hardware David uses

updated 2003-05-06

contents:

• assembling a custom PC
• #quiet_pc particularly quiet PCs, and ways to modify a PC to make it much quieter.
• Computers DAV owns
  • HP48GX
  • the Alpha AXP box
  • the Dell PC
  • Compaq ProSignia 200
  • the AlphaSmart Dana
• other hardware David uses
• unsorted
• future

assembling a custom PC

building a computer from little pieces -- and other, faster ways of getting a good PC.

see also

• #quiet_pc
• computer buying guide laptop.html#computer_buying
• It's important to test the reliability of the PC after it's been assembled: computer_architecture.html#benchmarks
• 3d_design.html

assembling a custom PC

• [FIXME: move this whole section to http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Wikilearn/BuildingAPC ?]
• "The Unix Hardware Buyer HOWTO" by Eric S. Raymond 2001 http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/Unix-Hardware-Buyer-HOWTO/ ``At today's prices, building your own system from parts no longer makes much sense at all -- so this HOWTO is now more oriented towards helping you configure a whole system from a single vendor.'' ... ``Brands don't matter much, so don't feel you need to pay Intel's premiums if you see an attractive Cyrix, AMD or other chip-clone system offered.''

  ``The Ultimate Linux Box 2001: How to Design Your Dream Machine'' by Eric S. Raymond 2001-10-16 http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=5563 | mirror http://tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/ultimate-linux-box/ and its sequel, ``Ultimate Linux Box update page'' by Eric S. Raymond 2002-02 http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/ultimate-linux-box/update.html

• "Dev Hardware - Hardware And Software Reviews For All Computers And Consumer Electronics" http://devhardware.com/
• "Buying a Computer" article by Justin Keane (2003 ?) http://www.madirish.net/tech.php?section=9&article=89 links to recommended price-comparison web sites, such as Micro Warehouse, Inc. http://warehouse.com/ .
• Build A PC: A custom PC configuration guide. http://www.acme.com/build_a_pc/
• "Building a PC - the illustrated guide" by Daniel Rutter 2002 http://www.dansdata.com/buildpc.htm
• Build Your Own G4 Mac http://www.macopz.com/buildamac/ illustrated guide
• Once I saw a picture on the 'web of a computer, without a case, spread out and mounted on a sheet of plywood, hung up on a wall. Worked fine. where was that ? who made it ?
• [humor] "Black Computers Faster" http://www.dansdata.com/black.htm
• http://AcesHardware.com/ has price search on Intel and AMD CPUs, motherboards, and reviews of various PC components.
• http://www.extremetech.com/ and http://www.tomshardware.com/ has lots of build-it-yourself articles, and some articles about small form factors.
• http://www.trygve.com/no_duct_tape.html ranting against bad mechanical design; some unusual ways to assemble computers (servers) yogurt lids ... decent electrical insulators and just the right height to cover ill-placed mounting hardware that would otherwise short out the motherboard
• Mark Trainer http://www.marktrainer.com/articles/machines/machines.htm recommends
  • http://www.tomshardware.com/
  • http://anandtech.com/
  • http://hardocp.com/
• The Cheap /Linux/ Box http://www.ls.net/CheapBox.html ``How to build a cheap reliable x86 box suitable for Linux. ... by Eric Andrews and Jim Tarvid.'' 2000-10
• ``Tutorials: Build Your Own PC'' http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/tutorials/109/1/
• http://home.earthlink.net/~pkinnes/notebook.html
• TechIMO.com - The hardware enthusiast community http://www.techimo.com/ ???

• X-Lotus-FromDomain: BRUNSWICKOUTDOOR
  From: "David Cary" <dcary at Brunswickoutdoor.com>
  To: ProtelEDAusers at techservinc.com
  cc: d.cary at ieee.org
  Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 16:11:41 -0600
  Subject: appropriate hardware to run Protel
  
  
  
  Dear Robi Bittler,
  I'm looking for a computer system myself. I appreciate the recommendations from
  Matt Pobursky.
  
  Buyer's Guides and reviews:
  
  http://arstechnica.com/guide/
  http://www.zdnet.com/computershopper/filters/category/0,12221,1,00.html
  http://www.pcguide.com/art/mb.htm
  http://www.compare.net/category.asp?catId=123
  http://209.185.142.203/guide_search.jsp?p=go2net&tx=7e&ip=50002   (
  http://www.go2net.com/)
  
  Price comparisons:
  
  http://www.pricewatch.com/
  http://www.compgeeks.com/
  http://www.mysimon.com/category/index.jhtml?c=reviseddesktoppc
  http://shopper.cnet.com/
  
  I'm using a
    AMD-K6(tm) 3D+ Processor
    128 MB RAM
    Windows98se
  and I'm using the ".ddb" file formap in Protel.
  
  As suggested by someone on this list (Abdulrahman Lomax, I think),
  I put the the "Resource Meter" in my startup folder so it's always displaying in
  the system tray.
  I hit "save" and sure it's green (by closing other background applications;
  sometimes exiting Protel and starting it again) before I do something
  resource-intensive in Protel like autorouting or editing design rules.
  I usually reboot the system when I leave for lunch; perhaps this is just
  superstition.
  (If I let the resource meter get down to red and then do something intensive
  like editing Protel design rules or opening a web browser, it often crashes the
  computer, forcing me to reboot Windows98).
  
  Seems to work fine for me. Most likely I'll use another AMD chip in my next
  machine.
  
  --
  David Cary
  
  Robi Bittler <robi_bi at dingoblue.net.au> on 2001-01-22 06:34:32 PM
  
  ...
  I am looking for a new system.
  Robi
  ...
  
  Robi Bittler <robi_bi at dingoblue.net.au> on 2001-01-23 03:31:23 AM
  
  ...
  Is anyone running 99SE on an AMD maschine - if so - how does the maschine
  perform and also which Operating system and how much memory has your
  computer got put in.
  ...
  

• "The Heatsink Guide - All about PC cooling" by Tillmann Steinbrecher http://heatsink-guide.com/
• A Wiki dedicated to building your own computer. http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?BuildingYourOwnComputer [FIXME: consider moving all my information there ?]

case mods

[FIXME: don't I have more links to strange-looking case mods ?]

