The following provides a guide on how to install a different Linux distribution, or another OS like FreeBSD, on the OpenBlockS 600, using a Compact Flash card in the internal slot, or external USB storage.

Japanese version only: Before installing a different OS on the OpenBlockS 600, we recommend to backup the Web interface and other software preinstalled on the included Compact Flash card. Use the backup function in the system maintenance menu.

Supported formats are FAT, ext3 and ext2. Skip this step if the storage medium is already formatted. For FAT, you can format the medium at a Windows PC. To format as ext3, use the OpenBlockS command line.

# mke2fs -j /dev/sda1

We set the volume label as MSF.

# e2label /dev/sda1 MSF

Create a directory called msf on the USB memory, and save the following files on it. See the files listed above under "Related files" for URLs.

• OS Image
• Kernel
• Kernel module
• Installation script

• Compact Flash (Drive D:, /mnt/cf)
  
  • Directory msf
    
    • OS Image
    • uImage.initrd-cfboot
    • kern.tgz
    • msf_init.sh

Insert a Compact Flash card into the internal slot or plug a drive into the USB port, connect power.

The installation takes a few minutes. Wait until all status LEDs are blinking to signal the completed installation. We suggest that you connect the console port to the serial port of a PC and follow the output with a terminal program.

After the installation is finished, as indicated by the LEDs, pull the power plug and replug it.

The installation is now done.

# dhclient eth0

Note that for USB storage, the device name can be different from the one in the below example.

# fdisk /dev/sda
# mke2fs -j -b 4096 -L / /dev/sda1

# mount LABEL=/ /mnt
# cd /mnt/

Set the download path to the desired OS image.
We use debian as our example.

# ftp ftp://ftp.plathome.co.jp/pub/OBS600/misc/debian/lenny-powerpc-obs600-20090811-00.tar.gz
# tar --numeric-owner -xvpzf lenny-powerpc-obs600-20090811-00.tar.gz
# rm -f lenny-powerpc-obs600-20090811-00.tar.gz

# ftp ftp://ftp.plathome.co.jp/pub/OBS600/LATEST/powerpc-obs600/installation/uImage.initrd-cfboot
# ftp ftp://ftp.plathome.co.jp/pub/OBS600/LATEST/powerpc-obs600/binary/kern.tgz
# tar -xvzf kern.tgz
# find lib/modules/ -type f -name "*.ko.gz" | xargs gzip -d
# depmod -b /mnt -a
# rm -f kern.tgz

# dd if=/dev/zero of=swap count=0 bs=1M seek=256
# mkswap swap
# vi etc/fstab
* only swap settings shown
/swap           swap    swap    defaults        0       0

# flashcfg -c cf

# shutdown -r now

The installation is now done.

When using the included CF card (Japanese version only), the device will auto mount it during boot. Please make sure to take the following steps in the right order.

Back up your data before performing the initialization.

Check the device name
# findfs LABEL=PKG
/dev/sda1

Display the label of the checked device
# e2label /dev/sda1
PKG

delete the label
# e2label  /dev/sda1 ""

Check whether label was deleted
# e2label /dev/sda1

# shutdown -r now

Log in after boot and check whether the CF card is mounted

# df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/ram0               128979     36155     86271  30% /

Make sure to set / as the label

# mke2fs -j -b 4096 -L / /dev/sda1

This finishes the initialization.