Package: installation-reports INSTALL REPORT
Debian-installer-version: 20040716, http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/daily/alpha/20040716/sarge-alpha-businesscard.iso Linux alphabox 2.4.26-1-generic #2 Sat May 1 16:31:16 EST 2004 alpha GNU/Linux Date: Sun Jul 18 13:54:13 CEST 2004 Method: Network install, initiated from a bootable "businesscard" CD. The CD is booted from the Alpha's SRM console with `boot DSKA600`. I've tried to install from the regular CD too, but kernel panics are experienced when the CDRom drive is accessed extensively. >From /etc/apt/sources.list: deb ftp://ftp.surfnet.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/debian/ testing main Machine: Digital AlphaStation 500/333 Processor: Alpha EV5 Memory: 189488 kB Root Device: SCSI disk on /dev/sdb Root Size/partition table: alphabox:/home/polarwolf# fdisk -l /dev/sdb Disk /dev/sdb: 4550 MB, 4550934016 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 553 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes 3 partitions: # start end size fstype [fsize bsize cpg] a: 2 500 499 ext2 b: 501 554* 53* ext2 Output of lspci and lspci -n: alphabox:/home/polarwolf# lspci 0000:00:06.0 Ethernet controller: Digital Equipment Corporation DECchip 21040 [Tulip] (rev 24) 0000:00:08.0 VGA compatible unclassified device: S3 Inc. 86c864 [Vision 864 DRAM] vers 0 0000:00:09.0 SCSI storage controller: QLogic Corp. ISP1020 Fast-wide SCSI (rev 02) 0000:00:0a.0 Non-VGA unclassified device: Intel Corp. 82375EB (rev 05) 0000:00:0c.0 Fibre Channel: Emulex Corporation LP7000 Fibre Channel Host Adapter (rev 04) alphabox:/home/polarwolf# lspci -n 0000:00:06.0 Class 0200: 1011:0002 (rev 24) 0000:00:08.0 Class 0001: 5333:88c0 0000:00:09.0 Class 0100: 1077:1020 (rev 02) 0000:00:0a.0 Class 0000: 8086:0482 (rev 05) 0000:00:0c.0 Class 0c04: 10df:f700 (rev 04) 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] Load installer modules: [O] Detect hard drives: [O] Partition hard drives: [O] Create file systems: [O] Mount partitions: [O] Install base system: [O] Install boot loader: [E] Reboot: [O] Comments/Problems: It works well, until in the last phase it tries to write an aboot configuration out to disk. The error which shows up in the logging console is: main-menu[261]: (process:12921): error: bootcode overlaps with partition #1. If you really want this, use -f1 aboot-installer: info: Installing aboot on '/dev/sdb' So I've done some investigation, and it appears that to install aboot you need some free space on the disk before the first partition (according to the FAQ on http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/SRM-HOWTO/srm-aboot.html: <quote> We suggest that the disk be partitioned such that the first partition starts at an offset of 2048 sectors. This leaves 1MB of space for storing aboot. On a properly partitioned disk, it is then possible to install aboot as follows (assuming the disk is /dev/sda): # swriteboot /dev/sda bootlx On systems where partition c in the entire disk it will be necessary to 'force' the write of aboot. In this case use the -f flag followed by the partition number (in the case of partition c this is 3): # swriteboot /dev/sda bootlx -f3 </quote> Well, it appears that the partitioning tool neither takes the bit of free space into account nor does it create one bigass BSD label partition across the entire disk, so the installer will try to write the boot block right over the partition boundary of the first partition. That obviously won't work (I know, I tried to force install the boot block with -f1, it leaves an unbootable system). So, what I did to resolve this issue is to manually partition the harddisk in the console on tty2, starting the first partition on the second cylinder of the disk, leaving ~8MB of free space before the first partition. After partitioning the disk, I've started the installer's partitioning tool to format and mount the partitions, and after that d-i happily installs everything, including aboot. I now have a functional Sarge installation on my AS500/333, installed with debian-installer. On a side note, this is the first time I've use debian-installer, and I can only say that it's very, very nice. I find the partitioning tool a bit combersome to use though. But maybe that's because I always choose to do that stuff by hand instead of automagically :-) -- Regards, Ferdinand O. Tempel Your friendly neighborhood linuxops.net administrator. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
