Because AstLinux was designed to run read-only from compact flash, there had to be somewhere for some files to go that would be needed across reboots (like configuration files, voicemail, etc). This place is called a keydisk in AstLinux. The term keydisk is used because originally USB "keydisk"/keychain drives were used on smaller platforms like the Soekris Net4801.
Now, a keydisk can be almost anything. A keydisk can be any partition on the system. It is simple to make any of the following a keydisk:
As I have been feeling more and more comfortable with the lifespan of CF cards (especially SanDisk), I have been putting my keydisks on the same CF as AstLinux! AstLinux lives in a 32mb partition (such as /dev/hda1), while the keydisk uses the remaining space as /dev/hda2 (or, with AstLinux Opt /dev/hda3).
We assume that you have a newly created astlinux CF card with only one partition. If done improperly, this may result in a damaged CF card. Go ahead at your own risk!
1. Login to your box
2. Create a new partition
Type "n" for new. Add a new partition 2 with something like 32MB of size.
Type "t" and set partition 2 to 83 (Linux).
Type "w" to write.
3. Reboot now. Reboot may hang. Cycle power in this case.
4. Login again
5. Type
6. Confirm with "yes"
7.
Now, a keydisk can be almost anything. A keydisk can be any partition on the system. It is simple to make any of the following a keydisk:
- USB Stick/keychain/keydisk
- External SCSI hard drive
- Internal hard drive (IDE, SATA, SCSI in the near future)
- CF card
As I have been feeling more and more comfortable with the lifespan of CF cards (especially SanDisk), I have been putting my keydisks on the same CF as AstLinux! AstLinux lives in a 32mb partition (such as /dev/hda1), while the keydisk uses the remaining space as /dev/hda2 (or, with AstLinux Opt /dev/hda3).
To create a keydisk on the CF card
We assume that you have a newly created astlinux CF card with only one partition. If done improperly, this may result in a damaged CF card. Go ahead at your own risk!
1. Login to your box
2. Create a new partition
fdisk /dev/hda
Type "n" for new. Add a new partition 2 with something like 32MB of size.
Type "t" and set partition 2 to 83 (Linux).
Type "w" to write.
3. Reboot now. Reboot may hang. Cycle power in this case.
4. Login again
5. Type
genkd /dev/hda2
6. Confirm with "yes"
7.
reboot
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