• http://www.pcmods.com/ sells CCFL kits, EL kits, neons, etc.
• http://coolcasemods.com/
• "really cheap mods: Everything under 1$!" http://afrotechmods.com/reallycheap.htm
• http://applefritter.com/
• http://www.modyourmac.com/
• case mods; mac mods http://www.riscx.com/
• http://crazymodders.be/ (I think the "stealth mod" to a CD/DVD drive is pretty cool)

quiet PC

ways to modify a PC to make it much quieter, and reviews of particularly quiet PCs.

see also

• assembling a custom PC
• wearable_electronic.html
• computer_architecture.html#low_power_design

...

• "SilentPCReview.com :: Everything about silent computing" http://SilentPCReview.com/ (thanks for the link, Tai Toh)
• "Quiet PC: hear yourself think" http://QuietPC.com/ (thanks for the link, Tai Toh)
• A Practical Approach To Shushing Your PC http://www.carsten-buschmann.de/noise-protection/ discussion: http://slashdot.org/articles/03/10/26/0211259.shtml?tid=137
• review of the Coolink Typhoon (water block) for cooling the CPU with water. "almost noiseless" http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=4&artpage=348&articID=81
• http://barnabas.com/sound/quietbox/ discusses ways of making a PC *much* quieter.
• Mike's Water-cooled CPU ... there are days I wish I could water-cool all the computers in the lab, not to overclock them, but to make them quiet! http://www.agaweb.com/coolcpu/
• "Mac User Fights for Quieter Life " article by Leander Kahney http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,57793,00.html "tacit acknowledgement from Apple that noisy fans are a problem." points to
  • Richard Hoefer http://g4noise.com/
  • "Silicon Acoustics: components for building ultra low noise computers." Jonathan Bird http://www.SiliconAcoustics.com/
• From the "I hate Noise" Dept. http://www.pixelsandwidgets.com/weblogs/archives/000199.shtml#000199

  DAV added this comments:

  the Dana wearable_electronic.html#dana is very quiet.

  Compared to a desktop computer, the AlphaSmart Dana appears to be overpriced, underpowered, colorless, etc.

  There are only 2 things it can do that desktop machines cannot do, and no other laptop I've ever seen can do:

  • 1. It's completely silent (if you change the "sound" settings to "off"). No humming fan, no spinning CD drive, not even a spinning hard drive.
  • 2. It has 25 hours of untethered "on time" between recharges.

  A few PDAs can do those 2 things, but the Dana is the only one that

  • 3. It has a full-size keyboard that I can peck on while standing up.

  Tell me if you find any other computing devices with all 3 characteristics.

  -- David Cary http://www.pixelsandwidgets.com/cgi-bin/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=199
• "NEC’s PowerMate eco desktop computer" http://transmeta.com/everywhere/products/desktops/nec/nec_powermate_eco.html "the PowerMate eco produces just 20 decibels (dB) in all, about the loudness of a whisper" (10^-3 Newtons per square meter)

Computers DAV owns

This is complete as of 1998-08-13.

1. HP28 (8 000 Hz !) (4 000 Bytes of RAM !) A great machine when Uncle Bob gave it to me in 1988 (?). Now obsolete; I recommend all freshman engineering students buy the latest HP calculator -- -- the HP48GX is $190 as of 1998-08-09) http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/forth/ftp.dei.isep.ipp.pt/pub/forth/docs/hp28c.txt
2. HP48GX + Serial Interface Cable (got this 1998-09-19 for $219 from Wholesale Products) 49 keys, 128 K Bytes RAM, 512 K Bytes ROM, 4 MHz 131 x 64 pixels

   DAV's HP48GX is serial number

   
    ID 8 04 06025
     | |  | +-- unit number 06025 that week
     | |  +---- week 04
     | +------ year 8 (1998)
     +-------- made in Indonesia
   
   

   When I type ``VERSION'', it says

   "Version HP48-R"
   "Copyright HP 1993"
   

   [FIXME: move this text to the HP Calculators Wiki http://hydrix.com/wiki/pmwiki.php/ ]

   • Eric Rechlin HP48 Archive the HP Calculator Archive http://www.hpcalc.org/ includes a buying guide for the best prices. /* was http://bps.ml.org/hp48/ */ /* was http://hp48.ml.org/ */
   • news:comp.sys.hp48 mirror http://groups.google.com/groups?group=comp.sys.hp48
   • http://www.area48.com/ HP48 HP49 for beginners.
   • Is it true that there's a version of Emacs that runs on the HP48 ?
   • Armaduras by John La Torre Esquivel. http://www.hpcalc.org/details.php?id=5336

     ASTR by Martin A. Lang. http://www.hpcalc.org/details.php?id=3271 ``A collection of astronomy and calendar functions: position, rise, culmination and set time and location for sun, moon and planets, moon phases, calendar, holy days, Julian day, coordinate and time conversions, general rise and set time, daylight saving time switch, great circle distance, compass function.''

     [FIXME: check this out]

   • The HP48 Unofficial Homepage http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1509/frames.html
   • Harald Maier http://141.18.5.11/hmaier/hp48/ has lots of HP48 info (mostly in Deutsch), including a mirror of a matrix library by Cesar Crusius (documented in English) (apparently
   • http://www.cad.fh-aalen.de/~hamaier/goodies/gd8.txt is a obsolete mirror).
   • GCC-based C cross-compiler for the Hewlett-Packard HP-48 scientific calculator computer_architecture.html#gcc_for_hp48
   • Poon-Keong (Edward) Ang (writes HP48 software; nice X-files sound) http://www2.egr.uh.edu/~pka3668/
   • comp.sys.hp48 HyperFAQ http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~aschoorl/faq/
   • Hewlett-Packard http://www.hp.com/calculators/products/
   • How to connect your HP48 to your PC and extract the ROM of your HP for Emu48 http://www.students.uwf.edu/~jjtrent/hp48.html [FIXME: move elsewhere ... but keep linked with Emu48 ?]
   • How to Open your HP48 http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~drury/ Adrian Drury
   • idea_space.html#emulation
   • HP48 links

     http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/docs/programming/usr_tut.zip
     
     
     
     set time (utc ?)
     ??http://www.ecf.utoronto.ca/~fidler/hardware.html
     ??
     
     cycles.zip
     from
     http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~aschoorl/
     http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/docs/programming/cycles.zip
     
     the HP48 Universal Font Library
     ufl102.zip
     uflsrc102.zip
     from
     http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~aschoorl/ufl/
     
     
     
     http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/docs/programming/brazo-en.zip
     how one could possibly write a program to control a robot arm.
     
