--- Begin Message ---
Package: installation-reports
Version: 20040801, release candidate 1
INSTALL REPORT
Debian-installer-version: rc1, 2004-08-01, http://http.us.debian.org/
uname -a: Linux pc-aaens 2.6.7-1-386 #1 Thu Jul 8 05:08:04 EDT 2004 i686 GNU/Linux
Date: 2004-08-26, 15:00 GMT
Method:
Installation of "testing" (sarge) from the network (http://debian.ens-cachan.fr then ftp://ftp.lip6.fr), not proxied ;
boot from floppy disks (I had to try 3 different boot floppies and 2 different root floppies before it worked : floppy disks are indeed unreliable)
Machine: PC from a French assemblor (MEDASYS)
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz
Memory: 256 MB
Root Device: IDE /dev/dha
Root Size/partition table:
Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 10 80293+ 83 Linux /boot
/dev/hda2 11 793 6289447+ 83 Linux unused
/dev/hda3 794 1054 2096482+ e W95 FAT16 (LBA) unused
/dev/hda4 1055 4865 30611857+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 1055 1576 4192933+ 83 Linux /usr
/dev/hda6 1577 1837 2096451 83 Linux /opt/archicub
/dev/hda7 1838 1968 1052226 83 Linux /home
/dev/hda8 1969 2099 1052226 83 Linux /tmp
/dev/hda9 2100 2164 522081 83 Linux /opt/webmaster
/dev/hda10 2165 2229 522081 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda11 2230 2262 265041 83 Linux /var
/dev/hda12 2263 2328 530113+ 83 Linux /
/dev/hda13 2329 3361 8297541 83 Linux /backup
/dev/hda14 3362 4865 12080848+ 83 Linux /data
Output of lspci and lspci -n:
[lspci]
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/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB 2.0 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 81)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) LPC Bridge (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) UltraATA-100 IDE Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon RV100 QY [Radeon 7000/VE]
0000:03:03.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
[lspci -n]
0000:00:00.0 0600: 8086:1a30 (rev 11)
0000:00:01.0 0604: 8086:1a31 (rev 11)
0000:00:1d.0 0c03: 8086:24c2 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.1 0c03: 8086:24c4 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.2 0c03: 8086:24c7 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.7 0c03: 8086:24cd (rev 01)
0000:00:1e.0 0604: 8086:244e (rev 81)
0000:00:1f.0 0601: 8086:24c0 (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.1 0101: 8086:24cb (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.3 0c05: 8086:24c3 (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.5 0401: 8086:24c5 (rev 01)
0000:01:00.0 0300: 1002:5159
0000:03:03.0 0200: 10ec:8139 (rev 10)
Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
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]
Comments/Problems:
- This was my first Debian installation but I have installed, in the
past (on different machines), Slackware, RedHat and FreeBSD.
- As said before, I had to try 3 boot floppies and 2 root floppies but
the installation instructions (section 5.3.1) warned.
- The first install worked fine until the first reboot, but after it,
when I selected packages and launched their installation, /var was
filled up (it is only 256 MB because it is backuped on tapes every night
and I want to minimze tape usage since it is provided gracefully by the
sysadmin of the main site), the installation stopped and I was unable to
restart it since the package database was messed up.
I didn't try the methods of recovering /var given in the FAQ because I
discovered them afterwards. Moreover, this is not a clean way of
proceeding.
Also, in the first install DHCP was used without asking permission.
- Second install : done in expert mode, restarting from scratch (erasing
/, /usr and /var).
There, I was able to deselect DHCP use and give my static IP address.
This time, after the first reboot, I completed the installation process
without adding any package, I moved pieces of /var that semt to be used
by the packaging system into /usr (adding symlinks), and I started
"base-config" again. I selected packages and installed it ; it worked
fine since /var was no more filled.
- Conclusive remarks :
I liked expert mode a lot because, when something fails, you come back
to the main menu and you can redo anything. This was not the case with
RedHat 8, for instance.
The installation process with the Debian-installer, although not
attractive-looking like RedHat-anaconda-..., is a lot more user friendly
than FreeBSD 4.2 installer (I did not try FreeBSD since then).
aptitude seems to be great. I had a bad experience with FreeBSD :
during the first few weeks, there was a system like aptitude/base-config
(that you can call back even when the install was finished, and that
allows you to choose packages and to install/erase them). But, from week
to week, it worked less and less (because the FreeBSD release was no
more supported, since 2 new releases had appeared), and finally after 6
months it did not work at all : I was obliged to use the FreeBSD ports
system. Which is probably nice for a full-time sysadmin with 100
machines to administrate, but not for the free-time administration of 1
machine (which is my case). So I hope to be able to update my
installation as easily as I installed it (with aptitude) for at least 2
years !
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
We are closing this installation report for one of the following
reasons:
- it was reported with a pre-lenny version of Debian
Installer.
- indications in the installation report give the feeling that
the reported problem waslying in another software, unrelated to
D-I, which we can't easily identify.
- indications in the installation report suggest that it may have been
fixed in a more recent version of a D-I component
- it was successful and we forgot closing it..:-)
- it has no information we consider useful
The D-I team is currently in the process of cleaning out the old spool
of installation reports that haven't bene processed yet.
In case you think that the problem you reported has chances to be
still present, please reiterate your installation test with
a more recent image of D-I, if you're in position of doing this.
You'll find daily builds at
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer. We recommend you choose
the netboot image, in the "daily builds section", then choose to
install "squeeze" when prompted.
If some problems are found, please report them with a new bug sent
against installation-reports.
Many thanks for your understanding and your help improving Debian,
past and present.
--- End Message ---