OpenELEC NFS Booting How-To
#46
Hi

I have been using few months ago nfs installation with no problem, but i have a question.
Can i access with ssh to the sd card?
I want to check with putty files like config.txt and to make changes on it, but when i check mount points, i don't discover sdcard.

My mount points are:
Code:
rootfs on / type rootfs (rw)
devtmpfs on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,relatime,size=124104k,nr_inodes=31026,mode=755)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,relatime)
192.168.1.50:/openelec/boot on /flash type nfs (ro,noatime,vers=3,rsize=65536,wsize=65536,namlen=255,hard,nolock,proto=tcp,port=2049,timeo=70,retrans=10,sec=sys,local_lock=all,addr=192.168.1.50)
192.168.1.50:/openelec/disk on /storage type nfs rw,noatime,vers=3,rsize=65536,wsize=65536,namlen=255,hard,nolock,proto=tcp,port=2049,timeo=70,retrans=10,sec=sys,local_lock=all,addr=192.168.1.50)
/dev/loop0 on / type squashfs (ro,relatime)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,relatime,gid=5,mode=620)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,relatime,size=50424k)
tmpfs on /var type tmpfs (rw,relatime,size=10240k)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,relatime)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,relatime)
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#47
Are you using a recent build of OpenELEC? Older builds certainly used to automatically mount the SD card as /var/media/System, but I'm guessing new builds such as 3.2 may have "fixed" that.

You can ssh into your Pi and then manually mount the SD card when you need to make a configuration change. Something like:
Code:
mkdir /var/media/System
mount -t vfat /dev/mmcblk0p1 /var/media/System
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#48
(2013-10-01, 19:36)MilhouseVH Wrote: Are you using a recent build of OpenELEC? Older builds certainly used to automatically mount the SD card as /var/media/System, but I'm guessing new builds such as 3.2 may have "fixed" that.

You can ssh into your Pi and then manually mount the SD card when you need to make a configuration change. Something like:
Code:
mkdir /var/media/System
mount -t vfat /dev/mmcblk0p1 /var/media/System

Thank you so much, It works fine.
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#49
Sorry for noob questions, but I am a bit confused which files goes where and if they are needed or not....

bootcode.bin...goes on SD card
cmdline.txt...goes on SD card
config.txt...goes on SD card
fixup.dat...SD card or NFS/Share/System?
start-elf...SD card or NFS/Share/System?
LICENSE.Broadcom....Is this needed? (If so I assume it goes on SD card)
kernel.img...SD card of NFS/Share/System? (This is just a rename of KERNEL from installer package right?)
SYSTEM...goes on NFS/Share/System
SYSTEM.md5...Is this needed? (If so I assume it goes on NFS/Share/System)
KERNEL.md5...Is this needed and does it go on SD card of NFS/Share/System?

Thanks in advance
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#50
SYSTEM on NFS, everything else on SD card. Forget the md5 files you don't need those.

Note when using NFS to "boot" you will lose the ability to upgrade OpenELEC using any of the built-in upgrade methods, meaning you will need to extract the relevant files from any update image and copy them to the relevant locations yourself.

In all honesty I really wouldn't recommend using NFS as a "boot" drive any longer, it was an interesting option several months ago but now that the cause of most SD corruption has been identified and fixed, there really is no benefit and - with the loss of any automated update process - actually a fair bit of downside.
Texture Cache Maintenance Utility: Preload your texture cache for optimal UI performance. Remotely manage media libraries. Purge unused artwork to free up space. Find missing media. Configurable QA check to highlight metadata issues. Aid in diagnosis of library and cache related problems.
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#51
Thanks a lot MilhouseVH.

I do see your point with auto update not supported and SD corruption fixed. I tried to set this up about 6 months ago, but did not succeed. Now I just want to prove to myself that I actually can get it to work....Smile

I just did a quick test and everything is working fine.

Only had som struggle with XBMC not connection properly to CEC remote

Thank you very much for your help
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#52
Hi,

Many thanks to MilhouseVH who has written this topic.

I've tried both booting methods (NFS and SD Card) and both works great but NFS is 10 seconds slower to boot than SD card (class 10)
I have a few questions :
- Is it safer to boot over NFS with an highly over clocked Raspberry PI (1 Ghz) ?
- Are SD corruptions still possible when booting from SD but having disk on NFS ?
- Is SYSTEM partition totally read only when booting from SD but with disk on NFS ?
- Why do you recommand to boot on SD and not over NFS ?

Many thanks.

PS : I have those settings on my Synology NAS :
/volume1/raspberry 192.168.1.54(rw,async,no_wdelay,no_root_squash,insecure_locks,sec=sys,anonuid=1025,anongid=100)
Does one of these settings explain why booting over NFS is 10 seconds slower than booting from SD ?
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#53
(2014-07-08, 23:54)vanquishV12 Wrote: - Is it safer to boot over NFS with an highly over clocked Raspberry PI (1 Ghz) ?

Compared with what - booting from SD? With post November 2013 firmware, not particularly, no.

(2014-07-08, 23:54)vanquishV12 Wrote: - Are SD corruptions still possible when booting from SD but having disk on NFS ?

Yes, SD corruption is still possible when updating the OS on SD and at the same time pulling the plug. But given how infrequently/unlikely this is to happens, booting from SD or NFS should make no difference in terms of corruption avoidance. Booting from SD has other advantages, such as automated upgrading.

(2014-07-08, 23:54)vanquishV12 Wrote: - Is SYSTEM partition totally read only when booting from SD but with disk on NFS ?

SYSTEM is always readonly - it's a squashfs partition.

(2014-07-08, 23:54)vanquishV12 Wrote: - Why do you recommand to boot on SD and not over NFS ?
What is unclear about the first line of the first post?

(2014-07-08, 23:54)vanquishV12 Wrote: Does one of these settings explain why booting over NFS is 10 seconds slower than booting from SD ?

Your network is slower than your SD card, that's why NFS is slower.
Texture Cache Maintenance Utility: Preload your texture cache for optimal UI performance. Remotely manage media libraries. Purge unused artwork to free up space. Find missing media. Configurable QA check to highlight metadata issues. Aid in diagnosis of library and cache related problems.
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