Software Installation

Linux Installation and Configuration Guide for AlphaServer

Boot the system using the "boot" command. The result should be that the system boots from the floppy. You will eventually be prompted to replace the BOOT floppy with the RAMDISK floppy.

If during this process you encounter a problem, such as due to a typographic error in the setting of the SRM parameters, you will probably be stopped with an "aboot>" prompt. The best way to deal with this situation is to reset the system using the reset button on the front panel. Then using the SRM commands, correct the mistake, and repeat the "boot" process.

SuSE’s installation program is flexible. While it allows for autodetection of devices and autoload of device drivers, it allows you to override the automatically configured parameters. Compaq’s testing this Solutions Guide was performed using SuSE Version 6.1.

The software installation process requires that the system be rebooted at two critical places in the process. The first time is just after completing the partitioning of the disk, and the second happens automatically after all of the software components are installed on the disk. Be certain not to skip the reboot after the disk partition process is completed.

Disk Partitioning

In preparation to partition your disk, you should boot your AlphaServer via the BOOT floppy and following the process for selecting a language, display color, keyboard type, and installation media. At this stage, you should select the "Install From Scratch" menu option, and proceed to the window titled "Partition Hard Drives". At this point, press the ALT+F2 keys, which will change the display to show a shell-command prompt. At this prompt, type the command "fdisk" followed by the enter key.

The process of partitioning your boot disk for Linux on your AlphaServer can be somewhat involved. This section provides an example of how perform the partitioning process using fdisk. Note, the partition recommendations used in steps 14-27 are based on a RZ1DD-AA disk geometry. If your disk has a different geometry you will need to use different starting/ending cylinder numbers for each partition. The correct starting/ending cylinder numbers can be computed by using these size recommendations and the number of bytes/cylinder for the disk that you are using (this figure is reported by fdisk). The disk used for this example is a 4.3GB drive (DS-RZ1CF) which fdisk shows as having 1023 cylinders:

4	partitions:
#		size	offset	fstype	[fsize bsize		cpg]
	a:	16368	0	boot	# (Cyl.	1	- 2)
	b:	212784	16368	ext2	# (Cyl.	3	- 28)
	c:	4272048	229152	swap	# (Cyl.	29	- 550)
	d:	3871032	4501200	ext2	# (Cyl.	551	- 1023)

We strongly recommend the following multi-partition layout:

A boot partition – A boot partition is used to reserved the first 2 cylinders (1-2) to write the bootloader in order to boot the disk from SRM.

A root partition – The root partition is where the / (root directory) resides. Always starts at cylinder 3. We recommend creating a root partition of 300MB minimum and a maximum of 900MB.

A swap partition – A swap partition is used to support virtual memory. We commend creating a swap partition of 2 times the computer RAM.

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