Tips for Updating to Familiar v0.8.3

From MoDe

Updating the iPAQ to the latest Familiar Distribution

Author: khcheng

Date: 24-Feb-06 1:32:12 PM
Edited: 11-Mar-06 (Added modprobe mtdchar command)

The full root filesystem for Familiar v0.8.3 image is HUGE at 21MB. This can take at least 30-40 minutes to upload using HyperTerminal.

You can use an SD card to facilitate the upgrade of the root filesystem.

Just a reminder, you can get the images from http://familiar.handhelds.org/snapshots/v0.8.3/RC2/unsorted/.

1. Boot your iPAQ into Linux (presumably v0.8.2) as normal.

2. From your PC, copy gpe-image-v0.8.3-h3900.rootfs.jffs2 to the top directory of your SD card.

3. Insert the SD card into the iPAQ and wait while it is mounted.

4. You can type the command 'mount' to see the list of mounted devices, which should include the mount point /media/card. If you don't, wait and try again.

5. At this point, make sure that you have the originals on your PC of all files that you transferred to the iPAQ.

6. Load the mtdchar driver with the command:

   modprobe mtdchar

7. Now, copy the filesystem with the following command:

   cp /media/card/gpe-image-v0.8.3-h3900.rootfs.jffs2 /dev/root

Note: Do NOT disturb the iPAQ, or powerdown or try anything funny. This operation will take a while ... so do something else while you are at it, but it should not take more than 5 minutes)

After this is done, you should be able to reboot the iPAQ into your spanking new Familiar v0.8.3. Enjoy!

If you do get hit by Murphy's Law (meaning something goes wrong halfway and the root is corrupted), there is hope! Use HyperTerminal to load the bootstrap image (http://familiar.handhelds.org/snapshots/v0.8.3/RC2/unsorted/bootstrap-image-v0.8.3-h3900.rootfs.jffs2) first - it should be pretty quick since it is only 6MB.

After the bootstrap image is loaded, you can proceed to boot into the bootstrap image and copy the full image into /dev/root as per the above instructions.

Please report success/failures to me. Thanks!