X-POP3-Rcpt: mark@lachniet From: RWilliamson@walldata.com To: mark@lachniet.com Subject: Alpha Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 09:56:44 -0800 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2232.9) I appreciate your doc on the Alpha200 install headaches. Believe me, I suffered my share too. I found bits and pieces on other sites, some people got pretty close, but nobody had it all in one place. Here's my step-by-step list of how I installed RedHat 5.2. I borrowed a few chunks from other pages where applicable, but most of this is original. Put it up on your page if you want to. - Rich -------------- Update BIOS -------------------- Download ARC firmware 4.58 from: http://www.compaq.com/support/files/alphant/firmware/as2-400.html Follow readme instructions ,create update disks, and upgrade machine. Get as200_v6_9.exe from: ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/v5.3/alpha200/ rename it to fwupdate.exe Get mkboot.exe from: ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/utilities/ // Use mkboot fwupdate.exe and make a boot disk. copy fwupdate.exe to the floppy insert floppy, from the alpha boot menu, select "install new firmware" then "update roms", "update arc rom" --------------- GET INSTALL FLOPPY IMAGES --------------------- Get RAWRITE3.COM from: http://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/pub/packages/linux/OpenLinux/1.3/col/tools/rawri te/ Get (new) Avanti MILO and LINLOADER from dec (use link from this site: http://www.mindspring.com/~ccsf-lug/AS200.htm). Get a blank dos-format floppy. copy linload_1_5.exe to a: as "linload.exe", copy milo to a: label this disk "MILO" Download Kernel from: ftp://ftp.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/slink/main/disks-alpha/current/avanti/ resc1440.bin Use RAWRITE3 to transfer kernel image (resc1440.bin) to floppy. label this disk "DEBIAN KERNEL" if ftp.redhat.com is busy, go to a mirror site (listed at www.redhat.com/mirrors.html) ftp.ou.edu seems to be fast.... Download ramdisk.img from: ftp://ftp.ou.edu/mirrors/linux/redhat/redhat-5.2/alpha/images/ Use RAWRITE3 to create it. This will be the ramdisk/RedHat "root" disk label this disk "REDHAT ROOT RAMDISK" download the redhat boot disk: ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/linux/redhat/redhat-5.2/alpha/images/avanti.img and use RAWRITE3 to create the disk. label this disk "REDHAT BOOT DISK" ----------------- INSTALL LINUX --------------------- we'll use the ARC console (menu system). We could also use the SRM console (>>> prompt) but I heard it's more of a bitch to use. Boot into the ARC console. (setup menu...) Insert MILO disk. In ARC console choose "Supplementary menu..." then "Set up the system..." then "Manage boot selection menu..." then "Add a boot selection..." then "New system partition" then "Floppy Disk" (you'll change this later to make it boot directly from the HD). Change the following (there's more, but these are the two biggees): OSLOADER=multi(0)disk(0)fdisk(0)\linload.exe OSLOADFILENAME=\milo Make sure OSLOADOPTIONS= has no value assigned to it. Go back two screens (with ) and save changes. Choose your selection (the one you just modified) from the boot menu. You should be on your way! Note 1: After eveything is installed and you want to boot from the hard drive and not the floppy, you'll use OSLOADOPTIONS to add your boot string. See RedHat manual. Now we're booted into the MILO AVANTI shell... You should be at the MILO prompt. Insert the DEBIAN KERNEL disk. At the prompt type: boot floppy:linux "rw root=/dev/fd0 load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=1" Now it says to insert the root floppy for the ramdisk. Insert the REDHAT ROOT RAMDISK floppy and hit enter. The redhat install screen comes up, when it asks for install media, select FTP. select Custom install and Disk Druid. delete existing partitions add a 2mb dos partition (for MILO) (mount point /dos, 2m, dos<32mb) this will end up as "sda 6" add a Linux Native partition of 964mb (mount point /) this will end up as "sda 1" add a Linux swap partition of 32mb this will end up as "sda 5" Let it create these partitions. Next it asks for IP information: addr: (your static ip addr) mask: (your net mask) gateway: (your default gateway) nameserver: (your DNS server) domain name: (your domain name) host name: (your machine name.domain name) secondary nameserver: FTP site name: ftp.ou.edu Red Hat directory: /mirrors/linux/redhat/redhat-5.2/alpha/ now we get prompted for partition format. Hit space to select "/" (sda1). This is all we need to format as /usr, /var, /home, and /usr/local will all reside on this partition. next is "components to install". use arrows to scroll as this is a long list select all items on the list except "extra documentation" and "everything", otherwise it will include the foreign-language versions of a lot of documents which take up a huge amount of disk space... /tmp/install.log will keep details of the install The FTP download may have trouble. Hit retry if prompted. Next it asks for some things. Here are the answers: Generic 3-button Mouse (PS/2) TGA video MultiSync XV17+ <-TGA really likes multisync. I recommend using a multisync monitor with this system.... 2 meg video ram no clock chip steeing (don't select Xprobe) Video modes: select all of them Keep current IP config Time setting: startup thru ARC console, set PST time zone Autostart services: leave this as-is configure printer: no Now it says kernel - insert boot disk Insert the REDHAT BOOT DISK floppy press enter and let it reboot --------------------- BOOT LINUX --------------------------- Since we haven't made our boot partition yet, to bootstrap the system insert the Milo disk and boot it. >From the prompt, type: boot sda1:vmlinux.gz root=/dev/sda1 You'll see a mount error on sda6. ignore this since its the dos partition and we don't want to mount it anyways. login as root, insert MILO disk, and type this in: dd if=/dev/fd0 of=/dev/sda6 bs=1440k DO NOT set the "of" parameter to sda1 as some other docs will tell you, as it will TRASH your linux filesystem and you'll have to start over !!!! This will copy MILO (along with linload.exe) to the small MILO partition you created during installation. then shutdown -h 0 ---- create a boot selection that will look for MILO ------ >From the boot menu, select ``Supplementary menu''. Then `Set up the system', 'Manage boot selections', 'Add a boot selection' Select `New System Partition': SCSI hard disk, bus# 0, SCSI ID# 0, partition# 3 (or whatever's relevant to your system) Enter `\linload.exe' as the osloader directory and name after erasing any default information. Indicate that the operating system is in the same partition as the osloader by entering ``yes''. Enter ``\'' as the operating system root directory after erasing any default information. Give the boot selection a meaningful name. ``Linux'' is a nice name. Indicate that you do not want to initialize the debugger at boot time by entering ``no''. >From the boot selection menu, select `Change a boot selection option''. Pick the boot selection you just created. Using the arrow keys, select ``OSLOADFILENAME'', and enter ``\milo''. Press [Enter]. Using the arrow keys, select ``OSLOADOPTIONS'', and erase any information that may be there. Alternatively, if you would like to have MILO automatically boot your Red Hat Linux/Alpha system, you can enter the boot command that you used to boot Red Hat Linux/Alpha from the MILO floppy. In either case, Press [Enter] when done. ^^^ put in: boot sda1:vmlinux.gz root=/dev/sda2 Press [Esc] to leave the ``Change a boot selection option'' menu. Select ``Setup Menu''. Select ``Supplementary menu, and save changes''. Return to the boot menu. Reboot into the LINUX option ----------------------------------------------------------------------