From bb2ad3a8b8e4a3104879d0010c6375cd32058218 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Frans Pop Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 07:29:48 +0000 Subject: Document the graphical installer, including the main known issues --- en/appendix/graphical.xml | 154 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ en/appendix/random-bits.xml | 1 + 2 files changed, 155 insertions(+) create mode 100644 en/appendix/graphical.xml (limited to 'en/appendix') diff --git a/en/appendix/graphical.xml b/en/appendix/graphical.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6cb605c8f --- /dev/null +++ b/en/appendix/graphical.xml @@ -0,0 +1,154 @@ + + + + + Using the Graphical Installer + + +The graphical version of the installer is only available for a limited +number of architectures, including &arch-title;. The functionality of +the graphical installer is essentially the same as that of the regular +installer as it basically uses the same programs, but with a different +frontend. + + + +Although the functionality is identical, the graphical installer still has +a few significant advantages. The main advantage is that it supports more +languages, namely those that use a character set that cannot be displayed +with the regular newt frontend. It also has a few usability +advantages such as the option to use a mouse, and in some cases several +questions can be displayed on a single screen. + + + +The graphical installer is available with all CD images and with the +hd-media installation method. As the graphical installer uses a separate +(much larger) initrd than the regular installer, it has to be booted using +installgui instead of install. +Analogous, the expert and rescue modes are booted using +expertgui and rescuegui +respectively. + + + +It is also available as a special mini ISO +image + + +The mini ISO image can be downloaded from a Debian mirror as described +in . Look for gtk-miniiso. + + +, which is mainly useful for testing; in this case the image is +booted just using install. There is no graphical +installer image that can be netbooted. + + + +For &arch-title;, currently only an experimental mini ISO +image is available + + +The mini ISO image can be downloaded from a Debian mirror as described +in . Look for gtk-miniiso. + + +. It should work on almost all PowerPC systems that have +an ATI graphical card, but is unlikely to work on other systems. + + + +The graphical installer requires significantly more memory to run than +the regular installer: &minimum-memory-gtk;. If insufficient memory is +available, it will automatically fall back to the regular +newt frontend. + + + +You can add boot parameters when starting the graphical installer, just as +with the regular installer. One of those parameters allows you to configure +the mouse for left-handed use. See for valid +parameters. + + + + + Using the graphical installer + + +As already mentioned, the graphical installer basically works the same as +the regular installer and thus the rest of this manual can be used to guide +you through the installation process. + + + +If you prefer using the keyboard over the mouse, there are two things you +need to know. To expand a collapsed list (used for example for the selection +of countries within continents), you can use the + and +- keys. For questions where more than one item can be +selected (e.g. task selection), you first need to tab to the +Continue button after making your selections; hitting +enter will toggle a selection, not activate Continue. + + + +To switch to another console, you will also need to use the +Ctrl key, just as with the X Window System. For example, +to switch to VT1 you would use: Ctrl +Left Alt F1 . + + + + + + Known issues + + +Etch is the first release that includes the graphical installer and uses +some relatively new technology. There are a few known issues that you may +run into during the installation. We expect to be able to fix these issues +for the next release of &debian;. + + + + + + +Information on some screens is not nicely formatted into columns as it +should be. The most obvious example is the first screen where you select +your language. Another example is the main screen of partman. + + + + +Typing some characters may not work and in some cases the wrong character +may be printed. For example, "composing" a character by typing an accent and +then the letter over/under which the accent should appear does not work. + + + + +Support for touchpads is not yet optimal. + + + + +You should not switch to a different console while the installer is busy; +this may cause the frontend to crash. The frontend will be restarted +automatically, but this may still cause problems with the installation. +Switching to another console while the installer is waiting for input +should work without causing any problems. + + + + +Support for creating encrypted partitions is limited as it is not possible +to generate a random encryption key. It is possible to set up an encrypted +partition using a passphrase as encryption key. + + + + + + diff --git a/en/appendix/random-bits.xml b/en/appendix/random-bits.xml index a3e3be487..e19709b0b 100644 --- a/en/appendix/random-bits.xml +++ b/en/appendix/random-bits.xml @@ -6,5 +6,6 @@ &files.xml; &chroot-install.xml; &plip.xml; +&graphical.xml; -- cgit v1.2.3