Debian/m68k GNU/Linux
Installation Instructions for Atari (v1.5)
Michael Schmitz, February 8, 1999
(derived from Amiga install guide by Frank Neumann)
_____________________________________________________________________
A hopefully always up-to-date version of this document should be online at
the Debian/68k web site.
Ok, so you think you want to try Debian, dive into the wonderful world of
free software, world-wide programming collaboration and soon-to-come world
domination? Fine. Your first test will be to install the Debian base system
on your Atari, and I hope this document will help you in getting that step
done.
So, without any further ado, these are the absolutely vital steps you need
to take:
0) Before even thinking of starting to install Debian on your Atari, you
should make a BACKUP of your current system. It's not like Debian will erase
all data on your harddisks immediately when it starts up, but you can damage
a lot easily if you are new to Linux or Unix in general. If you have a DAT,
MO or spare harddisk, this is the chance to use them for creating a backup.
0b) Check out if your system is suited for Linux/m68k - please read the
Linux/m68k FAQ, available e.g. at http://www.linux-m68k.org/.
1) Get all required files from one of Debian's FTP sites, like
ftp.debian.org, ftp.de.debian.org etc. A list of mirror sites can be found
at http://www.debian.org/distrib/ftplist.
No matter what mirror site you use, the path should always be:
/pub/debian/dists/slink/main/disks-m68k/current
These are the files you need:
* atari/install.lzh (around 2.8 MB), or
* atari/resc1440.bin ('rescue' floppy image),
* atari/drv1440.bin ('drivers' floppy image), and
* common/base2_1.tgz
If you chose to install from the resc1440.bin floppy image, you'll also need
a program to dump the floppy image to a 1440k (HD) floppy in your A: drive.
That program, rawwrite.ttp, is currently available from
/pub/debian/dists/hamm/disks-m68k/1998-03-10/atari/
on the Debian mirror site you used. It should be eventually moved into the
new Atari install dir. If you had to compress the floppy images for transport
to your Atari, you might find the gzip.ttp uncompressor in that directory
useful as well.
Once you have installed the base system and want to continue installing other
packages, you can find these under the directories
/pub/debian/dists/slink/main/binary-m68k (core section),
/pub/debian/dists/slink/contrib/binary-m68k (contributed packages)
and
/pub/debian/dists/slink/non-free/binary-m68k (software which does not meet the
Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG)).
Alternatively, get the official Debian/68k 2.1 CD set. The install files
are unpacked on disc 1 in /install/atari/, the LZH archive and base2_1.tgz
are in /install/.
2) Unpack the install.lha file to your harddisk (a subdirectory named
"debian" will be automatically created for you). I recommend to unpack the
archive directly onto the main directory of a partition that has at least
~ 10 MB of free space.
Move the base2_1.tgz, resc1440.bin and drv1440.bin files into this same
directory ("debian"). Don't rename any files in that directory.
When installing from CD, either unpack /install/atariinstall.lzh to your
harddisk as described above, or try using the files in /install/atari/
directly.
3) Partition your harddisk (or rather prepare partitions for Linux):
There is a partitioning tool for Linux/m68k called atari-fdisk, but for now
I recommend you partition your disk using a TOS partition editor or some disk
tool. If your partition editor doesn't have an option to edit the partition
type, you can do this crucial step at a later stage (from the booted temporary
install ramdisk). One of the partition editors supporting selection of
arbitrary partition types is SCSITool (Hard&Soft). There will be others,
select one to suit your need.
Here an important note: The installation program for Debian 2.1 has
a bug that causes it to ignore disks if they don't have a special
partition layout. Please read the file part-bug.txt that should be
available in the same directory where you got install.lzh from.
