Newbie questions: Linuxbios on Geode GX1

[Joep Jansen]

Hi,

I am new to this list, and I have a couple of questions.
I have an embedded CPU module (Kontron ETX-MGX with a Geode GX1), and I
am looking into the possibility of putting linuxbios on it.

The board contains:

   * a Geode GX1 CPU
   * CS5530A I/O companion south bridge
   * 64 MB RAM
   * AM29F040B 512 KB flash ROM with Phoenix BIOS
   * Compact Flash slot on IDE1 master

The flash chip is soldered on the board, so replacing the BIOS chip is
no option.

My main question is:

How can I safely flash a new BIOS?
I have a BIOS ROM image file, and the Phoenix Phlash utility which
allows to restore and update the BIOS. I understand the flash has a boot
block which is able to restore a corrupted BIOS. I don't know whether
the boot block is protected from erasing and / or reprogramming. I do
know that it needs a specialy wired "key" in the serial port to enable
reprogramming.

My idea would be to use this utility to put linuxbios in the flash ROM.
I would leave the boot block in place so that I am able to restore the
original BIOS if things go wrong, or to put in a new version of
linuxbios.

Does anyone have experience with this?

What would I need to do to convince Phlash to flash the linuxbios?

Do I need to make changes to linuxbios to accomodate this scheme?


Another question:
How do I configure linuxbios to boot a linux kernel from the Compact
Flash card?
Do I need a specific "payload" program in addition to linuxbios?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Joep Jansen

--
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