Subject: RE: Linux on Indy

From: "Ian Chilton" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 23:53:51 +0100

Hello,

OK...got the 2nd hard disk (/dev/dsk/dsk0d2s7) initialised and mounted
(every time at boot) into /hd2 by using System Manager..

Now, do I copy the hardhat tar.gz file to the Indy, and un-tar it into this
directory??
Am I correct?

Then what?

Sorry to be a pain......i'm looking at the hardhat instructions now, and
they are not making much sense  :(

Thanks!

Bye for Now,

Ian

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From: Ken Wills <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 20:30:44 -0500

> (every time at boot) into /hd2 by using System Manager..

OK - Great you found your device names. Now you can (a) play with fx a bit
so you understand how that side of things works, and repartition your disk
in preperation for the installation, or (b) use the linux fdisk to set up
your partitions when the install begins.

> Now, do I copy the hardhat tar.gz file to the Indy, and un-tar it into this

No - you untar the hardhat tarfile to your nfsroot directory on the machine
that will act as your nfs server. Follow the instructions on setting up
bootpd etc. Then boot your indy to a prom and do:

boot bootp():vmlinux ... (rest of installation instructions.)

> Then what?

If you've set up everything correctly, you'll tftp the kernel from your
server, mount your root fs over nfs, and the redhat installer will start.

> they are not making much sense  :(

You should start by setting up bootp/tftp/nfs on the machine that will
serve the installation image to the indy.

Ken
-- 

Ken Wills
[email-masked]

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From: "Ian Chilton" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 03:15:22 +0100

Hello,

> use the linux fdisk to set up your partitions when the install begins.

Oh..drat, so I need to remove that partition again, now I know it works..

> boot bootp():vmlinux ... (rest of installation instructions.)

Right....i'll try tomorrow!

> server, mount your root fs over nfs, and the redhat installer will start.

Is the kernel in the hardhat distro?

> serve the installation image to the indy.

Right...i'll have ago!!  <gulp>

Where do I get bootp/tftp from ?

BTW: is anyone on ICQ/IRC that knows how to do this??

Thanks Again!

Bye for Now,

Ian

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From: "J. Scott Kasten" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 23:33:00 -0300

> Where do I get bootp/tftp from ?

OK, let's step back here just a bit to clarify things.  You'll have two
machines.  The Indy to which you wish to install Linux, and a second
machine such as an x86, or anything really, that is already running Linux,
BSD, or some such thing.

The second machine is only needed for the actuall install, to help the
Indy get up and going.  You'll set up bootp, tftp, and NFS on that second
machine.  It will be the boot server.  Using bootp protocol, the Indy will
"discover" the name of the boot server and the kernel file it needs to
load. The Indy will then use the tftp protocol to download the boot strap
kernel image from the server.  (tftp is similar to ftp, but is dumbed down
so it can be put in ROM code)  After the kernel is started, it's first
instruction is to attempt to mount a temporary root file system.  The big
tarball holds this file system.  Your boot server will export this using
NFS, and the Indy will mount it as if it were a local disk.  It will then
mount the real disk under that and then start exploding the RPMS from the
root image to the real disk.

The bootp and tftp server daemons are included in most Linux and BSD
distros. You'll find the man pages under bootpd and tftpd - appending a
'd' to mean server daemon rather than the client.  The configuration files
will be in /etc.  You can do a man on the configuration file names
themselves to get even more info.  If you're still stuck, don't forget to
check out those NetBSD net install help pages I mentioned earlier as they
explain and give examples of the type of stuff that goes into those files
for both Linux and BSD.

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From: "Ian Chilton" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 17:20:08 +0100

Hello,

> OK, let's step back here just a bit to clarify things.

Thanks for that...it makes this much more clearer!!!

Jumping ahead a bit...when I get hardhat running, can I download the source
for all the updated pacages, like GCC 2.95.2, GLIBC 2.1.3 and make, binutils
etc etc, and compile them from source like you can with Linux on a PC, or
won't that work with this platform?

Thanks Again!

Bye for Now,

Ian

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From: Keith M Wesolowski <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 11:07:22 -0700

> won't that work with this platform?

You cannot use glibc 2.1 on mips. I'm pretty sure gcc 2.95.2 doesn't
work either. EGCS 1.1.2 with patches works mostly ok, as does 2.96
from cvs. Binutils, flip a coin. The 000425 snapshot works fine for me
with a patch you can get from oss.sgi.com or ftp.foobazco.org.
Somebody reported that they had 000524 mostly working as well.

-- 
Keith M Wesolowski			[email-masked]
University of Nevada			http://www.chem.unr.edu
Chemistry Department Systems and Network Administrator

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From: Ralf Baechle <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 04:48:58 +0200

> BTW: is anyone on ICQ/IRC that knows how to do this??

Checkout irc.openprojects.net, #linuxnewbies or #mipslinux.  Despite
of the name plenty of gurus around.

  Ralf

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From: "J. Scott Kasten" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 22:19:39 -0300

> won't that work with this platform?

In general, you should be able to compile and install the majority of
things like normal.  I won't guarantee that you won't find something once
in a while that breaks, but that's normal on a relatively new and untested
platform.