Damn Small Linux - Not!

[IDC]Dragon · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 41 Location: Hannover, Germany

I run DLS-N from a CF card, with 2 partitions. The second one has a folder named "UnionFS" with chmod 777 rights.
I've tried bootparam unionrw=/dev/sda2/UnionFS, but my changes are not saved.
What am I doing wrong?

roberts · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Posts: 320 Location: OC CA USA

The boot option is unionfs and it makes the filesystem writeable.
We use it only as alternative to the write boot option which partially make the file system writeable via symlinks. There is no option such as what you posted. You cannot issue unionfs commands during the boot process.

[IDC]Dragon · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 41 Location: Hannover, Germany

I learned that unionrw option from Kanotix, thought it's the same for all platforms supporting UnionFS.

Please help me (noob) on how to use unionfs then. How do I make changes to the files system persistent on my CF data partition? I'd like to install a few myDSL packages and sure would like to still have them after reboot.

Edit: It seems that the "unionfs" cheat doesn't go along with neither "home=hda2" nor "restore=hda2". Booting hangs/stops right before X start. I got some errors before, "hdd: packet command error...", "Invalid device hda2" and "modprobe: FATAL: Error inserting apm..." Can post in detail, if it makes sense. Mounting hda2 later on works, in fact I try so in bootlocal.sh.

roberts · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Posts: 320 Location: OC CA USA

We don't rely on unionfs for such things.
DSL has had the ability to add software dynamically and automatically at boot long before there was unionfs. Tyring to merge back changes could still result in system corruption over time. It would then be desirous of package management. And you could still overwhelm the resouces of the target machine.

Our philiosply is different. We believe in a total separation of static type application and using a backup restore for only your personal files typically in home and some in opt. That is so say, we don't backup additional applications.
Instead the additional applications, or in DSL speak, extensions are copied to a persistent store. For exmaple an pendrive, the extensions, as root, are copied into the writeable mount point /cdrom. Then upon a reboot all the extenions will automatically load and appear as a normal much larger system. Or another option is to make a mydsl directory on a disk partition, (or pendrive) and the system automatically scan for this and loads all extensions there. A third option, is save the extensions on a hard drive partition and use the boot option mydsl=hdb3 for example.. A fourth way is very similar to the third way and that is to make a directory name of your choice on a storage device and then use the boot option mydsl=hdXN/mydirname

The advantage of this method is that the base OS is never touched.
You can always boot to a pristine OS by booting with the options

dsl base norestore

If an extension is troublesome you can easliy remove it.

It is simple to upgrade when a new release comes out.

All of this does not require unionfs.

[IDC]Dragon · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 41 Location: Hannover, Germany

Thanks for the info!

Now I've managed to get that samba package in, and also still have it on reboot, using your fourth way.

However, I'm stuck on how to get the nmbd and smbd daemons of samba started. I checked that bootlocal.sh is sourced rather late, and as root. So I try to start it there. My bootlocal.sh looks like this:

echo samba accessibility check:
which nmbd
which smbd

#start samba
nmbd
smbd

echo samba process check:
ps -a | grep nmbd
ps -a | grep smbd

"which" tells me they're accessible, and the "ps" tell me they're not running. When I do the same manually on a root console, it works.

Edit: currently I see the smbd process auto-started, but not nmbd. Could this be a race condition? Something still setting up in the background while bootlocal.sh is running?
Edit2: a "sleep 2" in front of samba start helps. I also see a message"eth0: Link autonegation speed 100M bps full duplex" inbetween my output, probably this is my race condition. Is there a better solution, should I somehow wait for eth0?

Sorry to nag again about unionfs:
How is unionfs intended to work with DSL-N, how is it persisted past a reboot?
When this samba problem is solved, the remaining setup for me is to get SlimServer installed and running. This is a bag of perl scrips, no package. Probably I have to stitch that into the system somehow, and sure want to persist it. Or do you recommend to work with .filetool.lst all the way?

roberts · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Posts: 320 Location: OC CA USA

RC2 will have a much more reliable unionfs.
It intended use in dsl-n is the same as dsl.
That is RC2 will support the unc type mountable extensions.