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Package: installation-reports
Boot method: CD (squeeze beta 1 netinst)
Image version: http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/squeeze_di_beta1/amd64/iso-cd/debian-squeeze-di-beta1-amd64-netinst.iso
Date: 2010-11-10
Machine: Dell PowerEdge R815
Processor: multiple Opteron 6128
Memory: 4 GB
Partitions: defaults using guided LVM, but I'm modifying them
Output of lspci -knn (or lspci -nn):
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: ATI Technologies Inc RD890 PCI to PCI bridge (external gfx0 port A) [1002:5a13] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
00:02.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD890 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port B) [1002:5a16]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:03.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD890 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port C) [1002:5a17]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:04.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD890 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port D) [1002:5a18]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:09.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD890 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port H) [1002:5a1c]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:11.0 SATA controller [0106]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 SATA Controller [IDE mode] [1002:4390]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:12.0 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller [1002:4397]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:12.1 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700 USB OHCI1 Controller [1002:4398]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:12.2 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller [1002:4396]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:13.0 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller [1002:4397]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:13.1 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700 USB OHCI1 Controller [1002:4398]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:13.2 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller [1002:4396]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:14.0 SMBus [0c05]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller [1002:4385] (rev 3d)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
Kernel driver in use: piix4_smbus
00:14.3 ISA bridge [0601]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 LPC host controller [1002:439d]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
00:14.4 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge [1002:4384]
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration [1022:1200]
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map [1022:1201]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller [1022:1202]
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control [1022:1203]
00:18.4 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control [1022:1204]
00:19.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration [1022:1200]
00:19.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map [1022:1201]
00:19.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller [1022:1202]
00:19.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control [1022:1203]
00:19.4 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control [1022:1204]
00:1a.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration [1022:1200]
00:1a.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map [1022:1201]
00:1a.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller [1022:1202]
00:1a.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control [1022:1203]
00:1a.4 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control [1022:1204]
00:1b.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration [1022:1200]
00:1b.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map [1022:1201]
00:1b.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller [1022:1202]
00:1b.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control [1022:1203]
00:1b.4 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control [1022:1204]
01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit Ethernet [14e4:1639] (rev 20)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:1f26]
Kernel driver in use: bnx2
01:00.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit Ethernet [14e4:1639] (rev 20)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:1f26]
Kernel driver in use: bnx2
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit Ethernet [14e4:1639] (rev 20)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:1f26]
Kernel driver in use: bnx2
02:00.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit Ethernet [14e4:1639] (rev 20)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:1f26]
Kernel driver in use: bnx2
03:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8624 24-lane, 6-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [ExpressLane] [10b5:8624] (rev bb)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
04:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8624 24-lane, 6-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [ExpressLane] [10b5:8624] (rev bb)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
04:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8624 24-lane, 6-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [ExpressLane] [10b5:8624] (rev bb)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
04:04.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8624 24-lane, 6-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [ExpressLane] [10b5:8624] (rev bb)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
04:05.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8624 24-lane, 6-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [ExpressLane] [10b5:8624] (rev bb)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
05:00.0 RAID bus controller [0104]: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic LSI MegaSAS 9260 [1000:0079] (rev 05)
Subsystem: Dell PERC H700 Integrated [1028:1f17]
Kernel driver in use: megaraid_sas
0a:03.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA G200eW WPCM450 [102b:0532] (rev 0a)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
20:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: ATI Technologies Inc RD890 Northbridge only dual slot (2x8) PCI-e GFX Hydra part [1002:5a12] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0445]
20:02.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD890 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port B) [1002:5a16]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
20:03.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD890 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port C) [1002:5a17]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
20:0b.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RD890 PCI to PCI bridge (NB-SB link) [1002:5a1f]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
23:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8114 PCI Express-to-PCI/PCI-X Bridge [10b5:8114] (rev bd)
24:04.0 SCSI storage controller [0100]: Adaptec ASC-29320ALP U320 [9005:8017] (rev 10)
Subsystem: Adaptec ASC-29320LPE PCIe U320 [9005:0045]
Kernel driver in use: aic79xx
Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
Initial boot: [O]
Detect network card: [E]
Configure network: [E]
Detect CD: [O]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives: [O]
Partition hard drives: [O]
Install base system: [O]
Clock/timezone setup: [O]
User/password setup: [O]
Install tasks: [E]
Install boot loader: [O]
Overall install: [O]
Comments/Problems:
This worked flawlessly except for the non-free NICs, which required
firmware. I didn't have the firmware burned to a CD-R at the time of
the installation, so I had to do that, and then manually attempt to
pick up the leftover pieces after the installation. Specifically:
* I had to know how to extract the firmware debs from the tarball,
build an ISO image of them, burn that image to a CD, and mount it
on the target system.
* I had to know how to install a .deb file from the mounted CD. (And to
identify which file I actually needed. Fortunately the copious number
of "can't find bnx2/... firmware" errors seen throughout the process
were enough for me to figure that out.)
* I had to know how to rmmod and then modprobe the driver module
(although I suppose rebooting might have sufficed there).
* I had to know how to configure /etc/network/interfaces to configure
eth0 in DHCP client mode, and to run "ifup eth0" to make it start
running. (Again, a reboot might work for the latter part.)
* I had to know how to put a package repository into /etc/apt/sources.list
by hand ("man sources.list" has a sample, thank goodness) since there
is no longer a post-installation "apt-setup" command.
On the positive side, the HTTP proxy information I had typed in during
the installation was already saved in /etc/apt/apt.conf so at least
I didn't have to look up *that* bit of syntax.
None of these steps were difficult for me as an experienced Debian admin,
but I could see newbies being completely stumped many times over.
I did not try restarting the installation with the firmware CD available,
so perhaps that would have alleviated the need for in-depth knowledge, at
the cost of having to restart the entire process.
The one change I'd like to see here is that if NIC configuration fails
during installation, then reasonable default settings should be put
into /etc/network/interfaces (commented out). Likewise, if the apt
configuration step fails during installation, the server that was chosen
should still be put into /etc/apt/sources.list (commented out).
This will help admins who are still learning the system.
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Hi,
On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:49:09 -0500, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> This worked flawlessly except for the non-free NICs, which required
> firmware.
Then, I'll close the bug report and thank you for your time testing the
Debian Installer and reporting your results.
In addition to the Miguel Figueiredo's remarks:
> thanks for your report and your usability analysis for the
> installation. Please take a look on the manual, there is a chapter
> about missing firmware [1].
> Does it answers your notes regarding firmware?
>
> 1 - http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/en.amd64/ch06s04.html
Note that there are also daily netinst images that include firmware
packages. They are available here:
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/non-free/cd-including-firmware/
However, as far as I can tell, this is not written in the documentation.
Denis
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