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Why did firmware upgrade break extroot with pivot-overlay?



  • My power dock arrived today (yay!) so I plugged in and powered up. When I logged into the web admin I noticed there was a new firmware update available. So I upgraded.

    The last time I SSH'd into the Omega, I configured extroot with pivot-overlay as per this article: https://wiki.onion.io/Tutorials/Using-USB-Storage-as-Rootfs but when I logged in after the firmware update, the overlay is not auto-mounted.

    According to https://wiki.onion.io/Tutorials/Updating-the-Omega (emphasis mine):

    "Upgrading the firmware will delete/overwrite all of the files that are not in /etc or /usr"

    So, why have my changes to /etc/config/fstab been lost? After firmware upgrade:

    config 'global'
    	option	anon_swap	'0'
    	option	anon_mount	'0'
    	option	auto_swap	'1'
    	option	auto_mount	'1'
    	option	delay_root	'5'
    	option	check_fs	'0'
    

    whereas block detect returns:

    config 'global'
    	option	anon_swap	'0'
    	option	anon_mount	'0'
    	option	auto_swap	'1'
    	option	auto_mount	'1'
    	option	delay_root	'5'
    	option	check_fs	'0'
    
    config 'mount'
    	option	target	'/mnt/sda1'
    	option	uuid	'0679c6db-1e8f-473c-93f2-8e82c871bac8'
    	option	enabled	'0'
    

    I distinctly remember overwriting fstab, and making the necessary changes to target and enabled

    So, did I do something dumb, or is this expected behaviour? Where is it safe to create files that won't be lost after an upgrade. Seems /etc is not entirely safe...

    On a happier note, I love the power dock - can finally play with my expansions! šŸ™‚
    Sadly, I also snapped the power button off the mini-dock when I unplugged šŸ˜”


  • administrators

    @benthenchelys Yes, unfortunately, performing a firmware upgrade will undo pivot overlay. You will have to redo the procedure after the firmware upgrade.

    So, when running the OS from the Omega's built-in flash storage, changes made in /etc and /root will be preserved. However, when you are running the OS from the USB (using pivot-overlay/pivot-root), the firmware upgrade process isn't smart enough to check if changes have been made to /etc/ and /root on the USB drive, so it will basically install a fresh firmware on the Omega.

    Hope the explanation helps.
    Expect better storage solutions with the upcoming Omega2!



  • Thanks Lazar. Makes sense that the upgrade wouldn't necessarily check folders on the USB.

    Will the Omega2 be compatible with existing docks and expansions?


  • administrators

    @benthenchelys said

    Will the Omega2 be compatible with existing docks and expansions?

    Absolutely! šŸ™‚



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