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On Sunday 05 May 2013, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote: > On Sun, May 5, 2013 at 7:49 AM, Jean-Marc <jean-marc@6jf.be> wrote: > > Hi guys, > > > > I bought a Cubieboard some days ago (http://cubieboard.org). > > I would like to install a Debian Testing on it and some useful services > > (webserver, wiki, xmpp server, mail server, ...). > > > > I took a look at the doc' and found some interesting things here: > > http://linux-sunxi.org/Cubieboard/ > > http://linux-sunxi.org/Cubieboard/Installing_on_NAND > > > > Did somebody already try this ? > > there are dozens of people, if not hundreds, who have installed > debian on A10 devices. they're all pretty much the same. > > start from here: > http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/hacking_the_mele_a1000/ > > then you go here: > http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/hacking_the_mele_a1000/Building_Debi > an_From_Source_Code_for_Mele/ > > or here: > http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/hacking_the_mele_a1000/debian_kernel > / > > and here: > http://linux-sunxi.org/Building_on_Debian > > and yes you've found this one already: > http://linux-sunxi.org/Cubieboard/Installing_on_NAND > > and you might also like to get one of the bootable images from here: > http://linux-sunxi.org/Bootable_OS_images#Debian > > > but if you like, you should be able to use this and adapt it, if you > prefer not to do any kind of cross-compiling, you can use chroot > bootstrapping instead - just adapt the sdcard partition setup > arrangements using bits of the instructions above: > http://lkcl.net/reports/odroid-u2.html > > that report is pretty similar in procedure to the Installing_on_NAND > one except that it shows how to compile a native kernel and also > doesn't mean you download a ridiculous 4gb or 8gb image, you use > debootstrap and save a ton of network bandwidth in the process. > > the only thing to watch out for is that many people are not aware of > the changes to fdisk of the past 18 or so months, where fdisk used to > default to using cylinders or something but now uses different > defaults, so many people have been reporting instructions that work on > e.g. ubuntu but if you use debian/testing those exact same > instructions completely fail. if i recall correctly you'll need > "fdisk -u" i.e. use sectors instead of cylinder as a default unit. > > > Did youo do it the same way ? > > i strongly advise you not to deviate from any of the build > instructions, at least not initially. bear in mind the following > things: > > * there is no BIOS. AT ALL on ARM devices. you're operating at > low-level, and you are on your own. deviate one tiny bit and you > could f*** things up or waste 3 weeks trying to work outside the box. > > * luckily with allwinner a10 devices, they're "unbrickable". even if > you f*** them up there's a way to put them into a mode which allows > low-level recovery. > > > And I have a question: as the Debian installer takes the arch armhf in > > charge, do you think a standard install' from a netboot image will work > > ? > > this has been on my list for a loooong time. as with *all* debian > installer images however you are hampered by the fact that there is no > BIOS - at all - on ARM devices - and therefore it is impossible to > have a "one size fits all" debian installer. I wonder if the device tree is the answer here. If the box comes with a DT or one is available on the web then the installer could read it and know what to install. That and the armmp kernel should solve the problem.
David > > in other words you need to customise the debian installer by putting > in very very specific boot procedures, kernel and initrd that is > *specifically* tailored to understand that hardware. > > nobody has yet tackled this for any allwinner 10 devices, and as this > is your first a10 device i would advise you not to try messing about > with debian installer until you have at least prepared a > debootstrapped image and got a first independent boot. > > once you've done that and have an SD Card that you can always go back > to, *then* you will be in a strong position to explore creating a > customised version of debian installer. > > if you try to create a customised version of debian installer first > without having ever successfully booted this system up you risk > getting in *way* over your head and giving up. > > small steps first - trust and follow other peoples' instructions first. > > l.
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