Re: Debian on SparcStation 20
On Tuesday 13 Jul 2004 21:07, Kelly Harding wrote: hi, I recently aquired a SparcStation 20 (SM50 MBus module, 64mb ram, TGX SBus graphics, 2x scsi hard drives (size unknown)). I am wanting to put Debian on this system. the box didn't come with a CD-ROM or floppy drive so I'm going to try to do a network install. It also didn't have a monitor/keyboard/mouse, so using serial console is my only option at present. I have aquired for it a SM71 module and a FastWide SCSI/Fast Ethernet SBus module also. I'm hoping to get another SM71 module for it shortly too. What I was wanting to ask was, are there any pitfalls and hardware compatibility problems I should be aware of? I've browsed the 'net for information and have read a fair deal and I think I should be able to get it going ok. The lack of keyboard/mouse/monitor isn't a problem to me as I intend to run it as a headless machine as I don't have enough room on my desk with the stereo, printer and 21 monitor I use on my Debian x86 box. Any useful pointers or help would be appreciated. Thanks, Kelly If you're in or around North or West London, I have a spare keyboard and a vga adaptor that you can borrow. I also have spare (RAM/Disk-less) SS10 SS20 boxes which may or may not have some parts you could use. I got 3 SS20s is running from network installations both Debian and RedHat (Debian is better) - no problems once you get the tftp daemon working correctly. If you have any problems, I've probably had it before and solved it. Let me know if I can help. Everard
Re: tftp boot images question
On Tuesday 13 Jul 2004 19:46, Hartwig Atrops wrote: Hi all. On ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/disks-sparc/current/sun4u/ and ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/disks-sparc/current/sun4cdm/ you can find tftp boot images. I am looking for tftp boot images of the debian installation system (I want to install systems without CD/floppy). Are these images what I need or are these images for use with diskless workstations - needing NFS access to the server? Thanks, Hartwig Yes, these are exactly what you need if you have a sun4 machine. Follow the tftp setup instructions, then when you boot your machine (using 'boot net') they will be used to start the installation process. Everard
Re: Debian on SparcStation 20
On Tuesday 13 Jul 2004 23:44, Kelly Harding wrote: On Tue, 13 Jul 2004, Everard Brown wrote: On Tuesday 13 Jul 2004 21:07, Kelly Harding wrote: If you're in or around North or West London, I have a spare keyboard and a vga adaptor that you can borrow. I also have spare (RAM/Disk-less) SS10 SS20 boxes which may or may not have some parts you could use. Thanks for that offer. Appreciated. Unfortuately I live up in the Midlands. I got 3 SS20s is running from network installations both Debian and RedHat (Debian is better) - no problems once you get the tftp daemon working correctly. Should it be fairly straightforward once the tftp daemon is set up and running and the SS20 has found it/booted from it? Yes the tftp image boots the machine and then it looks just like a CD installation - if you've done it on x86, you'll figure it out from there ;-) One tip... If you are able to run a web server on you're x86 box, then copy the sparc installation CD to your local web server and install from there - it's much faster that an internet installation, 100Mbit compared to DSL or modem. Once complete you can then change your apt config to get the security updates from the Debian security updates server(s). I'm kinda assuming that once I get Debian installed on it it'll be pretty much like Debian is on my x86 boxes. Is that the case? or are there any special 'gotchas' with Sparcs? Not that I've noticed, except I didn't manage to upgrade to a 2.4 kernel yet - but I blame my own inexperience and lethargy for that. If you have any problems, I've probably had it before and solved it. Let me know if I can help. Thanks :) If I run into any problems I'll drop you an email. Luck ;-) Everard
Re: X on SS20
On Tuesday 13 Jul 2004 23:58, Torbjörn Olander wrote: Hello I recently aquired a SparcStation 20 with a SM50 CPU module, 64MB RAM and CG6 framebuffer. I got it running with debian unstable and a custom 2.6 kernel, but I can't seem to get Xfree86 running (yes, I know it's slow but i just want to try it :-). I can't seem to find anything useful from the logs, and the sceen never shows anything, it just goes blank and then it freezes. I can log in with ssh and do some commands but I can't reboot it, since it stops somewhere in the process. Also if I run ps it shows most of the processes (I dont know if its all) but it freezes and never exits. If anyone got a SS20 up and runnin Xfree86 with a 2.6 kernel I would gladly have a look at your config files (X and kernel). I also wonder what would be the best CPU upgrade for this system if I intend to run linux on it. AFAIK HyperSPARC's doesnt work very well with linux and sparc32 SMP on 2.6 is broken? I'm considering a pair of SM71 modules or does anyone have advice for a better choice? RAM is also on my upgrade list. Best regards Torbjörn Olander [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sorry for bad english and asking questions in a strange way, but I'm not very used to writing in english :) Hi Torbjörn, I can't help, but would love a copy of your kernel configuration file... Everard
2.4 kernel for SUNstation 20
Hi All, Can anyone confirm if I can use kernel-image-2.4.19-sun4u for a SUNstation 20? or do I need to build my own from sources ? TIA, Everard
[newbie] Install/Boot problem
Hi All, I have installed woody via 'net boot'. All went well, but I can't boot from the hard disk. System: SPARCstation 20 32Mb RAM No floopy or CDROM drive Issues that make me suspicious include: o I used the 's' parameter in fdisk to partition this disk. This gave me: sda1 / sda2 swap sda3 Whole Disk o SILO refused to install. o I don't know very much about OpenBOOT or SPARCstations. All suggestions welcome ;-) Everard
Re: [newbie] Install/Boot problem
Hi Pat,
Thanks for the quick reply ;-)
On Monday 26 Apr 2004 12:05 am, Patrick Finnegan wrote:
On Sunday 25 April 2004 16:37, Everard Brown wrote:
Hi All,
I have installed woody via 'net boot'. All went well, but I can't
boot from the hard disk.
System: SPARCstation 20
32Mb RAM
No floopy or CDROM drive
Issues that make me suspicious include:
o I used the 's' parameter in fdisk to partition this disk. This gave
me: sda1 /
sda2 swap
sda3 Whole Disk
o SILO refused to install.
sda1 (the partition containing /boot) probably extends past the first
1GB of disk space. On SparcStation 20s, the partition that
contains /boot must completely reside in the first 1GB of disk space
(due to OpenBOOT bugs/restrictions)
That sounds a very likely cause of my problem, but when I try to create the
Sun disk label ('s' option in fdisk) that is always the default.
Can anyone suggest how I might acheive a partitioning scheme which would be
acceptable to the install program?
I already tried to split the space allocated to sda1, but I couldn't get the
unused part of the partition back.
I'll have a more detailed look at the fdisk options...
All suggestions are still very welcome.
Everard
