PLIP Install HOWTO Gilles Lamiral, lamiral@mail.dotcom.fr v1.22, 16 June 2000 This paper describes how to install a Gnu|Linux distribution on a com­ puter without Ethernet card, or CD-ROM, but just a local floppy drive and a remote nfs server attached by a Null-Modem parallel cable. The nfs server has a cdrom drive mounted and exported. ______________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. License 3. How did I write this howto ? 4. What do you need ? 5. The documentation 6. Conventions 7. Network parameters 8. PLIP on the Source side 9. The cdrom nfs server side 10. FIPS, PARTED, splitting of hard disk partitions 11. Debian installation 11.1 Preparing the two floppies 11.2 The real installation process 11.3 An installation break: PLIP on the target side 11.4 Return to the normal install process 12. Installing Slackware, RedHat, Caldera 12.1 Slakware installation 12.1.1 Making boot,root and plip disks 12.1.1.1 1a- creating the boot and root disks. 12.1.1.2 1b- Creating the PLIP disk 12.1.1.3 1c- launching the installation. 12.1.2 2a- Install PLIP module 12.1.3 3a- Now create your NFS drive. 12.1.4 4a- Installing Slakware 12.2 (BF 12.3 Troubleshooting 13. Installing from a DOS partition 14. Install the plip interface permanently 14.1 On the source side 14.2 On the target side 15. Need to compile a new kernel ? 16. What's new 17. To do 18. List of contributors and acknowledgements ______________________________________________________________________ You can find the latest release of the PLIP-Install-HOWTO, by Gilles Lamiral, located at: http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/PLIP-Install-HOWTO.html 1. Introduction Writing a PLIP install HOWTO seems useless nowadays since Ethernet cards are cheap: NE2000 cards cost about the same as a Null-Modem cable. This is true for desktop computers, but not for laptop computers, in which the PCMCIA card costs more than 10 times as much the Null-Modem cable. Moreover, there is a parallel port on every computer, but not always a network card. Of course, this howto can be used to install Linux on every personal computer without loss of generality. This paper is just what I've done to install a Debian GNU/Linux distribution on a Toshiba Portégé 620CT laptop, from a NFS exported cdrom drive, via a Null-Modem cable. A Null-Modem cable is also called a LapLink cable but this word is trademarked by Traveling Software under the number 75466713 since 1986, so I won't use it anymore. This HOWTO will be obsolete when every Linux distribution include a PLIP install option. For example, the Debian installation only needs to add two commands to make this HOWTO obsolete (ifconfig + route). I hope one Debian maintainer will consider this point. I would be happy to know if someone used the PLIP-Install-HOWTO to install other Linux distributions from other network protocols (ftp, http, nfs, samba, or even NT/Novell servers) Feedback with typos, bad English, comments, money, job, joy, fears, cries are welcome and recommended (not all with the same eagerness). 2. License I put this documentation under the OpenContent license. This means this document is given without any warranty. You can use it, redistribute it, or modify it, by respecting the following conditions: You have to clearly specify the nature and the content of the modifications, their date and keep the opencontent license in case of redistribution. If you sell it, you sell the medium, not the content. This is a summary, read the license to get more details. For those who can't read the license online, I give a textual copy: OpenContent License (OPL) Version 1.0, July 14, 1998. This document outlines the principles underlying the OpenContent (OC) movement and may be redistributed provided it remains unaltered. For legal purposes, this document is the license under which OpenContent is made available for use. The original version of this document may be found at http://www.opencontent.org/opl.shtml LICENSE Terms and Conditions for Copying, Distributing, and Modifying Items other than copying, distributing, and modifying the Content with which this license was distributed (such as using, etc.) are outside the scope of this license. 1. You may copy and distribute exact replicas of the OpenContent (OC) as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the OC a copy of this License along with the OC. You may at your option charge a fee for the media and/or handling involved in creating a unique copy of the OC for use off-line, you may at your option offer instructional support for the OC in exchange for a fee, or you may at your option offer warranty in exchange for a fee. You may not charge a fee for the OC itself. You may not charge a fee for the sole service of providing access to and/or use of the OC via a network (e.g. the Internet), whether it be via the world wide web, FTP, or any other method. 2. You may modify your copy or copies of the OpenContent or any portion of it, thus forming works based on the Content, and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions: a) You must cause the modified content to carry prominent notices stating that you changed it, the exact nature and content of the changes, and the date of any change. b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the OC or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License, unless otherwise permitted under applicable Fair Use law. These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the OC, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the OC, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it. Exceptions are made to this requirement to release modified works free of charge under this license only in compliance with Fair Use law where applicable. 3. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to copy, distribute or modify the OC. These actions are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by distributing or translating the OC, or by deriving works herefrom, you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or translating the OC. NO WARRANTY 4. BECAUSE THE OPENCONTENT (OC) IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE OC, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE OC "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK OF USE OF THE OC IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE OC PROVE FAULTY, INACCURATE, OR OTHERWISE UNACCEPTABLE YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY REPAIR OR CORRECTION. 5. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MIRROR AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE OC AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE OC, EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. 3. How did I write this howto ? I wrote this paper during the installation process but since I encountered several problems at the same time, my notes were disparate and sometimes I forgot to write the good command lines because I was too fed up to reboot (kernel compilations) and edit this file each time. When the installation went wrong (it did, I'm a beginner on laptops, plip, linux nfs, portmapper, Debian), I tried several things to fix the problems. When they remained too long, my brain was focused on solving, not writing. So, when the installation process finally succeeded, I decided to restart the process from scratch by noting everything in order to save your time. It was the first time I had installed Linux twice on the same computer. Then, in order to verify the document, I again restarted from scratch with a Slink Debian distribution (the next after the Hamm one). It was the first time I had installed Linux 3 times on the same computer. I hope it was the last time I have to do that. Conclusion: If you do what is in this paper, it should work. 4. What do you need ? ˇ A Personal Computer, laptop or desktop, called the target computer or simply target. ˇ A 3 1/4" inch floppy drive on the target. ˇ Two or three fresh floppies. They don't need to be formatted. You also need one more DOS formatted floppy if you have to play with FIPS. ˇ Another computer with a cdrom drive and nfs services, called source computer or simply source. It doesn't have to be a Linux system but just a system which can export a cdrom drive via nfs. In this HOWTO, I assume it is a Linux system. ˇ A cdrom distribution. I took a Debian Hamm (2.0r3) from an old Infomagic compilation. I think every distribution can be installed this way, but I'm not sure. I've read a French document, written by Chmouel Boudjnah, saying the RedHat distribution has an easy installation process. Chmouel's document also deals with the Debian distribution, so if you read French, you can use Chmouel's document instead of this one. ˇ A Null-Modem DB 25 cable. Is it the same as a serial cable? You'll find the answer in the next release. ˇ Some time: 3 hours. ˇ Coffee. 1 liter. 5. The documentation I recommend these good readings in case you can't figure out how to solve a problem. I've read them. You should too if you're curious or conscientious. Please, do not forget to consider the LDP mirrors, listed at: Most HOWTOs are translated in many languages. Just go to the bottom of a mirror page and follow the translations/ link. If you want to use Linux on a laptop, read the latest Laptop-HOWTO, by Werner Heuser, located at: If you haven't installed any distribution yet, carefully read the Installation-HOWTO, by Eric S. Raymond, located at: . And make more coffee :-) If you need information about your cdrom drive, read the CDROM-HOWTO, by Jeff Tranter, located at: If you haven't installed an nfs server yet, read the NFS-HOWTO, by Nicolai Langfeldt, located at: If you need to compile a new kernel on the source box, read the Kernel-HOWTO, by Brian Ward, located at: If you are new to PLIP, read the PLIP MINI-HOWTO, by Andrea Controzzi, located at: If you plan to make your Null-Modem cable yourself, a good reading is the file PLIP.txt, by Donald Becker, located at: /usr/src/linux/Documentation/networking/PLIP.txt on your source linux computer, Luke. 6. Conventions The file contents and line commands and install screen-shots are always in typewriter font, like this: #!/bin/bash ############################################# #### This is the great file /bin/Windows #### ############################################# while [ "1" ]; do echo "I do my best because I'm the best" echo "Very soon, next Y2Kill (the 01/01/0000)" echo "A new marvelous 64 bit release !" echo "Please wait a little more" sleep 18446744073709551615 # 2^64-1 done or this: $ killall Windows Terminated The file content lines should never begin with white space. You'll have to remove them, if any. Sorry, I'm fed up with C-a M-AltGr-\ (remember, I'm a French azerty writer). Tab-emacs reflex is untamable (coders who use Emacs always press the tabular key like a twitch). Command input lines begin with a dollar $ (the prompt), you don't have to type the dollar, just type the rest of the line; other lines are the command output, you don't have to type them either. Because all the configuration commands are important, you'll need to use a system administrator shell, like root, on the source and the target computers. $ su Password: blabla # graham says: Why this "#"? Because this is for root's prompt. So, in the next paragraph, say that you will use the '$' for the remainder of this. See my comment below. The prompt will be shown as "$" in the remainder of this documentation "$", even if it should be "#". This is because "#" often means comment, so it is ambiguous. I don't like ambiguity in computer science. 7. Network parameters We will make a plip point-to-point network with those IP configuration: ˇ target: 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.255 ˇ source: 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.255 You should not already have those names in your name space: $ ping source ping: unknown host source $ ping target ping: unknown host target You should not already have those IP addresses in your network space: $ ping 192.168.0.1 PING 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes ping: sendto: Network is unreachable ping: wrote 192.168.0.1 64 chars, ret=-1 --- 192.168.0.1 ping statistics --- 1 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss $ ping 192.168.0.2 PING 192.168.0.2 (192.168.0.2): 56 data bytes ping: sendto: Network is unreachable ping: wrote 192.168.0.2 64 chars, ret=-1 --- 192.168.0.2 ping statistics --- 1 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss If those commands don't give you errors, change the names or the addresses. You can choose other addresses, names or netmask (netmask must be the same on both sides). In the rest of this document, I'll suppose you choose these addresses and these names. Add a line in /etc/exports #### file /etc/exports #### ... /cdrom source(ro) target(ro) #### EOF #### Because the portmaper tries to resolve IP addresses, add the IP addresses and names in /etc/hosts #### file /etc/hosts #### ... 