Re: install from CD on an Indy
My ISP gives me some webspace, which I don't routinely use, but I'll put the
iso on a web page in a day or so and post the url.
Bruce
----- Original Message -----
From: "david l goodrich" <dlg@iastate.edu>
To: <debian-mips@lists.debian.org>
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2003 2:55 PM
Subject: Re: install from CD on an Indy
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i'll give it a go. my monitor adapter should be here in a few days and
i can test it then. is there a place i can pull the iso off the web
from instead of email? the mail servers here are really cranky about
large attachments.
--waldo
On Fri, 7 Mar 2003 8:53:54+0000<bmurray@terminus95.freeserve.co.uk>
wrote:
> Chris / subscribers,
>
> I don't have an Indigo2 personally, and have only tested the boot disc
> method on an Indy. If anyone else reading the group has an Indigo2 and
> is prepared to test this on Chris's behalf, I'd be happy to email them
> an iso image for the boot disc.
>
> Also, it may be that Florian Lohoff has already tried this ?
>
> Bruce Murray
>
> >
> > From: Chris Plummer <darwin.plummer@Sun.COM>
> > Date: Fri 07/Mar/2003 01:05 GMT
> > To: bmurray@terminus95.freeserve.co.uk
> > CC: debian-mips@lists.debian.org
> > Subject: Re: install from CD on an Indy
> >
> > I'm noticing that Indigo2's seem to have much better availability
> > then than Indy's and also are quite a bit faster. I can do with the
> > lack of Indigo 2 video support as long as the CD install method
> > described below will still work. It looks like they both use the
> > same tftpboot.img, and I'm guessing the Indigo2's boot code is
> > similar enough to the Indy's that it will boot from the CD the same
> > way. Can someone confirm this?
> >
> > Just in case I have to revert to a net install, do the instructions
> > at http://www.linux-debian.de/howto/debian-mips-woody-install.html
> > apply to the Indigo 2 also? If so, can someone point me to
> > directions on using the serial console. So far the only help I've
> > been able to find is the following in the MIPS-HOWTO.html:
> >
> > Silicon Graphics Indigo2
> >
> > This machine is the successor to the Indigo and is very similar to
> > the Indy. It is now supported, but is lacking in several areas.
> > You will
> > have
> > to use serial console. If you have an Indigo2 and still want to
> > run Linux on it, contact either Florian Lohoff (flo@rfc822.org) or
> > Klaus Naumann (spock@mgnet.de) .
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Chris Plummer
> >
> > bmurray@terminus95.freeserve.co.uk wrote:
> > >
> > > This (i.e. CD only installation) is indeed possible, and I have
> > > done it. But you cannot do it directly with the 6CD set, I think
> > > you also need a homemade "boot CD".
> > >
> > > I made mine as follows...
> > >
> > > I downloaded the tftpboot image to be found at
> > >
> > >
http://honk.physik.uni-konstanz.de/linux-mips/install/r4k-ip22/tftpboot.img
> > >
> > > (the principal significance of this image is that it uses a kernel
> > > with ISO9660 support compiled in, needed to mount the installation
> > > CDs locally rather than accessing them via NFS or ftp over a
> > > network - the 3.0r0 and 3.0r1 distributions do not have this yet,
> > > as far as I know). Then, since I was working on a Win2K platform,
> > > I used Nero to create an .iso image of a CD with this single file
> > > on the disc. Don't burn the disc yet, since this iso image needs
> > > to be modified first.
> > >
> > > The first 512 bytes of the iso image are then patched (I did it
> > > manually with a hex editor) to put a fake SGI disk label on the
> > > eventual boot CD - this is a small data structure which is read by
> > > the Indy PROM firmware, and contains (primarily) a pointer from
> > > filename "sashARCS" to the logical block on the disc where the
> > > tftpboot image file can be found - I derived this using IsoBuster
> > > (adjusting for the fact that the Indy firmware expects to work in
> > > logical blocks of size 512 bytes, whereas CD-ROMs natively number
> > > logical blocks of size 2K bytes). I think Guido Guenther was the
> > > first guy to figure out how to do this, by reverse engineering an
> > > IRIX install disc - there is some C source around on his website
> > > from which you can reverse engineer the SGI disc label format.
> > > There is some checksumming involved in making a disc label, I
> > > wrote a little bit of code to do that bit.
> > >
> > > Having modified the iso image, you then burn the disc. The Indy
> > > will now boot directly from this disc,and run the installer
> > > exactly as if you had done a tftpboot. Start the machine, escape
> > > into the PROM monitor, and select "Install System Software" (my
> > > Indy has a PROM version in which this is implemented in a GUI, but
> > > you also can do it with a "boot" command and appropriate arguments
> > > to specify the boot device.
> > >
> > > The install pretty much runs as normal from then on. You can do
> > > the necessary fdisk-ing with the tools that load into the RAMdisc
> > > created when booting into the installer, but of course when you
> > > get to the kernel installation part of the install process, you
> > > need to insert the real CD#1 from the set bought from your vendor.
> > > When fdisk-ing, you need to make an SGI volume header on your
> > > target bootable HD big enough to take the kernel (at least 5 MB,
> > > 10 would safer), but all this is covered in the HOWTOs etc
> > > available on the web.
> > >
> > > I also found that I head some problems with a TEAC SCSI CD-ROM
> > > drive (model 532S), but a 12X Toshiba one worked perfectly. Some
> > > people will tell you this is to do with the ability of the drive
> > > to support 512 byte logical block sizes, but I am not convinced.
> > > The TEAC had a specific jumper to force the drive into this mode,
> > > but still failed. I believe it is something to do with the SCSI
> > > implementation (maybe even a termination problem, I never found
> > > out) - the SCSI controller on Indys is reputedly very fussy.
> > >
> > > If it helps, I can email you the image iso image for the boot disc
> > > (it is on a different machine to the one I am using currently, so
> > > it will be a few hours yet before I can manage this).
> > >
> > > Bruce Murray
> > >
> > > Southampton UK
> > > >
> > > > From: Chris Plummer <darwin.plummer@Sun.COM>
> > > > Date: Wed 05/Mar/2003 04:34 GMT
> > > > To: debian-mips@lists.debian.org
> > > > Subject: install from CD on an Indy
> > > >
> > > > Is it possible to install Woody on an Indy using the Debian 3.0
> > > > 6 CD set that can be purchased from various venders (assuming
> > > > the presence of an internal or external CD-ROM drive of course).
> > > > I'd rather not go the netboot/netinstall route if possible. I've
> > > > done it for the Qube 2, and found it to be such a major pain
> > > > compared to CD installs I've done on other systems.
> > > >
> > > > If it is possible, please pass along a brief description of what
> > > > needs to be done. Thanks!
> > > >
> > > > Chris Plummer
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
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> > > >
> > > >
> > >
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