Linux booting from USB HD
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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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jul 30 2002 - 14:00:27 EST