192.168.0.1 target 192.168.0.2 source #### EOF #### Verify you have the item files for the hosts search list in the file /etc/nsswitch.conf #### file /etc/nsswitch.conf #### ... hosts: files nis dns ... #### EOF #### 8. PLIP on the Source side This section describes how to set up the plip interface in the source server. If you run into trouble, I suggest that you read the PLIP MINI-HOWTO. Check that your lp device is not set. You should not have this entry: $ cat /proc/devices Character devices: ... 6 lp ... If you do have it, kill the lpd daemon and remove the lp module: $ /etc/rc.d/init.d/lpd.init stop Shutting down lpd: lpd $ rmmod lp If you can't remove the lp module then you have to recompile the kernel with lp service as a module. Now, the "6 lp" line has disappeared from the /proc/devices file, which is a reflection of the kernel capabilities. You are not obliged to eliminate the lp device : the scheme may work with lp. Without guaranty (it works for me). Check it yourself. Check that your parallel port is handled: $ ls /proc/parport/ 0/ $ cat /proc/parport/0/hardware base: 0x378 irq: 7 dma: none modes: SPP,ECP,ECPEPP,ECPPS2 If you don't have any directory under /proc/parport/ then you have to load the parport and parport_pc modules: $ insmod parport $ insmod parport_pc You should see this new entry in /var/log/messages: Oct 9 20:50:47 louloutte kernel: parport0: PC-style at 0x378 [SPP,ECP,ECPEPP,ECPPS2] Oct 9 20:50:47 louloutte kernel: parport0: detected irq 7; use procfs to enable interrupt-driven operation. I repeat the message "detected irq 7, use procfs to enable interrupt- driven operation", so: $ echo 7 > /proc/parport/0/irq Check that plip module is loaded: $ lsmod |grep plip If plip module is not loaded, then load it: $ insmod plip You should see something like this in /var/log/messages ==> /var/log/messages <== Oct 8 16:34:12 louloutte kernel: NET3 PLIP version 2.3-parport gniibe@mri.co.jp Oct 8 16:34:12 louloutte kernel: plip0: Parallel port at 0x378, using IRQ 7 If you can't load the plip module then you have to recompile the kernel with plip service as a module. The syslog message says the module is loaded on the plip0 interface. Configure the plip0 interface: $ ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 up Check that everything is okay. $ ifconfig plip0 plip0 Link encap:10Mbps Ethernet HWaddr FC:FC:C0:A8:00:02 inet addr:192.168.0.2 P-t-P:192.168.0.1 Mask:255.255.255.255 UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 Interrupt:7 Base address:0x378 Now you can ping locally the source server: $ ping source PING source (192.168.0.2): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 192.168.0.2: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=0.3 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.0.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=0.2 ms --- source ping statistics --- 2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max = 0.2/0.2/0.3 ms Verify that the route to target exists: $ route Kernel IP routing table Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface target * 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 plip0 If the route doesn't exist, add it: $ route add -host 192.168.0.1 dev plip0 When the target is configured you will be able to do a ping test: $ ping target PING 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=4.5 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=4.3 ms --- 192.168.0.1 ping statistics --- 2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max = 4.3/4.4/4.5 ms But if you try it now you should have: $ ping target PING target (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes --- target ping statistics --- 5 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss Now, the server network is ready to work. Congratulations. 9. The cdrom nfs server side This section describes how to mount and export via NFS a cdrom drive. Mount the cdrom. If you encounter a problem with your cdrom drive, read the CDROM-HOWTO. I assume that the cdrom device is /dev/hdd but it could be /dev/sr0 or /dev/hdb etc. The mount point I choose is /cdrom but you can choose the one you want: $ mount -t iso9660 /dev/hdd /cdrom You have to set up nfs services. If something goes wrong, read the NFS-HOWTO Verify your kernel supports nfs: $ cat /proc/filesystems ext2 nodev proc nodev nfs nodev ncpfs nodev devpts iso9660 Verify your portmapper can handle mountd and nfs client requests: $ rpcinfo -p program vers proto port 100000 2 tcp 111 portmapper 100000 2 udp 111 portmapper 100005 1 udp 655 mountd 100005 1 tcp 657 mountd 100003 2 udp 2049 nfs 100003 2 tcp 2049 nfs Lines with nfs or portmapper have to be there. NFS on tcp ? progress have been made ! Then, rerun portmap, mountd, nfs: $ /etc/rc.d/init.d/portmap.init stop Stopping INET services: portmap $ /etc/rc.d/init.d/portmap.init start Starting portmapper: portmap $ /etc/rc.d/init.d/nfs stop Shutting down NFS services: rpc.mountd rpc.nfsd $ /etc/rc.d/init.d/nfs start Starting NFS services: rpc.mountd rpc.nfsd /etc/rc.d/init.d/ is /sbin/init.d/ on SuSE Linux systems. I had a dream last nigth: LSB was respected. (LDB: Linux Standard Base) Then, try to mount it "locally" (via nfs) on the source box and clean the test: $ mkdir /tmp/nfstest $ mount -t nfs source:/cdrom /tmp/nfstest $ ls /tmp/nfstest/ README debian/ locatedb.3 tools/ TRANS.TBL ftp.netscape.com/ ls_lR.3 upgrade/ boot/ install/ realaudio/ $ echo great stuff ! $ umount /tmp/nfstest $ rmdir /tmp/nfstest Bad luck ? Read the NFS-HOWTO and /var/log/messages. Check the nfs server with those commands: $ rpcinfo -p Run portmap with the -v flag: $ portmap -v kill portmap, mountd, nfsd and rerun them in this order: portmap, mountd, nfsd. Take a rest, get more coffee. Read again the NFS-HOWTO and restart. Now, the exported cdrom drive nfs server is ready to work. Congratulations. 