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Install LINUX on Alphas Last modified:
111/3/9
How to install RedHat on AXP
Directions to install RedHat 4.0 Linux ALPHA
The same instructions should apply for the UDB, PC64 (aka Cabriolet), PC164 and EB164 motherboard, just the milo and the image files are different.
Instructions on how to a system from scratch, starting with
* Red Hat 4.0 Linux ALPHA CD-ROM
* 3 blank floppies
*
o linload.exe & "milo" <DOS format>
o pc164.img <BOOT>
o ramdisk.img <ROOT>
* PC running MS-DOS (or something that will allow you to make these diskettes, like another Linux or Unix machine)
Create linload.exe & milo DOS floppy:
* Insert the Red Hat CD into a DOS based PC system and access the CD. You will find the file linload.exe in the subdir \milo\arc, find linload.exe, copy it onto your DOS floppy.
* On same floppy as linload.exe, install milo, here's how:
For the UDB go to milo\images\udb\, copy milo onto your floppy. For the other boards go to the matching subdir.
Create the boot floppy
* You should copy rawrite.exe to your DOS disk for further use. You can find it in \dosutils on your Red Hat CD. Copy it into a directory on your PC where DOS can find it, ie: c:\dos. Once rawrite is there than you can do a rawrite from your Red Hat CD onto your installed floppy.
* On the Red Hat CD find \images\pc164.img, and change dir to it. Then type in the following:
rawrite -f pc164.img -d a: -n
There should be no response errors. FYI, a PC will be unable to read this floppy image now.
Pull out the floppy, mark it "pc164.img", this is now your BOOT floppy.
Do this for your system type, ie. use cabrio.img for a PC64 board.
* Create the ramdisk image floppy as follows: Install a new floppy into your drive. Again on the Red Hat CD find \images\ramdisk.img, then rawrite -f ramdisk.img -d a: -n
There should be no response errors. Pull out the floppy, mark it RAMDISK.IMG, this is now your ROOT floppy.
We are now ready to load Red Hat Linux onto your ALPHA system.
Booting the first time
* Turn on the power to the system. It will think for a while (perhaps 30 seconds) before displaying anything on the screen -- don't let that throw you.
* Ultimately you'll see a blue screen, a couple of "Initializing" messages, and probably an odd-colored screen that says "Warning: the firmware has found a problem". You can ignore these.
When you see the boot menu, and the countdown timer, press down arrow to stop it from remote booting.
It's also possible that you'll see "Error: Device error, press any key to continue" -- especially if you have a factory-fresh ALPHA. Press some key, then press the "down arrow" key immediately, as you'll probably be at the boot menu.
* You're now at the Boot menu. Select "Supplementary menu", then "Display hardware configuration." Note the amount of physical memory, *as* *displayed*! The SIMMs in the ALPHA have lots and lots of chips, and might fool you into believing you have more memory than you really do.
* Now zip through the "Press any key to continue" displays, and note the many interesting things that the ARC console can tell you about your system :-)
* Back at the "Supplementary menu," select "Set up the system...", then "Manage boot selection menu...", then "Delete a boot selection...". Delete any and all existing boot selections!
* Now, from the "Boot selections menu," select "Add a boot selection..."
* At "Select a system partition for this boot selection," select "Floppy disk 0".
* At "Enter the osloader directory and name:...", delete the existing text and enter "linload.exe"
* To "Is the operating system in the same partition as the osloader," select "Yes"
* At "Enter the operating system root directory," delete all characters from the default response, and enter "milo".
* At "Enter a name for this boot selection," delete the existing answer and type something like "floppy milo"
* To "Do you want to initialize the debugger at boot time," select "no"
* Back at the boot selection menu, select "Change a boot selection", and then select "floppy milo" (which should be the only selection at this point), and press ENTER.
* Press ESCape to exit from this menu.
* DownArrow to "Supplementary menu, and save changes...", then press ENTER.
* Now it gets exciting! Put the milo floppy in the floppy drive, and select "Boot menu", then "Boot floppy milo". If all goes well, you'll see some load messages, and the floppy will chug for a while, then you'll see the "MILO>" prompt.
