Debian Sparc 7.10.0 Install Problems
I've been trying to get Debian Sparc 7.10.0 installed on a Sun
V215 with an XVR300 graphics card with little success. Wanted
to try 7.10.0, as it seemsto be the last supported Debian for
Sparc. I installed Squeeze onto a V210 with XVR100 a few years
ago and apart from a few config issues, it installed out of the
box and is stable.
7.10.0 is different. To start, the system won't install at all
if a graphics card is in the machine and just hangs during the
boot process. No Linux expert, but fwics, the system switches
from obp -> boot -> kernel and it looks like at the switch
to kernel that the machine hangs with the following:
0.000000] Console: colour dummy device 80x25
0.000000] Console (tty0) enabled, bootconsole disabled
Just not seeing the frame buffer ?
Tried a pci XVR100 and a stock pcie ati 2250 with same results.
Ok, take the graphics card out and run a text install, which works
as expected. Can login, network working etc. Text install allows
login with no issues afaics, but as soon as a graphics card is
fitted, the sytems again hangs. For reference, reinstalled
Squeeze on the same machine with framebuffer fitted, which works
as expected. Are there any command line switches to force
framebuffer use ?. Have looked at the Lilo page and tried:
append "debain-installer/framebuffer=true", as per the Linux Sparc
install docs with no success. Must be missing something
here, or is it just broken and if so, what is the fix ?.
No Linux expert, but the goal is to use Linux or FreeBSD Sparc
for embedded development work. Already have a basic cross gcc
tool chain built and working on Solaris 10 Sparc, but want to
evaluate other OS options as well.
As mentioned, no kernel hacker, but have a few older Sun
machines that could be contributed to the project foc if that
would be any help. Mainly V240 series, but maybe a couple of
others as well. In Oxford, Uk...
Regards,
Chris
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