10. FIPS, PARTED, splitting of hard disk partitions This section is for anybody who has only one primary FAT partition (DOS, Windows 3.xx, NT) and wants to keep it without loosing data. Make some backups because if you burn it, I won't be responsible - you will. Journey to PARTED Andrew Clausen (clausen@gnu.org), GNU Parted maintainer, wrote "You might want to mention GNU Parted in the PLIP-Install Howto." That is done. Since I didn't try it I can only give you the links to parted by http and parted ftp . Help yourself. Parted seems very good. Andrew said: "GNU Parted is a *LOT* more powerful than FIPS (think Partition Magic). For example, it can convert FAT16 <=> FAT32, change the size of the FATs, doesn't require a defragger, etc. And it supports ext2, linux-swap..." Back to FIPS. Download FIPS . Don't forget the mirrors ftp.xx.debian.org where xx is your country abbreviation (fr, fi, us, uk, etc.). At the time of this writing the archive file is called fips20.zip. The fips program is already in the debian cdrom distribution. I found it (yes, after downloading the fips20.zip file) in /cdrom/debian/tools/fips15.zip (It supposes your cdrom is mounted on /cdrom) I guess you are on a Unix world but you're not compelled to do so. Go in a good working place on the source computer: $ mkdir /tmp/fips-2.0/ $ cd /tmp/fips-2.0/ $ unzip -l /archive/fips/fips20.zip ... $ unzip /archive/fips/fips20.zip ... $ ls $ dos2unix fips.doc fips.faq readme.1st 1. Read the file readme.1st 2. Read the file fips.doc 3. Read the file fips.faq Boot your target computer. Be in pure DOS (quit Windows). Read again the file fips.doc from the section "5. Before you start". Be aware of hidden files. Graham comment: Hidden files will not be moved by DeFrag (as far as I know), so FIPS will reclaim less space for use by Linux. Use the ATTRIB command to remove the "hidden" attribute. Some things may require that files are hidden, so it will be necessary to hide the same files again later. I think that it would also be a good idea to run scandisk at this moment. Perhaps I do not trust DOS. Be aware to eliminate the "virtual memory" file (swap for Win*) during the fips process. In Windows 3.11 (quite up to date, no?) this swap file is configured from Program-Manager->Control-Panel->Enhanced (a i386 chip icon). Click, Click->Click on the chip and re-click on a button called "Virtual Memory". Adjust the size to none, Click<-Click<-Click<-Click back plus Alt-F4 to close all your windows. Don't you think the Gates are too closed too? Graham comment: I am not sure that this is a good idea. What happens if "386spart.par" is not hidden? I think that DEFRAG will move it, and Windows will complain next time it starts, then rebuild the file. Since we are clearly keeping DOS/Windows, the user will require a swap file again later. By not deleting it, the disc space is reserved for that time. I don't what to say. I've just parroted FIPS manual because I succeeded with it. So drink coffee, and pray. Run SCANDISK: C:\> SCANDISK Correct every cluster. You should have no dead cluster now. Quit SCANDISK Run DEFRAG on C: C:\> DEFRAG C: All used clusters are at the beginning of the hard disk. Quit DEFRAG Make a bootable floppy disk: C:\> FORMAT A: /S Copy AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS to the new floppy if you want to keep your local features (keyboard keys etc.). Remove the line running SMARTDRIVE.EXE in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Keep a minimal AUTOEXEC.BAT On the source box: Copy the fips files restorrb.exe, fips.exe and errors.txt to this floppy disk. $ mcopy errors.txt fips.exe restorrb.exe a: Graham comment: Doesn't this assume that mtools are installed? If the floppy disc is mounted as type msdos, the standard "cp" command should do the job, and mtools would not be needed. I have never used mtools, but I have played with DOS files from Linux. Yes, this assume that mtools are installed. mcopy is faster to type than mkdir, mount, cp, umount, rmdir. Boot the target with the floppy. Run fips while reading the section "Using FIPS" in the file fips.doc Do not forget to answer yes when fips ask for a rootboot saving. When everything is ok, save your hard disk space: $ cd $ rm -rf /tmp/fips-2.0/ Now you have a nice free space for a new operating system. 11. Debian installation I'm not a Debian proselyte since it is my first Debian installation. Debian lovers are the same kind of people as Macintosh lovers or Linux lovers in the operating systems space. Nothing else counts. Since I'm already a Mac and Lin lover (and French too :-) it was time to fall in love. Debian is well, clearly and internationally documented. Thanks to all those guys who bred this really open distribution. I could leave you on your own during the installation process. But since we have to interact with a shell during it, the entire process will be described in details. I know the description is Debian specific. I prefer to give you a complete example than nothing except a ``run a shell at the right moment and type bla bla...''. I do like concrete examples. Simon Forget told me he could not use this howto with his Toshiba Libretto 50CT because the kernel could not recognize the pcmcia floppy drive during the installation process. I don't know why but there is a solution using plip, if you already have a dos partition on the target computer. This solution is simpler and faster because no floppy drive nor plip network are necessary during the installation process. If you are interested in this solution, go directly to the section ``Installing from a DOS partition''. I'm keeping the old one installation routine because this new one needs a DOS partition that becomes superfluous when you definitively want to leave the dark side. 11.1. Preparing the two floppies On the source side, mount the cdrom and go in the install directory $ mount -t iso9660 /dev/hdd /cdrom $ cd /cdrom/debian/dists/stable/main/disks-i386/current/ Read the file install.html with a browser or install.txt with a cat, less or more (a dog). Now, record the install (alias rescue) floppy. Write a "resc1440.bin" label on it: $ dd if=resc1440.bin of=/dev/fd0H1440 Record the drivers floppy. Write a "drv1440.bin" label on it: $ dd if=drv1440.bin of=/dev/fd0H1440 Lock the writing on those floppies. Now you're ready to start the real installation process. 