     

3. Newton http://www.amug.org/amug/sigs/newton/nanug/nanug_newton.html and check out the interesting ideas at Future MessagePads http://www.walletware.com/FutureMessagePads.html
4. Apple PowerBook 520c (Unfortunately, despite the name, it does not (yet) have a PowerPC CPU).
   • http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Systems/Apple/Macintosh/68k/ | mirror http://dmoz.org/Computers/Systems/Apple/Macintosh/68k/ [fixme: this points to several of the following places ... ... delete those redundant links, let delancey maintain them.]
   • http://home.earthlink.net/~thomasareed/links.html has links to several places that sell new and used Mac hardware [offline ?]
   • uses Macintosh software software_david_uses.html#macintosh
   • from http://apple.com/
   • Bruce Grubb http://members.aol.com/BruceG6069/Welcome.html has some pages comparing Mac and IBM machines.
   • is now considered a "low-end Mac" http://www.mactimes.com/lowend/pb/.
   • Care and Feeding of Your PowerBook Battery http://www.mactimes.com/lowend/pb/battery.shtml. Both http://www.powerbookguy.com/ and http://www.dyneng.com/pb.html sell batteries for it.
   • The PowerBook Blue Book http://home.att.net/~carnut/ should tell you its current value.
   [note to self: reboot holding down "Shift-Option-Command-Delete" to force a Mac to boot from a System other than its standard startup disk, such as a Zip disk, a CD-ROM, or a external hard drive]
5. Windows95 box uses a Tyan Titan-VX AT motherboard ; Socket 7; AMD-K5 133PR . (Check http://www.tyan.com/ for updates.)

   playing with Paul's machine: d0b1t0d0 Disk Drive (DASD) IC35L040 AVER07-0 39266MB Optimal http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-i386/2002/06/29/0000.html

the Alpha AXP box

• my Alpha box

  front of case says:

  MaxVision
  Symbion series
  AXP164A
  AlphaPowered

  sticker on back says:

  Model No.: 202-0017-020
  Serial No.: 41973245
  ...
  Part Number SKN9-E30-Zk6

  Description
  ASXP164A S500 NT40SGT256TP48U
  MEM KIT 256MB Parity
  4.3GB ULTRA WIDE ST3
  GLMAX88T
  TOSHIBA CD-ROM 12-24 ATAPI
  SMC PCI 10/100 ETHERPOWER

  I think the video card is a: MaxVision GLmax88T GL 500TX/Delta PCI

  I bought a new Belkin PCI 10/100 ethernet card; the CD that came with it says "Some LINUX kernels had supported rtl8139 NIC. ... If your LINUX (ex. RedHat 6.1 or above) can auto-detect rtl8139 NIC, you just skip the following installations and follow the screen's instructions to install rtl8139.o driver directly."

• ------------------------------------------------------------------------- MILO> boot sda5:/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

  After I bought it (used) for $200 (in 2002), naturally I wanted to install some sort of free OS on it.

  [FIXME: summarize]

  http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/alpha/install Firmware: point to (step-by-step instructions at "Loading MILO from the Windows NT ARC firmware" http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/MILO-HOWTO/load-section.html mirror http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/mirrors/LDP/HOWTO/MILO-HOWTO/intro-section.html ) (information about updating firmware at http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/alpha/ch-rescue-boot.en.html#s-alpha-firmware file://///MUSTANG/Incoming/Debian3r1/install/doc/ch-rescue-boot.en.html#s-alpha-firmware which points to http://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/ ) milo/linload.exe milo/PC164 then: CD-ROM: sr0 boot sr0:/boot/linux load_ramdisk=1 boot sr0:/boot/linux root=/dev/fd0 load_ramdisk=1 boot sr0:/boot/linux root=/dev/sr0 load_ramdisk=1 made a floppy out of rescue.bin, then make a floppy out of root.bin MILO: boot fd0: insert rescue.bin floppy ... insert root.bin floppy. [FIXME: do this from CD; we shouldn't need floppies.] take everything out of the floppy drive boot sr0:/boot/linux root=/dev/sr0/boot/root.bin load_ramdisk=1 boot sr0:/boot/linux root=/dev/sr0/boot/ load_ramdisk=1 boot sr0:/boot/linux root=/dev/ram load_ramdisk=1 made a floppy out of rescue.bin milo> boot fd0: then when it says "Insert root floppy" I put in a floppy I made from root.bin ... installing Debian ... after initializing the / root partitian, instead of taking the default, go to shell and format the 5 MB FAT16 partition # mkdosfs /dev/sda2 then choose the option "mount a previously initialized partition" and select sda2 (the 5 MB FAT16 boot partition) as /boot. add a new boot option: supplementary add a boot on scsi id 0 partition 2 osloader: bootlx ... boot sda2: ... gave up on debian. Discovered http://alphalinux.org/ | mirror http://www.linuxalpha.org/

  2002-02-22: tried Red Hat Seawolf. ... \milo\arcsbios\linload.exe \milo\images\pc164.img.gz \milo\arc\linload.exe

  2002-02-22: Gave up on Red Hat for Alpha, tried SUSE. http://suse.com/ which pointed at this this mirror: Canada ftp.nrc.ca/pub/systems/linux/suse/ (Ottawa ON) . ... followed the step-by-step instructions in the Readme.axp file ... OsLoader=multi(0)disk(0)fdisk(0)\linload.exe OsLoadFileName=\milo OsOptions= creating disks from the /SuSE/7.1/disks/ floppy images ... hangs after reading from the 1st disk at "Swapping to PALcode at 0x00 ..." ... tried the noname boot floppy 1 ... hangs at same place. ... tried alcore boot floppy 1 .... ... tried \SuSE\7.1\disks\pc164 ... tried sx164 ... tried ruffian "NT firmware Monitor. Machine Check occured" ... copied from Debian 3r1 CD-ROM the files "pc164" and "linload.exe" onto a DOS floppy; OsLoader=multi(0)disk(0)fdisk(0)\linload.exe OsLoadFileName=\milo OsOptions= which *paused* at the "Swapping to PALcode at 0x00 ..." message, then erased the screen, changed the background color from blue to black, a few more messages and the "MILO> " prompt. Now continue to the next SuSE step: Put in disk 2, and

  When you can see the Milo-prompt ('milo>'), insert the disk with the 
  'kernel' image and type:
  
  milo> boot fd0:/vm_full.gz root=/dev/fd0 fake_initrd
  

  It asks to put in the "root floppy", I put in disk 3, it spins for a while and asks "Please choose the language". and it leads us through setup. .... "Kernel messages" says "Booting GENERIC on EB164 variation PC164" -- I still don't know which machine type I had; I just tried a bunch until I found "pc164" seemed to work, and I never bothered to try any others. Odd that the Debian "pc164" seems to work, but the SuSE "pc164" doesn't work. Tangent: tried the eb164 SuSE boot floppy hangs after reading from the 1st disk at "Swapping to PALcode at 0x00 ..." ... Tangent: tried the eb164 from Debian on a DOS flopppy with linload.exe hangs after reading from the 1st disk at "Swapping to PALcode at 0x00 ..." . So looks like Debian "pc164" is the only one that works.

