Re: Bootstrapping sid (was m68k Debian lenny?)
On Wed, 17 Mar 2010, John Klos wrote:
> > I built a cross compiler with patched sid source packages because the
> > patches aren't in sid. The exception is sid binutils which has support
> > for NPTL/TLS on m68k.
> >
> > If you want the patches that I use, I can send links. I suggest, first
> > you should read up on the gory details (in the archives of this
> > mailing list).
>
> I've been reading... Would it help to have a public CVS tree so that
> others can easily access a pre-patched set of sources?
That depends on what people want them for. The latest patches are found
at,
http://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc-ports.git;a=summary
http://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=summary
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/geert/linux-m68k.git;a=summary
If you want patches against sid packages, I did upload some, but they are
obsolete now. More backporting is required. (I guess that's what happens
if you don't wait for the upstream release.)
>
> > Right. It is also found on the debian ISO's, along with everything
> > else you need.
> >
> > I don't know where the etch-m68k installer ISO's went. I'll rip it and
> > upload it if they can't be located.
>
> I suppose my little rant about the URLs just illustrates the fact that
> we need a working URL.
If there was a working URL, people might expect "etch-m68k" to work like
"etch".
The debian project kicked out the m68k architecture from the release
process before Debian 4 "etch" was officially released. So "etch-m68k" is
not really etch, and is not actually supported.
The last official debian m68k distro was Debian 3.1 "sarge". Though an
official release, it is about 5 years obsolete, and not much good for the
kind of development work that you alluded to.
> I'd be happy to host that ISO.
>
> > You need a bootloader (penguin is a good start), kernel (and perhaps
> > initrd), and an installer ISO.
> >
> > If your kernel lacks the modules needed for installation, you'll also
> > need the initrd that belongs with that kernel (both are found on the
> > ISO).
>
> So in order to bootstrap you need three or four parts, if I am to
> understand this correctly: you need a kernel, you need an initrd22.gz
> file (or the like) which is configured with modules for supporting the
> boot method, and you need a ramdisk image.
The "rd" in "initrd" means ramdisk. You may not need one if you have the
necessary modules built into your kernel.
> Depending on the boot method, you'd then install over the Internet
> (which I assume won't work for m68k etch) or the magic ISO you mention
> above.
The ISO that I used is the "netinst" ISO, which installs packages from the
net.
The download is called debian-etch-m68k-m68k-netinst.iso and is found at
http://people.debian.org/~smarenka/d-i/m68k/cds/
I downloaded mine in October 2008. You might want to try a newer one, or I
can send mine (it has minor issues).
If your quadra has a CDROM drive, burn the ISO to a CD-R (not RW), slowly.
If it doesn't, there are other ways.
These ISOs require that you boot with kernel arguments
"suite=etch-m68k modules=etch-support"
If you use the kernel and initrd from the ISO, this should be sufficient.
When I did this, I used my own kernel build instead of the kernel and
initrd on the CD. If I recall correctly, I added "root=/dev/sr0" to the
kernel command line. (Sorry I can't confirm this right now.)
> Part of the reason it has been so confusing is because I can't find
> these files. I'm sure the ISO will help tremendously.
>
> > The kernel downloads I linked to in my previous messages should work
> > (without initrd) since that's how I installed etch. If it doesn't work
> > for you, I'll add any missing modules.
>
> I've downloaded several kernels for m68k Mac and tried booting them.
> They all panic after not being able to find the filesystem image
> regardless of what I select in the Penguin booter.
The kernel will panic if there's no root filesystem. I guess you don't
have an initrd or root filesystem yet, so this is to be expected.
>
> > Have you ever tried a debian installation? If so, which of the many
> > methods did you use?
>
> The last time I installed any GNU/Linux on m68k was back in the mid
> 1990s. I used a bucketload of low density Amiga floppy disks.
I wasn't asking about m68k but debian of any kind. (Even a text mode
Ubuntu install would give you an idea of the process.)
>
> > > For instance, here's how you install NetBSD:
> >
> > Read a debian etch install manual and you'll get some idea of the
> > process. It isn't the same as NetBSD.
>
> No; I was just using the mini-NetBSD how-to as an example of giving
> someone with some Unix experience enough information to get started. I'm
> kinda getting there with Debian.
"etch-m68k" was never an official release, as I mentioned, so the
installation guide might not be everything you'd expect.
http://www.debian.org/releases/etch/m68k/
Finn
>
> Thanks!
>
> John
>
>
>
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