11.2. The real installation process Insert the resc1440.bin floppy on target drive. Reboot your target box. Welcome to Debian GNU/Linux 2.x! ... Read the text The prompt is : boot: Press Loading root.bin........... loading linux... .... A new screen: Next: Select Color or Monochrome display Choose yours with the arrow up/down keys and press Next: Continue with the installation press Software in the Public Interest presents *** Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 *** ... Read the text Press (You see on the screen) Next: Configure the Keyboard press Select your country and press Next : Partition a Hard Disk Press Select Disk Drive /dev/hda If you have several disks choose the good one (where you want to install Linux) and Press You are now using the program cfdisk. Using cfdisk is safe until you decide to [Write] the partition on disk. Leaving cfdisk with [Quit] is safe. We are going to make just two new primary partitions, a Swap one and a big Linux one. If you want to do more partitions, leave some free space or extended partitions, you can. But read the documentation about Partitioning in the Installation-HOWTO. If you previously ran the FIPS program, you see the hda1 partition (DOSFAT16). Switch to the next free partition with the up/down arrow keys. Select [New] with the right/left arrow keys and press Select [Primary] and press Enter the size of your swap partition. Twice the ram is usual if you have less than 128 mega bytes of ram. If you have 2 giga bytes of ram, it's because you don't want to swap. In that case, no swap partition is needed. Select [Beginning] and press Select [Type] and press Type 82 (Linux Swap) and press Switch to the next free partition with the up/down arrow keys Select [New] and press Select [Primary] and press Enter the size in MB (You can leave the default) and press Its type is already Linux. If not, change to Linux (83) with [Type] The partition table is defined now. Verify everything looks good. If you're not sure, read the documentation with [Help]. If doubts are still there, select [Quit] and leave the installation process. Go for a walk and restart from the beginning of this section. I assume your are confident now. Select [Write] Are you sure you want to write the partition table to disk? Type yes and press Select [Quit] and press Next: Initialize and Activate a Swap Partition Press Please select the partition to initialize as a swap device Select /dev/hda2 (normally already selected) Press Scan for Bad Blocks? select and press Are you Sure? select and press Initializing swap partition ... Next: Initialize a Linux Partition Press Select Partition Please select the to initialize as a Linux "ext2" file-system. Select /dev/hda3 (normals already selected) and press Scan for Bad Blocks? Select and press Are you Sure? Select and press A new page full of numbers. You can take a rest because it takes some time (especially with big hard disk). Next: Mount a Previously-Initialized Partition Press Please select the partition to mount Select /dev/hda3 and press Mount the /dev/hda3 device as the Root FileSystem? Select Next: Install Operating System Kernel and Modules Press Please select the medium you will use to install the system Select /dev/fd0 and press Please place the Rescue Floppy in the first floppy drive The floppy is already there. Select and press Installing the Rescue Floppy ... Please place the Drivers Floppy in the first floppy drive Eject the Rescue Floppy and insert the Drivers Floppy, the one I you labelled drv1440.bin (you did it, didn't you?). Select and press Installing the Drivers Floppy ... A new screen: Next: Configure Device Driver Modules Press Select Category Read the text. Please select the category of modules Select net and press Select plip. Module plip Select "Install the module in the kernel" and press No parameters are needed. Select and press Installation succeeded Please press ENTER when you are ready to continue. Press Select Exit (Finished with these modules) and press Then you see the same kind of screen again. Select Exit (Finished with these modules) and press Next: Configure the Network Choose a name, you can use a different name than debian or target. Is your system connect to a network? Select and press STOP STOP STOP. You see now: Next: Install the base system Now we need a shell. Press Alt F2 and You are in a root shell. 11.3. An installation break: PLIP on the target side You are in a root shell. Verify the plip module is loaded: $ lsmod Module Pages Used by plip 3 0 Find the exact name of the plip interface: $ dmesg ... NET3 PLIP version 2.2 gniibe@mri.co.jp plip1: Parallel port at 0x378, using assigned IRQ 7 You can find the same information with $ cat /proc/kmsg ... <4>NET3 PLIP version 2.2 gniibe@mri.co.jp <4>plip1: Parallel port at 0x378, using assigned IRQ 7 ... Ctrl-c Configure the plip interface: $ ifconfig plip1 192.168.0.1 pointopoint 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.255 up Verify everything is ok: $ ifconfig plip1 plip0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr FC:FC:C0:A8:00:01 inet addr:192.168.0.1 P-t-P:192.168.0.2 Mask:255.255.255.255 UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 Collisions:0 Interrupt:7 Base address:0x378 Verify the route to source exists: $ route Kernel IP routing table Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface 127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo If not, like in the previous example, add the route to 192.168.0.2, the source: $ route add -host 192.168.0.2 dev plip1 Now the route is installed: $ route Kernel IP routing table Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface 192.168.0.2 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 