On Mon, Jul 27, 2015 at 11:46 AM, David Bruce
<davidstuartbr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've installed Debian dozens of times since 2002 and I have never run
> into anything approaching the headaches I am experiencing trying to
> get the current stable Debian onto a newly rebuilt machine. The box is
> a straightforward amd64
Which amd64?
> setup built from a bundle from Newegg. It has
> onboard Realtek eth0,
Which realtek eth0?
> plus I have an Atheros PCI wireless card
Which Atheros PCI wireless card?
> that I
> purchased a couple years ago specifically based on Linux
> compatibility.
>
> Issues:
> 1. the official amd64 netinst CD image fails to let me connect to my
> router via either interface, even when I provide a USB drive with the
> debs for all firmwares.
Can you get a dmesg (or is it called something else in systemd world?)
saved, say, to a USB, and post it?
> 2. the unofficial amd64 netinst CD image with firmware included fails
> identically. DHCP autoconfiguration fails, and even if I supply a
> manual ip address the installer can't find ftp.debian.org
> 3. an old Squeeze installer CD (6.03 amd netinst) connects perfectly
> on the same hardware and installs a partially usable system. I say
> "partially" because KDE only sees one of my two monitors, it won't let
> me use the correct resolution, and the system has no functioning
> sound. But it sure is disturbing that the 8.1 installer fails on the
> exact equipment where 6.03 works.
A dmesg from this install would also be informative.
Drivers change. The wired network adapter may be not yet supported in
the current driver, but may be functional by some default assumptions
in an older driver that sees it as something it sort-of-recognizes.
> 4. Thinking dist-upgrade would work as it always has in the past, I
> figured I could just adjust my sources.list and upgrade first to
> Wheezy, then to Jessie, and then get the issues worked out with the
> current stable system. Wrong! I was able to dist-upgrade to Wheezy
> with no evident errors, but upon rebooting I could no longer connect
> to the network. Or if I try the Wheezy->Jessie dist-upgrade without
> rebooting, it fails with dependency errors ("E: package 'foo' requires
> 'bar-xxx', but 'bar-yyy' is going to be installed...").
Chaining versions in new installs should never be expected to be a
smooth ride. What you're hitting there is probably another problem
entirely.
> 5. (most troubling) - I posted a couple of days ago that I had trouble
> with DHCP not working during install, and have had exactly zero
> follow-ups (although I did receive one very nice off-list email
> suggestion, which unfortunately did not help).
>
> I have always been an ardent advocate and defender of free software
> and desktop "Linux" (sloppily defined for present discussion), but I
> have to say that this is an enormously frustrating situation.
I think the current situation is very frustrating, too. Especially
since my day job hardly lets me even look at the list any more.
> It has
> been a while since I installed Debian on the predecessor to my current
> machine. I distinctly recall feeling that desktop Debian had become
> mature, solid, and eminently usable, and that the "Debian is outdated
> and difficult" reputation had become a thing of the past. Definitely
> not so sure anymore.
Well, we are not in the golden age of free software anymore. The flood
of Android devices has apparently convinced a lot of people that
freedom no longer matters. Or something. But that's a separate issue,
and there's not much
However, I don't see a dmesg in your original posts. It's hard to
comment on driver availability when we don't see a dmesg, and it was
easy to assume, since you seemed to think you knew which bugs were
relevant, that you could find out what driver you need and check its
availability yourself.
> Well enough of the rant but hopefully some of this can be taken
> constructively. I will probably get a CD set and see if I can install
> a complete system offline and then get the networking up. Debian is
> definitely the system I want, but that doesn't matter much if I can't
> get the darn thing working.
>
> I would still welcome any suggestions or insights as to why the 6.03
> installer works with my home router, but 8.1 does not.
>
> Thanks for any help, or for at least listening to these issues.
>
> --
> David Bruce
>
> For all your software needs, visit The Apt Store:
> deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian stable main
--
Joel Rees
Be careful when you look at conspiracy.
Arm yourself with knowledge of yourself, as well:
http://reiisi.blogspot.jp/2011/10/conspiracy-theories.html
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