* Insert the BOOT floppy, and type
boot fd0:vmlinux.gz root=/dev/fd0 load_ramdisk=1
* You'll see some "scsi:" messages go by, and quite possibly a "machine check" message or two -- you can ignore all of those. Then you should see a series of hash marks ("###"), and a bunch more messages, until you see
"VFS: Insert ROOT floppy to be loaded into ramdisk and press ENTER"
At this time, remove the boot floppy and insert the ramdisk floppy, and press ENTER.
* To "What type of source installation media do you want to use," type "1" (for CD-Rom installation), then press ENTER.
* A few more messages will appear.
When it asks you to insert your boot floppy, remove the ramdisk floppy, insert the boot floppy, and press ENTER.
* When it asks "Do you need to partition your disks," select "yes" by pressing ENTER.
* A screen titled "Disk Partitions" is displayed. Press ENTER.
* Some error messages will appear. Ignore them. A screen titled "Disk Partitioning" is displayed. Ensure that the "fdisk" entry is highlighted, and press ENTER.
If you get into fdisk, you can skip the next part "If you can't get into fdisk....".
If you can't get into fdisk as described above...
At this point the system get a little system installed and next step is to prepare the hard disk. You need to partition the hard drive now. The screen will come up to ask you if you want to do it but, will not respond.
* Therefore, highlight "done" and move to installation screen. At installation screen highlight "shell", Alt F2, this will take you to a #.
* From here you want to type in "cd /usr/bin ".
* Type "mke2fs /dev/sda"
* type "fdisk"
* type "x" takes you to an expert screen
* enter in the cylinders, sectors and heads of your hard disk, i.e.:
*
c=cylinders 2112
h=heads 16
s=sectors 63
should show 2128896 blocks, done by 2112x16x63=2128896
If you Don´t know your disk geometry ...
* in fdisk type "b" (for BSD label)
* write down the numbers for tracks-cylinder
* write down the numberr for sector track
* write down the numbers for sylinder
* The numbers of Tracks-cylinders take for head in the above section
The numbers of Sectors take as Sector in the above section
The numbers of cylinder take as Cylinders in the above section.
* type "r" to return to menu, also saves parameters
* Partition disk as follows: (for use with LINUX only)
*
A = "milo & linload"
B = "/" for root, about 600MB
C = "/home" for user data
D = "swap" needed for swap space,
usual rule is 2x memory size,
ie: 32mb x 2 = 64mb swap
* Type "t" to change partition "A" to 4. This changed system type of partition 1 to 4 (DOS 16-bit <32M)
* Type "t" to change partition "C" to swap, enter "82 " for Linux swap type.
* Type "p" to verify that the partitions have been entered properly.
* Type "w" to write table to disk.
* At # hit Alt F1 to get back to Linux install program
* The menu will walk you through setup and format the partitions as follows: ie: /dev/sda4 = swap; /dev/sda2 = /; /dev/sda3 = /home
Partition disk as follows: (for use with LINUX and Windows NT)
*
A = "Windows NT" first partition must be FAT(abaout 5 MB) second can be NTFS (take 500MB )
B = Linux partition should be generated as extended Partition
* B1 = "/" for root, about 600MB
B2 = "/home" for user data
B3 = "swap" needed for swap space,
usual rule is 2x memory size,
ie: 32mb x 2 = 64mb swap.
If FDISK works from Red Hat installation
* When it asks "Which disk do you want to partition," and highlights "/dev/sda", press ENTER.