plip1 127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo Now you can perform a successful ping from the source server (ping is not available on the Debian install process): $ ping target PING target (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=14.0 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=4.3 ms --- target ping statistics --- 2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max = 4.3/9.1/14.0 ms If it doesn't work, check the Null-Modem cable connection, rerun dmesg, ifconfig, route. Verify everything. Take a rest. Restart. When the ping is ok, return to the normal installation process: On the target: Press Alt F1 11.4. Return to the normal install process You are back to the normal installation process. You should still see: Next: Install the base system Press Please select the medium you will use to install the system Select nfs and press Please choose the NFS server and the mount path ... Type: 192.168.0.2:/cdrom Press Please choose the path inside the mounted NFS filesystem Type /debian (normally already there) and press If no error message complains about the nfs mount then bravo. You can verify this mount by entering the shell again: Press Alt F2 $ mount ... 192.168.0.2:/cdrom on /instmnt type nfs (rw, addr=192.168.0.2) $ ls /instmnt/debian README README.non-US doc/ README.CD-manufacture README.pgp@ hamm/ README.mirrors.html TRANS.TBL tools/ README.mirrors.txt dists/ Press Alt F1 You're back again to the normal installation process. Now the plip nfs cdrom connection is done. Let's go on and finish our job. Please select the directory containing a file base2_0.tgz Select list and press Please Wait The installation program is building a list of ... A new screen: Select Archive Path Please select the directory that you will use to install the Base System from. Only one long item, already selected. Press The Base System is being extracted from /instmnt/debian/dists/..... Take a second rest, you deserve it Next: Configure the Base System Press Select Timezone Select your timezone and your directory and press Timezone Configuration Read and press Timezone Configuration. An other page Read, select and press Next: Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk Press Create Master Boot Record? Read Select and press Make Linux the Default Boot Partition? Read. Select and press Next: Make a boot Floppy Press Change Disk Please place a blank floppy disk in the first floppy drive. Do it and press The floppy is being formated Creating a filesystem on the floppy... Copying the operating system kernel... A new screen: Next: Reboot the System Press Reboot the system ? Remove the floppy and press The system reboot. Are you still with the dark side? I guess yes, so insert the boot floppy you've just made and reboot again with Ctrl- Alt-Del See the boot messages. Read the text. New password: Enter a root password. Re-enter new password Do it. Shall I create a normal user account now? [Y/n] Enter n and press Shall I install shadow passwords? [Y/n] Enter y and press Do you want to use a PPP connection to install Enter n and press Now you may choose one of several selections ... Do you want to perform this step? Enter n and press I'm going to start the 'dselect' program... Press Select [Q]uit and press You may now login as 'root' at the login: prompt... ... debian login: Enter root. Password: Enter the root password. ... debian:~# The system is installed and working. CONGRATULATIONS! My job stops here. Read the install documentation of your distribution and go on with the Unix system administration job. When you reboot your system, the plip connection won't be in good shape. But now you now what to do. I suggest you some work: ˇ Configure the plip interface for the normal boot process (in the file /etc/init.d/network). ˇ Configure /etc/fstat on the target to mount simply the remote source cdrom via nfs. source:/cdrom /cdrom nfs noauto,intr 1 2 ˇ Learn Lilo. Configure it for your DOS and Linux systems and install it on a floppy. ˇ When you master Lilo on the floppy, install it on your hard drive. ˇ Install and configure the X Window System. ˇ Have fun. ˇ Mail me a feedback. 12. Installing Slackware, RedHat, Caldera This section is written by Florent SAUNIER. sabetflo@freesurf.fr I have performed a Slakware installation using PLIP very succesfully. I have also been able to install REDHAT and caldera Open linux using the very same method described below. As previously specified by Gilles, a slakware installation requires everything specified in the chapter "What do you need" with time increased to 10 hours if you desire to install xfree(86) and some developpement tools. Further on, you need to read first Gilles installation as I set up mine accordingly to his preset. Finally, I have performed Slakware and Caldera installation on Twinhead 550C laptop, with 8Mb Ram, and 2Gbytes Hard drive. 12.1. Slakware installation ˇ 1- Make 2 disks (boot and root) and prepare a plip disk ˇ 2- Install PLIP module ˇ 3- Create a NFS drive to use PLIP with ˇ 4- Launch the Slakware (or Caldera) Installation ˇ 5- Drink all remainder of coffee and go to bed waiting completion of installation 12.1.1. Making boot,root and plip disks To install slakware verion using ATAPI CDROM from your source you will need standard kernel image bareapm.i or bare.i. If you want to make an install from SCSI support take scsinet.i image. Other image exists, such as net.i which sould include PLIP function but on my i486 laptop, Twinhead550C, the imagedoes not work. I have experienced that the standard image allways work on any laptop I have used. 12.1.1.1. 1a- creating the boot and root disks. From ms-dos create the boot disk by typing: rawrite bareapm.i then create the root disks: rawrite color.gz.a (if you are using color screen) 12.1.1.2. 1b- Creating the PLIP disk On a dos format disk copy the following file : ˇ 1- plip.o (object program for the plip tool) ˇ 2- parport_pc ˇ 3- parport Those programs are compulsory prior a PLIP install, you will find them into the slakware installation CDROM under the directory /MODULES. Same apply to the Caldera installtion. MAke find file if you cannot find them. 12.1.1.3. 