SuSE Version 6.1 Distribution

Linux Installation and Configuration Guide for AlphaServer

P00>>>boot dva0 –fi vmlinux.gz

Note - When the system boots, you may see a series of warnings similar to the following:

system.map - incorrect version

This warning indicates that the kernel version that you installed (i.e. the latest version that you copied from Compaq's ftp site) was not built at the same time as the rest of the kernel. This will not impact your use of Linux in any way. This warning can be eliminated by installing the kernel sources, all currently recommended patches and rebuilding the kernel.

Once the system is up, login and do the following:

1. Type: swriteboot –f1 /dev/sdZ /boot/bootlx(where Z is the letter of the drive you are booting; ex: dka0=sda, dka100=sdb).

2.Mount the floppy disk to copy the kernel from the floppy to the /boot/ directory on the system disk. Type: mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy

3.Now go to the /boot directory. Type: cd /boot

4.Copy the kernel. Type: cp /mnt/floppy/vmlinux.gz .

5.Unmount the floppy. Type: umount /dev/fd0

6.Reboot the system. Type: shutdown -h now

The system may or may not hang here. This is a known issue and is being worked on. Please reset or power cycled the system to continue with installation.

At the SRM prompt, you can now boot directly from the hard drive:

P00>>>boot

Pre-Installation

Creating The BOOT and RAMDISK Floppies

Before you can begin to install the Linux software on your AlphaServer, you will need to create a BOOT floppy and RAMDISK. These floppies contain the information required to initiate the installation of Linux. The process varies depending upon what software distribution you are using.

Creating floppies using a MS/Windows system

To create the BOOT and RAMDISK floppies, you will need to make use of a PC, which has Internet access. The instructions below detail the process:

1.Create a directory on the PC into which you will copy files for Linux, for example \Linux.

2.Insert the Linux CD-ROM into the PC.

3.Copy the file ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/dos_utils/rawrite.exe to "\Linux\rawrite.exe" on the PC. This utility is required to build the floppies.

4.Copy the file "aboot_dualncr-qlogic" from ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Linux- Alpha/Images/ to the \Linux directory on the PC and rename the file to aboot.

5.Copy the file "\disks\install" from the CD-ROM to the \Linux directory on the PC.

6.Insert a blank, formatted floppy into the PC.

ECG513/0100