Re: 3.0.15 missing ne2k-pci module?
On Fri, Oct 26, 2001 at 11:12:58AM +0200, Eduard Bloch wrote:
> > I presume you mean the target root? It's already mounted by the time
> > the driver disks are installed. Of course, you can also download to a
> > Ramdisk.
>
> Yes, this driver should go into the kernel. But the source may be Coda
The driver for the target root device? It can be downloaded and installed
before mounting the target root.
> But the source may be Coda
> FS (for example), then you need the driver for it. And you cannot put
> every FS driver into the kernel image.
The source FS driver can also be downloaded from the network. I assumed
the availability of the network, since earlier in this thread you
proprosed installing the kernel-image package from the net!
> > I don't think so. Consider this. Currently, all the required drivers
> > are compiled into the kernel. But suppose we have a stripped-down
> > kernel with networking, tmpfs and as many common NIC drivers as will
>
> As said before, count the space before starting to make plans. NIC
> modules take 2.4MB. Add nfs, code, ntfs... about 300kB. Consider this
> please.
I wasn't expecting to fit all the NIC drivers, just a selection of the
most popular ones. Additional FS drivers can be download over the network.
If you don't have a network, a single floppy probably won't be enough.
> VFAT is essential. There are people installing from downloaded archives,
> stored on FAT. We are speaking about an allround setup system, not
> something which can be used in fast-network environment only. You may
> consider such installation methods as unimportant, but many people do
> not.
Look, what I'm suggesting here is an organisation where most people need
only the rescue disk and a working network to install. Some may need
additional modules from another floppy. Without a network or a local
mountable filesystem of a reasonably-common type, they may need a full
set of "driver" disks. It should still be an allround setup system.
As for network speed, usually only a small number of modules will be
needed for an installation on a specific system, and few of them are
more than 100KB.
Room for FAT would have to be traded against room for more NIC drivers.
> Tmpfs? Debian should be installable on 12MB machines. With tmpfs as the
> provisoric filesystem you don't have much space. Of course you could
> rely on swap. But
Not as a provisional filesystem, just a temporary filestore for downloaded
modules. In fact, transferring the initrd contents into tmpfs and
releasing the initrd would use less RAM (just the instantanous size of
the tmpfs contents and virtually no metadata overhead) than the initrd.
> Please have a look on FAI or create a such disk for yourself (not
> complicated, few modification in the BF build system). The you have a
> custom disk, but only you can use it.
FAI is interesting, but a much more constrained system.
> Okay, but that is your hardware. Look at the lots of different
> components, this is not really easy. For such modifications, dreams, new
> ideas, please have a look on the future debian-installer project.
Yes, I have been watching d-i with interest since Potato went stable.
I have no expectation of any interesting development happening on the
boot-floppies - beyond what is needed for Woody. But still I experiment
for my own purposes.
Regards,
Mark.
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