[lug] NSLU2

[Bear Giles]

I might have something that I can show, but it's definitely not a 
"install this and have
fun!" situation. Yet.

The thing is that we refer to "hacking" the box to "add" NFS, but in 
reality we have to build new kernels and root filesystems from scratch. 
We have to do that for a different architecture. Cross-compilers aren't 
that hard, but how many of us have much experience with them? After you 
get to that point I'm hoping it will be as simple as sysadmin via ssh, 
but even that requires configuration, testing, etc.

So no guarantees. I hope I can show something, but I won't be able to do 
much more than answer simple questions.


Siegfried Heintze wrote:

> Of course, I was assuming you were going to hack your slug before next 
> Saturday. Can you server NFS without hacking it? I thought it only 
> served CIFS unless you hacked it after which it could server both CIFS 
> via SAMBA and NFS. I was not clear if the Samba was only serving its 
> internal flash drives (like a linksys wrt54G can do) or the external 
> USB driver you plug in the back.
>
> Siegfried
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* lug-bounces at lug.boulder.co.us 
> [mailto:lug-bounces at lug.boulder.co.us] *On Behalf Of *Siegfried Heintze
> *Sent:* Saturday, February 11, 2006 2:02 PM
> *To:* 'Boulder (Colorado) Linux Users Group -- General Mailing List'
> *Subject:* RE: [lug] NSLU2
>
> So Bear,
>
> Are you going to bring your slug to the install fest next Saturday? 
> Please? So you can help others like me hack our slugs? I’ll buy a slug 
> and a disk if you are planning to be at the install fest.
>
> Siegfried
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* lug-bounces at lug.boulder.co.us 
> [mailto:lug-bounces at lug.boulder.co.us] *On Behalf Of *Bear Giles
> *Sent:* Saturday, February 11, 2006 10:21 AM
> *To:* Boulder (Colorado) Linux Users Group -- General Mailing List
> *Subject:* [lug] NSLU2
>
> Followup to the earlier discussion on hacking the NSLU2 fileserver.
>
> I bought one at Microcenter ($100 before $10 mgfr rebate), plus an 
> external USB drive. I haven't flashed it yet but can share a fair 
> amount of information in case others want to share experiences.
>
> 1) YOU CAN USE DEBIAN 'ARM' PACKAGES! There are some nuances to this, 
> but once you get the system up it's just a matter of 'apt-get'. 
> There's no need to rebuild applications and their libraries with a 
> cross-compiler. (But see below.)
>
> 2) There's no Debian installer. Yet.
>
> 3) The current "best approach" appears to be finding a partition with 
> 3 GB of spare space, grabbing a standard makefile, then typing 'make 
> debianslug-image' and then catching a movie. (Note: you should first 
> download two "free beer, not speech" source files from Intel, for the 
> ethernet controller. The documentation didn't make that clear.) This 
> builds the entire gnu toolchain, compiles the kernel, libc, and 
> standard applications, etc.
>
> You end up with two images. The first is the kernel. The second is the 
> compressed root filesystem. That filesystem is loaded into a ramdisk.
>
> You also build an installer program that can negotiate with the NSLU's 
> primary boot loader and TFTP client.
>
> 4) (This is where I'm at today) You can flash a new kernel and root fs 
> by simply running that installer!
>
> 5) Finally, you have to go through a 2-3 page checklist to finish 
> setting up the system. I believe it formats the attached disk and 
> copies the root filesystem to it. Afterwards you'll boot off of the 
> attached disk, not the compressed image. That frees up 16MB of memory 
> since you no longer need the ramdisk. After you finish the checklist 
> you have a baby Debian system!
>
> You might be able to run entirely out of memory, akin to Knoppix, but 
> you're limited to a 16MB ramdisk image. You can fit a surprising 
> amount of stuff into 100 MB (a bootable ZIP disk), but 16MB will give 
> you ssh, basic system tools, and not much more.
>
> You should be able to include any desired kernel module. I don't know 
> how to change the setup - yet - but I plan to drop EXT2/3 and add JFS 
> and selinux.
>
> Finally, it appears that the processor speed is 133MHz and many people 
> do a hardware mod to run it at 266MHz. (Apparently it involves nothing 
> more than removing a resistor.) That's sounds slow, but the previously 
> used Compaq servers that I used as my file/printer/mail servers for 
> years were slower! I'll leave mine unmodified since one of the primary 
> purposes of this exercise was to find cheap, low-noise servers that I 
> could leave up 24/7 risk free. That's why I decommissioned the Compaqs 
> -- they worked, but they were so old that I had begun to fear flaming 
> failure!
>
> More to follow, if there's interest....
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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