  Put in Debian boot floppy. Turn on power. Choose "boot from Milo floppy" (that I set up earlier ...); wait for "MILO> " prompt. put in disk 2 (kernel) and type milo> boot fd0:/vm_full.gz root=/dev/fd0 fake_initrd wait for .... then put in floppy disk 3 (RAM file system) ... setting up, answer questions on language, keyboard, color... ... Kernel modules; autoprobe finds rtl8139 ... [ then it asks: "Please choose the source media: CD-ROM, Network (NFS), Network (FTP), Harddisk". I have 6 GB of SuSE stuff I downloaded onto (a different) computer (that has a CD burner), but it's not clear exactly which of that stuff I need to put on a CD. ... OK, I turn on a FTP server on that computer and connect then to a hub, and choose "Network (FTP)". didn't find my network, card, so I hit "back" a few steps: Kernel modules; Load network card module I have a Belkin 10/100BT PCI ethernet card (MPX), but I don't see that on the list. randomly tried pick ne2k-pci: failed. tried 3c90x: failed tried 3c59x: failed. tried 3c509: failed. rtl8139: RealTek: succeeded ! ... ] ... Start installation / system 192.168.100.20 : my alpha 192.168.100.119 : ftp server .... "Trying to connect to the FTP server..." seems to take a long time... The FTP server tells me that it logged on, but then disconnected without downloading anything. I can't figure out how to change this.

  2002-02-22: Trying Debian again. Following directions from /Debian3r1/install/doc/install.en.html create 3 floppy disks: a disk containing MILO and LINLOAD.EXE Debian3r1\dists\woody\main\disks-alpha\3.0.23-2002-05-21\images-1.44\rescue.bin Debian3r1\dists\woody\main\disks-alpha\3.0.23-2002-05-21\images-1.44\root.bin turn on power with MILO disk. "Boot Milo floppy" wait for "MILO> " prompt. Switch to rescue disk. MILO> boot fd0:linux.bin.gz root=/dev/fd0 load_ramdisk=1 this fails. (Documentation typo ?) MILO> ls fd0: lets us see what's on this (non-DOS format) disk. MILO> boot fd0:linux.gz root=/dev/fd0 seems to load and run ... when messages says to, switch to "root" floppy. "... bad magic number ... Kernel panic ... Unable to mount". Put the rescue disk back in. MILO> boot fd0:linux.gz root=/dev/fd0 load_ramdisk=1 [FIXME: later try booting from CD-ROM, section 5.4.2] when messages says to, switch to "root" floppy. ... I see the "Release Notes" screen. Adam Di Carlo and the beginning of it asking me a bunch of install questions. ... /dev/sda6: linux swap /dev/sda5: linux ... once we've mounting root filesystem, hit Alt-F2 and create a small FAT-16 boot partition, and copy the files from the MILO disk onto it. After partitioning sda2 as FAT-16, use # mkdosfs /dev/sda2 to format it FAT-16. Then mkdir /target/boot mount /dev/sda2 /target/boot cd /target/boot mkdir cdrom mount /dev/sr0 cdrom cd cdrom/milo cp linload.exe /target/boot cp pc164 /target/boot umount /target/boot/cdrom umount /target/boot Alternate1: mount a previously-initialized partition: choose: /dev/sda2 as /boot hostname: sherman Warning: file:/instmnt/pool/main/..../libdb3_... is corrupt. I started over, and got this far with a *different* file claimed to be corrupt. Burned a fresh CD-ROM, turned the power off, started over ... Seemed to install fine. Make System Bootable Reboot the system just drops me down to the "MILO> " prompt. Now what do I do ? put in rescue disk and boot fd0:linux.gz rescue root=/dev/sda5 "Congratulations, you have successfully installed Debian !". If you want ot revisit this setup process at a later date, just run /usr/sbin/base-config . .... investigate and uncomment the entries for security.debian.org at the bottom of /etc/apt/sources.list . 'tasksel' lets you select additional software. made root.bin floppy disk put in the root.bin floppy put in the Debian CD Turn on the AXP box at bluescreen, arc bios, run ... CD ROM ... /milo/linload.exe and /milo/pc164 boot, it spins the CD and gives the "MILO> " prompt. MILO> boot sr0:/boot/linux root=/dev/fd0 load_ramdisk=1 basic install reboot Then "MILO> " prompt comes up. MILO> boot sda5:/vmlinux_____ root=/dev/sda5 then continue Debian install. Installing Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 For Alpha version 3.0.23, 16 May, 2002 Bruce Perens Sven Rudolph Igor Grobman James Treacy Adam Di Carlo Debian3r1/install/doc/ch-preparing.en.html "The gcc compiler is often the first thing to die from bad memory modules" -- DAV: todo: ask the maintainer to add pointer to reliability test page.

  If you still have problems, please submit a bug report. Send an email to submit@bugs.debian.org. You must include the following as the first lines of the email: Package: boot-floppies Version: Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 r1 "Woody" - Official alpha Binary-1 CD

  "If you have booted from MILO, the installer will attempt to find a FAT-formatted partition and copy linload.exe and the MILO binary there." -- Debian3r1/install/doc/ch-init-config.en.html seems incorrect -- I have 2 FAT-16 partitions on this machine, and the installer didn't put linload.exe on either one.

  I'm getting a bunch of CD-ROM errors, so I plugged a different CD-ROM into this AXP. .... [set up stuff] ... power on: ... selection ... add a new boot ... loadidentifier=DebianMilo sytempartition=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2) osloader=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\linload.exe osloadpartition=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2) osloadfilename=\pc164 osloadoptions= .... boot ... wait for MILO prompt. type MILO> boot sda5:vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 [How do I get it to do this by default all the time, so I don't have to type this every time there's a power failure ? ] wait for fsck to finish wait for ...

