Re: [Gumstix-users] Need help: Flash-Problems

[Juergen Q. <qu...@hs...>]

> ...
> is it possible to verify flash at each boot and so repare all bad sector ?
> 
> i use only bluez (sdp) and sqlite ...
> perhaps the sqlite multi threading ?
> i don't know
> 
> thank for your help or idea ..

Maybe you avoid to "work" with the flash...

Has anybody tried to hold the rootfilesystem of the gumstix in a
ramdisk instead of using the flash? In this case you have on the
flashmemory just some kernel and some ramdisk images, which will be
loaded at boottime into memory.

Advantages:
- Longer live for your flash-memory: You don't write to the flash
  except for updating the system.
- Update is much easier:
  + Mount the flash.
  + Copy the new image to the flash.
  + reboot
  + boot the kernel with the ramdisk-image
  + if it fails you can boot the (still existen) old image.
- When updating you do not have to write a complete new jffs2-Image;
  you do not have to write the whole flash.
- You can hold configs in the flash; those configs are available after
  update (because writing a new image to the flash does not mean to
  overwrite everything else on the flash).

Disadvantage:
- You need to sacrifice some ram. But (using a 16MByte Ramdisk) are
  48 MBytes of RAM not enough for your application?
- To change the config of systemfiles (for example in /etc) you have
  to loop-mount the image on the flash.

Has someone worked on this approach?

            Juergen.