From owner-freebsd-small@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Mar 16 17:15:23 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-small@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 175B316A4CF for ; Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:15:23 +0000 (GMT) Received: from gta.com (mailgate.gta.com [199.120.225.4]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 6C81B43D2D for ; Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:15:22 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from lab@gta.com) Received: (qmail 53348 invoked by uid 1000); 16 Mar 2005 17:15:21 -0000 Date: 16 Mar 2005 17:15:21 -0000 Message-ID: <20050316171521.53347.qmail@gta.com> From: Larry Baird To: freebsd-small@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <8a8ffa7b07265c54d2775775896c5298@thingy.com> User-Agent: tin/1.5.9-20010723 ("Chord of Souls") (UNIX) (FreeBSD/4.10-RELEASE (i386)) Subject: Re: bootable PCI flash slot? X-BeenThere: freebsd-small@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Dedicated and Embedded Systems List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:15:23 -0000 In article <8a8ffa7b07265c54d2775775896c5298@thingy.com> you wrote: > On 22 Oct 2004, at 15:10, Howard Jones wrote: >> > I've just finished preparing a FreeBSD-based flash-booting > router/firewall, which is currently using a DiskOnModule to boot from. > If possible, I'd like the flash to be externally accessible to make > upgrading or moving the flash a little simpler. Does anyone know of a > PCI-slot flash carrier that can present itself as a bootable IDE drive > with an external slot? I've found some PCI-PCMCIA cards, but they all > talk about Windows compatibility, and appear to be aimed at digital > camera users more than anything... We have been using this part (http://www.pcengines.ch/cflash.htm) for some time. It doesn't have the external slot you mentioned but it has been very reliable for us. Our experience with DiskOnModule was very negative, lots of failures. One word of warning, hot swapping of CF from the PC engines product is not recommended. I wonder if the devices you point at below have this limitation. If they do, external access might not be a good thing. > Answering my own question, mainly so it goes into the archive - these > are what I was looking for: > http://www.milesie.co.uk/shop/asp/product1.asp?Product=445 > or > http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=16#p2602 > > IDE-connected but with optional external slot through a PCI backplane. > Not hot-swap, but nice & cheap. Larry -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Larry Baird | http://www.gta.com Global Technology Associates, Inc. | Orlando, FL Email: lab@gta.com | TEL 407-380-0220, FAX 407-380-6080