  2003-02-28: start all over. Put in root floppy and Debian CD. Turn on. boot Milo off Debian CD (at bluescreen, arc bios, run ... CD ROM ... /milo/linload.exe and /milo/pc164) boot, it spins the CD and gives the "MILO> " prompt. MILO> boot hda:/boot/linux root=/dev/fd0 load_ramdisk=1 (hda is the new CD-ROM drive) wait for VFS: Insert root floppy disk message and hit enter Debian Installation menu. asks a bunch of questions ... mount /dev/sda5/ as / root filesystem ... hostname: sherman Installing Base System ... Alternate1: Reboot the system then type ------------------------------------------------------------------------- MILO> boot sda5:/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- it tells me If you want to revisit this setup process ... /usr/sbin/base-config . it asks more questions.... omni bus ... If you have another Debian CD I stick in the update CD (I'm not sure it really recognized it) ... Use security updates from http://security.debian.org/ ? said No this time time because last time we said yes and it failed. (tasksel ?) Just do minimual stuff now: only [*] X window system [*] desktop environment ... Run dselect ? No, because it was complicated. Please insert so we stick in the first Debian install disk. Kernel link failure info Is this an error message ? I'll just ignore it. ... to configure ... the statd daemon .... use program name statd in /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny Run defoma-psfont-installer later. ... to register PostScript fonts ... ... I choose default display manager: kdm It tells me kdm can be configured to manage remote X servers by ... editing /etc/kde2/kdm/Xaccess and /etc/kde2/kdm/kdmrc . See the kdm(1) manual page ... the "-dpi 100" setting can be changed or removed by editing /etc/kde2/kdm/Xservers . Manage X server wrapper configuration file with debconf ? ( /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config ) Yes. Select a video card drive. we tried "glint" last time; that didn't work. This time we try "vga". Use kernel framebuffer device interface ? I don't know, let's try Yes. mouse port: /dev/psaux plain "PS/2" mouse. "simple" configuration: 15 inch monitor. It automatically chooses 640x480, we'll change that later. We choose 8 bit color; we'll change that later. What is wenglish ? ... Please insert ... Debian ... Update CD 2 Hey, it worked. .... Why does it give me 3 choices Leave alone None C when "C" and "Leave alone" are the same ? Errors were encountered while processing gdm ... Please fix them and run [I]nstall again So we hit alt-F2 and logged to manually to create a link: typed ln -s /dev/psaux /dev/mouse . ... Retry ? Yes. ... exim ... what's that ? I don't want mail on this system. We pick 4 (local mail delivered). ... /etc/aliases ... hit alt-F2 and adduser caryd ... Debian ... sherman login: So now what ? ... Apparently gpm isn't installed. How do I fix that ? "gpmconfig" doesn't exist yet. ... what is c2man ? If I run "tasksel" now, it's missing a few options at the top. So I run /usr/sbin/base-config and it gets to "tasksel" with the full options. Then I looked at http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-package.en.html which recommended Make sure to run the commands as follows: # dselect update # tasksel so now I see "tasksel" with the full options. ( http://www.tldp.org/linuxfocus/English/January1998/article22.html ?) Trying to get Ethernet working ... http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/alpha/ch-install-system.en.html says to run modconf so I do that, and... Select net modules what happens if we select a bunch of these ? ... let it use autoprobing ... picked ne2k-pci.c ... failed. picked 3c509 ... failed. picked 3c59x ... failed. picked 8390 ... Installation succeeded. Now we run base-config ... http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/alpha/ch-install-system.en.html suggests looking at man interfaces which describes the /etc/network/interfaces file. Am I supposed to manually edit this, or is there an autoprobe / autoconfigure program ? ... man page for update-modules we edited vi aliases alias eth0 8390 #Belkin then run update-modules ... http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/alpha/ch-install-system.en.html then says Alternatively, you can install etherconf, which will step you through your network setup. . And how do I do that ? ... used dselect to install etherconf, then run etherconf . didn't find my card. ... following instructions that came with the card in the /Linux directory ... /usr/include/asm/pgtable.h:359: asm-generic/pgtable.h: No such file or directory. Why is pgtable.h trying to include itself ? There's only 1 pgtable.h anywhere on the hard drive. swich between GUI and text consoles with Ctrl-alt-F1 alt-F7 . Change video resolutions: Ctrl-alt-+ kill the X server: Ctrl-alt-backspace http://en.tldp.org/LDP/lame/LAME/linux-admin-made-easy/xwindows-configuration.html The program "Xconfigurator" doesn't seem to exist ... but Debian does have xf86config which references SuperProbe which also doesn't seem to exist on this linux box. xf86config ... out of the most promising 135 Diamond Fire GL 3000 GLINT 500TX 186 ELSA GLoria-L GLINT 500TX 231 Generic VGA 516 unsupported Generic VGA we pick 186 ELSA GLoria-L GLINT 500TX It asks "How much video memory do you have on your video card ?" How am I supposed to know ? I randomly guess 4096 MB (? http://www.deskeng.com/articles/98/March/nt/nt1197.htm ?) (? http://www.maxvision.com ?) The XF86Config file. http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tips.en.html has a section "Let me disable X on boot!" The "one true way" doesn't seem to work, but the "rename" method does seem to work: now it boots to a sherman login: prompt. http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tips.en.html briefly mentions Samba networking. todo: Configuring an Ethernet Card http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/users-guide/ch-ctsystem.en.html#s-cnetworks Configuring the Graphical Display http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/users-guide/ch-ctsystem.en.html#s-ctgd \\Mustang\incoming\Debian3r1\install\doc\ch-post-install.en.html

  ------------- paul re-installed everything; using Debian milo and Red Hat for everything else ----- Red Hat Linux release 7.1 (Seawolf) Linux 2.4.9-40

  Kudzu automatically detects that I no longer have Paul's serial mouse plugged in, but have a PS/2 mouse plugged in instead.

  When I log in and type startx I see a little bit of graphics, then the screen turns black. Typing Ctrl+Alt+F1 then Alt+F7 then the graphics look OK.

  Start | Programs | Settings | Gnome Control Center | Screensaver When I choose the "Flow" screensaver, the computer locks up. The mouse cursor moves when I move the mouse, but clicking and typing on the keyboard have no effect. Have to hit the power button. ... testing out all the screen savers: 3D Clock through Atlantis. Bumps seem OK. Locks up after the demo for "Cage" plays for a few seconds. Coral through flame seem ok. Forest through Hopalong seem OK Locks up after the "Hypercube" demo plays for a few seconds. IFS through Laser seem OK.

