Bug#340708: installation-report
Package: installation-reports
Boot method: CD
Image version: Etch Beta 1 11.11.05
Date: 25.11.05, 1800 hours.
Machine: Custom-Built Desktop
Processor:Athlon XP 2800 2.1GHz
Memory:768MB PC2700
Partitions:
Dateisystem Typ 1K-Blöcke Benutzt Verfügbar Ben% Eingehängt auf
/dev/hda1 reiserfs 4016064 656632 3359432 17% /
tmpfs tmpfs 388260 0 388260 0% /dev/shm
# This trashy old Seagate drive I use for experimenting on. As this is the first time I've used the Etch installer I thought I'd do a trial run before installing again on my main hard drive, which is a WD 80GB 7200 rpm/8MB cache/ATA133 with Win XP installed on hda1 & 2.
Output of lspci and lspci -n:
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333]
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333 AGP]
0000:00:05.0 Multimedia audio controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CM8738 (rev 10)
0000:00:09.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 50)
0000:00:09.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 50)
0000:00:09.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 51)
0000:00:0d.0 Ethernet controller: Linksys NC100 Network Everywhere Fast Ethernet 10/100 (rev 11)
0000:00:0e.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
0000:00:10.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
0000:00:10.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05)
0000:00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233A ISA Bridge
0000:00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
0000:00:11.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 23)
0000:00:11.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 23)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV25 [GeForce4 Ti 4400] (rev a2)
0000:00:00.0 0600: 1106:3099
0000:00:01.0 0604: 1106:b099
0000:00:05.0 0401: 13f6:0111 (rev 10)
0000:00:09.0 0c03: 1106:3038 (rev 50)
0000:00:09.1 0c03: 1106:3038 (rev 50)
0000:00:09.2 0c03: 1106:3104 (rev 51)
0000:00:0d.0 0200: 1317:0985 (rev 11)
0000:00:0e.0 0200: 10ec:8139 (rev 10)
0000:00:10.0 0400: 14f1:8800 (rev 05)
0000:00:10.2 0480: 14f1:8802 (rev 05)
0000:00:11.0 0601: 1106:3147
0000:00:11.1 0101: 1106:0571 (rev 06)
0000:00:11.2 0c03: 1106:3038 (rev 23)
0000:00:11.3 0c03: 1106:3038 (rev 23)
0000:01:00.0 0300: 10de:0251 (rev a2)
# pci-utils was not installed by default. Is this normal?
Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
Initial boot worked: [O]
Configure network HW: [E]
Config network: [E]
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]
Comments/Problems:
I chose 'expert' at the boot prompt and installed the 2.6.12-386 kernel. Everything went smoothly except for the following -
#Network - My home network is 2 PCs - the main one a gateway connected to the internet via a cable modem (dhcp); the secondary one a client connected to the gateway via ethernet (static ip). For this install I temporarily reversed the roles of these machines, so that I could do it from behind a firewall (Sarge is installed on the secondary machine). I left all the network cards alone (see lspci output above) and chose manual network configuration.
The problem I had was with the loading of the nic modules at runtime. The installer detected both network cards correctly, but because I only needed one interface I deselected the Linksys (tulip) card (normally eth0). But when the system booted for the first time no nic or ip modules were loaded. There was also no odd messages in /var/log/syslog to indicate any network setup problems.
I didn't really know how to troubleshoot this so I just wiped and re-installed, this time keeping both modules that the installer offers (tulip and 8139too). The network is now being set up but there is a third driver being loaded - 8139cp. This shouldn't be there because it is not the right module for the chipset on the Realtek card I have. I have a feeling that this mismatched module is the one being used, because the network performance is below what it usually is.
Again, there are no messages in syslog, other than the notifications of modules being loaded. Could it be that the installer has a problem with networking if you don't set up an eth0 interface and just have eth1? I have a feeling then that the installer can have trouble setting up the network correctly on machines with multiple interfaces. To avoid this I think I will temporarily remove one of the nics when I do the main install.
#Locales - This has been a problem with every Linux install I've done. I live in Australia but speak German as a second language, and like to set up my PCs in this language as far as is possible. But the Debian installer doesn't seem to like it. When the locale config program is run I select all instances of 'de_DE' and 'en_US', and choose de_DE.UTF-8 as the default. I always find, though, that something weird gets put in /etc/environment, against what I thought I'd chosen -
LANGUAGE="de_AU:de:en_GB:en"
LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
This first part seems to be a 'de_Australia' locale, and 'en_GB' is not the version of English I selected. Leaving it like this can cause some programs to not be configured correctly when installed (messages about 'locale de_AU does not exist') so to fix it I change the line to -
LANGUAGE="de_DE:de:en_US:en"
which causes those messages to disappear.
The other locale problem seems to be with UTF-8 . I usually find I have to use an older de_DE locale as the default because some programs won't display text correctly eg. gksu . Although I don't know whether you would officially class this as a bug.
Neither of these things are showstoppers but they are unnecessary inconveniences just the same. Anyhow I look forward to the upgrade to testing and will send another installation report when it's done.
Thanks,
Les Gray
Sydney, Australia
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