Re: cobalt serv RaQ3 debian
On Sun, Nov 02, 2008 at 10:18:52AM +0100, Wojciech Ziniewicz wrote:
> 2008/11/2 Pawel Krzywicki <krzywicki.pawel@googlemail.com>:
> > Hi I have in my possession a few RaQ3 servers I would like to install
> > Debian GNU/Linux there.
> There's al limitation of kernel size for these machines. I was
> struggling to get it working for 3 months in my spare time.
> AFAIK there's no way to install debian on it. The only thing that i
> did not try was debian potato that could be working.
Some years ago I installed debian (more likely woody or perhaps sarge, I
do not rembember) in this way (I hope to remember correctly the steps):
* I updated the rom with a kernel 2.4 rom (Is that rom still available
somewhere? I do not know.)
* then the disk was moved to a "normal" machine, and (without changing
the patition table and the filesysetms, all Cobalt OS files where rm -rf
(after a complete backup) and a "normal" install of debian was copied
(you can also do a install with debootstap). One thing to be aware of is
the placement of the kernel which the ROM wants; you also need a kernel
without initrd and with the suitable kernel patch. Perhaps
archive.debian.org still has the patch for kernel 2.4 and the daemon to
use the lcd (it is essential that in /dev/ the correct device be
present).
* then you can put back the disk on the raq3 and boot using the lcd to
say "boot from the rom". It is also possible to save in the rom this as
default (and also some parameters like root=... to be passed to the
kernel). Or you can try to boot from the disk; some years ago the
documentation for this was available.
This method should work with any debian version which can run on a 2.4
kernel (etch sould work, but not lenny)
--
Chi usa software non libero avvelena anche te. Digli di smettere.
Informatica=arsenico: minime dosi in rari casi patologici, altrimenti letale.
Informatica=bomba: intelligente solo per gli stupidi che ci credono.
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