Re: [9front] Booting without sd card (MNT Reform)

[Kurt H Maier <khm@sciops.net>]

On Fri, May 24, 2024 at 06:26:50AM +0000, alex-ml@posteo.de wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I found an article about booting 9front without sd card on the MNT Reform in
> the wiki (http://wiki.9front.org/mnt-reform) and would like to try this.
> 
> First, it says:
> "make sure to run the latest (dated 2023-01-15, at least) kernel."
> 
> ext4srv is shown in /bin, so the image I'm using should be new enough, but
> for the latest build I just have to "mk install" in /sys/src/9/imx8, or am I
> wrong?

In /sys/src/9/imx8, run mk and you should wind up with a 9reform.u file
-- this is your kernel plus ipaq put into a format uboot can read.  This
should go in the root folder of the emmc storage, along with your
plan9.ini and boot.scr.  mk install won't do this for you, since there's
more than one way to boot an imx8.

> The last instruction states:
> "the switch under the heatsink should be positioned to booting from EMMC,
> this is not the default when the laptop is purchased"
> 
> Is this the "XSW" / "SW1" (or in the MNT Documentation it is called
> "User-Defined Switch") Switch? And if so, should it be "ON" to boot from
> NVMe?

It's this switch, pictured in the post here:
https://community.mnt.re/t/operating-system-on-nvme-without-sd-card/110/3

this picture specifically:
https://community.mnt.re/uploads/default/original/1X/17e7457e179e68e3c74ab15fb2b47e3ab8f2945d.jpeg

the switch is indeed SW1 and is on the module itself, not the reform
mainboard.  you must remove your heatsink in order to access it.

khm