might give me a way to programmatically transfer to Debian after Alt-F launches. This would be acceptable. I would need some help regarding what should be in the script though? Incidentally, I have absolutely no idea what that page (like some of the other settings) is all about. If there is documentation covering this, I would love to see it.

My other option, since I pretty much only need NFS4 is to export a directory over NFS and to configure the Alt-F firmware to do this. I've done that for now and it's working nicely. I think I'll just stick with that for now until I have some more time and can't find more documentation about Alt-F.

Thanks for your help.

Peter.

[Joao Cardoso]

On Wednesday, May 9, 2012 3:26:14 AM UTC+1, Peter Snow wrote:

Appreciate your reply Joao.

I checked out the possibility of running Debian natively, but it is suggested that I don't do this if I'm unable to make a serial cable to restore if anything goes wrong and I don't think I have the time to deal with that if something does go wrong, so I'm afraid that that would be my very last option.

I also checked out the possibility of doing your suggestion - Services->User->user->Configure, allowing me to specify a script to run which I will write. I suspect that this might give me a way to programmatically transfer to Debian after Alt-F launches. This would be acceptable. I would need some help regarding what should be in the script though?

For a script, you can try this:

---------------8<-------------

#!/bin/sh

debian -kexec

--------------->8----------------

You can save it in, say, /mnt/sda2, as, e.g. start_debian_at_boot.sh, then change its permissions as

   chmod +x /mnt/sda2/start_debian_at_boot.sh

and specify its full pathname in the user web page.

You have to try.

To disable it you have to, within Debian, remove/rename it or change its execution permissions, as in 'chmod -x ...'

 

Incidentally, I have absolutely no idea what that page (like some of the other settings) is all about. If there is documentation covering this, I would love to see it.

 I wrote some help pages, hit the question (?) icon near the page title when there is one.

Writing help pages is easy, and I hopped that users would do it and submit them to me, but... nope! So I have removed the empty help pages with the "write me!" appeal.

Of course, "No job is done till the paperwork is finished"...

My other option, since I pretty much only need NFS4

Alt-F only has NFS-v3 (which is compatible with v4 by the way, except for the absence of some features such as user mapping)

 

is to export a directory over NFS and to configure the Alt-F firmware to do this. I've done that for now and it's working nicely. I think I'll just stick with that for now until I have some more time and can't find more documentation about Alt-F.

You will have to write it down ,-)

Joao

[Peter Snow]

Hi Joao,

Many thanks for the effort and time you took to write back to me. The great news is that I was able to easily follow your instructions to create the script and install it. I was wondering how I would overcome the fact that I couldn't save the settings, that is, until I found those help pages you made that you mentioned in your email. I truly had not noticed the question mark before and was frustrated at the 'apparent' lack of documentation! My mistake - well documented (if you find them)!

By reading the help pages, I was able to understand what the clear settings button and the very scary warning message is all about, which gave me the encouragement to press it, thereby solving my problem of insufficient flash storage!

Tested all and working perfectly! I'm very, very pleased with it. Thank you.

By the way, I never saw any request for help writing documentation anywhere. Perhaps it needs to be more obvious (along with the documentation)?

Thanks again. You've done a great job with this. :-)

Peter

[Peter Snow]