  "Linux Networking HOWTO" by Joshua Drake 2000 http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Net-HOWTO/ "Linux Ethernet-Howto" by Paul Gortmaker 2000 http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Ethernet-HOWTO "Linuc IP Masquerade HOWTO" http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/IP-Masquerade-HOWTO/

  useful commands: /sbin/ifconfig (shows current IP address on all configured connections; and other information) ??? less /var/log/syslog (view information logged by DHCP, etc.) less /etc/xinetd.conf (some Linux distributions call this the /etc/inetd.conf file) ??? netstat ??? dmesg | less (lets you review the boot-time messages) cat /proc/net/dev /etc/rc.d/init.d/network (gives one-line "help" usage) /etc/rc.d/init.d/network status /etc/rc.d/init.d/network restart

  Why do I (sometimes) get a "unaligned trap" on dhcpcd ?

  Securing and Optimizing Linux RedHat Edition -A Hands on Guide http://tldp.org/LDP/solrhe/Securing-Optimizing-Linux-RH-Edition-v1.3/

  todo: set up serial comm on UPS with "powerd" to properly shut things down 2 minutes (?) after power fails. see less /etc/inittab for details. Appletalk and netatalk http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Net-HOWTO/x2202.html Details on handling memory accesses in an architecture independent fashion are documented in the file linux/Documentation/IO-mapping.txt that comes with recent kernels. -- http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Ethernet-HOWTO-2.html ... changed network settings on tiny from obtain ip address automatically (no gateway) Computer name: CX2044787-A to (fixed ip address) (internal ip of AXP box) Computer name: tiny ... FIXME: later enable DHCP on AXP box and flip this back.

the Dell PC

Dell Optiplex GX1 tower ``Dell ... System Optiplex GX1 350MTBR+'' http://www.linuxcare.com/labs/certs/C1F1C6Ra.epl 350 MHz Pentium II 192 MB SDRAM 6 GB HD (784 cyls x 255 heads x 63 sectors x 512 bytes/sector) (4 MB SGRAM video memory)

3Com 3C918 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905-TX ...)

Video card: apparently: ATI Rage Pro Turbo AGP 2X (integrated into the motherboard).

bought used; when I bought it, it had Windows ME installed.

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=oplex_other&message.id=29 tells me

sankrom:

Remove case cover on left side. Notice Release button on the power supply case, push it and lift power supply up out of the way. Remove cables from floppy drive. On top front of case near the front notice indented button with icon of case front on it, push it and remove front face cover. Notice a big round lever on left side of floppy drive, push it and pull out floppy drive. You then can remove the floppy drive screws.

11-26-1999 02:25 PM

Doesn't look anything like http://www.stephan-i.com/DellGX1.htm .

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=oplex_upgrade&message.id=5399 [offline ?]

It does look like http://www.angelfire.com/wy/DellOPTIPLEX/GX1.htm and ($180 including shipping) http://www.a1computerstuff.com/gx1-333.html

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums?category.id=optiplex support forum

BIOS settings: ... Drives: auto ... Reserved memory: None CPU speed: 350 MHz Chassis: disabled DAC snoop: off ACPI: off -------- Do I want to change this ? On: hold power button more than 4 seconds to turn off. [ ACPI: Advanced Configuration & Power Interface http://www.acpi.info/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/acpi/ http://acpid.sourceforge.net/ http://developer.intel.com/technology/iapc/acpi/downloads.htm http://mobilix.org/apm_linux.html ] Boot Sequence: Diskette First --------- I think I really want CD-ROM first.

2003-02-10:DAV: all slots are empty.

It has 5 (five !) PCI slots and 4 ISA (16 bit) slots, on on a special daughter card.

C: used space: 651 MB Capacity: 5.98 GB

original partition:

784 cylinders of 255 heads * 63 sectors * 512 bytes =~~= 6 GB. /dev/hda1 1 783 (b = Win95 FAT32) WindowsME

2003-02-12:DAV: installing software that came with CD writer hardware: This Ahead license agreement (license) does not include the right to use the included MPEG Layer-3 audio compression technology for use in real time broadcasting (terrestrial, satellite, cable or other media) or broadcasting via Internet or other networks, such as but not limited to intranets etc. or in pay-audio or audio-on-demand applications.

Installed: Windows XP from CD. Windows update from microsoft.com (Winzip not needed) comlink API from 2 CDs Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.1 from http://www.adobe.com (Mandrake)

2003-08-31: DAV: downloaded Nero 6 from http://nero.com/ and installed on Dell. 2003-11-18:DAV: installed WinZip http://winzip.com/ on my Dell.

2003-11-20:DAV: installing the Eclipse IDE for Java http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?JavaIde http://eclipse.org/

2003-11-22: installed (on Dell box) the Java SDK from NetBeans IDE v 3.5.1 with J2SE v 1.4.2 COBUNDLE http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html j2sdk-1_4_2-nb-3_5_1-bin-windows.exe Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition, v1.4.2 and NetBeans IDE 3.5.1 was installed successfully. Installation location: C:\Program Files\sun\j2sdk_nb Installation log: C:\Program Files\sun\j2sdk_nb\install.log To Run the IDE:  Double click the NetBeans IDE 3.5.1 Desktop icon.

2003-11-24: installed (on Dell box) Borland C++ Builder 6 trial edition (It installs Java JRE 1.2.2 unless it finds a higher version ...).

2003-11-30 As specified in the Eclipse "readme_eclipse.html", I created a shortcut to the Eclipse executable and modifed the properties of that shortcut to target: "C:\Program Files\eclipse-SDK-3.0M4-win32\eclipse\eclipse.exe" -data "C:\Documents and Settings\caryd\My Documents\caryd\java_workspace" -vm "C:\Program Files\sun\j2sdk_nb\_jvm\bin\javaw.exe"

2004-02-18:DAV: installed on Dell: installed Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition 1.5.0 Beta 1 -- the SDK, not the JRE. http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp

2004-03-14: re-installed latest version of Eclipse from http://eclipse.org/ . Stable Build: 3.0M7 February 12, 2004 . [FIXME: JUnit]

2004-03-15:

As specified in the Eclipse "readme_eclipse.html", I created a shortcut to the Eclipse executable and modifed the properties of that shortcut to target: "C:\Program Files\eclipse-SDK-3.0M4-win32\eclipse\eclipse.exe" -data "C:\Documents and Settings\caryd\My Documents\caryd\java_workspace" -vm "C:\Program Files\sun\j2sdk_nb\_jvm\bin\javaw.exe"

set the path according to http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/install-windows.html to: C:\Program Files\Java\j2sdk1.5.0\bin;

Simplified the shortcut to target: "C:\Program Files\eclipse-SDK-3.0M4-win32\eclipse\eclipse.exe" -data "C:\Documents and Settings\caryd\My Documents\caryd\java_workspace" (Now that Java is on the path, it works just fine with this shorter path.)

