[Freedombox-discuss] recommended hardware

[Thomas Thorpe]

Many thanks! I overlooked the state of the NAND driver.


On Tue, 2017-04-18 at 19:43 +0200, Jonas Smedegaard wrote:
> Hi Thomas.
> 
> [cc'ing the FreedomBox list - assuming discrete post was accidental]
> 
> Quoting Thomas Thorpe (2017-04-18 17:45:13)
> > Wondering what the issue may be with the 4 gig NAND version? I was 
> > about to buy one. If there's a good reason not to, please save me
> > from 
> > myself! :)
> 
> To boot from NAND, both U-boot and Linux need a driver for the 
> controller chip on the board to access it.
> 
> Debian (and FreedomBox) uses mainline U-boot and Linux.
> 
> Olimex LIME/LIME2 boards rely on the Allwinner A20 SoC to access
> NAND.
> 
> Driver for A20 SoC to access NAND is not yet in a usable state: 
> http://linux-sunxi.org/Mainline_NAND_Howto
> 
> Details too geeky for me seemingly also covering U-boot: 
> http://linux-sunxi.org/MTD_Driver
> 
> 
> Just avoid that board - pick a non-storage-glued-on board or the
> eMMC 
> board instead!
> 
> 
> Hope that helps,
> 
>  - Jonas
>