Debian Potato on PB520 and Linux in general
Hi! I'm a new user trying to feel my way through the installation
process. Specifically I'm trying to install Linux on a Mac Powerbook 520
and have a couple of questions that I am hoping someone can help with (i.e.
please forward to correct people ;-). Let me start by saying I am NOT a
software guy, I am an electronics engineer, but I do have a comprehensive
understanding of how hardware works. I am trying to get a LaTex editor on
my old Powerbook so I can use the portability of the PB as I write a
Masters thesis. In addition to LaTex, I need a way of moving/printing
files from the PB, ideally over the Ethernet port and/or even the floppy
drive. THAT'S THE GOAL!
1) First of all, I am extremely limited on HD space (~250MB) and have
found in the Debian Installation Manuals and Mark Scott's Installation
Instructions that the only way to install Linux on my Mac is to download
the install files (macinstall.tgz and base2_2.tgz) onto my MacOS partition
and run the installer from there. This chews up quit a bit of my hard
drive (~55 MB, with a minimal installation of OS 7.1.1). Is this correct,
in that its the only way to install?
2) What I'd like to do is install Potato from the MacOS partition, go
back and delete the install files, then shrink down the MacOS partition and
increase the Linux root partition. Is there a tool in Potato that will let
me do this without having to reinstall either system? Is this even
possible? Mark Scott's Instructions suggest leaving <10MB for MacOS, but
how is this possible if I must download the install files into my MacOS
partition? Or can I put some files into the Linux root partition prior to
installation? If so, how and which ones? Ideally, if I read everything
right, all I need in the MacOS partition (after installing Potato) is a
minimal system to boot into MacOS and the Penquine booter so I can start
Linux from there, so I'd like to eventually get my MacOS partition down to
as small as possible <10 MB).
3) One solution that was suggested to me was to create a 2nd HFS (Mac)
partition on my hard drive, download the base2_2.tgz and macinstall.tgz
files there, run the installation from there, then repartition that block
for use (some how) in Linux after installation. Well, I hit a couple of
snags. First, the Apple HD SC Setup 7.3.2 (or 7.3.5) will not let me
create a 2nd HFS partition on my HD, so when I reboot into OS 7.1.1 I don't
see any thing but my HD partition. Am I suppose to see the other
partitions in MacOS if they are not HFS, i.e. the A/UX partitions? Second,
if I do get a 2nd HFS partition, I need to save the Penguin booter in my
principle MacOS partition, so can I move the booter into the "small" MacOS
partition with the MacOS and leave the rest of the installation files in
the "to be destroyed" partition?
3) Finally, being new to Linux, what is the difference between the
Kernel and Base install? Does the Base use the Kernel? My understading is
that the Kernel is the core of the OS and the base sits atop the kernel,
i.e. the base is the upward interface of the kernel? I ask because reading
some of the literature on http://mac.linux-m68k.org/ and found out that the
kernel in
the Potato release (2.2.17) does not have support for my built-in ethernet
port on the PB520, which I would really like to use. However, the webpage
does hint that the newer kernels (2.2.23 and 2.4.x) may have the support
that I need to run the Ethernet port and/or floppy drive. Is there
software on the http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11666
page that would let me do this? It says, "If you have a Powerbook, you'll
want to try a 2.4 series kernel to get support for ADB." ADB? Also, I
look out at the http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11666
page and see the various files but have NO IDEA what they are, i.e. which
ones are kernels, what the rest do... Are the System*.map.gz files kernels
and base systems? The extent of my knowledge so far is with the install
files from Debian: linux file = the kernel (2.2.17), root.bin = ramdisk (is
ramdisk just used in installation?), the various base files = base system,
and device.bin = device drivers?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
John
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