FlashExpander (en)

- in Deutsch

- in English

FlashExpander in Aktion

The FlashExpander (FE) by mechatron "expands" the Flash memory with an additional device such as: USB Stick, CF Card, SD Card, HDD or SSD .... The directory /usr is copied from the Flash memory onto the device and is mounted over fstab.

The directory /usr contains System commands, programms, libraries, Plugins, Skins, etc.

After activating FlashExpander you will have enough space availiable (e.g. for the Webbrowser, HbbTV, ...), without overfilling the Flash memory.

Using a NFS Server for FlashExpander is possible from Version 0.32 upwards. The setup is a little bit more complex to configure, hence should be done only if you have some experiece. This possibility can be very interesting if you have a 500HD without USB-mod. In the chapter NFS-Share you can find a little guideline.

Gemini or iCVS is not required for using FlashExpander. The plugin was tested with several images, OE 1.6 and OE 2.0.

The source code of the plugin can be found on the Dreambox after the installation of the plugin. Any help for developing or translations are welcome.

The Plugin supports following languages:

• English
• German
• French
• Dutch
• Italian

Requirements

• An Image based on OE 1.6 or OE 2.0.
• The device should a least have one partition formated as ext2/3/4 or xfs. A RAW Device, a device without partition, is not supported. These kind of device needs to be initalized and partitioned. You can use the devicemanager of the Dreambox or a computer to prepare the device (e.g. with GParted).
• If you want to use a device with 2 partitions, you find interesting info in the eParted or fdisk article. With 2 partitions you can outsource the directory /usr on one partition and use the second partition for picons, swap or other stuff.
• The DM7025(+) can only use a CF Card and needs additional packages to be installed, please follow the installation notes.
• When using nfs, a share needs to be mounted over Telnet before activating FlashExpander. Attention! NFS shares mounted by autofs (automounter) are not supported!

Functionality

As mentioned before, only the directory /usr will be moved to the device or NFS Server. The other directories will be used by the dreambox as they where before from the flash memory. Keep in mind the target device will be deleted completely while activating FlashExpander!

The biggest benefit is achieved when FlashExpander ist activated immediately after flashing a new image. Afterwards you can install Plugins, Skins, ... which will be located onto the outsourced /usr directory automatically.

You can also use FlashExpander on an installed Dreambox. But no Flash memory will be freed up. You only outsource the directory /usr, this is independent from the availiable free memory in flash.

Once FlashExpander is activated the device should not be removed. If the device is removed the original directory /usr from Flash memory will be used again. You can also edit the entry in the /etc/fstab to disable the mount, and to use the original directory /usr in the Flash memory.

Installation

DM500HD, DM800(se), DM7020HD and DM8000

Copy the FlashExpander ipk via ftp in the directory /tmp and install the Plugin with following command:

opkg install /tmp/flashexpander*

After restarting Enigma2 you will find the Plugin in Menu → Plugins.

DM7025(+)

For the 7025+ three extra packages are required before installing FlashExpander. Copy the Packages via ftp in the directory /tmp and install:

opkg install /tmp/*.ipk

Reboot the box and copy the FlashExpander ipk via ftp in the directory /tmp and install the Plugin with following command:

opkg install /tmp/flashexpander*

After restarting Enigma2 you will find the Plugin in Menu → Plugins.

Using FlashExpander

The usage is simple and selfexplaining ;)

1. Start the FlashExpander Plugin via Menu → Plugins and press the OK button.
2. Choose the device or the NFS Share for outsourcing.
3. Confirm the selection with Yes.
4. The directory /usr is copied onto the device or the NFS share.
   Attention, all data on the selected device are deleted!
5. Reboot the Dreambox after the copying with Yes.
6. After the reboot you can open the FlashExpander Plugin again, to check the result ;)
   Here the availiable space is displayed. Other possibility to see the result is the command df -h via Telnet / ssh. The Addons Manager from Blue Panel will also display the free space, if GP3 Plugin is installed.

NFS-Share

Mounting

Make sure the NFS Server is reachable while starting the Dreambox, otherwise the directory /usr can not be mounted. And keep in mind the files on the NFS share will be deleted before FlashExpander copies the files. We advice to create a new NFS share only for FlashExpander, to prevent the unwanted loss of files.

This chapter shows the different steps for mounting a NFS Server on the Dreambox. The NFS Server must be mounted before using FlashExpander.

Creating

Create on the NFS Server a share and edit the /etc/exports. Depending on the device you use, it is possible to do this with an UI. In this example the directory /home/FE is shared on a Linux computer. The entry in exports looks like below. Of course you can limit the share on computers, subnets, .... But this is beyond the scope of this guideline. The user is responsible for the administration of the shares in his network.

/home/FE	*(rw,no_root_squash,async,no_subtree_check)

Mounting

Login via Telnet or ssh on the Dreambox. Create a directory which will be used for the mount.

mkdir /media/FE

Mount the NFS Share with the following command. IP Adress and Share must match your configuration. After executing the command no error message should appear. Otherwise some settins on the server are wrong or the Mount syntax is incorrect. With the command mount you can check if the NFS Share is mounted.

mount -t nfs -o rw,nolock,soft,tcp 192.168.1.125:/home/FE /media/FE

Use NFS Share with FlashExpander

After mounting successfully the share your dreambox is ready for using FlashExpander. Continu with the chapter Using FlashExpander for outsourcing the directory /usr. Have fun ;)

Slideshows

Two little slideshows showing FlashExpander in action. On the left, using an USB Stick with a xfs filesystem, and the second shows the usage of a NFS Server.

Supportthread

Need support? Click on the following link ;)

FlashExpander (FE)