CPU, Main Boards, and Video Support
Each distinct ARM architecture requires its own kernel. Because of
this the standard Debian distribution only supports installation on
a number of the most common platforms. The Debian userland however may be
used by any ARM CPU.
Most ARM CPUs may be run in either endian mode (big or little). However,
the majority of current system implementation uses little-endian mode.
Debian currently only supports little-endian ARM systems.
The supported platforms are:
IOP32x
Intel's I/O Processor (IOP) line is found in a number of products related
to data storage and processing. Debian currently supports the IOP32x
platform, featuring the IOP 80219 and 32x chips commonly found in Network
Attached Storage (NAS) devices. Debian explicitly supports two such
devices: the GLAN Tank from
IO-Data and the Thecus N2100.
IXP4xx
The IXP4xx platform is based on Intel's XScale ARM core. Currently, only
one IXP4xx based system is supported, the Linksys NSLU2.
The Linksys NSLU2 (Network Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives) is a small
device which allows you to easily provide storage via the network. It
comes with an Ethernet connection and two USB ports to which hard drives
can be connected. There is an external site with installation instructions.
Kirkwood
Kirkwood is a system on a chip (SoC) from Marvell that integrates an ARM
CPU, Ethernet, SATA, USB, and other functionality in one chip. We
currently support the following Kirkwood based devices: OpenRD (OpenRD-Base
and OpenRD-Client), SheevaPlug and QNAP Turbo Station (TS-110,
TS-119, TS-210, TS-219 and TS-219P; the TS-410 and TS-419P are not yet
supported).
Orion5x
Orion is a system on a chip (SoC) from Marvell that integrates an ARM CPU,
Ethernet, SATA, USB, and other functionality in one chip. There are many
Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices on the market that are based on an
Orion chip. We currently support the following Orion based devices: Buffalo Kurobox, HP mv2120, QNAP Turbo Station (TS-109, TS-209 and
TS-409).
Versatile
The Versatile platform is emulated by QEMU and is therefore a nice way to
test and run Debian on ARM if you don't have the hardware.