Problems installing on mmc device

skush · 10-05-2020, 12:49 PM

Hi,

I'm trying to install Slackware current on a PC using an mmc device as root, but I'm running into multiple problems.

The first is that the installer doesn't find the device because for some reason it is named mmcblk1 (it is mmcblk0 in the 14.2 installer, but 14.2 presents other problems). This one is an easy fix; I simply modify the mmc_find function in /sbin/probe to add +1 to $DRV. I don't know if this is a bug in Slackware, or something specific to my hardware.

The next problem is that the installed system doesn't boot with the mmc_block module, as it doesn't seem to be in the initrd. I can't figure out how to make an initrd from the installer to replace the default. I tried running mkinitrd from the installer, but it seemed to just give an infinite stream of errors.

Is there a way to get a system that can boot up with the mmc_block module? There must be some way I'm missing to make an initrd from the installer.

business_kid · 10-05-2020, 01:21 PM

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. It's not going to happen, so give up. btw, it's usually mmcblk0 when you mean the entire thing, and mmcblk0p1, mmcblk0p2 etc to refer to partitions.

The BIOS isn't set up to do it off any 'select boot option' You need usb support AND a specific driver for the card reader.
So mark this solved, and get yourself a usb key. Slackware's Alien Bob even does a live usb script for building his slackware-live distro.

colorpurple21859 · 10-05-2020, 01:24 PM

Quote:

The next problem is that the installed system doesn't boot with the mmc_block module,

I'm not sure how well mmc is supported with the stock 14.2 kernel, Slackware-current may be a better choice. I think you will need to use the generic kernel with an initrd to be able to boot your installation. chroot into the system run

Code:

sh /usr/share/mkinitrd/mkinitrd_command_generator.sh

will ouput an initrd.gz command to run, that you will need to modify to load the modules for the initrd

skush · 10-05-2020, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. It's not going to happen, so give up.

Update: it did happen. And yes I know how partition names work. There was no mmcblk0; for some reason in the installer it was mmcblk1. After installing, it's back to 0... The BIOS also posed no problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

chroot into the system run

Code:

sh /usr/share/mkinitrd/mkinitrd_command_generator.sh

will ouput an initrd.gz command to run, that you will need to modify to load the modules for the initrd

Chroot was exactly what I needed. I should have thought of that. Thanks!

bassmadrigal · 10-05-2020, 02:58 PM

As far as the installer not recognizing the mmc partition, that has been fixed in -current and will work in the upcoming 15.0 release (NVMe support was also added, which was missing from the 14.2 installer as well).

skush · 10-05-2020, 03:02 PM

Yes, I am on -current. The installer recognised it, but only once I modded probe to skip the non-existent mmcblk0. I think that still counts as a bug. I'm not sure why the device numbering was messed up to begin with though. Perhaps it would be good to change the installer to use the by-partuuid links.

Didier Spaier · 10-05-2020, 04:15 PM

As an aside, It can happen that a drive name changes during installation (e.g. an USB drive that disconnects then reconnects). In this case in the new Slint installer I will check that when the user chooses the target drive then just before partitionning it the name field of lsblk output remains associated with the same serial field as when probing the drives initially, to avoid partitioning and formatting a wrong drive

PS I have considered but discarded the wwn (world wide name) for that purpose, as e.g. a SD card I own doesn't have one.