Redboot
From OpenFSG
RedBoot: "RedHat Embedded Debug and Bootstrap" - from the eCos FAQ
The RedBoot is similar to a BIOS of a PC. It is located on a flash chip and can be accessed from /dev/mtd0 under the Linux file system (not recommended).
"RedBoot is a complete bootstrap environment for embedded systems." - from http://sourceware.org/redboot/ (a good resource for a quick intro).
It starts the OS loading and or the Recovery Procedure. If it is broken, then no OS can be loaded. The only way to change that is to reflash the flash chip, which at that point requires a removal of the chip from the FSG and replacing it reflashed. Freecom will not do this for you as this is clearly out of warranty.
If you destroy a part of your normal Linux system without touching the RedBoot, that is easily fixed. We have the recovery procedure. This installs a completely new system on your FSG. The system folders are all freshly formatted, but the user folders are left alone. Your configuration info will be gone though.
Installing something on your FSG should not touch the RedBoot, so that should be no problem, or at least fixable. But just make sure the RedBoot is not touched. It is not worth the hassle.
See Also
- Recovery Procedure
- RedBoot on Wikipedia
- The RedBoot User's Guide
- The RedBoot Debug and Bootstrap Firmware Product page over at eCosCentric, who started the whole thing by spinning RedBoot out of the eCos Operating System RTOS.
