Debian PPC Starters Manual: Difference between revisions

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Finally, write the image:  
Finally, write the image:  
: <code>sudo dd if=mini.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=1024</code>
: <code>sudo dd if=mini.iso of=/dev/sdb</code>


=== Boot on USB stick ===
=== Boot on USB stick ===

Revision as of 07:07, 13 May 2017

Get inspiration and information from http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/ keep this guide simple, in the form of:
Title / Why would you want to do that / tasks and commands to do it


Introduction

Why would you want to contribute to Debian powerpc?
- FREE software and DFSG
- PowerPC
- all the existing G3 G4 and G5 machines
- diversity, freedom and choice
- learning
- the PowerPCNotebook project
- saving the world :-)


The Debian Bug submission / testing / integration process

Simple description (graphical diagram) of content from https://wiki.debian.org/HowtoUseBTS


Installation of Debian powerpc

First things first: check if your computer is present in the supported list:

https://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/install


Now that you are ready to install Debian powerpc, you still have two more questions to answer:

Which Installation Media do you want to use?
USB stick: Very convenient - but not really straightforward. Becomes easy when you get the hang of it.
CD : The easiest - if you still have some CD-R / CD-RW around, and your CD writer is still working :-)
hard drive : Cannot see any real advantage over using USB stick - but you can do this if you want to.
debootstrap : Very easy - almost magical - if you already have a running Debian installation on your target machine.
Which Target Partitioning Scheme to use?
Debian alone on target disk - with one or several partitions - the most straightforward.
Debian sharing the disk with other OSes (MacOSX or others) - you will need to partition your disk, and move things around. Can be (is) worth it.
Debian alone on an external "firewire" disk - Haven't tested this. Could be interesting if you want to keep your internal disk as is, or if your internal disk is dead, and you do not have a replacement or you do not want to open your machine.

The rest of this section will describe an installation using a USB stick, on a supported machine - in my case, a venerable G4 PowerBook Aluminum. Debian is alone on the disk.
(I also have an iMac G5 MacOSX / Debian stable / Debian unstable installation - where unstable was installed using debootstrap)


Download ISO image

Normally, I would install Debian stable first, then upgrade to Debian unstable. But we are not in a normal situation anymore, so we'll install unstable directly.

For G4 and earlier (32-bits disk image):

ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/sid/main/installer-powerpc/current/images/powerpc/netboot/mini.iso

For G5 and later (64-bits disk image):

ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/sid/main/installer-powerpc/current/images/powerpc64/netboot/mini.iso

The one I used is from the 04/07/2017 (7th of April 2017).

Write ISO image on USB stick

If you wanted to write the boot image on CD-ROM (CD-R or CD-RW) you would use a software like brasero.

For the USB stick, the easiest (only) way to do this is using the dd command (on linux or MacOSX).
One thing to know about the dd command is that you need to be careful when using it - do not use it as root - unless you know what you're doing.
Now the thing is, we need to use it as root to write the ISO image on the stick...

First, cd to the directory containing the disk image.
Then you need to get the device name for your USB stick. Plug it in and type:
Linux:

lsblk

MacOSX:

diskutil list

Or you can just list the mounted filesystems:

df

On my computer the USB stick is /dev/sdb. There is a partition on it, and it is mounted on /dev/sdb1.

Second, you need to unmount the mounted partition:

sudo umount /dev/sdb1

Finally, write the image:

sudo dd if=mini.iso of=/dev/sdb

Boot on USB stick

If you were using a CD-ROM, you would just boot while holding the c button.

To boot on the USB stick, you'll need to invoke Open Firmware (equivalent of BIOS / EFI).
WARNING: This is command line wizardry!

Here goes:

Plug the USB stick then Boot your computer - while pressing on the <Command> + <Option> + o + f buttons.
If you're not using an apple keyboard, you'll need to use <Windows> + <Alt> + o + f.

(if you're using a G5 machine - get earplugs or something - and do not do this at night in your room - the fans will run at maximum speed - and that's very noisy).

First you need to identify your USB stick (in Open Firmware terminology - and this depends on your computer and the USB port you're using):

dev / ls

Scroll down (<Space>) until you get something like:

/usb@1b
/disk@1

Now we know our USB stick is on usb@1b and is known as disk@1.
We still need to find the alias of usb@1b:

devalias

You need to look for the usb0, usb1 etc... corresponding to usb@1b:
On my computer it was usb1.

Finally, boot your computer using:

boot usb1/disk@1:2,\\yaboot

If you get the yaboot prompt boot: - it means you're ready to start installation...

Base Installation

You need to be somehow familiar with the Debian Installer to consider it "easy"...
It is not difficult, really, but it might get "intimidating" if you're doing this for the first time...
To cut this short: just plug in your ethernet cable, follow the steps, and choose the default options, especially if you're going to use the full disk (no manual partitioning).

To start the installation type expert or install at the yaboot prompt: boot: expert

You'll get to the "familiar" red / grey / blue main menu.

To give you an idea, here is an overview of the main steps:

Choose language
Configure the keyboard
Detect network hardware
Configure the network
Choose a mirror of the Debian archive
Download installer components
Setting up main user and password ==> disable root login
Partitioning ==> use the Guided partitioning + ext3 filesystem (I've had issues with yaboot and ext4).
Configuring the Package Manager (apt) ==> it is preferable to stick to main (free) packages - we'll later use contrib for wifi - but in a controlled way.
Setting up popcon (Popularity Contest) ==> this will help Debian powerpc by showing the community people are still using it!
Choosing additional packages ==> LXDE!

Additional Components

When things go wrong (and they will)

recommended installation method is to start with stable then upgrade to unstable
- find your computer in the "supported" list on:
 https://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/install
- follow the link to specific installation page
- the detailed installation page is on:
 https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/powerpc/
- you need to get Debian 8 "jessie" from:
 https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/debian-installer/
- most efficient way is to get netinst, which is a minimal install:
 http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/8.7.0/powerpc/iso-cd/debian-8.7.0-powerpc-netinst.iso
- you will need to burn it on a CD - most if not all of our machines will not boot on USB.
- you will need a wired ethernet connection during install - after that, it is possible to use wifi - but that will require the use of evil non-free software - but it can be very convenient.
- sound setup
- cpufreq-set -g ondemand / powersave
- wifi (non-free): sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer
- compositing – how to prevent windows remanence
- 2d acceleration – without changing the ROM of ATI card
- changing the ROM of ATI card
- https://wiki.debian.org/PowerPC/FAQ
- update /etc/apt/sources.list

Installation of tools

tools used for development, debugging etc...


popcon: show Debian community that powerpc is still actively used!

this can help bringing back Debian powerpc as a release architecture


Getting source code and Compiling it

...


Patches

Making Patches, sharing and applying them


Packages

Creating Debian packages - Conditions and rules to follow for packages to be included in Debian


Creating ISO Images

...


Debugging and Profiling

...


64bits / 32bits

...


Kernel modification/reconfiguration/recompilation

...


Altivec - the PowerPC secret weapon

...


Drivers

...