Hi, Thibaut -- Thanks for your suggestion to try the netinst stuff.
> AFAICR, it took me about 30mn (slow internet connection alas) > to get a fully operationnal A500 builder with this netinst > thingy... After all of the sasser craziness and other high-priority tasks were addressed, I pulled down the sarge-hppa-netinst.iso from this URL: http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/daily/hppa/current/ I hope this was an appropriate place. Here are some things that could be done to speed up the install process: 0. The partitioning software probably works like a dream on Intel boxes. On hppa, it does not automatically create a PALO partition, and it is not clear to me what the difference is between a regular "/boot" partition and a PALO partition. Do I need both? I think so, but I'm not sure. Is this just LIF space for the firmware? 1. The installation process should tune the firmware to boot from the correct partition with the correct path to the kernel on the correct disk. My rp2430's primary boot path was not set, and after installation, PALO did not have the correct partition or path for the kernel. What does a "path pri ..." statement look like which will set all of these values so that a simple "boot" will boot the expected kernel from the expected place? 2. There is a helpful message which says, "run 'base-config' later if you need to.". It should also say, "Run ______ to configure your system's network, printers, etc." We've probably all seen the old RedHat "redhat-config-*" mechanism. How is this done with Debian Linux? 3. I've very concerned about trying to build cpqfc & get it into the kernel, since I'm having even the most basic stty-related problems with the console. It is shared via an RS232 switch with our other rp2430s that are running HP-UX 11.00, and is set for 8N1-9600. The problem we're seeing looks like a stop-bits or flow-control problem. Is Debian HPPA setting serial console characteristics to something other than what might normally be seen on HP-UX? 4. Many of the ftp & http download sites near me listed in the installation menus refused to offer or did not have the Debian packages as the installer expected. After a few tries, it looks less & less like an "overloaded server" situation and more & more like a "don't got it" situation. Are these sites verified right before the image containing their respective references are written, to make sure they work? 5. The installation process wanted to look up the box's MAC address on our BOOTP/DHCP server. After getting useful info, it did not write system files that would configure the network interface, populate resolv.conf, set up NIS, or anything else network-related, AFAICT. Is there something I was supposed to have done to make this happen during the installation process so that networking is configured upon a reboot? Those are the biggest issues. I'll bet I too can get the install process down to a half hour, but I'm concerned that it will take me a week or so of practice, which will annoy my bosses greatly. :-) Are HPPA installations from the Sarge CD set, when it becomes available, likely to make the installation process easier than this? Thanks for your help & have a great day! Don Glascock -- Donald S. Glascock Mailstop RO-SN-2-220 Special Purpose Processor Development Group Mayo Foundation Rochester, MN 55905 [EMAIL PROTECTED] +1.507.538.5467 +1.507.284.9171 (fax) http://www.mayo.edu/sppdg "No matter where you go, there you are."