You should have reserved at least two partitions for Linux: One for the "root
filesystem" and one for a "swap partition". The size recommendations are:
for the root partition:
* absolute minimum should be 25 MB (this is just enough to install the
base system, and nothing else - probably enough for testing it, but
not for really using it)
* a reasonable system starts at around 200 - 400 MB, no limits upwards.
for the swap partition: about twice as large as your main memory, but
rather more than that. Especially on systems with little main memory (like
8 MB RAM), don't go below 20 MB swap space. Naming conventions: This is
important because under Linux your partitions have different names than
under TOS. This is the naming scheme:
* The first SCSI harddisk (address-wise) is named "sda".
* The second SCSI harddisk (address-wise) is named "sdb", and so on.
* The first IDE harddisk is named "hda", the second IDE harddisk is
named "hdb", and so on.
The partitions on each harddisk are represented by appending a decimal
number to the harddisk name: sda1, sda2, sda3 represent the first, second
and third partition of the first SCSI harddisk in your system.
Here is a real-life example: Let's assume you have a system with 2 SCSI
harddisks, one at SCSI address 2 and the other at SCSI address 4. The first
disk (at address 2) is then named "sda", and the second "sdb". If the "sda"
harddisk has 5 partitions on it, these will be named "sda1", "sda2", ...,
"sda5". Analoguous for the "sdb" harddisk and its partitions.
So, now that we know the partition names, you can actually change their
type from within your partition editor so that the Linux installation
program can detect them:
Start the partition editor, select the disk you want to use, select the
"Partition Drive" function and select/create the partition you want to use
as the Debian root filesystem. If there is a partition ID option, select it
and enter LNX as the partition ID.
After having done this, select a partition that is to be used as a swap
partition, and repeat the same steps as above, but set the identifier to
SWP instead.
The following example covers 'SCSITool':
1. Start SCSITool, select the disk you want to partition ('Disk' menu,
item 'select').
2. From the 'Partition' menu, select either 'New' to add new
partitions or change the existing partition sizes, or 'Change' to
change one specific partition. Unless you have already created
partitions with the right sizes and only want to change the
partition ID, 'New' is probably the best choice.
3. For the 'New' choice, select 'existing' in the dialog box
prompting the initial settings. The next window shows a list
of existing partitions which you can adjust using the scroll
buttons, or by clicking in the bar graphs. The first column in
the partition list is the partition type, just click on the text
field to edit.
When you are finished changing partition settings, save the
changes by leaving the window with the 'Ok' button.
4. For the 'Change' option, select the partition to change in the
selection list, and select 'other systems' in the dialog box.
The next window lists detailed information about the location of
this partition, and lets you change the partition ID. Again, save
the changes by leaving the window with the 'Ok' button.
5. Write down the Linux names for each of the partitions you created
or changed for use with Linux - see section 4.2 for the naming
scheme.
6. Quit SCSITool using the 'Quit' option from the 'File' menu, the
computer will reboot to make sure the changed partition table is
used by TOS. If you changed any TOS/GEM partitions, they will be
invalidated and have to be reinitialized (we told you to back up
everything on the disk, didn't we?).
Please note:
* Your root and swap partitions do not need to be on the same harddisk.
* You can have more than one partition for files besides the root
filesystem - this even makes sense very often, like when seperating the
user's home directories from the system file area. If you want to use
more partitions, prepare them just like the root partition.
If you're only going to try Linux for a short time, it's enough to just
have a single partition for files.
* You can also have more than one swap partition, though that's not seen
very often.
* Write down the partition names (you know, the "sda1" etc. stuff) of all
partitions that you are going to use for Linux.
* At this point, please also write down the partition name (Linux-wise) of
the partition on which you have unpacked the "install.lha" archive. You
will need this later for installation of the kernel, modules and base
system.
When you have made all required changes, go back to the main window of the
partition editor by "Save Changes to drive" or "Ok". Think twice before
actually clicking on "Yes" to confirm the changes - have you chosen the
correct partitions? No viable data that could get lost now? Then click OK.
If required, the Atari will reboot after this.
