Wanted - simple NOR Flash filing system

[David H. Lynch Jr.]

MikeW wrote:
> Charles Manning <manningc2 <at> actrix.gen.nz> writes:
>
>   
>> On Monday 23 April 2007 23:34, MikeW wrote:
>>     
>>> For storing a few tens/hundreds of bytes of configuration data,
>>> in a handful of files (no subdirs), read access 99.99%,
>>> write/update once or twice in life of the system.
>>> Fits into single erase block ideally, so might need to hold data in RAM
>>> pending erase - if ever filled the block !
>>>
>>> Any suggestions ?
>>>       
>> It is far too grand to call this a file system. 
>> This is a bit more like a linear file store, or even more proimitive than 
>> that.
>>
>> I agree with the basic principle: if you don't need a full fs, then why use 
>> one? You don't need a chainsaw to cut butter!
>>
>> I have done stuff like this numerous times, but don't have any OSS code to 
>> release.
>>
>> The last time I did this, I used a pretty simple system that just used records 
>> of the form:
>>
>> Header byte
>> 2 byte Length
>> Validity byte (0xFF not set up, 0x0F= in use, 0x03 = deleted
>> Name
>> data (length - (strlen(name) + 1 + 1 + 1))
>>
>> With this mechanism you could only write a whole "file". No append/overwrite 
>> etc. Just rewrite the whole record.
>>
>> To delete a file you just set the validity byte accordingly.
>>
>> I had two blocks and when the one got full I would do "garbage collection", 
>> copying the valid "files" through to the new block. With one block you could 
>> store the stuff in RAM.
>>
>>     
>
> Thanks - I have certainly thought before about implementing
> such a simple scheme,
> but I was wondering if there was already an tested 'off-the'shelf'
> set of code since it seems to be such a basic requirement if you don't
> want or need JFFS2 size, functionality or overhead.
>
> I have had a direct email (imcd) suggesting storing a tar file directly in
> the /dev/mtd, but would prefer that any 'driver' was self-sufficient
> so it could potentially be used before kernel boot.
> "tarfs", anyone ?
>
>   
>>> (from imcd)
>>>       
> Save:
>  tar cz -f /dev/mtdblock/1 -C dir .
>
> Load:
>  tar xz -f /dev/mtdblock/1 -C dir
> <<
>
> For now I have made do with a single block romfs device created 'offline',
> though in principle I could create the required files in /tmp and then
> load them into the erased flash block using genromfs.
>
> Regards,
> MikeW
>
>   
    I have very nearly the same situation - except that I have to match
an already existing "file System"
    It is pretty trivial, much like ROMFS. I am working on a Driver, but
I am not very far in and it is a low priority.
    blocksize is the same as flash sector size,
    there is a header at the begining of ALMOST every sector (there is a
specif file type that is FPGS firmware and gets loaded by a CUPLD, so the
    filesystem had to adapt to the needs of the CUPLD.
    The header has 8 bytes of binary, and then a directory entry which
is basically ASCII strings in the form of var=value.
    Pretty much it.
    Anyway we already use it. We write to it constantly, and we have yet
to burn out a flash sector.
    So long as writing is something that Humans chose to do periodically
- as opposed to the system doing constantly like swap,
    it is going to take a long long time to kill a sector.



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