Mailinglist Archive: opensuse-features (201 mails)

[fate_noreply@xxxxxxx]

Feature changed by: Klaas Freitag (kfreitag)
Feature #305312, revision 16
- Title: OpenSUSE <= 11.1 Alpha 2 don't install on SD card
+ Title: OpenSUSE earlier than 11.1 Alpha 2 don't install on SD card
   
  openSUSE-11.2: Evaluation
  Priority
      Requester: Important
   
  Requested by: Harald Welte (laf0rge)
   
Description:
  [Please note that I'm working for the CPU+Chipset maker VIA and this is
  an actually important feature for the 'netbook' class of devices in the
  coming months]
  Recently, BIOS vendors have been starting to implement a 'boot from SD
  card' feature, much like they have added 'boot from USB memory stick'
  some years ago.
  The only SD-card host controller that I've seen this implemented for is
  SDHCI compliant host controllers.
  While this is a nice feature to support, for most systems it is just a
  gimmick and not something neccessarry.
  However, there are hand-held devices such as netbooks in the pipeline
  which do not have any other mass storage device. No hard disk and no
  IDE-attached flash disk or the like. They just have one (more likely
  two or more) SD card slots and you install and store not only your data
  but the entire operating system on that SD card.
  Furthermore, there are products like Samsung moviNAND which are
  basically a SDcard in a BGA package that can be soldered onto a PCB. So
  from a protocol and software point of view it is a SD card, but it is
  mechanically soldered onto the board. Such device have gained some
  popularity in ARM-based designs, but we'll likely see them in the x86
  world, too.
  To make this happen,
  The distribution installation initrd needs to
  1. include and auto-load the sdhc.ko and sdhci_pci.ko kernel modules 2.
  create the /dev/mmcblk* device nodes as per udev/hotplug events
  The actual distribution installation program needs to
  1. recognize /dev/mmcblk* as block devices that can be used as target
  device 2. use a grub-install or similar program that can discover the
  bios drive number to /dev/mmcblk* device name mapping
  I have outlined the full details at
  http://wiki.gpl-devices.org/wiki/Installing_Linux_on_booting_SD_card
   
  Relations:
  - OpenSUSE <= 11.1 Alpha 2 don't install on SD card
  (novell/bugzilla/id: 425367)
  https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=425367
  - Installing Linux on booting SD card (url:
  http://wiki.gpl-devices.org/wiki/Installing_Linux_on_booting_SD_card)
   

-- 
openSUSE Feature: 
https://features.opensuse.org/305312