Getting a small cluster running - PC-Chips 810
Jonathan Morton
chromi at chromatix.demon.co.uk
Mon Feb 24 09:48:01 CET 2003
> > This seems to imply I don't need a Disk-on-Chip unit, separate Flash
>> chip, or Flash programmer (unless I goof up, in which case the Flash
>> programmer can be used to restore the original BIOS). Is this
>> correct?
>
>That's right. DOC is not necessary, but would be a nice option to have.
>DOC not only reduces traffic, but also allows some fancy features, eg kexec.
I don't expect traffic or features to be a problem, as with OpenMOSIX
the slave would be running almost nothing autonomously.
> > FWIW, I'm planning to use Gentoo Linux, which should say something
>> about my proficiency level. IOW, I'm not averse to compiling things
>> and generally fiddling around, but the existence of a nearly
>> plug-and-play solution is encouraging (and likely to satisfy my
>> supervisor more easily).
>
>For fb support, you need sisfb_lite patch. If you don't need fb, stock
>kernel might work.
I probably don't need video at all, except to make sure the box boots
properly. Even for that, I could probably get away with serial
console, as I think the master will have two spare serial ports. :o)
I'll try your stock image first as a proof of concept, then build an
OpenMOSIX kernel and image using the least number of patches
necessary. Gentoo include an OpenMOSIX-patched kernel source tree,
which is nice of them, so I only need to worry about the LinuxBIOS
patches and hackery.
I'm guessing that if I use the vendor-supplied BIOS flash utility, I
don't need to muck around with MTD drivers, right? Looking at the
HOWTOs, that method seems to be extremely icky at the moment,
requiring kernel source edits. I don't mind getting a single floppy
drive, and moving it between slaves for this step.
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
from: Jonathan "Chromatix" Morton
mail: chromi at chromatix.demon.co.uk
website: http://www.chromatix.uklinux.net/
tagline: The key to knowledge is not to rely on people to teach you it.
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