Bug#228889: installation-reports: network installation report with small problems

["Frédéric Boiteux" <fboiteux@calistel.com>]

Package: installation-reports
Version: N/A; reported 2004-01-21
Severity: minor


Debian-installer-version: d-i beta2, downloaded from
 /debian/dists/testing/main/installer-i386/current/images (vmlinuz and
 netboot-initrd.gz files) [ 16 of january 2004 ]
uname -a: Linux Prem9a 2.4.22 #1 lun déc 22 17:05:03 CET 2003 i686 unknown
Date: Mon Jan 19 14:04:00 CET 2004
Method: network install : lan boot with DHCP/TFTP, which load network
 grub menu.In this menu, I load the d-i kernel (vmlinuz) and initrd
 (netboot-initrd.gz) from my local server (on the lan, no proxy).

Machine: an VMEbus card (VMIC 7751), 2 USB ports, without floppy nor
 CD drives. The hard disk, IDE on hdc, is blank... I uses a USB
 keyboard (no mouse).
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) III CPU family      1266MHz
Memory: 512Mo
Root Device: The hard disk, IDE one, is on hdc [it's blank before install].
Root Size/partition table: I've tried automatic partitioning (to look at what it does ;-)...
Output of lspci:
 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82815 815 Chipset Host Bridge and Memory Controller Hub (rev 04)
 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corp. 82815 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] (rev 04)
 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82820 820 (Camino 2) Chipset PCI (rev 11)
 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82820 820 (Camino 2) Chipset ISA Bridge (ICH2) (rev 11)
 00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82820 820 (Camino 2) Chipset IDE U100 (rev 11)
 00:1f.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82820 820 (Camino 2) Chipset USB (Hub A) (rev 11)
 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82820 820 (Camino 2) Chipset SMBus (rev 11)
 00:1f.4 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82820 820 (Camino 2) Chipset USB (Hub B) (rev 11)
 01:02.0 Network controller: Siemens Nixdorf AG DSCC4 WAN adapter (rev 21)
 01:03.0 Bridge: Tundra Semiconductor Corp. CA91C042 [Universe] (rev 02)
 01:04.0 Class ff00: VMIC: Unknown device 0004 (rev 01)
 01:06.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp. 82559ER (rev 09)
 01:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp. 82820 (ICH2) Chipset Ethernet Controller (rev 03)

Base System Installation Checklist:

Initial boot worked:    [O]
Configure network HW:   [O]
Config network:         [O]
Detect CD:              [ ]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives:     [O]
Partition hard drives:  [O]
Create file systems:    [O]
Mount partitions:       [O]
Install base system:    [O]
Install boot loader:    [O]
Reboot:                 [O]
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it

Comments/Problems:

* first small problem : for a correct network install, we must now use
  devfs (instead of beta1), so I have to use following options to the
  d-i kernel :
  ramdisk_size=8192 root=/dev/ram0 devfs=mount
  [ + DEBCONF_PRIORITY=medium if needed ]

  [ the message linked in the documentation
    http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/testing/main/installer-i386/current/doc/INSTALLATION-HOWTO
   don't mention this ]


* I've tried 2 installations :

  * basic installation :
    - The installation works fine. I used a USB keyboard, and it works fine.
      When I rebooted to do final install (base-config), the keyboard
      wasn't recognized : please load following modules (perhaps it's not
      exactly part of debian-installer, but it sucks !) :
        hid
        keybdev
        mousedev
      [ in initrd or in /etc/modules ...]
    - During the hardware detection, I got a (false) error about
      network card detection, because my motherboard has 2 same
      ethernet controllers (Intel EEPRO 100) : the automatic network detection
      program tried to 'insmod' e100 module 2 times, the second gives
      an error (but harmless).

  * more precise installation with DEBCONF_PRIORITY=medium :
    I used GRUB instead of LILO (works neat).
    The installation worked fine.
    After reboot :
    - no USB keyboard (same remark as before).
    - the network card wasn't configured (by DHCP), whereas in basic
      installation it did ! logging in a console and doing 'dhclient eth0'
      resolved the problem, but it was quite mysterious at first glance...

Aside these small things, it works great, good work !

        Frédéric Boiteux


-- System Information
Debian Release: 3.0
Architecture: i386
Kernel: Linux Prem3s 2.4.22-dev #1 lun déc 29 13:00:42 CET 2003 i686
Locale: LANG=fr_FR@euro, LC_CTYPE=fr_FR@euro