Bug#245384:
Package: installation-reports
Debian-installer-version: http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/sarge_d-i/i386/beta3/sarge-i386-businesscard.iso, 2004-04-20
uname -a: Linux quincy 2.4.25-1-386 #1 Tue Feb 24 08:11:13 EST 2004 i686 GNU/Linux
Date: 2004-04-21, around 1pm
Method: I booted the cd image, did the normal (non-expert) install, and used http://debian.lcs.mit.edu as my install source.
Machine: Dell Dimension 4500 (Minitower)
Processor: P4 1.8ghz
Memory: 512mb
Root Device: IDE /dev/hda3
Root Size/partition table:
Disk /dev/hda: 20.0 GB, 20000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2431 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 1 4 32098+ de Dell Utility
/dev/hda2 5 641 5116702+ 7 HPFS/NTFS (winxp pro, for dual boot, not mounted under linux)
/dev/hda3 * 642 1133 3951990 83 Linux (mounted on /)
/dev/hda4 1134 2431 10426185 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 1134 1193 481918+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda6 1194 2431 9944203+ 83 Linux (mounted on /u1)
Output of lspci:
pcilib: Cannot open /sys/bus/pci/devices
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82845 845 (Brookdale) Chipset Host Bridge (rev 11)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82845 845 (Brookdale) Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 11)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #1 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #2 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #3 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801BA/CA/DB/EB/ER Hub interface to PCI Bridge (rev 81)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) LPC Bridge (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) Ultra ATA 100 Storage Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBM (ICH4) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 Pro Ultra TF
0000:02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
Base System Installation Checklist:
Initial boot worked: [O]
Configure network HW: [O]
Config network: [O]
Detect CD: [O]
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:
In general, the install went well. The interface feels a lot like the
old one, which I suppose is intentional. There were a few issues, all
after the reboot:
- There was no way to specify a local mirror.
- The system loaded pcmcia drivers, and the yenta drivers tried to
load when I rebooted. This failed, because my machine has no pcmcia
hardware.
- This is the worst one: although the installer, after booting off the
cd, correctly identified my net hardware and brought up the network
using dhcp, when the machine rebooted, it had no network, because no
ethernet driver had been added to /etc/modules. I switched to another
desktop to get a shell, but I hadn't yet set the root pw, so I
couldn't log in. Once I had the chance to set the root pw a few
screens later, I logged in and did modprobe 8139too; ifdown eth0; ifup
eth0 and then the network was ok. Of course, I had to do this before
the packages for the rest of the install would download. I had to add
8139too to /etc/modules, too.
- There is no way to tell the installer not to create a user. My
network uses ldap, so I didn't want to create any local users. Even
if I did, I would have wanted to choose a uid so NFS would work right,
which I couldn't do, either. I don't expect all the various adduser
flags to be supported, but I would like to be able to skip the user
creation process entirely.
- It would be nice if I could choose which mail package to install. I
let it install exim, then had to rip it out (it didn't even work; I'll
be filing another bug on that) and install postfix. This isn't a big
deal, but being able to choose one would be nice.
Things I liked:
- The automatic partitioning, although I did have to manually remove
my old linux partitions. Perhaps the installer could have an option
to overwrite an existing install. (After all, who wants to keep
redhat around.)
- X just worked. This is often the most finicky part of any linux
install. I told it I had an ATI card which could do
1600x1200x24@75hz, and everything just worked. Even better would be
if it figured this out by itself: between lspci and DPMS, it should be
possible to probe both the driver and the monitor properties in many
cases. I think knoppix does this.
- A 26gb iso is really convenient.
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