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Linux - Debian—Distributions
June 2005 Intel
®
I/O Processors Linux-Debian Installation Guide
18 Order Number: 306507001US
6.1 Installing Debian
See http://www.debian.org for more information on the Debian distribution.
There are three main branches of Debian: stable (currently codenamed Woody), testing (currently
codenamed Sarge), and unstable (currently codenamed Sid). (See http://www.debian.org/releases/
for more information).
Installers for both Testing and Unstable exist; however, there were issues installing directly. When
interested in either of these releases, install the stable release first (see Section 6.1.1) and then use
the “apt-get” utility to upgrade to the new version of the distribution. (see Section 6.1.5). For most
users the Testing branch is sufficiently stable. In addition, the Testing branch offers higher
performance because it is built with GCC 3.3. The Stable branch has been tested much more
thoroughly but is based on GCC 2.95, which has lower performance.
6.1.1 Installing Debian Stable on a NFS Root File System
First, ensure that the “/exports/fs.xscale” directory exists and is empty, and then make sure that the
NFS server is exporting the correct directory.
# rm -rf /exports/fs.xscale (when not caringabout what is there currently)
# mkdir /exports/fs.xscale
# exportfs -rav
Now, download the installer disk image and copy it into the TFTP server root directory.
# wget http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-arm/current/
netwinder/images-1.44/root.bin
# mv root.bin /tftpboot/initrd.gz
Now, on the RedBoot console, issue the following commands to launch the installer:
RedBoot> load -r -v -b {ramdisk-load-addr} /initrd.gz
RedBoot> load -r -v -b {kernel-load-addr} /zImage.iq80331
RedBoot> exec {kernel-run-addr} -r {ramdisk-run-addr}
-s 0x400000 -c "ip=bootp root=/dev/ram0 \
initrd={ramdisk-run-addr},
4M console=ttyS0, 115200 cachepolicy=writealloc"
After the kernel boots, the Splash Screen of the Debian Installer is viewable. Execute the following
steps to get a base installation of Debian Linux.
1. Press return to get to the “
Installation Main Menu”.
2. Scroll to “
Mount a Previously-Initialized Partition” and press return.
3. Enter the NFS path and press return: “
192.168.0.1:/exports/fs.xscale”
4. Enter “
yes” to mount this NFS share as the root file system:
a. This may take some time to complete. Be patient.
When problems are suspect, check the log files on the server.
5. Scroll to “
Execute a shell” and press return.