ipcop support

Hi All,

I'm sure this is a hardware issue rather than an IPCop issue but the problem came up during an IPCop install and I don't know where else to ask.

I have IPCop 1.4.x installed on an old clunker and I'm now trying to build a new low power firewall using an Intel Atom D945GSEJT Motherboard + a Sata-CF converter + an old Kingston 1GB CF card I had lying around. As this is a home firewall, I thought I'd go with the latest beta (1.9.19).

I installed IPCop from a USB memory stick onto the CF card without any problem. However, when I got to the step where it rebooted, I was a little surprised to see it come up saying "A bootable device has not been detected".

I rebooted and went into BIOS setup and sure enough, there was no Hard disk listed. I've spent much of the day trying to google a solution. I've upgraded the BIOS to the latest version from the Intel website without success.

My first question is: How was it that IPCop (or Linux I guess) could install onto my CF card when it wasn't even visible via BIOS?

Secondly, has anyone seen this problem before? I'm wondering if it's a problem with my CF card as I've read that some cards simply won't boot. I'm happy enough to go out and buy another CF but I'd like to be sure before I do that that will fix the problem.

TIA,

Rob Hills
Waikiki, Western Australia.

OK, I bit the bullet and bought a new CF card - 4G Sandisk unit. It was recognised by the BIOS immediately, I was able to install IPCop 1.9.19 to it and it's now running without any problems at all.

So, I guess there was something about the old CF card that stopped the BIOS recognising it as bootable. Something to be aware of when building a firewall with old bits.

I'm still mystified about what magic juice in the Linux kernel enabled it to recognise a CF drive that wasn't visible to the BIOS - remembering that I was actually able to install IPCop onto the old CF card, just not able to boot from it!

Unless you install the CF version of IPCOP, you'll cycle thru the write limitations of the CF card relatively quickly.

_________________
For the 2.5^15th time :: Better Details = Better Answers

I was prompted to identify the target as a CF card during the install process and I did that, but thanks for the reminder anyway.