[OLPC-devel] Probably the easiest way to get LinuxBIOS flashed...

[Jim Gettys]

If we have an image of the OLPC fedora distribution people can dd onto a
flash key or disk, that *also* includes both the BIOS reflash utility
and the LinuxBIOS image itself, we can make the installation pretty
painless.

Then we can just boot that image, and run the flash update utility to do
the conv ersion of the SPI flash from Insyde to LinuxBIOS.

If you then add your ability to get the OLPC image onto the internal
flash on top of that, installation will be very slick indeed.

Richard Smith will be improving the SPI flashing utility, and we'll have
to bless a linuxBIOS image (and make sure we have the sources
corresponding to it together, to keep the FSF happy), and we'll set.  I
hope that will happen in the next day or two.

So the install/update directions end up being:

1) download this OLPC fedora image.
2) md5 and check the checksum of that file.
3) dd onto disk or flash key.
4) make partition bootable. 
      (this can be "interesting" on flash keys, as I remember...).
5) boot the disk or flash key.
6) run the SPI flash update utility
7) power cycle the machine 

Then we can continue into the "install onto internal NAND flash" part of
the process.

Does this seem like a reasonable plan?
                                - Jim

-- 
Jim Gettys
One Laptop Per Child