Package: installation-reports INSTALL REPORT
Debian-installer-version: Alpha 20041118 for Sarge uname -a: Linux undead 2.6.8-1-generic #1 Mon Oct 11 06:38:27 CEST 2004 alpha GNU/Linux Date: 20041119 thru 20041122 Method: I used a tftp/bootp server with boot.img from the, http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/sarge/main/installer-alpha/20041118/images/netboot/boot.img and http://ftp.egr.msu.edu/debian/dists/sarge/main/installer-alpha/20041118/images/netboot/boot.img SRM command as follows: P00>>boot ewa0 -fl "root=/dev/ram ramdisk_size=16384" -fi 192.168.1.200:boot.img I used my local LAN mirror and also http://ftp.us.debian.org to do the installs (more than once) Machine: Digital 2100 Server, A500MP Processor: EV4/233 Memory: 256MB Root Device: /dev/sda3 Root Size/partition table: undead:~# fdisk -l /dev/sda Disk /dev/sda: 4290 MB, 4290600960 bytes 132 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1023 cylinders Units = cylinders of 8184 * 512 = 4190208 bytes 5 partitions: # start end size fstype [fsize bsize cpg] a: 1* 1* 0* ext2 b: 1* 20* 19* ext2 c: 20* 971* 951* ext2 d: 971* 1024* 53* swap Tried to do the Multi-User thing and aboot just would not install. This is the guided one-partition thing. I have a gaggle of disk for this thing too. Output of lspci and lspci -n: undead:~# lspci 0000:00:00.0 Ethernet controller: Digital Equipment Corporation DECchip 21040 [Tulip] (rev 22) 0000:00:01.0 Non-VGA unclassified device: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic 53c810 (rev 01) 0000:00:02.0 Non-VGA unclassified device: Intel Corp. 82375EB/SB PCI to EISA Bridge (rev 03) undead:~# lspci -n 0000:00:00.0 0200: 1011:0002 (rev 22) 0000:00:01.0 0000: 1000:0001 (rev 01) 0000:00:02.0 0000: 8086:0482 (rev 03) I also have a Q-Vision VGA card in this thing, on the EISA bus. Base System Installation Checklist: [O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it Initial boot worked: [O] Configure network HW: [O] Config network: [O] Detect CD: [ ] (O but didn't do final from CD) Load installer modules: [O] Detect hard drives: [O] Partition hard drives: [O & E] Create file systems: [O] Mount partitions: [O] Install base system: [O] Install boot loader: [O & E] Reboot: [O] Comments/Problems: The system installed flawlessly from tftp on my final installation. Found my local mirror on a few tries and also found ftp.us.debian.org and other ones I tried as well. Okay, onto the issues: On first install from CD-ROM, I was very impressed. Until I got to the aboot installation. It failed. I had selected the Multi-User guided setup. It could not write the aboot to the bootblock and partition #1. I could do a manual install of aboot, (swriteboot -f1 boot/bootlx) but the point was to have it done automagically. Would not do it, time and time again. I switched to using one partition for / and one partition for /boot, and one for swap. Of course #1 for aboot. And voila, it installed perfectly. This is not the way I like my machines setup, but for now I'll deal. I installed kernel-image-2.4.27-1-generic. It installed OK, but the sym53c8xx module would not load at all. It would not detect the card. I even passed along boot parametrs to get things work, no go. (This I believe is a kernel bug). The funny thing is the installer was using 2.4.26-something. This lead me to try kernel-image-2.6.8-1-generic (v2.6.8-8). I know about v2.6.8-9. I booted from tftp again and did a chroot into the just install system. I installed the 2.6.8-1-generic kernel and rebooted. That booted really well, except for this "sym0:0:0:M_REJECT to send for : 1-2-3-1." was scrolling everything off the screen. Eventually the machine locked up. This was all before the base config was completed. So I ended up booting the installer again and doing a chroot into the installed machine and added ' sym53c8xx="debug:0x80" ' to the boot lines in aboot. That allowed me to boot proper into the base-config at first boot and quell 99% of the debug info. Once I got the machine to boot proper, I have edited aboot.conf to "appear" to work similarly to update-grub. Someone (if I can hack it) should consider doing a update-aboot script similar to update-grub. It would make things much more simple. It would allow to update the kernel without having to futz with the aboot.conf and hope you got it right. There are some limitations in aboot.conf, but those could be written into the script. Then you could also use this script to actually help the people maintain or change the auto-boot sequence in SRM as well. Also, some explanation of the whole SRM auto-boot setup should probably be discussed during the aboot install. Not that it is hard, just that some people have really never had to deal with SRM. Only ARC (for Windows NT on Alpha). There are even fewer people that have done a conversion from VMS-AXP to Debian Linux as well, dealing with SRM is very archaic to some people. Also, see attached backup of the /var/log/debian-installer/ directory.
debian-installer.tgz
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signature.asc
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