Kurobox/Pro NFS and Console Access

Got myself Kurobox/Pro. Nice, surprisingly quiet (it has a fan though, so not completely silent). No NFS server support though. Why is it not supported by default? Most Windows users won’t care and while I can use Samba on Linux as a mounted filesystem, NFS is just more natural supporting users/groups and permissions.

So first task was getting some more complete Linux on it as the striped down (flash base) Linux just . Getting Debian on it is easy and well described for example, but to get NFS support, that needs a new kernel, which (as of now) means console access is required. And it’s useful in case anything goes wrong and the box does not want to boot any more.

The solution is a level shifter from the on-board 3.3V logic to RS232 logic. That’s what’s displayed in the picture. To the left is the Kurobox console port, to the right is a DB9 serial connector cable, which then connects to a USB-to-serial cable.

Now messing with kernels is no problem: should it not boot, I can always change the boot configuration. Or boot via TFTP. Or reset everything so the Kurobox/Pro boots from NAND flash again.