Installing Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 For ARM

Abstract

This document contains installation instructions for the Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 system, for the ARM (``arm'') architecture. It also contains pointers to more information and information on how to make the most of your new Debian system.

Copyright Notice

This document may be distributed and modified under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
© 1996 Bruce Perens
© 1996, 1997 Sven Rudolph
© 1998 Igor Grobman, James Treacy
© 1998–2001 Adam Di Carlo

This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version.

This manual is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

A copy of the GNU General Public License is available as /usr/doc/copyright/GPL in the Debian GNU/Linux distribution or on the World Wide Web at the GNU website. You can also obtain it by writing to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

We require that you properly attribute Debian and the authors of this document on any materials derived from this document. If you modify and improve this document, we request that you notify the authors of this document, via debian-boot@lists.debian.org.

Contents

• 1 Welcome to Debian
  • 1.1 What is Debian?
  • 1.2 What is GNU/Linux?
  • 1.3 What is Debian GNU/Linux?
  • 1.4 What is Debian GNU/Hurd?
  • 1.5 Getting Debian
  • 1.6 Getting the Newest Version of This Document
  • 1.7 Organization of This Document
  • 1.8 WARNING: This Document Has Known Problems
  • 1.9 About Copyrights and Software Licenses
• 2 System Requirements
  • 2.1 Supported Hardware
  • 2.2 Installation Media
  • 2.3 Memory and Disk Space Requirements
  • 2.4 Peripherals and Other Hardware
  • 2.5 Purchasing Hardware Specifically for GNU/Linux
• 3 Before You Start
  • 3.1 Backups
  • 3.2 Information You Will Need
  • 3.3 Pre-installation Hardware and Operating System Setup
• 4 Partitioning Your Hard Drive
  • 4.1 Background
  • 4.2 Planning Use of the System
  • 4.3 Device Names in Linux
  • 4.4 Recommended Partitioning Scheme
  • 4.5 Example Partitioning
  • 4.6 Partitioning Prior to Installation
• 5 Methods for Installing Debian
  • 5.1 Overview of the Installation Process
  • 5.2 Choosing the Right Installation Set
  • 5.3 Installation Sources for Different Installation Stages
  • 5.4 Description of Installation System Files
  • 5.5 TFTP
  • 5.6 Diskettes
  • 5.7 CD-ROM
  • 5.8 Hard Disk
  • 5.9 Installing from NFS
• 6 Booting the Installation System
  • 6.1 Boot Parameter Arguments
  • 6.2 Interpreting the Kernel Startup Messages
  • 6.3 Booting from a Hard Disk
  • 6.4 Booting and/or Installing from a CD-ROM
  • 6.5 Booting from TFTP
  • 6.6 Troubleshooting the Boot Process
• 7 Using dbootstrap for Initial System Configuration
  • 7.1 Introduction to dbootstrap
  • 7.2 ``Release Notes''
  • 7.3 ``Debian GNU/Linux Installation Main Menu''
  • 7.4 ``Configure the Keyboard''
  • 7.5 Last Chance!
  • 7.6 ``Partition a Hard Disk''
  • 7.7 ``Initialize and Activate a Swap Partition''
  • 7.8 ``Initialize a Linux Partition''
  • 7.9 ``Mount a Previously-Initialized Partition''
  • 7.10 Mounting Partitions Not Supported by dbootstrap
  • 7.11 ``Install Operating System Kernel and Modules''
  • 7.12 ``Configure Device Driver Modules''
  • 7.13 ``Configure the Network''
  • 7.14 ``Install the Base System''
  • 7.15 ``Configure the Base System''
  • 7.16 ``Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk''
  • 7.17 ``Make a Boot Floppy''
  • 7.18 The Moment of Truth
  • 7.19 Debian Post-Boot (Base) Configuration
  • 7.20 MD5 Passwords
  • 7.21 Shadow Passwords
  • 7.22 Set the Root Password
  • 7.23 Create an Ordinary User
  • 7.24 Setting Up PPP
  • 7.25 Configuring APT
  • 7.26 Package Installation: Simple or Advanced
  • 7.27 Simple Package Selection -- The Task Installer
  • 7.28 Advanced Package Selection with dselect
  • 7.29 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
  • 8.3 Further Reading and Information
  • 8.4 Compiling a New Kernel
• 9 Technical Information on the Boot Floppies
  • 9.1 Source Code
  • 9.2 Rescue Floppy
  • 9.3 Replacing the Rescue Floppy Kernel
  • 9.4 The Base Floppies
• 10 Appendix
  • 10.1 Further Information and Obtaining Debian GNU/Linux
  • 10.2 Linux Devices
• 11 Administrivia
  • 11.1 About This Document
  • 11.2 Contributing to This Document
  • 11.3 Major Contributions
  • 11.4 Trademark Acknowledgement