Method and system for failsafe recovery and upgrade of an embedded operating system

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 further including, following checking the primary image within the distribution disk and prior to mounting the final embedded operating system file system and launching the embedded operating system: determining if the primary image in the distribution disk partition has a more recent version label than the backup primary image in the boot disk partition; if the primary image in the distribution disk partition has a more recent version label than the backup primary image in the boot disk partition, rebuilding the boot disk partition and booting an initial operating system to run within the electronic device in the context of a simulated disk partition in random access memory; and if the primary image in the distribution disk partition does not have a more recent version label than the backup primary image in the boot disk partition, verifying all additional disk partitions, reformatting any of the additional disk partitions that are found to be corrupted, rebuilding any of the additional disk partitions that have been reformatted and rebuilding all of the additional disk partitions if the primary image in the distribution disk partition has a later version than the primary image from which the disk partitions were originally built.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 further including, prior to booting the initial operating system: downloading a new primary image into a distribution disk partition.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3 wherein the boot partition is maintained in a read-only access mode except during rebuilding of the boot disk partition.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 wherein the initial operating system runs in the context of a simulated disk partition in random access memory.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 wherein the initial operating system invokes a first script routine to check the boot disk partition for corruption, check the distribution disk partition for corruption and format the distribution disk partition if corruption is found, check the distribution disk partition for the presence of a primary image, and, if a primary image is not found, copy a backup primary image from the boot disk partition to the distribution disk partition, and check the primary image within the distribution disk partition for corruption, and, if corruption of the primary image is found, copy a backup primary image from the boot disk partition to the distribution disk partition to replace the primary image containing the corruption.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6 wherein the first script routine extracts a second script routine from the primary image in the distribution disk partition and executes the second script routine to determine if the primary image in the distribution disk partition has a more recent version label than the backup primary image in the boot disk partition, and, if the primary image in the distribution disk partition has a more recent version label than the backup primary image in the boot disk partition, rebuild the boot disk partition and boot the initial operating system, and otherwise to verify all additional disk partitions, reformatting any disk partitions that are found to be corrupted, rebuilding the additional disk partitions that have been reformatted and rebuilding all additional disk partitions if the primary image in the distribution disk partition has a later version than the primary image from which the disk partitions were originally built.

Claim 9

The method of claim 1 wherein the primary image located within the distribution disk partition comprises a compressed primary image archive file and an uncompressed primary image archive file and wherein the backup primary image stored within the boot partition comprises a compressed primary image archive file.

Claim 10

The method of claim 8 wherein files required for operation of the embedded operating system and application routines running on the electronic device are extracted from the uncompressed primary image archive file located within the distribution disk partition in order to rebuild the boot partition and the additional disk partitions.

Claim 11

The method of claim 9 wherein the Linux operating system is used as the embedded operating system.

Claim 12

The method of claim 10 wherein the Linux system routine e2fsck is used to check the boot partition, distribution disk partition, and additional disk partitions for corruption, wherein the Linux system routine tar is used to generate the compressed primary image archive file and extract files required for operation of the embedded operating system and application routines running on the electronic device from the uncompressed primary image archive file, and wherein the Linux system routines gzip and gunzip are used to compress and uncompress the primary image archive file.

Claim 13

An electronic device controlled by an embedded operating system, the electronic device not storing operating system instructions or data in a read-only electronic memory, the method comprising: a processor and random access memory; a hard disk partitioned to include a boot disk partition and a distribution disk partition; a primary image stored in the distribution disk partition; a backup primary image stored in the boot partition; and a number of routines executed by the processor following booting of the electronic device that verify the distribution and boot disk partitions and rebuild the primary image in the distribution partition-if the primary image contains corruption by copying the backup primary image from the boot disk partition into the distribution disk partition to replace the corrupted primary image.

Claim 14

An electronic device controlled by an embedded operating system, the electronic device not storing operating system instructions or data in a read-only electronic memory, the method comprising: a processor and random access memory; a hard disk partitioned to include a boot disk partition and a distribution disk partition; a primary image stored in the distribution disk partition; a backup primary image stored in the boot partition; and a number of routines executed by the processor following booting of the electronic device that verify the distribution and boot disk partitions and rebuild the primary image in the distribution partition-if the primary image contains corruption by copying the backup primary image from the boot disk partition into the distribution disk partition to replace the corrupted primary image.

Claim 15

The electronic device of claim 12 wherein the embedded operating system is the Linux operating system.

Claim 16

The electronic device of claim 13 wherein the primary image stored in the distribution disk partition comprises a compressed primary image archive file and an uncompressed primary image archive file and wherein the backup primary image stored within the boot partition comprises a compressed primary image archive file.

Claim 17

The electronic device of claim 14 wherein the number of routines include an initial routine and an install routine.

Claim 18

The electronic device of claim 15 wherein the initial routine checks a boot disk partition for corruption, checks a distribution disk partition for corruption and formats the distribution disk partition if corruption is found, checks the distribution disk partition for the presence of a primary image, and, if a primary image is not found, copies a backup primary image from the boot disk partition to the distribution disk partition, and checks a primary image within the distribution disk partition for corruption, and, if corruption of the primary image is found, copies a backup primary image from the boot disk partition to the distribution disk partition to replace the primary image containing the corruption.

Claim 19

The electronic device of claim 16 wherein the install routine determines if the primary image in the distribution disk partition has a more recent version label than the backup primary image in the boot disk partition, and, if the primary image in the distribution disk partition has a more recent version label than the backup primary image in the boot disk partition, rebuilds the boot disk partition and boots the initial operating system, and otherwise verifies all additional disk partitions, reformats any disk partitions that are found to be corrupted, rebuilds the additional disk partitions that have been reformatted and rebuilds all additional disk partitions if the primary image in the distribution disk partition has a later version than the primary image from which the disk partitions were originally built.

Claim 20

The electronic device of claim 15 wherein, upon booting of the electronic device, an initial operating system is loaded and executed in the context of a simulated disk partition in random access memory, the initial operating system supporting execution of the initial and install routines.

Claim 21

The electronic device of claim 18 wherein, after the initial routine finishes execution, a primary embedded operating system file system is mounted and the embedded operating system is launched.