[Freedombox-discuss] apt-get updating the kernel

[Ian Sullivan]

On 06/27/2012 10:22 PM, Nick M. Daly wrote:
> If you're using the uBoot that came with the DreamPlug, kernel upgrades
> or boot process changes will probably give you trouble.  If you're using
> the upgraded uBoot [0], everything should be fine.  Ian might recall
> details I've forgotten, though.

The default uboot causes trouble because it cannot boot directly from an
ext formatted partition. As a workaround Globalscale formatted all the
cards with a small fat partition at the beginning of the disk and put
the kernel image there for the bootloader. Unfortunately, apt does not
know to update the kernel image over on that separate partition. I think
this can be resolved by manually copying over the kernel and initrd
images to the fat partition once apt is done upgrading them where they
live on the ext partition but I have not done it myself. The big danger
is that your newly upgraded system will depend on functionality missing
from the older kernel that uboot grabs off of the fat partition and then
you will get stuck with an unbootable system.

-Ian