Creating a Portsdown SD Card from Windows XP

Discussion about this major DATV Project. See https://wiki.batc.org.uk/The_Portsdown_Transmitter
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G0LJF
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Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2019 5:28 pm

Re: Improving the LimeSDR Performance with Portsdown Buster

Post by G0LJF » Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:33 pm

Hi Dave,

Brand new Sandisk 16 GB Ultra card refused to boot due to a problem with init_resize.sh failing (with a -8 error).

It seems that this script is supposed to resize the SD card's partition to the maximum available space before the OS files are then expanded.

Solutions involve removing this line from the /boot/cmdline.txt file and another is to do with creating an image of the right size for the SD card.

I used win32diskimager V0.9, not V1 as this works on XP, but I cannot see how this would cause the problem.

Anyhow, as this is your project, what do you recommend, please?

Ta, 73,

Mike

G8GKQ
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Re: Improving the LimeSDR Performance with Portsdown Buster

Post by G8GKQ » Fri Feb 14, 2020 5:09 pm

Mike

This problem with init_resize.sh is not a Portsdown problem, but a problem with your card or disk imager.

My first thought is that you should download the Buster Lite image again (it could be corrupt), and then write it to the card again. If that does not solve it, try using Etcher (https://www.balena.io/etcher/) instead of win32diskimager.

Is it the BATC card (E80) that you are using or another one? If not the BATC one, are you sure that it is genuine?

How are you seeing the error message?

Dave, G8GKQ

G0LJF
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Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2019 5:28 pm

Re: Improving the LimeSDR Performance with Portsdown Buster

Post by G0LJF » Fri Feb 14, 2020 6:36 pm

Hello Dave,

Thanks for the reply.

I am trying a SD card re-format and then to reload the Buster image.
Unfortunately Etcher requires Win7 or above and my laptop with the SD card reader is XP.
It runs on this W7 PC fine so maybe I can flash it as a remote drive.

Anyhow, I will persevere, and try again as you say, with a freshly downloaded Buster Light image (from RPi).
I did compare the old and the freshly downloaded images and they are exactly the same size but I did not run a CRC check.

But I am checking the new SD card for any errors after the re-format was completed (seems to be a long winded process).

As for the card, it was in authentic packaging from Asda. Not from eBay. Looks genuine to me.

I do have the original one you prepared that has "E80" written on i too. If all else fails.

As for where do I see this message, its shown on the 7" display as the last line of an aborted boot sequence. The OS never has the chance to load as, I presume, it never gets correctly written to the SD card.

73, Mike

G0LJF
Posts: 106
Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2019 5:28 pm

Re: Improving the LimeSDR Performance with Portsdown Buster

Post by G0LJF » Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:08 am

Hello Dave,

I think the problem I am having with my San Disk Ultra 16GB mini SD card (SDUMSDC) is one of formatting with the built-in XP FAT32 drive format program. Although this does not explain the initial error (-8) I reported with a brand new card, I can no longer "see" the Buster O/S files in Windows at all. The file system is reported as RAW, so a reformat is unavoidable.

I cannot use the official SD Memory Card Formatter 5.0.1 from https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/ as this does not run on XP, and my only card reader is built into my XP laptop.

This is my work around. This works on 3B+, and these Pi models only
https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... des/msd.md:

a) Buy a RPi approved USB 2.0 flash drive (San Disk Cruzer Blade 16 GB for me, Asda). This must be 16 GB (same storage capacity as SDUMSDC).

b) On your PC, copy the Buster image to this, and add the dummy "ssh" file. Then boot it in your RPi, and proceed to install P2020 for about 45 mins (see Dave C instructions). Only insert this one USB drive into the RPi or the drive is not recognised (beware). Do not insert the SDUMSDC.

c) Remove the USB flash drive with its virgin P2020 file system from RPi, and on your PC, read this all back as one IMG file (16 GB).

d) On your PC (my laptop), write the entire 16GB IMG file to the SDUMSDC.

Hope this may help someone else,

73, Mike

G8GKQ
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Creating a Portsdown SD Card from Windows XP

Post by G8GKQ » Mon Feb 17, 2020 6:09 pm

Mike G0LJF needed to create a Portsdown SD Card from Windows XP. His experiences and eventual success are described below.

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