[mythtv-users] diskless Mythtv USB

[R. G. Newbury]

I have the same motherboard.
I have been working on installing FC5 to a THinkpad T40 where the CDROM 
is broken.

Regarding booting from USB or net, check out

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installing_Fedora_Core_4_on_a_ThinkPad_X41_Tablet#USB_Boot_Preparation

where the poster discusses installing FC5 to a Thinkpad X41 (which has 
no optical drive).

I suggest that you actually check your USB key by writing diskboot.img 
to it and attempting to boot the motherboard. (It will launch the Fedora 
install process). I have tried 3 different USB memory sticks and 
consistently get a 'Boot Error' on the Thinkpad T40.

I am about to set up a PXE network boot setup. I have seen it stated in 
different places that you need to have the boot server running as the 
DHCP server and also that you do not need the boot server to also be the 
DHCP server. The page linked above gives details for the dhcpd.conf file 
which clearly show that the DHCP server can serve static IP addresses to 
specific MAC addresses. This implies that the DHCP server can be on a 
different machine..but your Linksys router is not likely to have the 
flexibility to do it! I know that mine cannot.

So you will likely have to turn off the router's DHCP server...but then 
again, in a small network, why would that be a problem? Just go all 
static and get the DHCP server to serve up a static address. A dynamic 
address is really only useful for things like wireless... but a static 
address is a lot safer for wireless especially if you add a MAC address 
filter.

Geoff


Edgar Sigal wrote:
> I have an EPIA SP13000 that is currently running as both front and 
> backend (FC5).
> 
> I would like to split the front and backend keeping the EPIA box as 
> front end. I would also like to remove the hard drive (SATA 250 GB) for 
> use in the backend. 
> 
> Challenges:
> 
> 1) Diskless boot: via PXE or USB key
> 
> Can I do a PXE boot if I already have a linksys router acting as DHCP 
> server?
> 
> Would it not be faster to boot from USB key rather than over the network 
> (100 baseT)?
> 
> I have tested the key on the EPIA and by changing the hard drive boot 
> order it does try and boot from the USB key.
> 
> FYI: when I set to USB:ZIP it would not boot, I had to keep it as hard 
> drive.
> 
> How do I do a fresh install on the USB key?
> 
> Can I add a boot option to the Fedora install DVD to load USB dirvers?
> 
> Is it possible to copy the current /boot root partitions over to the USB 
> key?
> 
> 2) need new IR
> 
> Since my PVR-150 card will be moving to the backend, I will need to set 
> up a new IR for the front end.
> 
> The case has an IR (Tranquil-T2) with 3 pins, can this be connected to 
> serial port some how?
> 
> Or should I take a cheapo BTTV card I have and just use the IR port on that?
> 
>  
> 
> Any help is greatly appreciated.
> 
> Edgar Sigal
> 
> 
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