5) When you're back at the GEM desktop, start the Linux installation process
by double-clicking on the "BOOTSTRA.PRG" icon in the "debian" directory, or
in the /install/atari/ directory on the CD. If installing from floppies,
double-click on the "BOOTSTRA.TTP" icon, or the "BOOTSTRA.PRG" icon in the
"AUTO" folder instead. BOOTSTRA.TTP will prompt for parameters, simply hit
<return> for now.
You may have to press the <Return> key after the bootstrap program has output
some debugging information. After this, the screen will go grey, a few seconds
of delay, and after that a black screen with white text should come up,
displaying all kinds of kernel debugging information. These scroll by far too
fast for you to read, but that's not important right now.
After a couple of seconds, the installation program should start automatically.
If you get up to this point, you can be quite confident that you will be able
to install Linux on your system.
6) So, now we're getting somewhere. The Debian installation program will
lead you through the steps of preparing the partitions from the Linux side,
unpacking and configuring the kernel modules and base system, and finally
rebooting. Some of the presented steps are not really necessary (or even
possible) on m68k platforms (the installation program is just the same as
on the i386 version of Debian, and some of the i386 features are not (yet)
available in the m68k version), so I'll tell you what you have to do at
each step now.
Select Color or Monochrome display
If you use an SM124 or TT monitor, you might want to choose a monochrome
display - otherwise select Color. Use the cursor keys to choose what you
want, then press <Return>.
Release notes
This is just a screen with a few informations about Debian's goals, who
built the rescue set etc.
Now we come to the main installation screen which lists all possible actions
you can take, with the next logical step always being highlit at the top of
the list. I recommend to strictly follow the suggested way.
Configure the keyboard
Depending on whether you have a U.S. or german or other keyboard, select the
one appropriate for you with the cursor keys and Space, then move with <Tab>
to the OK button and press <Return>.
Initialize and Activate a Swap Partition
When pressing <Return>, you will see a list of partitions that the installation
program has found as being prepared by you for usage as a swap partition.
Probably there is only one choice, and it should have the same partition name
you wrote down under TOS while you were preparing that partition in your disk
utility. If you have chosen to use several swap partitions, repeat the
following step for all of them:
* Press <Return> to accept the selected partition
* When asked whether you want to do a bad-block scan, you can safely skip
this step, so select "No" here using <Tab> and then <Return>.
* When asked whether you really want to initialize this partition as a
swap partition, think twice, then, when being sure, press <Return>.
At this point the swap partition will be "formatted" -- that is, some
information is written to it to mark it as swap partition -- which only
takes a second (you'll hardly be able to read the text that appears at the
top of the screen - ignore that for now).
Initialize a Linux partition
This is very similar to the previous step, but this time it's not about swap
partitions, but about "real" partitions which are supposed to carry files.
Just as before, you'll be presented with a list of partitions that the
installer found to be valid as Linux filesystem partitions.
Again, for each of the partitions you have chosen to use, accept it by
selecting it from the list and pressing <Return>, skip the "Bad-block scan"
and (when you are sure) select "Yes" to format (initialize) the partition.
After that, you will be asked whether you want to mount the currently active
partition as root ("/") partition. Say "Yes" here at the first partition you
use. Other partitions can be mounted somewhere under this mount point
afterwards.
Install Operating System Kernel and Modules
As I assume that you are installing from files on a harddisk, you will have
to select "Harddisk: Filesystem on the harddisk" here.
Next you need to specify the (TOS) partition on which you unpacked the
"install.lha" archive. After that you also need to enter the path to the
directory containing the installation files - in the simplest case (that is,
if you unpacked the .lha archive directly into the main directory of a
partition), you just hit <Return> because "/debian" is already set as default
for the directory name; otherwise you will have to type the path yourself.
It has to begin with a "/", followed by the directory components leading to
the files (e.g. "/tmp/newstuff/debian" if the files reside in the directory
/tmp/newstuff/debian/ on that partition).
If installing from CD, select "cdrom: CD-ROM drive" and change "/debian" to
"/install/atari" at the path prompt.
Next you are asked whether you want to select the files from a list or enter
the path name manually; just press <Return> here twice as the installation
program will find the correct and only available installation files itself.