1c- launching the installation. Insert your boot disk in your Laptop and start computer. Follow the installtion procedure and wait till the system ask for the root disks. Insert it and wait for the prompt login: "Slakware login". To start the Slakware installation you must log as root. Type then root at the prompt. Be aware that at that time of installation your keyboard is still qwerty. 12.1.2. 2a- Install PLIP module Install your source computer according to Gille indication. From chapter 7 to 9. Install PLIP on the target. To install PLIP module you need to launch program from your PLIP disk. Remember you did it no !!! Access to your floppy disk by: & mount /dev/fd0h1440 /floppy & cd /floppy & insmod parport 'it will install your parallel port & insmod parport_pc 'it will set it up & insmod plip 'it will install plip module If during the PLIP installation you encounter an error. It means that your paralell port has not been correctly installed. you may type again the instruction above, it does work sometimes !!, or go to the parport directory and write appopriate setting. & cd /proc/parport/0 & vi IRQ 'Verify that 7 is written in it if you are using 'that interruption' Look at chapter 8,"PLIP on the source side" to get the proper setting. You should not bother too much as at 95% on the 5 laptop I have installed everyting went smoothly. 12.1.3. 3a- Now create your NFS drive. From that point I have choosed to use the creation of a NFS drive on the target computer. Then I will make an installation using the "From directory" option rather than from an nfs support. Do not forget you are still in US keyboard. Of course you have set up your source accordingly to chapter 7, "Network parameters". You then did ping your source, but yet you cannot ping the target. So the first step is to configure your PLIP connection: On the target type: & ifconfig plip0 192.168.0.2 pointopoint 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.255 up Test your Plip configuration by pinging the target from the source & ping target then create your nfs drive: & cd / & mkdir nfsdrive mount -t nfs 192.168.0.2:/cdrom /nfstest You have just configure a drive linked to your source directory /cdrom were you suppose to have slakware CDROM connected to, from your target directory call nfstest Now everything is set up and you are ready to launch the Slakware installation program, by typing "setup". note:if you do not have enough memory, below 8mb setup will not being launched then, you will have to make a swap space to allow the program to work. first Create you disk partition with your swap by typing & fdisk note your swap disk name eg /hda3 quit fdisk with 'w' Once its done type: & mkswap -c /dev/hda3 & swapon /dev/ha3 Your swap is now set up. You may then launch the "setup" program. 12.1.4. 4a- Installing Slakware the setup programm shows various menu: ˇ HELP - Help file ˇ KEYMAP - Keyboard select (Azerty at least !!!) ˇ ADDSWAP - Create and select swap ˇ TARGET - Select target ˇ SOURCE - select the source ˇ SELECT - Select pakages to install ˇ CONFIGURE - Set up your linux system and make LILO ˇ EXIT - bye bye setup 4b- Select your keyboard, for French take -Fr-latin1.map 4c- Select your swap partition if not already configured 4d- Select the target, default is '/' 4e- Select the source. Here is the tricky stuff choose Installing from a drive type the drive so : /nfsdrive/slakware slakware CDROM directory 4f- Select packages to install 4g- Wait, Wait, Wait and Wait........ 12.2. Caldera Installation I told you that Caldera work also with that install. In fact as Caldera launch automatically is Setup program, once you arrived at the menu were you suppose to choose your source disks type ALT F2 and go to another screen then log as root and make your nfs drive as described above in point 2 to 4. Then go back to the installtion screen with ALT F1, and type the famous nfsdrive as your source directory. Caldera will than install without problem. 12.3. Troubleshooting If you are experiencing any trouble with that installation you may report it tome and I'll try to help as best as I can. 13. Installing from a DOS partition You can use this section if you already have a DOS partition on your target computer. I think it is a faster installation method. Read the section 5.3.1 "Installing from a DOS partition" from install.txt. This section is also available on the Debian CD in the html file ch-install-methods.html. I just going to help you to make the first point : "1. Get the following files from your nearest Debian" repository" The transfer is easy with tomsrtbt. Export the source cdrom drive via nfs. Read the file tomsrtbt.FAQ Create the floppy under DOS or Linux, you have the choice. Linux installation: a) extract the .tar.gz archive b) Be root c) Be in the tomsrtbt- directory d) Have a blank floppy with no bad sectors e) Do './install.s' Boot the target with the floppy. Log in root. $ insmod plip $ ifconfig plip1 192.168.0.1 pointopoint 192.168.0.2 \ netmask 255.255.255.255 up $ route add -host 192.168.0.2 dev plip1 $ mount -t nfs 192.168.0.2:/cdrom /cdrom $ mkdir /c $ mount -t msdos /dev/hda1 /c $ mkdir /c/debian $ cd /cdrom/dists/stable/main/disks-i386/current/ $ cp resc1440.bin drv1440.bin base2_1.tgz root.bin linux \ install.bat loadlin.exe /c/debian The \ means the command line continues on the next line. The cp command takes some time. When finished, remove the floppy and then : $ reboot Boot under DOS. C:\> cd debian C:\DEBIAN> install Here you go to install Debian from a DOS partition. You do not need plip nor floppy during the installation process. Everything deals with the hard drive. Read the Debian install documentation, it is a very good and clear one. 14. Install the plip interface permanently 14.1. On the source side I use an old Linux RedHat 4.1 distribution. The location of the files can be different on other GNU/Linux distributions but the philosophy is the same (The Unix System V convention). Create the file /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip with this content: #!