> > 2) Will there be a way to restore (from some kind of backup) the initial
> > flash configuration so that the system can be restored to its pristine
> > condition?
> 
> Sure, why not?
> Plug the flash into your Mac (using a PCMCIA/CF adapter if necessary),
> and use dd to copy the contents of the block device to a file. Reverse to get the flash back.
> 
> 	<eject the disk from the Finder>
> 
> 	su
> 	dd if=/dev/disk1 of=TheFlashStuff
> 
For people who 
   * don't have a mac handy 
   * don't have a linux laptop handy
   * but do have a Windows laptop handy
   * and have a unix server account with ssh access
   
you can safely boot the windows laptop into Linux using a Knoppix CD and do

dd if=/dev/hdg | ssh user at server "dd of=TheFlashStuff"

This pipes the output of dd through ssh and another dd to the file on the remote host. 

You can do the reverse as well to do a restore

ssh user at server "dd if=TheFlashStuff" | dd of=/dev/hdg

which sets the pipe up in reverse.  I only mention laptops above because PCMCIA-CF adaptors are really easy to use with Knoppix.  They appear as /dev/hdg for example.  CF via USB would probably work in any PC using Knoppix but I've never tried.


Ned's warnings about dd apply, although getting the restore wrong on a Windows XP laptop might not be such a bad thing!

You could potentially do this backup from the Squeak Box live, as it where, but I'm not sure about dd-ing the drive whilst it is mounted at the same time.  I haven't tried that and don't know if the filing system could be in an inconsistent state.  If you could get the fs into a read-only mode then it might work from the box itself.  You could maybe automate this from the boot-loader somehow.  If you are worried about the space on bigger CF cards, you can add gzip to the pipe. 

Cheers

Mike