The harddisk LED will blink for a while as the kernel and modules are
unpacked onto the root partition, and after that you get back to the main
screen.
If you are installing from floppy images you dumped on two blank floppies,
select "/dev/fd0: First floppy drive", and the kernel will be copied to the
root partition from the floppy you used to start up the install. After
installation of the kernel, the installer will ask you to insert the drivers
floppy (the one you created by dumping the drv1440.bin image). Change the
floppies, press <Return> when ready and the installer will continue by
extracting the device driver modules onto the root partition.
Configure Device Driver Modules
This step is only necessary if certain device drivers need to be loaded very
early when Linux starts up later; like, an Ethernet driver has to be pre-
loaded so that the networking can already be initialized at boot-time. For a
stand-alone system you probably don't have to configure anything here, but
you should still select this item so that the installer can build a list of
available kernel modules. When you see the next screen, you can immediately
go to "Exit: Finished with modules. Return to previous menu".
If you do need to configure a device driver for your system, please follow
the on-screen explanations for selecting modules to be pre-loaded (this
section is a bit short right now, sorry). When done, select the "Exit" item.
Once your Linux system is installed, you can get back to the configuration
of modules at any time by starting the "modconf" program.
Install the Base System
Just as with the "Install Operating System Kernel and Modules" step, you need
to specify where the base system archive is located. This file should be
named "base2_1.tgz". If you have put it into the same directory as the other
installation files, you already know what to do now: Select "harddisk:
Filesystem on the harddisk", pick the correct partition and (if necessary)
enter the path name to the directory containing those files. If you are
installing from CD, select "cdrom: CD-ROM drive" and enter "/install" as path.
Again, as everything should be in the place the installer expects to find it,
press <Return> twice after this to accept the default options.
At this point you've got a few minutes time (depending on the speed of your
processor/harddisk) while the base archive is unpacked onto the Linux root
partition.
Configure the Base System
In this step you just set the timezone that you're in - this should be
pretty intuitive. For instance, for Germany the selection "CET - Europe"
(first screen) and "Berlin" (second screen) should be fine. When asked
whether your system clock is set to "GMT" (Greenwich Mean Time), you will
likely answer with "No" as most Ataris will use the local time instead of
GMT.
Configure the Network
We're almost done! This last step to do is to set up your networking if you
are so lucky to be connected to a net. If you have no network, all you need
to enter is your hostname (under Linux, every computer has a name!). Pick
something you like - your girlfriend's name *sigh*, a famous artist/writer/
composer/character/actor/whatever. Just one word, please.
If you are connected to a network, you need to enter:
* Your network's name
* The IP address of your computer
* The netmask
* Your broadcast address
* Your gateway's IP address, if one is available
* Your nameserver's IP address, if there is one available.
* Your type of connection - Ethernet, PPP, Slip or whatever else.
The help screen on this step suggests that you don't answer "Yes" to the
question whether your computer is connected to a network if this connection
is PPP, i.e. a temporary one (makes sense, as PPP is often assigned dynamic
network addresses). I strongly recommend to follow this suggestion and
complete the network configuration after booting the disk based system.
The 'pppconfig' utility is included in the base system to this purpose.
In case you complete the network configuration here, this step doesn't
completely set up PPP or SLIP for you, just stores some configuration data
for you. For these configurations, you'll see error messages about 'network
device not available' now (and on the later boot from disk), ignore them,
and configure PPP or SLIP later.
Well, that's it! Ignore the next suggested step ("Make Linux bootable
directly from harddisk") and instead select alternative 2: "Reboot the
System". After a few seconds, the Atari should reboot automatically into
TOS/GEM.
So, one last step is required from you before you can boot your freshly
installed Linux: Go to the directory containing the installation files and
start up a texteditor into which you need to enter just one line:
-s -k linux root=/dev/yyyy video=keep
In this line, replace the
yyyy
with the Linux partition name of the root partition onto which you installed
the system - like sda1, hdb3, whatever it was, you figure. The 'video=keep'
is my recommendation especially for Falcon users with screen extenders and
the like; please keep in mind that high screen resolution and high color
seriously impairs SCSI performance on these machines.
