Package: installation-reports
Debian-installer-version: beta4/sarge-i386-netinst.iso
downloaded from debian.org on 4-May-2004
uname -a: Linux debian 2.4.25-1-386 #2 Wed Apr 19:38:08 EST 2004 i686 GNU/Linux
Date: May 4 2004
Method: Booted from the CD with the netinst image
Machine: IBM Thinkpad R50
Processor: Intel Centrino 1.5GHz
Memory: 512MB
Root Device: IDE 40GB disk
Root Size/partition table: The R50 comes originally with three partitions.
qtparted gives the following information:
01 /dev/hda1 ntfs 33.64GB 4.37GB 0.03MB 33.64GB
02 /dev/hda2 fat32 310.08M 32.15MB 33.64MB 33.94MB
03 /dev/hda-1 free 3.32GB N/A 33.94GB 37.26GB
The last partition is marked as free but it is used by IBM as a recovery
disk,
I resized the NTFS partition and added a free partition using qtparted from
the "System Rescue CD" (www.sysresccd.org) since it seems from the
documentation that netinst does not support resizing NTFS.
Finally, before the installation my partition table was:
01 /dev/hda1 ntfs 28.00GB 4.37GB 0.03MB 28.00GB
02 /dev/hda-1 free 5.63MB 28.00MB 33.64MB 33.64MB
03 /dev/hda2 fat32 310.08M 32.15MB 33.64MB 33.94MB
04 /dev/hda-1 free 3.32GB N/A 33.94GB 37.26GB
Output of lspci: (I'm not pasting the full output only the line of the
problematic modem)
0000:00:1f.6 Modem: Inter Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)
Base System Installation Checklist:
Initial boot worked: [O]
Configure network HW: [O]
Config network: [O]
Detect CD: [O]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives: [O]
Partition hard drives: [O] But the first partitioning was done using qtparted
Create file systems: [O]
Mount partitions: [O]
Install base system: [O]
Install boot loader: [E]
Reboot: [O]
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
Comments/Problems:
The boot installer did not recognize that I have another operating system
- Windows on the first NTFS partition. I saw that it is an open bug,
still it would be nice if there would be an explanation of what has to be
done. It took me sometime before I found out that I simply need to add to
the file /boot/grub/menu.lst the lines:
title Windows XP
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
boot
Other than that the installation was flawless and very simple. The only
glitch is that I needed another tools to resized the NTFS partition. It
would be nice if netinst would support this option. (or if it does support
it, to document it better).
It would also be nice if netinst will have the features of the "System
Rescue CD", so that one could boot from the CD without doing the
installation and run some useful utilities like qtparted or backing up of
the partitions data.
The next part of the installation was not that smooth. After base-config
downloads all the packages and installs them, you are asked too many
question on the packages configurations, some of which do not seem
relevant. I don't understand, for example, why I need to configure the
phone number for modem connection during the installation or answer
configuration questions about IDSN connections which I would probably
never use.
I have three pressing problems with my installation at the moment:
1. The internal modem in the ThinkPad R50 does not work. It is a PCI modem
and I guess it is a winmodem. I'm trying to find a module compatible with
the debian kernel, but no luck so far.
2. When I'm not connected to the ethernet DHCP fails at boot time with
a long list of DHCPDISCOVER messages and I need to stop it with ctrl-c.
3. My laptop screen resolution is 1400*1050. There is no such option in
the xfree configuration. I really don't want to do the
xconfiguration manually.
Another point, is that the default fonts for xterm in KDE are horrible. It
looks like a proportional spacing font which is not appropriate for a
terminal emulator. I changed it to a fixed spacing font, but it should be
the default.
I understand that some of these problems are with the packages and not the
debian installer itself. Still it would be nice if the whole installation
will be as smooth as the beginning.
Another thing that I'm missing is a captive ntfs package. I think it is a
nice utility that should be installed by default.
Sorry for the long report,
Udi
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