Re: Newbie planning vanilla Debian 31r1a-powerpc net install.
On 27. jan 2006, at 8.59, Christian Walther wrote:
If you have specific questions after reading the manual, just ask
them. It'll be easier for all of us to give you an answer when we know
what you're dealing with. :-)
Hi,
Well here is the first batch, all pertaining to the Debian Sarge PPC
netinstall CD:
1) Which option "install-*" do I use to start an install for the
following:
Machine Name: Power Mac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac9,1
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.8 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 600 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.2f2
The options are as clear as mud when installing for a Power Mac G5.
2) Is it possible to autoformat an HD? This is unclear in the section
I have found about partitioning. In my case sda:
ST380817AS:
Capacity: 74.53 GB
Model: ST380817AS
Revision: 3.42
Serial Number: 4MR0G8AM
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk1
Protocol: ata
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Serial-ATA
Bay Name: "A (upper)"
OS9 Drivers: No
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
3) Is yaboot installed and configured automatically or is this
something that has to be done manually. This is unclear.
4) No info about how to bail from the install - at least not at boot.
What key combo works?
5) Will my graphics card and monitor be detected correctly or do I
have to pass some sort of arguments to make sure it works? Here is my
graphics display system:
GeForce FX 5200:
Chipset Model: GeForce FX 5200
Type: Display
Bus: AGP
Slot: AGP
VRAM (Total): 64 MB
Vendor: nVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0321
Revision ID: 0x00b1
ROM Revision: 2060
Displays:
SyncMaster:
Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 75 Hz (refresh rate 75 H)
(canning frequency of 30-81kHz horizontal and 56-75Hz vertical)
Depth: 16-bit Color
Core Image: Supported
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
In general, my judgment of the installation guide is that it is very
thorough in most areas, provides a lot of technical data such as
arguments, etc. but not very user friendly for an average computer
user or Linux newbie. No flames please. I am just telling it like I
see it. You shouldn't have to be a guru to get a plain vanilla Debian
system installed and running. It would be beneficial to have a
beginners guide of some sort for installation and save more of the
technical info for those people that want to dig around in the
installation more. I realize that this info can be useful if you
don't succeed the first time in getting a working system up and
running, but there are more user friendly ways of doing this. Take a
look at the Unofficial Ubuntu 5.04 Starter Guide (PowerPC) for an
example of what I am talking about. Just saying read the manual is
with respect not the best way to introduce a new user to Debian, when
there is this lack of user friendliness for the desktop/casual Linux
or other OS user.
Anyway, I would appreciate any help on the above issues that I have
numbered.
Cheers,
Brian
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