Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide
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Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide

Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006 the Debian Installer team

This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Please refer to the license in Appendix F, GNU General Public License.

Abstract

This document contains installation instructions for the Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 system (codename “etch”), for the Motorola 680x0 (“m68k”) architecture. It also contains pointers to more information and information on how to make the most of your new Debian system.

Note

Although this installation guide for m68k is mostly up-to-date, we plan to make some changes and reorganize parts of the manual after the official release of etch. A newer version of this manual may be found on the Internet at the debian-installer home page. You may also be able to find additional translations there.

Table of Contents

Installing Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 For m68k
1. Welcome to Debian
1.1. What is Debian?
1.2. What is GNU/Linux?
1.3. What is Debian GNU/Linux?
1.4. Getting Debian
1.5. Getting the Newest Version of This Document
1.6. Organization of This Document
1.7. About Copyrights and Software Licenses
2. System Requirements
2.1. Supported Hardware
2.1.1. Supported Architectures
2.1.2. CPU, Main Boards, and Video Support
2.1.3. Graphics Card
2.2. Installation Media
2.2.1. Floppies
2.2.2. CD-ROM/DVD-ROM
2.2.3. Hard Disk
2.2.4. Network
2.2.5. Un*x or GNU system
2.2.6. Supported Storage Systems
2.3. Peripherals and Other Hardware
2.4. Purchasing Hardware Specifically for GNU/Linux
2.4.1. Avoid Proprietary or Closed Hardware
2.4.2. Fake or “Virtual” Parity RAM
2.5. Memory and Disk Space Requirements
2.6. Network Connectivity Hardware
3. Before Installing Debian GNU/Linux
3.1. Overview of the Installation Process
3.2. Back Up Your Existing Data!
3.3. Information You Will Need
3.3.1. Documentation
3.3.2. Finding Sources of Hardware Information
3.3.3. Hardware Compatibility
3.3.4. Network Settings
3.4. Meeting Minimum Hardware Requirements
3.5. Pre-Partitioning for Multi-Boot Systems
3.5.1. Partitioning in AmigaOS
3.5.2. Partitioning in Atari TOS
3.5.3. Partitioning in MacOS
3.6. Pre-Installation Hardware and Operating System Setup
3.6.1. Firmware Revisions and Existing OS Setup
3.6.2. Hardware Issues to Watch Out For
4. Obtaining System Installation Media
4.1. Official Debian GNU/Linux CD-ROM Sets
4.2. Downloading Files from Debian Mirrors
4.2.1. Where to Find Installation Images
4.3. Creating Floppies from Disk Images
4.3.1. Writing Disk Images From a Linux or Unix System
4.3.2. Writing Disk Images From DOS, Windows, or OS/2
4.3.3. Writing Disk Images on Atari Systems
4.3.4. Writing Disk Images on Macintosh Systems
4.4. Preparing Files for Hard Disk Booting
4.5. Preparing Files for TFTP Net Booting
4.5.1. Setting up RARP server
4.5.2. Setting up BOOTP server
4.5.3. Setting up a DHCP server
4.5.4. Enabling the TFTP Server
4.5.5. Move TFTP Images Into Place
4.6. Automatic Installation
4.6.1. Automatic Installation Using the Debian Installer
5. Booting the Installation System
5.1. Booting the Installer on Motorola 680x0
5.1.1. Choosing an Installation Method
5.1.2. Booting from a Hard Disk
5.1.3. Booting from a CD-ROM
5.1.4. Booting with TFTP
5.1.5. Booting from Floppies
5.2. Boot Parameters
5.2.1. Debian Installer Parameters
5.3. Troubleshooting the Installation Process
5.3.1. Floppy Disk Reliability
5.3.2. Boot Configuration
5.3.3. Interpreting the Kernel Startup Messages
5.3.4. Bug Reporter
5.3.5. Submitting Installation Reports
6. Using the Debian Installer
6.1. How the Installer Works
6.2. Components Introduction
6.3. Using Individual Components
6.3.1. Setting up Debian Installer and Hardware Configuration
6.3.2. Partitioning and Mount Point Selection
6.3.3. Setting up the System
6.3.4. Installing the Base System
6.3.5. Installing Additional Software
6.3.6. Making Your System Bootable
6.3.7. Finishing the Installation
6.3.8. Miscellaneous
7. Booting Into Your New Debian System
7.1. The Moment of Truth
7.1.1. BVME 6000 Booting
7.1.2. Macintosh Booting
7.2. Mounting encrypted volumes
7.2.1. loop-AES
7.2.2. Troubleshooting
7.3. Log In
8. Next Steps and Where to Go From Here
8.1. If You Are New to Unix
8.2. Orienting Yourself to Debian
8.2.1. Debian Packaging System
8.2.2. Application Version Management
8.2.3. Cron Job Management
8.3. Further Reading and Information
8.4. Compiling a New Kernel
8.4.1. Kernel Image Management
8.5. Recovering a Broken System
A. Installation Howto
A.1. Preliminaries
A.2. Booting the installer
A.2.1. CDROM
A.2.2. Floppy
A.2.3. Booting from network
A.2.4. Booting from hard disk
A.3. Installation
A.4. Send us an installation report
A.5. And finally..
B. Automating the installation using preseeding
B.1. Introduction
B.1.1. Preseeding methods
B.1.2. Limitations
B.1.3. Running custom commands during the installation
B.1.4. Using preseeding to change default values
B.2. Using preseeding
B.2.1. Loading the preconfiguration file
B.2.2. Using a DHCP server to specify preconfiguration files
B.2.3. Using boot parameters to supplement preseeding
B.3. Creating a preconfiguration file
B.4. Contents of the preconfiguration file
B.4.1. Localization
B.4.2. Network configuration
B.4.3. Mirror settings
B.4.4. Partitioning
B.4.5. Clock and time zone setup
B.4.6. Apt setup
B.4.7. Account setup
B.4.8. Base system installation
B.4.9. Boot loader installation
B.4.10. Package selection
B.4.11. Finishing up the first stage install
B.4.12. Mailer configuration
B.4.13. X configuration
B.4.14. Preseeding other packages
B.5. Advanced options
B.5.1. Shell commands
B.5.2. Chainloading preconfiguration files
C. Partitioning for Debian
C.1. Deciding on Debian Partitions and Sizes
C.2. The Directory Tree
C.3. Recommended Partitioning Scheme
C.4. Device Names in Linux
C.5. Debian Partitioning Programs
D. Random Bits
D.1. Linux Devices
D.1.1. Setting Up Your Mouse
D.2. Disk Space Needed for Tasks
D.3. Installing Debian GNU/Linux from a Unix/Linux System
D.3.1. Getting Started
D.3.2. Install debootstrap
D.3.3. Run debootstrap
D.3.4. Configure The Base System
D.3.5. Install a Kernel
D.3.6. Set up the Boot Loader
E. Administrivia
E.1. About This Document
E.2. Contributing to This Document
E.3. Major Contributions
E.4. Trademark Acknowledgement
F. GNU General Public License

List of Tables

3.1. Hardware Information Needed for an Install
3.2. Recommended Minimum System Requirements
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