[ltp] Flash HD in R51 (via CF and ultrabay)

[Laurent Gilson]

Hello,

> What are you trying to achieve?  The IDE-adapter/CF approach will give=
  =

> you:
>    Silence

That is the prime target.

>    More Physical resilience

second target.

>    Cooler running, much lower power consumption.

That is a nice-to-have side-effect.

>> So i'm thinking about a CF <-> IDE adapter
>
> I've done this with an X20, and it works really well. I now have a nic=
e,  =

> totally silent media centre :-) In my case, I simply put the CF card +=
  =

> adapter into the regular HDD slot.

Now, that is good news.

>> http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=3D16#p2620 )
>
> You can buy these new on eBay for about $3.

I know. But you don't always get the right sizeinfo for them. I already
have one that does not fit into the HD-bay...

> YMMV about whether the thinkpad will boot with ONLY an ultrabay device=
  =

> and no device in the normal HDD socket.. It seems to be thinkpad  =

> specific - certainly when I tried the X22 with USB boot (which normall=
y  =

> works fine), the BIOS failed if the HDD socket was empty.

Oh bugger. Well if i put the CF into the normal HD bay ...

> i)You may want to back up your *data* elsewhere periodically - since C=
F  =

> cards aren't all that reliable, especially with a journalling FS.

No problem. I plan to have the OS in 1-2 squashfs-images and all writeab=
le
files in a unionfs (with a ramfs for writing). Rsync'ing the write-branc=
h
for ramfs onto the CF on shutdown should not create that much writes. If=
 i
get 1 year per CF ...

The real install will stay on HD. I already have scripts for generating
squashfs-images and my home is setup in a ramfs with copy-back on shutdo=
wn.
I put the sq-images on a USB-stick. But the constant usage of the USB ke=
eps
the CPU busy and hot (C2 is maximum). Plus i don't like the idea of havi=
ng
a stick always blocking one port. And suspend-to-RAM does not work that =
 =

way.

> But 1 million writes is still a pretty good lifetime. It depends on yo=
ur  =

> application: for the media centre, I don't really care if the disk die=
s  =

> in 2 years, since all I'd lose is the OS itself; my data is on NFS.

My backups are on a central server, i would lose 1 week max.

> ii) The physical mounting of a CF/IDE adapter isn't that great.

That is bad news. I hoped to get a CF-IDE with holes for the HD-mount
screws. But all these adapters are way shorter then a normal HD so the
regular HD-Bay is out. Which brings me back to the boot-on-ultrabay  =

problem.

> iii)The HDD plastic cover is normally fixed to the HDD itself. So, if =
 =

> you want to hold this in place, you'll need some workaround. I just ma=
de  =

> an interference fit with some expanded polystyrene foam, which is fine=
  =

> for me, since I never move the machine.

That is just cosmetics, i can worry about it later.

I think this boils down to testing. There are not that many freaks/geeks=

seeking total silence and are willing to go that extra step. Oh well,...=
 i
will just buy the stuff and hope for the best.

Thanks a lot for your answer, it proves it worked on at least 1 thinkpad=
.

cu