Compaq ProSignia 200

Compaq ProSignia 200

hardware disassembly:

• You only need to take out 3 screws on one side to slide off the side panel.
• Then push 2 plastic clips (molded into the front panel) to pop off the front panel.
• (optional -- can get to all hardware without doing this:) Then unscrew the remaining screws on the back, and one more screw on the front (near the top, formerly hidden by the front panel) and slide the top/side panel off.

hardware re-assembly:

• slide the top/side panel on, then screw it down (1 screw on front, more screws in back)
• hook the right side of the front panel on, then rotate left, slide the clip at the bottom in, then the 2 clips on the left side
• slide the side panel on, then use 3 screws to screw it down.

• 2003-08-28:DAV: bought a used tower PC for $50 + an ethernet card for $10.

  Compaq ProSignia 200 PII/233 ... ... System Identification Number: D739BP210079 ... It apparently has a "network server mode": With network server mode, when the [AC power] resumes, it will not wait for a password to be entered at the power-on password prompt. Instead, it will start from fixed disk drive C. However, keyboard input will not be accepted until the password has been entered. 64 MB RAM (32 MB EDO and 32 MB FPM)

  to get to CMOS setup (BIOS): take disks out of drives, turn on power, hit F10 at the magic moment.

[hardware] Compaq intial hard drive partitions when I bought it: #:id: LBA start: size : name 0:12 63: 80262 Compaq Diag. (39 MB) 1:07 80325:4016250 HPFS/QNX/AUX 2: 0 0:0 3: 0 0:0 http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq4.html#Disks mentions Many Compaq systems, some Dell and other systems use a "maintenance" partition, which should be kept intact. Apparently had Windows NT Server 4.00 on it... but I couldn't guess the password so I just wiped that partition. ... the BIOS "test" gave errors on a couple of different CD-ROMs; it seems to read many sectors OK before the failure ... ... I had to re-format my floppy before the Compaq would accept a OpenBSD boot floppy ... ... "Available disks are: sd0." a: / (min 60 MB, below 2 GB for booting), /usr (min 390 MB), /var (min 25 MB), /tmp (min 50 MB), /home b: swap: 256 MB ... tinydog ... Configure the network: Available interfaces are: xl0 tl0 Which one do you wish to initialize ? [xl0] I dunno. One is the ethernet on the motherboard, the other is a PCI ethernet card, but I don't know which is "xl0". The default media for xl0 is media: Ethernet autoselect (10baseT) Do you want to change the default media ? ... dhcp ... duplicate IP address what ? I thought dhcp was supposed to take care of that for me. ... since it found the dhcp server, xl0 must be the PCI ethernet card. ...

(from BIOS step 2:)

• System: Compaq ProSignia 200 PII/233
• Slot 1 - PCI Ethernet Controller
• Slot 2 - Compaq Wide-Ultra SCSI controller SCSI ID 0: Compaq 2.10-GB Hard Drive
• Slot 3 - PCI VGA Controller
• Slot 4 (empty)
• Slot 5 (empty)
• Proc Compaq Pentium II Processor Board
• Embedded: Compaq Automated Server Recovery (ASR) [FIXME: what's this ?]
• Embedded: Compaq Integrated UTP/BNC Controller

(from BIOS step 3:)

• System: Compaq ProSignia 200 PII/233
• System Identification Number: D739BP210079
• IDE Primary: Disabled
• IDE Secondary: Unit 1: CD-ROM Unit 2: not installed.
• Total Memory: 65536 Kbytes
• Passwords: Disabled
• Power-on: Enable Floppy Boot Read and write ROM POST Speed Up: Enabled
• Integrated Interfaces: ... Aux Input (Pointing Device): Interrupt Enabled
• System Rom: Revision P5 1997-07-15
• System Processor: Pentium II at 233MHz
• Embedded - Compaq Automatic Server Recovery (ASR)

  		Software error recovery: Enabled
  		Software error recovery time-out: 10 minutes
  		Standby recovery: Disabled
  		Standby recovery server port: COM1
  		Standby recovery time-out: 1 minute
  		Software error recovery boot option: Boot operating system
  		Thermal shutdown: enabled
  		UPS shutdown: disabled [FIXME:]
  		UPS shutdown threshold: 5 minutes
  		

• Server Failure notification: Pager status: disabled
• Remote options

  		Serial interface: COM2
  		Dial in status: disabled
  		Network status: disabled
  		Network card slot: System
  		

• Embedded - Compaq Integrated UTP/BNC Controller

  		Network Resources: Enabled
  		Network Address: 00 80 5F A9 B0 E1
  		Network interface module: 100 Base-TX
  
  
  		

installing Debian: I made a boot CD ("sarge") from http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/ . I just turned on the power and the Compaq booted off it. I hit Enter ...

selected the default language (English-US) ...

selected "Detect a keyboard and select layout", hit enter, and I got the message

[!] Error running kbd-chooser An error or warning message was logged while running kbd-chooser Segmentation fault kbd-chooser's postinst exited with status 35584 Go Back Continue

Start over: I download the "rescue.bin" and "root.bin" floppy images from ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/disks-i386/3.0.23-2002-05-21/images-1.44/ . As instructed in http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-appendix#s-obtain I use http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/dosutils/rawrite2.exe to write those images to floppies. (More info at http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-install-methods#s-create-floppy )

OK, stick in the rescue floppy, hit enter.

It churns for a while, then asks me "Insert root floppy disk" (not even a please !).

... it spins the root floppy for a while ... then I get several "data CRC error" messages. I put that floppy back in my other computer, re-format it, and use rawrite on it again. This time (that same floppy) works fine.

" ... built on 2002-05-15 by Adam Di Carlo ...". Thanks, Adam !

...

Select Disk Drive: it's silly to ask me, because it only gives one choice:

	/dev/sda
	

"5 to 10 MB ... [for] /boot" -- on-screen install instructions.

