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Asked: 2026-05-16T03:52:51+00:00

I’m working on embedded platform (Broadcom’s bcm5358u processor with MIPS core), where I need

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I’m working on embedded platform (Broadcom’s bcm5358u processor with MIPS core), where I need extra partitions for the purpose of further upgrade procedure. The filesystem used is SquashFS, so I modified ‘struct mtd_partition’ accordingly, which is passed to MTD related code, and I ended up with this:

#cat /proc/partitions
major minor  #blocks  name

 - 31     0        128 mtdblock0
 - 31     0        128 mtdblock0
 - 31     1       6016 mtdblock1
 - 31     2       4573 mtdblock2
 - 31     3       6016 mtdblock3
 - 31     4       4445 mtdblock4
 - 31     5       4160 mtdblock5
 - 31     6         64 mtdblock6

Now I want to be able to mount /dev/mtdblock4 as a temporary storage during system upgrade, but I can’t do this, because it appears that this partition mtdblock4 doesn’t have any FS installed. The kernel image and FS are integrated in one image, which is flashed down the /dev/mtdblock2 (which is supplied as root_fs to kernel).

I see only one solution: create a empty squashFS image, write it on /dev/mtdblock4 and may be it will work as I want (?). Is there a way to, like, format the partition on the fly, whenever the kernel boots, or it violates the MTD concepts?

Thanks.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Is there a reason you can’t create a mount a new FS on the fly?

    You definitely do not want an empty squashFS image. If you want temporary writeable storage you can use something like a tmpfs volume. If you need to support a system reboot, you can use JFFS on a raw flash device. You should be able to format/mount the MTD devices just like any other block device.

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