[Soekris] Net5501 and Crux

[Bill Maas]

Hi Tom,

On Thu, 2009-04-30 at 21:58 -0800, TechKid PC wrote:
> I finally have the necessary cables and am able to access the comBIOS via a 
> USB->Serial->Null-Mode->Female-Gender-Changer adapter chain.

With that you should have dealt with about 80% of standard possible
trouble.

> Is there anything special that I need to do in the bios, or to the OS 
> installed on the cf card for it to boot? I setup Crux on a MicroSD card (via 
> a MicroSD->SD->CF->IDE adapter chain) and it runs fine and boots on a dell 
> optiplex desktop.
> 
> When I insert the card in the soekris CF slot and turn it on, the comBIOS 
> does not recognize any bootable device. I tried setting the "partition" 
> value to 1 via the set command and it made no difference.
> 
> Any thoughts? Could it be a compatibility issue with the microsd card? (Its 
> a 2gb kingston). I have not tried a CF card yet but will run out and buy one 
> if I need to. Although I want to get it running on the microsd card if at 
> all possible.

If the Soekris site doesn't state that MicroSD cards are supported, the
odds are against you.. (this is a case of "non-standard possible
trouble")

Sandisk CFs are practically guaranteed to work under all circumstances.
Most other should do if no 2.5" HDD is attached, just stay away from
Kingston it seems. I use DaneElec XS cards, great value for modest
amount of money. Having a CF available for emergencies is always worth
the trouble.


> On a second note, I dont see any way to "hard reset" the bios settings that 
> are changed via the set command. What recovery options are available if one 
> sets an incorrect option in the combios and disables serial output (or 
> something similar) making it impossible to manage the device? There is no 
> removable battery and no reset jumper I can find.

Section 2.5 of the Soekris net4801 manual, preliminary version 0.01;).

Bill

> Thanks,
> Tom
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bill Maas" <bill at stsx.org>
> Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 1:24 AM
> Subject: Re: [Soekris] Net5501 and Crux
> 
> > Access to the Soekris comBIOS is not just useful for watching boot
> > messages. It's an essential tool in case of trouble. See the Soekris
> > documentation and the Soekris Wiki:
> >
> > http://wiki.soekris.info/Main_Page 
> 
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