/bin/sh ############################## # file /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip # ############################## # See how we were called. case "$1" in start) # Start daemons. /bin/echo "Starting plip interface: " /bin/echo "Doing /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 up" /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 up /bin/echo "Doing /bin/ping -q -c 4 target" /bin/ping -q -c 4 target /bin/echo "Starting plip interface: done" ;; stop) # Stop daemons. /bin/echo "Shutting down plip interface:" /bin/echo "Doing /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 down" /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 down /bin/echo "Doing /sbin/modprobe -r plip " /sbin/modprobe -r plip /bin/echo "Shutting down plip interface: done" ;; *) echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}" exit 1 esac exit 0 # === End of File === Only the ifconfig lines are strictly necessary. Perhaps you will need to add some modprobe commands if you don't use kerneld nor the kmod feature of new kernels 2.2.x Create the symbolic links in the rc*.d directories: $ cd /etc/rc.d/rc0.d/ $ ln -s ../init.d/plip K97plip $ cd /etc/rc.d/rc1.d/ $ ln -s ../init.d/plip K92plip $ cd /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/ $ ln -s ../init.d/plip S11plip $ cd /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/ $ ln -s ../init.d/plip S11plip You can choose other numbers. Be aware to place the K??plip files after the ones that shutdown services depending on plip. Be aware to place the S??plip files before the ones that start services depending on plip, nfs, nis, ftp, http etc. Update the /etc/conf.modules file: # /etc/conf.modules ... alias parport_lowlevel parport_pc post-install parport_pc echo 7 > /proc/parport/0/irq ... Choose the good irq number (7 is mine, not yours). Test the plip shell: $ /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip Usage: /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip {start|stop} $ /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip stop Shutting down plip interface: Doing /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 down Doing /sbin/modprobe -r plip Shutting down plip interface: done $ /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip start Starting plip interface: Doing /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 up Doing /bin/ping -q -c 4 target PING target (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes --- target ping statistics --- 4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max = 4.4/8.3/14.0 ms Starting plip interface: done Updating the start scripts is a good accasion to reboot a Unix system, to check the modifications. Do it: $ init 6 14.2. On the target side Update the file /etc/init.d/network: #! /bin/sh ####################### # /etc/init.d/network # ####################### ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1 route add -net 127.0.0.0 ifconfig plip1 192.168.0.1 pointopoint 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.255 up route add -host 192.168.0.2 dev plip1 That's all because the parport features are directly in the kernel. Updating the start scripts is a good occasion to reboot a Unix system, to check the modifications. Do it: $ init 6 15. Need to compile a new kernel ? Several times during the source server configuration we mentioned that a kernel compilation on the source computer could be needed. I list the things you need to change or set. If you have never compile a kernel, read the Kernel-HOWTO. Loadable module support ---> [*] Enable loadable module support General setup ---> [*] Networking support Parallel port support PC-style hardware Networking options ---> [*] TCP/IP networking Network device support ---> [*] Network device support <*> Dummy net driver support PLIP (parallel port) support < > or PPP (point-to-point) support < > or SLIP (serial line) support Character devices ---> Parallel printer support Filesystems ---> [*] /proc filesystem support <*> or ISO 9660 CDROM filesystem support Network File Systems ---> <*> or NFS filesystem support 16. What's new v1.22, 16 June 2000 ˇ ˇ Added a mention to PARTED http://www.gnu.org/software/parted as told by Andrew Clausen (clausen@gnu.org). ˇ Added section Installing Slackware, RedHat, or Caldera, by Florent SAUNIER. ˇ Corrected some English faults, thanks to Graham and Tomas. v1.15, 26 November 1999 ˇ The section "What's new". It is this section. ˇ The section "Install the plip interface permanently". ˇ The section "List of contributors and acknowledgements". ˇ Made the different chapters dealing with the detailed Debian installation be a single chapter with the actual chapters as just subsections. ˇ Made a new section "Installing from a DOS partition". A simpler and faster method. 17. To do ˇ Check a kernel compilation from scratch (no last .config file) with only the options I gave. Add the missing ones if any. ˇ Make the Mandrake, SuSE, Turbo Linux, and Stampede detailed installation chapters. Contributions are welcome. Gilles Lamiral won't do that job unless given new computers and CDs. Debian (done), Red Hat (done), Slackware (done), Caldera OpenLinux (done). ˇ Make "The cdrom nfs server side" chapter become simply "the server side" chapter with subsections like "cdrom medium", "zip medium", "hard disk medium", and "ftp server" "nfs server", "samba server" "http server". Again, contributions are welcome. 18. List of contributors and acknowledgements I thank all the people in this list of contributors or projects. If you think I forgot someone, do not hesitate to complain. Werner Heuser He said: "yesterday I had time enough to read your document. It's great and in the next issue of my HOWTO (probably 2. December) I will make a link to it." He did. LDP The Linux Documentation Project accepted the PLIP-Install-HOWTO without any hesitation. Simon Forget Simon had a problem with his pcmcia floppy drive. So he made me search a solution that is, in fact, simpler and faster. Andrew Clausen Andrew suggested me to talk about parted http://www.gnu.org/software/parted Florent SAUNIER Florent wrote the section called "Installing Slackware/Caldera". Graham Bosworth Graham corrected my bad english all over the document. Tomas Pospisek Tomas also corrected my bad english.