[CUWiN-Dev] Unable to _flash_ a new Soekris 4526 node using PXE boot

[Bao Q. Nguyen]

Thanks so much, that ssh command is exactly what I'm looking for. I
will try the fixlabel as well later when I get home.

-bn

On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 8:37 AM, David Young <dyoung at pobox.com> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 01:49:17AM -0800, Bao Q. Nguyen wrote:
>  > Hi,
>  >
>  > I have very few luck with these documentations, I believe I have tried
>  > all the possible combination but not helping yet...any help is
>  > appreciated. Thanks.
>  >
>  > >From the User Guide, Installing the Software section, there is this
>  > advice for PXE booting (http://www.cuwin.net/user_pxe) :
>  >
>  > "A brand new net4526 or net4826 node has to be flashed with an initial
>  > version of the software. This is done by PXE booting the node, logging
>  > into it, and executing a dd to it's flash drive. PXE is a protocol for
>  > booting remotely over ethernet. In order to do this you will need to
>  > set up a PXE server.
>  >
>  > If the node is already non-bootable then it'll default to PXE booting.
>  > If it has a bootable but non-upgradable image on it then you can
>  > render it unbootable by logging in and wiping out the boot block:
>  > dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rwd0d count=32
>  >
>  > Just connect the non-bootable node's ethernet to the same ethernet
>  > segment as the PXE server and turn it on. Within 2 minutes or so you
>  > should be able to log in to the node over the ethernet wire via SSH.
>  > You can then issue the following command:
>  > dd if=/staboot.net4526.img of=/dev/rwd0d bs=8k
>  > You can get the appropriate IP address to connect to by checking the
>  > PXE server's DHCP log or by pinging the broadcast address.
>  >
>  > Instructions for PXE booting and setting up a PXE Server can be found
>  > in the "How-to" section of this manual."
>  >
>  > But one will notice that after booting from PXE using PXE how-to
>  > instruction, one _do not_ have access to the file:
>  >
>  > dd if=/staboot.net4526.img of=/dev/rwd0d bs=8k
>  >
>  > /staboot.net4526.img
>  >
>  > The instruction is wrong so I must get that image onto the node which
>  > is a major obstacle because it's 64MB. If leave in the compressed
>  > format which is 10MB, which can be store in RAM, so if there to write
>  > a .tgz to "of" using dd?
>
>  There are a couple of things that you can do after you PXE boot the node.
>  You can use ssh to pipe the disk image from a remote system
>  through dd,
>
>  ssh -e none login at host 'cat staboot.net4526.img' | dd of=/dev/rwd0d bs=8k
>
>  Alternatively, you can run 'fixlabel net4526' to initialize the disk, and
>  then run the upgrade script.  Careful, fixlabel will destroy everything
>  on the disk.
>
>  Dave
>
>  --
>  David Young             OJC Technologies
>  dyoung at ojctech.com      Urbana, IL * (217) 278-3933 ext 24
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