summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/en/preparing/pre-install-bios-setup.xml
blob: 2e80da6b11b8667916940b8009a8435df69d2024 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
<!-- retain these comments for translator revision tracking -->
<!-- $Id$ -->

 <sect1 id="pre-install-bios-setup">
 <title>Pre-Installation Hardware and Operating System Setup</title>
<para>

This section will walk you through pre-installation hardware setup, if
any, that you will need to do prior to installing Debian.  Generally,
this involves checking and possibly changing firmware settings for
your system.  The <quote>firmware</quote> is the core software used by the
hardware; it is most critically invoked during the bootstrap process
(after power-up). Known hardware issues affecting the reliability of
&debian; on your system are also highlighted.

</para>

&bios-setup-i386.xml;
&bios-setup-m68k.xml;
&bios-setup-powerpc.xml;
&bios-setup-sparc.xml;
&bios-setup-s390.xml;

  <sect2 arch="m68k;x86;powerpc" id="hardware-issues">
  <title>Hardware Issues to Watch Out For</title>

<para arch="m68k">

Atari TT RAM boards are notorious for RAM problems under Linux; if you
encounter any strange problems, try running at least the kernel in
ST-RAM.  Amiga users may need to exclude RAM using a booter memfile.

<phrase condition="FIXME"><emphasis>

FIXME: more description of this needed.

</emphasis></phrase>

</para>

   <formalpara arch="x86">
   <title>USB BIOS support and keyboards</title>
<para>

If you have no AT-style keyboard and only a USB model, you may need
to enable legacy AT keyboard emulation in your BIOS setup. Only do this if
the installation system fails to use your keyboard in USB mode. Conversely,
for some systems (especially laptops) you may need to disable legacy USB
support if your keyboard does not respond.
Consult your main board manual and look in the BIOS for <quote>Legacy
keyboard emulation</quote> or <quote>USB keyboard support</quote> options.

</para>
   </formalpara>

   <formalpara arch="powerpc">
   <title>Display-visibility on OldWorld Powermacs</title>

<para>
Some OldWorld Powermacs, most notably those with the <quote>control</quote>
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
issues with your display after rebooting (you can sometimes see data on
the monitor, but on other occasions cannot see anything) or, if the screen
turns black after booting the installer instead of showing you the user
interface, try changing your display settings under MacOS to use 256
colors instead of <quote>thousands</quote> or <quote>millions</quote>.

</para>
   </formalpara>
  </sect2>
 </sect1>