Posted: 12/4/2008 6:09:05 AM EDT
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I have a security video server that runs on Linux, it's sort of an imbedded system I guess. Anyway I want to upgrade the size of the HDD and there isn't a clear cut way to do this as far as I can tell, nothing in the tech manual and tech support says it's not a user level operation and since the product isn't supported any longer, I can FOAD.
Anyway, the replacement drive, 320GB, I have is the same mfr. model etc. as the smaller drive and there were servers that had this higher capacity drive as standard, it was the largest drive offered by the mfr. and from what I can tell was the max capacity of the system which was available with 80GB, 160GB, 320GB. Two drive bays. But I don't think I can run a 320GB with a 80GB plus I don't have an extra drive mount in the units second drive bay anyway. First inclination was to pull the drive out and use some sort of drive mirroring software on a PC and mirror the two to get the OS moved over but I don't know if that will work or not. I did find what I guess is the Linux OS file on the mfrs website. File name is "Videoserver_rootfs_v11_GPL.tar.bz2" There is no way to access the server OS directly, can't plug in a keyboard etc. So my question is, if I want to load the rootfs file on the new HDD that I have, how would I go about doing this using my PC? I know basically how to set up drives. Would I create a Linux boot CD, pull my Windows HDD, put the new blank HDD in the PC, format it with Linux and some how extract the rootfs to it? |
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Quoted:
Sounds like it might be cheaper in the long run to replace the system. You could always try removing the original HDD and cloning it to the new one, then installing the new one. No, it's a high end American Dynamics system. Worse case I can plug in external USB drives to it, it's just a pita to have something else hanging off the side. Cloning the drive is what I'm after but I don't know if it's something that is Linux specific or if I can just use the cloning software that you normally use for Windows drives. I'd have to find something that booted from a floppy or CD. |
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The super easy way would be to fit that other hdd in the case. You said you don't have the mounting equipment though. What type of bay is that second bay? Is it just a 5 1/4 inch bay. In other words, would a cd/dvdrom fit in it?
Plugging the 80 and 250 inline wouldn't be a problem if its just a standard IDE interface and controller. |
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Quoted:
So my question is, if I want to load the rootfs file on the new HDD that I have, how would I go about doing this using my PC? I know basically how to set up drives. Would I create a Linux boot CD, pull my Windows HDD, put the new blank HDD in the PC, format it with Linux and some how extract the rootfs to it? Yes. Boot to that Linux CD with the blank hard drive already attached. Then find the correct device point (eg /dev/hda or whaver) and format it (with ext3 or whatever you need). Once that's done you can mount it to a mountpoint such as /mnt/server or whatever. Then copy the archive to the root of the mountpoint and you should just be able to do 'tar -xjvpf Videoserver_rootfs_v11_GPL.tar.bz2' and have it untar the filesystem onto the new drive. |
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The latest versiono of Norton Ghost shoud be able to handle it. Just clone the existing drive directly to the new one.
ETA Ok, I had to go back a reread the post. If you can power it down, yank out the orignal drive and stick it in your Windows PC, along with the new bigger drive. You should have 3 drives total on the Windows PC. Use Norton Ghost or another imaging software to image orginal linux disk to new bigger linux disk through Windows, then just put the new one back in the original machine. Here's good reading material, and Ghost for Linux is Free! http://pcquest.ciol.com/content/linux/2005/105041202.asp |
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Quoted:
The super easy way would be to fit that other hdd in the case. You said you don't have the mounting equipment though. What type of bay is that second bay? Is it just a 5 1/4 inch bay. In other words, would a cd/dvdrom fit in it? Plugging the 80 and 250 inline wouldn't be a problem if its just a standard IDE interface and controller. Interface is standard IDE. But it's a 1RU case and the drive support brackets, 3.5" drive bays, are application specific. I could probably use double stick tape 
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| Easiest answer would probably be to hook up both the old and the new drive up to another linux box and dd the old over to the new then fix the partition table on the new drive so you can use all the space. Then keep the old drive around in case your new drive ever goes bad. |
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Quoted:
Is it embedded so that the linux os is on the motherboard? our security system has am embedded os that's on the mobo. When I upgraded HD's I just popped in a new one and let it format it. I don't know, it's possible, sure would make life easier. I do know when you add drives to the system, you have to pull them up in the configuration menu and set them up. I guess I could swap them out and see if the system boots. Seems kinda odd that the mfr. would provide the rootfs file in their support software if it wasn't needed. |