This page describes the procedure to reprogram a hard disk drive.
The flash files Command
The flash files command loads a special file into the available
memory. This special file must be prepared with the "flashfilesys"
script. The procedure is outlined below.
There are several arguments for the flash files command:
flash files [ -rs ] [ -n ] [ filename ]
-rs Remove flash server code image
-n Display number of bytes available for flash filesystem
Reprogramming a Hard Disk Drive
To load files
onto your hard disk, follow this procedure:
Check the available memory with the -n command argument: flash files -n
Remove the server code file. This is only necessary if
you've loaded it in a reserved section, which is not the normal
configuration. Remove it with the -rs command argument:
flash files -rs
Select the files to load. If you want to load the
HDSware software, there is an input file already made for you. This
file is ./hds-fx/utils/src/flashfilesys/disk.files.
Check
it to see that the files included there are the ones you want. Note
that their file paths are specified as relative to the HDSware directory
structure.
Make any changes you want, such as to your
configuration files, before you load them onto the hard disk drive.
If you want to use your own files, create a text file listing the
files you want to load. Make sure the disk has sufficient space for the
files you choose. The file should look like this:
#/home/hdssun1/mikeh/config/config.test config.fx
/home/hdssun1/mikeh/bin/hdsxclock.Z /bin/hdsxclock.Z
#/home/hdssun1/mikeh/clients/xfed.Z /bin/xfed.Z
#/home/hdssun1/mikeh/lib/app-defaults/Xfed /lib/app-defaults/Xfed
/usr/lib/X11/i960/fonts/misc /fonts/misc
/usr/lib/X11/i960/fonts/lotus /fonts/lotus
Each line of the file specifies the real file name and its
corresponding flash file system file name. When a directory is
specified, all files within a directory are included. Subdirectories
are not included. Entries that begin with a `#' character are ignored.
Blank lines are allowed. In this example, a configuration file is
stored as "config.fx" and two font directories are stored as
"/fonts/misc" and "/fonts/lotus". The ViewStation checks for (and
decompresses) compressed files with the extension .Z, so you can use
compressed files in your flash file system.
Note also that this sample file contains a client that is part
of HDSperx on the ViewStation (hdsxclock) which has its resources set
in the local configuration files, clients.config. There is also another
executable file (xfed - X font editor) that has its resources included
in /dev/flash as a separate file. You would have to modify the xfed
resources to specify this new resource file location as the ViewStation
flash file system. If you want to add or change files to your flash file
system, you must change the list and go through the procedure again.
Create the output file with flashfilesys
There is a shell script called "flashfilesys" in the HDSware
directory under
./hds-fx/utils/src. The flashfilesys script organizes the files
you've selected and creates a header for the files that includes the
file names and their total length. This information is used to test
whether there is sufficient space for storing it in the flash
filesystem and that the files are readable, etc.
The flashfilesys script is an executable file that runs on
your host computer.
This shell script takes two arguments, the name of the input
file you generated in the previous step, and the name of the output
file for the flash filesystem file.
flashfilesys <inputfile.txt>
<outputfile> or
flashfilesys <FX disk file> <V30.ffs>
This output file is the file actually loaded into the
flash file system.
Load the file into the Flash File System
Store the output file in the Flash File system with the "flash
files" command in the Console shell window. All of the flash file
commands are protected by the Setup Mode password. This command is:
flash files <outputfile> or
flash files </128.91.3.1/HDSware/hds-fx/utils/src/flashfilesys/V30.ffs>
Note that this is a large file (approx. 20 MB for the
HDSware distribution) and that TFTP file transfer protocol has a 16 MB
limitation. You must use FTP or NFS to transfer this file to the
ViewStation's hard disk.
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