• The root partition / must always physically contain /etc, /bin, /sbin, /lib and /dev, otherwise you won't be able to boot. Typically 100 MB is needed for the root partition, but this may vary.
• /usr: all user programs (/usr/bin), libraries (/usr/lib), documentation (/usr/share/doc), etc., are in this directory. This part of the file system needs most of the space. You should provide at least 500 MB of disk space. If you want to install more packages you should increase the amount of space you give this directory.
• /home: every user will put his data into a subdirectory of this directory. The size of this depends on how many users will be using the system and what files are to be stored in their directories. Depending on your planned usage you should reserve about 100 MB for each user, but adapt this value to your needs.
• /var: all variable data like news articles, e-mails, web sites, APT's cache, etc. will be placed under this directory. The size of this directory depends greatly on the usage of your computer, but for most people will be dictated by the package management tool's overhead. If you are going to do a full installation of just about everything Debian has to offer, all in one session, setting aside 2 or 3 gigabytes of space for /var should be sufficient. If you are going to install in pieces (that is to say, install services and utilities, followed by text stuff, then X, ...), you can get away with 300 - 500 megabytes of in /var. If hard drive space is at a premium and you don't plan on using APT, at least not for major updates, you can get by with as little as 30 or 40 megabytes in /var.
• /tmp: if a program creates temporary data it will most likely go in /tmp. 20-50 MB should be usually enough.

... ... create a small (5-10MB should suffice) partition at the beginning of the disk to be used as the boot partition, and then create whatever other partitions you wish to have, in the remaining area. This boot partition must be mounted on /boot ...

For new users, personal Debian boxes, home systems, and other single-user setups, a single / partition (plus swap) is probably the easiest, simplest way to go. However, this might not be such a good idea when you have lots of disk capacity, e.g., 20GB or so. Ext2 partitions tend to perform poorly on file system integrity checking when they are larger than 6GB or so. For multi-user systems or systems with lots of disk, it's best to put /usr, /var, /tmp, and /home each on their own partitions separate from the / partition.

...

-- http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-partitioning.en.html the swap partition... double the amount of RAM on your machine in size. -- http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=2016&page=4

   (cylinders)
sda1   5   41 MB Compaq diagnostics
sda2   1    8 MB /boot "If you are using lilo, your boot partition must be contained
       within the first 1024 cylinders of the drive. ...
       If you have more than one boot partition (from other OSs, for example,)
	   keep them all in the first 1024 cylinders "
	   DAV: asked for 5 MB; cfdisk rounded up to 1 cylinder (8.2 MB)
sda5  12   99 MB /home (DAV: asked for 100)
I [DAV] like to keep my user directory small enough (under 600 MB) to
make it easy to archive on CD-ROM.
sda6  16  132 MB SWAP (DAV: asked for 128)
sda7 221 1818 MB /
(no more empty space)

When Debian asks if it wants me to scan for bad blocks, I say "yes".

...

"Please select the medium you will use to install the system." OK, I want to do a network install, like http://www.debian.org/distrib/floppyinst . But I don't see any "network" option.

I randomly choose "floppy" and it asks "Please place the Rescue Floppy in the first floppy drive." OK, I take out the root disk, stick in the floppy, and hit enter. It spins for a while, then asks Please insert driver disk 1.

I hit "cancel". ... I scroll down (following the directions at Section 7.1, 7.7 http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-install-system.en.html ) and select "Configure the Network", type in the hostname

tinydog

OK, I just realized that I *should* have followed the directions at http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-install-methods.en.html#s-kernel-choice and used the "compact" 4 floppy set at http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-install-methods.en.html#s-kernel-choice

...

2003-10-28:DAV: I want to install over the network. Starting at http://www.debian.org/ and clicking "Network install" leads me to http://www.debian.org/distrib/netinst and then http://www.debian.org/distrib/floppyinst I think the floppyinst page should give just a tiny bit more detail ... Back at http://www.debian.org/ I click on "Installation manual". This leads me to http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/install .

I choose the the "compact" 4 floppy set because the manual http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-install-methods.en.html#s-kernel-choice says "These built in drivers allow you to take full advantage of the Debian installer's net install feature to install the driver floppies over the network so that only the root and rescue floppy disks need to be made."

4 floppies ? 5 floppies ? (see http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-install-methods.en.html#s-where-files which matches http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-appendix.en.html#s-rescue-images ) I created these 5 floppies with http://sourceforge.net/projects/ntrawrite/ .

• "Rescue Floppy" http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/compact/rescue.bin
• Root image http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/compact/root.bin
• TFTP boot images ... used for network booting http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/compact/tftpboot.img
• Linux kernel image ... "You don't need it if you are installing from floppies."
• http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/compact/driver-1.bin
• http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/compact/driver-2.bin

http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-appendix.en.html#s-rescue-images lists a bunch of "rescue floppy" images -- aren't they all the same ?

FIXME:Should I use ext3 filesystems or what ?

... the manual http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-preparing.en.html recommends that I read "Dselect for Beginners" http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/dselect-beginner "after the basic install is complete."

todo: backup the Compaq partition.

///Install Debian:/// ... 2003-10-29 So I stick in the "rescue floppy" and turn it on. At the "boot:" prompt I hit "Enter". After a bunch of stuff scrolls by, it asks "Insert root floppy disk... and press ENTER" So I do that. I select "en ... and press Enter to proceed in English.". I wonder what the difference is between English(Ireland) and English(United Kingdom) ? "This installation set was built on 2002-05-15 by Adam Di Carlo"

Partitioning /dev/sda :

   (cylinders)
sda1   5   41 MB Compaq diagnostics
sda2   1    8 MB /boot "If you are using lilo, your boot partition must be contained
       within the first 1024 cylinders of the drive. ...
       If you have more than one boot partition (from other OSs, for example,)
	   keep them all in the first 1024 cylinders "
	   DAV: asked for 5 MB; cfdisk rounded up to 1 cylinder (8.2 MB)
sda5  12   99 MB /home (DAV: asked for 100)
I [DAV] like to keep my user directory small enough (under 600 MB) to
make it easy to archive on CD-ROM.
sda6  16  132 MB SWAP (DAV: asked for 128)
sda7 221 1818 MB /
(no more empty space)

#1      41 MB Compaq diagnostics

debian.midco.net time=28ms
debian.uchicago.edu time=44ms
ftp.debian.org time=49ms
ftp.us.debian.org time=49ms

 cable modem --- Linux or BSD firewall -+- laptop --- PDA
                                        +- desktop -+- CD burner
                                        |           +- scanner
                                        +- RAID fileserver