Re: netbooting alphastation 500 with current debian
i'm real excited in that i've got bootp and tftp working to the
degree the alpha will load an image. anyone care to speculate on how
to build an image it will like?
I don't have much solid information, but I did want to mention that I
was able to boot an AlphaStation 500/500 via bootp last summer (August
2001). This was with the then-current woody installer, then called
testing.
This is an AS500/266. As I understand it, they are somewhat different.
I did not use serial console, so it's possible that's what's fouling
you up. I see you downloaded alpha.img rather than building it
yourself. Are you sure the kernel within contains support for serial
Yeah. That's what I was thinking last night. Do you have a URL for the
image bootprocess? I tried last night to feed it an OpenBSD image last
night (from 3.2 current), and I had even less luck:
halt code = 2
kernel stack not valid halt
So I think I might actually have to build an image for this machine.
I'm thinking I may have to do some cross-kernel-compiling weirdness as
well. I have a few other linux machines, so that might not be so bad.
console? Can you hook up a monitor for the install process? Just
about any same-vintage PCI graphics card should be sufficient for just
a text console display.
It really isn't feasible to put a monitor on it. The alpha is roughly
in the middle of a stack of very heavy sparcs, and fifty feet away from
the nearest place to even put a monitor.
I used dhcpd, not bootp, for this process. Much easier to configure.
Here's the dhcpd.conf entry I used for this system:
Curious, all the information I found said that dhcpd was not
sufficient, that it was bootp or nothing.
You should also make sure you have the latest console firmware. The
good news is you can flash the firmware over tftp/bootp! Very cool!
If you're unable to find it, I think I have the proper file lying
around -- contact me offlist.
I had to upgrade the firmware for the VMS installer, so we're good
there.
Alex
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