Howto install Debian GNU/Linux on a SGI Indy

Staf Wagemakers ( stafwag@f2s.com)

1. Getting Debian Gnu/Linux

1.1 Get the base distribution

The base distribution is available at ftp://ftp.uni-mainz.de/pub/Linux/debian-local/mips/
Create a /indy on your installation linux box and extract the base.x.x.x.tgz

mkdir /indy
cd /indy
cp /path/base.2_2.2.tgz .
tar xzvf /path/base.2_2.2.tgz

1.2 Get the linux kernel

You need a linux kernel that is compiled for a mips system, a pre-compiled kernel is available at ftp://ftp.rfc822.org/pub/local/debian-mips/kernel/
Extract the kernel tar file to /indy

cd /indy
cp /path/kernel-image-2.4.0-test9-ip22-r4k.tgz .
tar xzvf kernel-image-2.4.0-test9-ip22-r4k.tgz

2. Setup the installation host

2.1 Setup a DHCP server

Install the dhcp server ( just type "apt-get install dhcp" if you are using Debian Gnu/Linux :) )
And edit your dhcp configuration file, below you'll find my modifications

host indy2 {
      hardware ethernet 08:00:69:09:25:c9;
      fixed-address 192.168.10.3;
      option host-name "indy2";
      option domain-name-servers 192.168.10.1;
      option routers 192.168.10.1;
      option root-path "/sgi"
      filename "vmlinux-2.4.0-test9.ecoff"
      }

If you use a 2.4 kernel on your DHCP server you've to run

echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_no_pmtu_disc

2.2 Setup the tftp service

The indy will download the linux kernel by tftp at the boot time, so we need to export /indy. Edit /etc/inetd.conf and modify the ftp entry.

tftp            dgram   udp     wait    nobody  /usr/sbin/tcpd  /usr/sbin/in.tftpd /indy

Erich Schubert reported that he had a problem with tftp and the 2.4 kernel series:

With Kernel 2.4 there's a problem with a bug in the Indy's PROM: tftp doesn't work if the Port is above 32768, which is default with 2.4, and wasn't with 2.2.

echo 2048 32767 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_local_port_range

tells the tftp server to use a port below 32768, which made tftp work for me.

2.3 Setup the nfs-server

We need a nfs root filesystem therefor we need to export /indy by nfs.
Edit /etc/exports

/indy 192.168.10.3(rw)

3 Installation

3.1 boot time

Power on your indy and select "Stop for system maintenance" during the boot phase. Select "Enter command monitor" from the main menu.

I'm not sure this really necessary but it's recommended to set the netaddr system variable to the right ip-address. You can get the current value with the "printenv netaddr" command.

setenv netaddr 192.168.10.3

unset netaddr

And the boot the linux kernel with the boot command

boot -f bootp()vmlinux-2.4.0-test9.ecoff init=/bin/bash nfsroot=192.168.10.1:/indy

3.2 Partition your hard drive

Attention: you will lose all data on your disk if you follow the next step!

Partition your hd with "fdisk /dev/sda", my partition table looks like this

------- partitions -----
     Device  Info      Start        End    Sectors    Id    System
/dev/sda1    boot       101       3000    1924000    83    Linux system
/dev/sda2    swap      3801       4018     113360    82    Linux swap
/dev/sda9                 0        100      52520     0    SGI volhdr
/dev/sda11                0       4018    2089880     6    SGI volume

3.3 Install the base fs

Format your root fs mkfs.ext2 /dev/sda1. Mount it to /mnt mount /dev/sda1 /mnt. And extract the base + kernel archive:

cd /mnt
tar xzvf /base.2_2.2.tgz
tar xzvf /kernel-image-2.4.0-test9-ip22-r4k.tgz

3.4 Install the kernel

dvhtool -d /dev/sda --unix-to-vh vmlinux-2.4.0-test9.ecoff linux

4. Finish your installation

4.1 Boot from your hd

Reboot your system and go to the "command mode" and type:

linux root=/dev/sda1

4.2 Update your configuration

"/" is mounted as read-only in order to modify some configuration files we have to remount it. Logon to the system and type

mount -o remount,rw /dev/sda1 /