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1. Introduction

1.1 General Intro

Some unused piece of delicious hardware floating around on my desk. Screaming to be used. 40 MBof ram and a 403 PPC inside.

So I decided to give it a try and connect it to my local Linux network. I want to thank the company I work for because they gave me the chance to experiment with it.

In this (Mini-Howto) we'll be dealing with an IBM Network Station model 8361-100, other models may be featured in the future.

We also have some additional info about the other 2 models. The 8361-200 (Model 300) and the 8362-A23 (Model 1000). More info can be found at http://www.pc.ibm.com/networkstation/products/

I'm trying to describe how I setup the NC, there are probably lots of other ways to set up this machine, however this one works fine. Any other remarks you might have from your own experience are welcome. (Free Hardware too ;-))

This MINI Howto is not trying to be the Bible on NC's and Linux, it's trying to get you started. Contributions to this NC are most welcome.

During the past year I have received numerous comments on the HOWTO and lots of help from other people (suprisingly a lot from inside IBM). I've been busy therefore now is the first time that I'm trying to do a real update of the HOWTO. Most people are asking me about Linux binaries to extract the AIX distribution file. I have heard about an internal IBM project that is going on there but I have no accurate info on that matter yet.

Things we still have to implement in this Howto

Help is appreciated ;-)

1.2 Changes in the new versions.

The new version comes with a new kernel and some changes in the applications. The kernel can now be downloaded as a compressed file which speeds up the process.

Starting with the Network Station 3.0, you need a new Boot Monitor or boot PROM (aka Firmware) with the version 3.0.x or later. You NetworkStation won't work with a older boot PROM (aka Firmware) and the new Network Station 3.x kernel. If you buy a new NetworkStation, you always get one of the latest PROMs Older versions can be automatically updated from a boot server, from which the new boot PROM get's downloaded.

There also is a new layout of the Setup Utility where you define you basic network settings of your Network Station.


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