External graphics cards need a special 'video=external' option, refer to the
kernel options documentation for details.
Save that file, naming it "bootargs".
If you installed from floppy disks, copy "bootstra.prg" and "linux" to a
folder on your harddrive, and create the "bootargs" file as above.
Now you can just double click on the "bootstra.prg" icon in that folder to
actually start the system, booting from the just installed harddisk instead
of the ramdisk filesystem.
The boot sequence will take quite a bit longer than when you installed the
system because a database of filenames has to be built ("Locate" database).
After that, you are automatically logged in, and need to take these steps:
* Set a password for the root user (the administrator account)
* Create another (unprivileged) user account
* Activate (or not) the "Shadow passwords" (recommendation: Yes, use it!)
* Determine whether you want to continue installing the system via a PPP
line or not, and configuration of the PPP connection scripts.
* Set an "installation profile" of packages you want to install.
After these steps, you are automatically thrown into the "dselect" program
which is the interface-driven package installation manager. My personal
preference is to quit that program as soon as possible and rather install
packages manually via the "apt-get" or "dpkg" program, but your mileage
may vary. You should at least set the access method and update the packages
list here; I have so far used disk based and HTTP/FTP based installation
methods with success. Selection of packages has already been performed if
you didn't skip the "installation profile" above, so there should be no
need to select packages by hand using dselect.
When you quit this program, you get logged out and can log in as root or as
an unprivileged user if you created one before.
At this point you have a running basic Debian installation on your Atari,
and if this all worked out (more or less) well for you, I'd definitely love
to hear about it! :-)
A few tasks are still left to do, such as configuring PPP or SLIP (if
that's your network option and you didn't run the pppconfig step earlier).
For PPP, edit /etc/ppp/peers/provider (replace /dev/modem with your serial
line here, i.e. /dev/ttyS1 for the first SCC port; there's no /dev/modem
anymore) and /etc/chatscripts/provider (enter your username and password
for your ISP account, plus change the 'name' and 'word' to whatever the
prompt at login is. Some configurations require you to send the string 'ppp'
to start up PPP after login, just add another expect/send pair after the
password for that. "pon" and "poff" start and stop the connection,
respectively. SLIP is more hassle; look at the "/etc/init.d/network"
startup script where the "ifconfig" command has already been inserted for
you, and add a "slattach" command before this, if you use static SLIP.
Dynamic SLIP should be set up using "dip", so you'll need to install this
package.
One more hint: To cleanly shut down a running Linux system, you must not
just reboot with the reset switch on the back of your Atari, or turn off
the computer - instead, press the key combination Ctrl-Alt-Del (yeah, just
like on a PC :-) to shut down the system in a controlled manner. That's
Ctrl + LeftAlt + Delete_right_of_Return. Or log in as root and type
shutdown -h now
if you don't like the key combo.
______________________________________________________________________
More information:
* The The Debian GNU/Linux homepage (http://www.debian.org/)
* The Linux/m68k domain's homepage (http://www.linux-m68k.org/)
* Visit m68k people on IRC, channel #linux68k, server irc.lame.org
(or connected servers).
..and maybe hundreds of other Linux- or Debian-related Web sites around
the world.
Good luck in the wonderful world of Debian/m68k!
History of this installation guide:
v0.1 July 20th, 1998 First
version, only ASCII text
v1.0 August 3rd, 1998 Pushed to HTML, small additions & typo corrections
Atari version:
v1.0 August 9th, 1998 First version, based on Frank Neumanns Amiga version
v1.4 January 29th, 1999 Update for Debian 2.1
V1.5 February 8th, 1999 Add CD install option
Michael Schmitz, Last change: February 8, 1999
Created by Webify 0.4 on Sun 02 May 1999 at 12:53 AM CDT