Installation-Guide:

Document the u-boot images provided together with the installer
since d-i Jessie RC2, and describe how to use the pre-built 
installer SD card images for armhf that are available starting
with d-i Jessie RC3.

5 files changed, 99 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/build/entities/tftp-images.ent b/build/entities/tftp-images.ent
index 7293e268f..11754a856 100644
--- a/build/entities/tftp-images.ent
+++ b/build/entities/tftp-images.ent
@@ -60,6 +60,17 @@
 <ulink url="&downloadable-file;images/hd-media/">.../images/hd-media/</ulink>
   '>
 
+  <!ENTITY armmp-uboot-img '
+<ulink url="&downloadable-file;images/u-boot/">.../images/u-boot/</ulink>
+  '>
+
+  <!ENTITY armmp-netboot-sd-img '
+<ulink url="&downloadable-file;images/netboot/SD-card-images/">.../images/netboot/SD-card-images/</ulink>
+  '>
+
+  <!ENTITY armmp-hd-media-sd-img '
+<ulink url="&downloadable-file;images/hd-media/SD-card-images/">.../images/hd-media/SD-card-images/</ulink>
+  '>
 
 <!--  -->
 <!--  tftp disk images: proper -->
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 7f52d8c67..fe4db9fb7 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -3,6 +3,14 @@ installation-guide (20150324) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   [ Stéphane Blondon ]
   * Improve html table aspect.
 
+  [ Karsten Merker ]
+  * Add a "Debian-provided u-boot (system firmware) images" subsection
+    in the "Pre-Installation Hardware and Operating System Setup" section
+    and add a link to the u-boot images in the "Downloading Files from
+    Debian Mirrors" section.
+  * Add a "Using pre-built SD-card images with the installer" subsection
+    in the "Booting the Installer on ARM" section.
+
  -- Samuel Thibault <sthibault@debian.org>  Sat, 28 Mar 2015 10:10:34 +0100
 
 installation-guide (20150323) unstable; urgency=medium
diff --git a/en/boot-installer/arm.xml b/en/boot-installer/arm.xml
index ca9bb5d4c..095638a47 100644
--- a/en/boot-installer/arm.xml
+++ b/en/boot-installer/arm.xml
@@ -186,6 +186,58 @@ bootz ${kernel_addr_r} ${ramdisk_addr_r}:${filesize} ${fdt_addr_r}
       <quote>run bootcmd_usb0</quote> command.
     </para>
   </sect2>     
+
+  <sect2 arch="armhf" id="boot-installer-sd-image">
+    <title>Using pre-built SD-card images with the installer</title>
+    <para>
+      For a number of systems, Debian provides SD card images that contain
+      both u-boot and the &d-i;.  These images are provided in two variants
+      - one for downloading the software packages over the network
+      (available at &armmp-netboot-sd-img;) and one for offline
+      installations using a Debian CD/DVD (available at
+      &armmp-hd-media-sd-img;).  To save space and network bandwidth, the
+      images consist of two parts - a system-dependent part named
+      <quote>firmware.&lt;system-type&gt;.img.gz</quote>, and a
+      system-independent part named <quote>partition.img.gz</quote>.
+    </para>
+    <para>
+      To create a complete image from the two parts on Linux systems, you
+      can use zcat as follows:
+      
+      <informalexample><screen>zcat firmware.&lt;system-type&gt;.img.gz partition.img.gz > complete_image.img</screen></informalexample>
+            
+      On Windows systems, you have to first decompress the two parts
+      separately, which can be done e.g.  by using 7-Zip, and then
+      concatenate the decompressed parts together by running the command
+      
+      <informalexample><screen>copy /b firmware.&lt;system-type&gt;.img + partition.img complete_image.img</screen></informalexample>
+          
+      in a Windows CMD.exe window.
+    </para>
+    <para>
+      Write the resulting image onto an SD card, e.g. by running the
+      following command on a Linux system:
+      
+      <informalexample><screen>cat complete_image.img > /dev/SD_CARD_DEVICE</screen></informalexample>
+
+      After plugging the SD card into the target system and powering the
+      system up, the installer is loaded from the SD card.  If you use the
+      hd-media variant for offline installations, you must provide the
+      installer with access to the first &debian; CD/DVD on a separate
+      medium, which can e.g. be a CD/DVD ISO image on a USB stick.
+    </para>
+    <para>
+      When you come to the partitioning step in the installer (see <xref
+      linkend="di-partition"/>), you can delete or replace any previous
+      partitions on the card.  Once the installer is started, it runs
+      completely in the system's main memory and does not need to access the
+      SD card anymore, so you can use the full card for installing &debian;. 
+      The easiest way to create a proper partition layout on the SD card is
+      to let the installer automatically create one for you (see
+      <xref linkend="partman-auto"/>).
+    </para>
+  </sect2>
+  
     
 <!-- # None of the arm systems supported in Jessie is able to boot from
      # CD/DVD -> commenting out the "Booting from CD-ROM section" for arm
diff --git a/en/install-methods/download/arm.xml b/en/install-methods/download/arm.xml
index 3f26b12b0..5aad4960b 100644
--- a/en/install-methods/download/arm.xml
+++ b/en/install-methods/download/arm.xml
@@ -104,4 +104,8 @@ for creating a bootable USB stick with the installer can be obtained from
 &armmp-hd-media-tarball;.
 
 </para>
+<para>
+U-boot images for various armhf platforms are available at
+&armmp-uboot-img;.
+</para>
    </sect3>
diff --git a/en/preparing/bios-setup/arm.xml b/en/preparing/bios-setup/arm.xml
index 531271c97..f1bb5006c 100644
--- a/en/preparing/bios-setup/arm.xml
+++ b/en/preparing/bios-setup/arm.xml
@@ -28,6 +28,30 @@
     </para>
   </sect2>
 
+  <sect2 arch="armhf" id="armhf-uboot-images">
+    <title>Debian-provided u-boot (system firmware) images</title>
+    <para>
+      Debian provides u-boot images for various armhf systems that can load
+      their u-boot from an SD card at &armmp-uboot-img;.  The u-boot builds
+      are offered in two formats: raw u-boot components and a ready-made
+      card image that can easily be written onto an SD card.  The raw u-boot
+      components are provided for advanced users; the generally recommended
+      way is to use one of the ready-made SD card images.  They are named
+      &lt;system-type&gt;.sdcard.img.gz and can be written to a card e.g. 
+      with
+
+      <informalexample><screen>zcat &lt;system-type&gt;.sdcard.img.gz > /dev/SD_CARD_DEVICE</screen></informalexample>
+      
+      As with all images, please be aware that writing the image to an SD
+      card wipes all previous contents of the card!
+    </para>
+    <para>
+      If Debian provides a u-boot image for your system, it is recommended
+      that you use this image instead of the vendor-provided u-boot, as the
+      version in Debian is usually newer and has more features.
+    </para>
+  </sect2>
+
   <sect2 arch="arm" id="uboot-macsetting">
     <title>Setting the ethernet MAC address in u-boot</title>
     <para>