* (You'll see a couple of "kernel: unaligned trap" messages now, and through the next couple of steps. you can ignore them.) Delete any existing disk partitions, as follows (ignore warnings and error messages in this step):
*
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-4): 4
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-4): 3
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-4): 2
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-4): 1
* Now create the desired partitions, please note every drive is different. THIS IS ONLY AN EXAMPLE:
*
Command (m for help): n
Command action /e extended /p primary partition:
p (milo&linload)
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-324): 1
Last cylinder or +size ...: +1440K (This must be followed)
Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1-4): 1
Hex code (type L to list codes): 4
Changed system type of partition 1 to 4 (DOS 16-bit <32M)
Command (m for help): n
Command action /e extended /p primary partition:
p (the / partition)
Partition number (1-4): 2
First cylinder (xxx-1008): xxx (the first avaible cylinder)
Last cylinder or +size ...: +600M
Command (m for help): n
Command action /e extended /p primary partition:
p (the /home partition)
Partition number (1-4): 3
First cylinder (xxx-1008): xxx (the first avaible cylinder)
Last cylinder or +size ...: 950(** make this a big as possible **)
(** remember about swap, though **)
Command (m for help): n
Command action /e extended /p primary partition:
p (/swap)
Partition number (1-4): 4
First cylinder (xxx-1008): xxx (the first avaible cylinder)
Last cylinder or +size ...: 1008 (** I try to make it twice memory size
**)
(** however, some make it same as mem size**)
Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1-4): 4
Hex code (type L to list codes): 82
Changed system type of partition 2 to 82 (Linux swap)
Command (m for help): w
* After a few initimidating messages which you can ignore, you'll see "Hit enter to continue" -- press ENTER.
* Back at the "Disk partitioning" screen, downArrow to "done", then press ENTER.
Dual-Boot systems with Windows NT
* For Dual Boot there is a little different partition table nessasery:
*
Command (m for help): n
Command action /e extended /p primary partition:
p Windows NT
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-324): 1
Last cylinder or +size ...: +500M ( The space for Windows NT you want)
Command (m for help): n
Command action /e extended /p primary partition:
e (the Linux Part of the harddisk)
Partition number (1-4): 3 (it must be Number 3 )
First cylinder (xxx-1008): xxx (the first avaible cylinder)
Command (m for help): n
Command action /l logical /p primary partition:
l (the / partition)
Partition number (5-8): 5
First cylinder (xxx-1008): xxx (the first avaible cylinder)
Last cylinder or +size ...: +650M (** make this a big as possible **)
(** remember about swap, though **)
Command (m for help): n
Command action /l logical /p primary partition:
l (the /home partition)
Partition number (5-8): 6
First cylinder (xxx-1008): xxx (the first avaible cylinder)
Last cylinder or +size ...: +1024M will be /home (** make this a big as possible **)
(** remember about swap, though **)
Command (m for help): n
Command action /l Logical /p primary partition:
l (/swap)
Partition number (6-8): 7
First cylinder (xxx-1008): xxx (the first avaible cylinder)
Last cylinder or +size ...: 1008 (** I try to make it twice memory size
**)
(** however, some make it same as mem size**)
Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1-8): 7
Hex code (type L to list codes): 82
Changed system type of partition 2 to 82 (Linux swap)
before writing back delete partition 1
Command (m for help):d
Partition number (1-7): 1
Command (m for help): w
NOTE: After installing Linux you must go in the ARC menu to "run a programm"
Type in "CD:\alpha\arcinst.exe" and create there the partition. The first partition take 5 MB. You can
create the second partition here also but you also can do it from the NT-installation programm.
After you have installed Windows NT you make a directory in Wiodows NT C:\LINUX and copy your
Milo and Linload to this directory using the Filemanager from Windows NT.
Now we continue the installation...
* At the next screen, downArrow to "Continue", then press ENTER.
* At the "Add swap" screen, press ENTER to select "Yes".
* After a brief pause, you'll see the "Format Swap" screen, which will say "This may take a minute" -- wait patiently.
* At the "Net Config" screen, press ENTER to select "Yes".
* At the "Filesystems" screen, press spacebar to select /dev/sda2, and perhaps /dev/sda3 (your /home) if you want to format it.
If you have data on /home you must NOT format this partition!
If you are finished press ENTER.
* Now comes the package selection. Press upArrow or downArrow to get to a package name, and then press spacebar to select the package. (If you accidentally select the wrong package, press spacebar again to de-select it.) Select the following (or all) packages: ( * RH 4.0 now requires 400mb * ) If you have enough space on your /-partition select the last menu entry "EVERYTHING" and all the packages are installed.
