I don't know if this helps answer #3 or not. I have ran Debian from a microSD flash card before but the card reader was attached via USB.
It didn't last very long before the flash card degraded. I think running an operating system on flash used up the read/write cycles too quickly. I eventually decided to find another solution. But it may not be an issue for your use case. Hope that is helpful, * Steven On Fri, 2016-12-02 at 23:21 +0100, Jochen Spieker wrote: > Richard Owlett: > > I have a well used Lenovo R61 Thinkpad whose sole raison d'etre is to serve > > as a test platform for experiments which may spectacularly fail. > > > > To quote a product description, it has: > > Card Reader > > 4 in 1 card reader > > Supported Flash Memory > > Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card, xD-Picture Card > > > > My local supplier has 32GB cards in stock. Not sure which of the above > > flavors, as I just asked him what he had available that were compatible with > > my hardware. > > He probably has SD cards. All other options in your list have come out > of fashion. > > > I'm pondering an application that could be accomplished with USB flash > > drives. > > It would be much "NICER" if that x GB were physically "inside" the laptop's > > profile. > > Beware that this might slightly increase power usage / reduce battery > life. That's at least my observation from a couple of years ago. > Depenging on the hardware, an SD card can keep a bus alive that could be > put to sleep otherwise. But if I would have to guess this is not an > issue for your use case. > > > My questions: > > 1. Can Debian (and to what extent) make use of that storage? > > Debian (the linux kernel) can use SD cards just like USB thumb drives or > other types of removable (and rewritable) storage. It's simply a block > device. > > > 2. Can Debian itself reside on that medium? > > I'm thinking in terms of changing look/feel/function/capabilities/... > > of the machine by swapping media before "power up". > > [The BIOS *DOES* have some capability to specify precedence of boot > > devices.] > > Debian doesn't really care, but you would have to test whether your BIOS > can really boot from SD cards. > > > 3. Any Debian people using this capability who would care to comment? > > ["off list" replies fine] > > I would like to see replies here. :) > > J.