From 4a4e15797e825d72ed9bec1dd8f331634da534c3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Frans Pop Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2006 02:03:44 +0000 Subject: - Clean out ancient hardware issues - Update Sparc specific information; many thanks to Jurij Smakov for his review of the Sparc manual --- en/boot-installer/sparc.xml | 20 ++++--- en/hardware/supported-peripherals.xml | 2 +- en/install-methods/install-tftp.xml | 7 +++ en/preparing/pre-install-bios-setup.xml | 100 +++----------------------------- 4 files changed, 27 insertions(+), 102 deletions(-) (limited to 'en') diff --git a/en/boot-installer/sparc.xml b/en/boot-installer/sparc.xml index 22295dac4..5ab4ea5d8 100644 --- a/en/boot-installer/sparc.xml +++ b/en/boot-installer/sparc.xml @@ -13,9 +13,7 @@ machine which is being installed (see Use the command boot net to boot from a TFTP and RARP server, or try boot net:bootp or boot net:dhcp to boot from a TFTP and BOOTP -or DHCP server. Some older OpenBoot revisions require using -the device name, such as boot le(); these -probably don't support BOOTP nor DHCP. +or DHCP server. @@ -29,10 +27,7 @@ probably don't support BOOTP nor DHCP. Most OpenBoot versions support the boot cdrom command which is simply an alias to boot from the SCSI device on ID 6 -(or the secondary master for IDE based systems). You may have to use -the actual device name for older OpenBoot versions that don't support -this special command. Note that some problems have been reported on Sun4m -(e.g., Sparc 10s and Sparc 20s) systems booting from CD-ROM. +(or the secondary master for IDE based systems). @@ -42,6 +37,15 @@ this special command. Note that some problems have been reported on Sun4m Booting from Floppies +Floppy images are currently only avaible for sparc32, but, for techinical +reasons, not for official releases. (The reason is that they can only be +built as root, which is not supported by our build deamons.) +Look under daily built images on +Debian Installer project website for links +to floppy images for sparc32. + + + To boot from floppy on a Sparc, use @@ -51,8 +55,6 @@ Stop-A -> OpenBoot: "boot floppy" Be warned that the newer Sun4u (ultra) architecture does not support floppy booting. A typical error message is Bad magic number in disk label - Can't open disk label package. -Furthermore, a number of Sun4c models (such as the IPX) do not support -the compressed images found on the disks, so also are not supported. diff --git a/en/hardware/supported-peripherals.xml b/en/hardware/supported-peripherals.xml index edb8f69d3..88681b3c0 100644 --- a/en/hardware/supported-peripherals.xml +++ b/en/hardware/supported-peripherals.xml @@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ devices are not required while installing the system. USB hardware generally works fine, only some USB keyboards may require additional configuration -(see ). +(see ). diff --git a/en/install-methods/install-tftp.xml b/en/install-methods/install-tftp.xml index 6376874e4..5cd1606d3 100644 --- a/en/install-methods/install-tftp.xml +++ b/en/install-methods/install-tftp.xml @@ -296,6 +296,13 @@ uppercase and if necessary append the subarchitecture name. +If you've done all this correctly, giving the command boot +net from the OpenPROM should load the image. If the image +cannot be found, try checking the logs on your tftp server to see which +image name is being requested. + + + You can also force some sparc systems to look for a specific file name by adding it to the end of the OpenPROM boot command, such as boot net my-sparc.image. This must still reside diff --git a/en/preparing/pre-install-bios-setup.xml b/en/preparing/pre-install-bios-setup.xml index 025220a96..2e80da6b1 100644 --- a/en/preparing/pre-install-bios-setup.xml +++ b/en/preparing/pre-install-bios-setup.xml @@ -21,28 +21,10 @@ hardware; it is most critically invoked during the bootstrap process &bios-setup-sparc.xml; &bios-setup-s390.xml; - Hardware Issues to Watch Out For - + + Hardware Issues to Watch Out For -Many people have tried operating their 90 MHz CPU at 100 MHz, etc. It -sometimes works, but is sensitive to temperature and other factors and -can actually damage your system. One of the authors of this document -over-clocked his own system for a year, and then the system started -aborting the gcc program with an unexpected signal -while it was compiling the operating system kernel. Turning the CPU -speed back down to its rated value solved the problem. - - - -The gcc compiler is often the first thing to die -from bad memory modules (or other hardware problems that change data -unpredictably) because it builds huge data structures that it -traverses repeatedly. An error in these data structures will cause it -to execute an illegal instruction or access a non-existent -address. The symptom of this will be gcc dying from -an unexpected signal. - - + Atari TT RAM boards are notorious for RAM problems under Linux; if you encounter any strange problems, try running at least the kernel in @@ -54,66 +36,9 @@ FIXME: more description of this needed. - - -If you do have true-parity RAM and your motherboard can handle it, be -sure to enable any BIOS settings that cause the motherboard to -interrupt on memory parity errors. - - - - The Turbo Switch - - -Many systems have a turbo switch that controls -the speed of the CPU. Select the high-speed setting. If your BIOS -allows you to disable software control of the turbo switch (or -software control of CPU speed), do so and lock the system in -high-speed mode. We have one report that on a particular system, while -Linux is auto-probing (looking for hardware devices) it can -accidentally touch the software control for the turbo switch. - - - - Cyrix CPUs and Floppy Disk Errors - -Many users of Cyrix CPUs have had to disable the cache in their -systems during installation, because the floppy disk has errors if -they do not. If you have to do this, be sure to re-enable your cache -when you are finished with installation, as the system runs -much slower with the cache disabled. - - - -We don't think this is necessarily the fault of the Cyrix CPU. It may -be something that Linux can work around. We'll continue to look into -the problem. For the technically curious, we suspect a problem with -the cache being invalid after a switch from 16-bit to 32-bit code. - - - - - Peripheral Hardware Settings - - -You may have to change some settings or jumpers on your computer's -peripheral cards. Some cards have setup menus, while others rely on -jumpers. This document cannot hope to provide complete information on -every hardware device; what it hopes to provide is useful tips. - - - -If any cards provide mapped memory, the memory should be -mapped somewhere between 0xA0000 and 0xFFFFF (from 640K to just below 1 -megabyte) or at an address at least 1 megabyte greater than the total -amount of RAM in your system. - - - - - + USB BIOS support and keyboards @@ -126,21 +51,12 @@ Consult your main board manual and look in the BIOS for Legacy keyboard emulation or USB keyboard support options. - + - More than 64 MB RAM - - -The Linux Kernel cannot always detect what amount of RAM you have. If -this is the case please look at . - - - - - + Display-visibility on OldWorld Powermacs - + Some OldWorld Powermacs, most notably those with the control display driver, may not reliably produce a colormap under Linux when the display is configured for more than 256 colors. If you are experiencing such @@ -151,6 +67,6 @@ interface, try changing your display settings under MacOS to use 256 colors instead of thousands or millions. - + -- cgit v1.2.3