*
here a sample witch packages should minimum be installed.
ie:
Shells
Communications
Printing
Networking
Network Admin
Networking Servers
Development Libraries
Games
Development
Mail
Sound
When your chioce is selected, press ENTER.
* The installation procedure will now format the SCSI disk and install the packages that you've selected. This will take about an hour, so go do something else while it finishes. Also if the screen goes black which it will, hit CTRL or ALT to bring it back.
* Ultimately, you'll get to a screeen that says "Package Installation is complete." Press ENTER.
* At some point you'll be asked about graphics adapter. If your using TGA than select the ATI Mach card it will ask you less questions. Don't probe for clocks and such, just get through the install.
If you have another card, select it. You can later always run xf86config to setup your graphics card.
* The kernel image from the boot floppy will now be copied to your system, and then a screen asking "Which type of mouse do you have?" DownArrow to the option "ps2-bus : C&T 82C710 or PS/2 sytle (aux port)" and press ENTER.
* Now comes "Networking has already been configured (probably for an NFS install). Do you wish to use this configuration..." Unless you have some good reason not to, press ENTER.
* Important! If you are not connected to a network yet, you should not set a nameserver or gateway now. You can do it later in X with netcfg. If you have configured a gateway and it is unreachable at boot time, you have VERY long delays while booting (about 10 minutes).
* Now comes "Select the devide (serial port) to which your modem is connected." The basic system has no modem, so press ENTER to select " : No Modem".
* "Is your system clock set to local time or GMT?" Press ENTER to select "ARC Time".
* "Pick a time zone." DownArrow to your timezone, and press ENTER.
* "Select a keymap." DownArrow to the correct selection ("us.map" for the U.S.), and press ENTER.
* "Do you want to create a user account?" Press ENTER to select "yes."
* "Enter a name for the user account..." -- type "guest" (all lowercase!) and press ENTER.
* "If your home directories ... Do you want to create a home directory for guest?" -- press ENTER to select "yes."
* "Do you want to create another user account?" -- RightArrow to select "No" and press ENTER.
* "You will now enter a password for the root user (super-user). If you forget this password, you must re-install the system!" -- Press ENTER.
* Now, in the black area at the bottom of the screen, you will see
*
Changing password for root
New password (? for help):
Type "rootroot" (all lowercase, it won't echo), and press ENTER.
New password (again):
Again, type "rootroot" and press RETURN.
You cannot use simple passwords on RedHat 4.0, because the system will not accept it.
* The system will display a screen that says "Your installation is finished... Shutdown now?" Press ENTER.
* Now you will see a message that says "When you hit enter your computer will be rebooted. Be sure to remove the boot floppy from your floppy drive!" Press ENTER.
* Remove the boot floppy, and insert the milo floppy.
* Turn the power off, and then on again. (The UDB has no reboot switch.) On other machines press the RESET switch.
* Press ENTER to select "Boot floppy milo".
* Ultimately the screen will go dark and you'll see a couple of milo messages, culminating in the "MILO>" prompt. Type "boot sda2:vmlinux.gz" and press ENTER. The system will now take a couple of minutes to boot...
* You should now see the messages
*
Red Hat Linux release 4.0 (Colgate)
Kernel 2.0.xx on a alpha
login:
Login as root (password "rootroot").
* Change the guest password:
*
o Enter the command "passwd guest" and press ENTER.
o Now, when it says "New password (? for help):", type "guest" (it won't echo) and press ENTER. To "New password (again):", again type "guest" and press ENTER.
* With the milo & linload.exe floppy installed enter the following command (neatness counts a whole lot on this step, so be careful!)
*
dd if=/dev/fd0 of=/dev/sda1 bs=10240
Should look like this:
[root@quant-x /root]# dd if=/dev/fd0 of=/dev/sda1 bs=10240
144+0 records in
144+0 records out
[root@quant-x /root]#
On Multi boot machines: use the Windows NT Filemanager to copy the Linload.exe
and MILO to the directory C:\LINUX.
* Shutdown the system with the command "shutdown -h now".
* When you get to the message "The system is halted, INIT: No more processes left in runlevel 0," turn off the power, remove the milo floppy, and turn the power back on or press the RESET button.
* When you get back to the blue screen, you will see a couple of "Initializing ..." messages, and then a screen that says "Something is inconsistent." Finally, you will get to the boot menu. DownArrow to "Supplementary menu...", and press ENTER.
* DownArrow to "Set up the system..." and press ENTER.
* DownArrow to "Manage boot selection menu..." and press ENTER.
* "Add a boot selection..." should be highlighted now. Press ENTER.
* "SCSI Bus 0 Hard Disk 0 Partition 1" should be highlighed now. (If it isn't, downArrow to it. If it's not even there, downArrow to "New system partition" and select it from there.) Press ENTER.
* On Multi boot machines: take partition number 5 (the first partition in the extended partition)
* "Enter the osloader directory and name:" -- BACKSPACE over the existing text and enter "linload.exe", the press ENTER.
* On Multi boot machines: "Enter the osloader directory and name:" -- BACKSPACE over the existing text and enter "\LINUX\linload.exe", the press ENTER.
* "Is the operating system in the same partition as the osloader:" -- press ENTER to select "Yes."
* "Enter the operating system root directory: -- BACKSPACE over the existing text and enter "milo".
* On Multi boot machines: "Enter the operating system root directory:" -- BACKSPACE over the existing text and enter "\LINUX\Milo",
* "Enter a name for this boot selection:" -- BACKSPACE over the existing text, enter "LINUX" or anything else, and press ENTER.
* "Do you want to initialize the debugger at boot time:" -- press ENTER to select "no."
* ESC back one screen.
* DownArrow to "Change a boot selection..."
* Press ENTER to select "LINUX".
* DownArrow to select OSLOADOPTIONS, and press ENTER.
* BACKSPACE over the existing text "debugger" and type, as above, enter "boot sda2:vmlinux.gz root=/dev/sda2". Then press ENTER.
* On Multi boot machines: enter "boot sda5:vmlinux.gz root=/dev/sda5". Then press ENTER.
* On Multi boot machines:
* Press ESC (the "ESCAPE" key) to get back to the "Boot selections menu.
* DownArrow to "Setup menu...", and press ENTER.
* DownArrow to "Setup autoboot...", and press ENTER.
* "Should the system autoboot?" -- press ENTER to select "Yes."
* "Enter Countdown value (in seconds): 10" -- BACKSPACE over "10" and type "4" or another nice value, then press ENTER.
* DownArrow to "Supplementary menu, and save changes...", and press ENTER.
* RESET system and it should now default to "LINUX" and boot up when count down time is reached.
Configuring the X server (except TGA)
As root, simply enter: xf86config and following the instructions.
Configuring the X TGA server
Preperation:
Delete the old Xserver(selected during the redhat install)
This is located in the dir: /usr/X11R6/bin/ usually called either XF86_S3
or XF86_MACH64
obtain the latest Xserver and README/Config file from either:
ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/Linux-Alpha/X11
or
on the Red Hat CD \X
The files are:
axpbin-Xtga-BETA-0.2.gz ;Xserver
axpbin-Xtga-BETA-0.2.README ;README/Config
>From the CD do the following:
root]# cd /
root]# mount /dev/scd0 mnt
root]# cd mnt
root]# ls (should see the CD Rom)
gunzip the Xserver
copy/rename it to the dir: /usr/X11R6/bin/ renamed to XF86_TGA
chmod 4711 XF86_TGA
copy/rename the README to: /etc/X11 renamed to XF86Config
edit it with vi comment out all the instructions in the beginning with #
(This is at the top with notes from Jay Estabrook. You have to comment )
(out the notes or the X server will not start properly)
from the root issue:
ln -sf /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_TGA /etc/X11/X
this relinks the server to X windows
type startx
Additonal Notes
1. You should edit /etc/hosts to remove your own network address from the system if you will be shipping the system to someone else. (Just change the address from whatever you used originally to "127.0.0.1".)
2. You should create the file /etc/nsswitch.conf with at least this line:
3.
passwd: files
group: files
hosts: files dns
networks: files
We are finished! Happy linuxing!
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