[RULE] Installation success - FC4 on numberfive (Compaq Presario 1625 portable, AMD K6-233/64MB RAM/4 GB HDD)

[Franz Zahaurek]

Hi David,

C David Rigby  cdrigby 9online fr  writes:

> Greatings everyone,
>
> I successfully installed a minimal FC4 system on a low-end
> portable. Details below, with reference to an email to the RULE list
> from 2005.08.18 (today): Re: Installation attempt, slinky-0.5.02 [Was
> Re: [RULE]    slinky-0.5.02    for Fedora Core 4  FC4]. This repeats
> some of what was written there.

Thank you very much for your detailed installation report.  I will try
to add your fixes for the next RULE-version - Thanks.
Please see my few comments inline.

>
> _Installing FC4 on numberfive using slinky-0.5.02_
>
> Numberfive is a Compaq Presario 1625 portable (AMD K6-233, 64MB RAM)
> which lacks such things as a working CD-ROM drive and battery. This
> makes it a good candidate for a RULE rescue. Possibly it is usable as
> a light-duty server.
>
> 1. I created the slinky-0.5.02-disk1.img and created another diskette
> with an ext2 filesystem to hold selected modules from
> slinky-0.5.02-modules.img.bz2. Specifically, I need the yenta socket
> driver for the cardbus slots, the aha152x_cs.ko driver for my Adaptec
> pcmcia scsi card, and the sd_mod.ko and sr_mod.ko drivers for
> accessing my external SCSI CD-ROM drive. Also, I downloaded and burned
> onto CD-R a copy of FC4-i386-disk1.iso.
>
> I created the modules floppy so that its directory structure mimics that of
> the full slinky-0.5.02-modules.img. I created various subdirectories
> and copied files from the image to the floppy. Some of this may be
> unnecessary, but it all fit, and it works, so I was happy. The
> directory structure of the floppy now looks like this:
>
> /lost+found/
> /2.6.11.12/kernel /drivers/pcmcia/rsrc_nonstatic.ko
> /2.6.11.12/kernel /drivers/pcmcia/yenta_socket.ko
> /2.6.11.12/kernel /drivers/scsi/sd_mod.ko
> /2.6.11.12/kernel /drivers/scsi/sr_mod.ko
> /2.6.11.12/kernel /drivers/scsi/sg.ko (this module is not really
> needed for this install)
> /2.6.11.12/kernel /drivers/scsi/pcmcia/aha152x_cs.ko
> /2.6.11.12/kernel /drivers/scsi/pcmcia/qlogic_cs.ko (I have one of
> these also, but not yet tried)
> /2.6.11.12/modules.* (all files of this type - maybe I do not need them?)

These files are created when running 'make modules-install' in the
linux src-directory and contain dependencies for all compiled modules.
I think they are used by modprobe to resolve module-dependencies
automatically.  Maybe they are not necessary as you used insmod to
load the modules.

>
> 2. I booted from the slinky-0.5.02-disk1 disk.
>
> 3. Once I got the "Welcome to 'Slinky' the RULE low memory installer"
> splash screen, removed the boot floppy and put in my modules
> floppy. Then I switched to the second console (CTL-ALT-F2) and issued
> the following commands to access the external SCSI CD-ROM drive:
>
> mount -t ext3 /dev/fd0 /lib/modules
> insmod rsrc_nonstatic.ko
> insmod yenta_socket.ko
> insmod aha152x_cs.ko
> insmod sd_mod.ko
> insmod sr_mod.ko
> cardmgr (activates PCMCIA-subsystem & probes for CD-ROM drive, links
> it to /dev/scd0)
> umount /lib/modules

Well, you have to know the exact names.  But if you know them - it's easy.

>
> 4. I skipped the keyboard configuration on the next screen, then
> tabbed down to item #2: Select_the_distribution_to_install and pressed
> ENTER.

You are posting from a fr-domain.  Are you happy with the us-keyboard
definition?

>
> 5. On the next screen I chose Item #1: FC4.
>
> 6. I got the message confirming the selection and advising that the
> first FC4 CD would be necessary.
>
> 7. Returned to the selection screen and Item #3:
> Select_your_installation_method was the default, so I pressed ENTER.
>
> 8. On the Choose Installation method screen, Item #1: cdrom was
> highlighted, so I just pressed ENTER.

I think there should be a further option: "Manually mount inst-source"

>
> 9. I got the message "I wasn't able to locate your cdrom drive..." Per
> that message, which indicates that I should only use the "cdrom" entry
> if I have a link that points from /dev/cdrom to my CD-drive's actual
> device, I typed in "cdrom" and pressed ENTER.
>
> 10. I got a message that said, in full, "I will try to use <cdrom> as
> your cd drive. You will have the opportunity to change this later in
> the install, if need be. "OK" is highlighted at the bottom of the
> message window. I pressed ENTER. This is where I got stuck before, but
> with the script changes in the previous message, I continued pass this
> point.
>
> 11. The next item on the menu, #4 Select_the_filesystem_type_to_use,
> was to select the file system type. I chose ext3 and pressed ENTER.
>
> 12. The next selection, #5 Select_where_to_install_FC4,  was for the
> installation target. The installer detected and offered only hda,
> which was correct. I typed "hda" and pressed enter. The installer
> confirmed the choice as /dev/hda.
>
> 13. Item #6 Partition_the_harddisk(s) was next. The informational
> screen concerning creating partitions was shown, so I pressed ENTER to
> continue. The partitioning program fdisk executed. I deleted the
> pre-existing partitions and created the following partitions on the 4
> GB drive. The partitioning scheme is based on the goal of creating a
> low-end server system.
>
> Disk /dev/hda: 4099 MB, 4099866624 bytes
> 128 heads, 63 sectors/track, 993 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 8064 * 512 = 4128768 bytes
>
> Device        Start    End        Blocks        Id    System
> /dev/hda1         1        9       36256+       83    Linux
> /dev/hda2       10       41      129024       82    Linux swap
> /dev/hda3       42     104      254016       83    Linux
> /dev/hda4      105    993    3584448         5    Extended
> /dev/hda5      105    136    128992+       83    Linux
> /dev/hda6      137    385    1003936       83    Linux
> /dev/hda7      386    417    128992+       83    Linux
> /dev/hda8      418    993   2322400+      83    Linux
>
> I then wrote these out to the partition table.

I think that fdisk is really the easyest way to perform flexible
partitioning - and it is part of busybox.  And we are not concerend with
raid and lvm configuration here.

>
> 14. Item #7, Activate_swap. I pressed ENTER. The previously defined
> swap partition was found and activated.
>
> 15. Item #8, Format_and_mount_partitions. In this process, I am warned
> that I need to format, which I accepted to do. I am offered the choice
> of whether to mount and format the other partitions, which I also
> chose to do. The flexibility of this is quite good - just the minimum
> amount of info needed to get the job done, but still allow
> customization.
>
> I set up my partitions as follows:
>
> Partition    Mount Point    Size (Approx)
> /dev/hda1    /boot            32 MB
> /dev/hda3    /                   256 MB
> /dev/hda5    /tmp             128 MB
> /dev/hda6    /usr              1024 MB
> /dev/hda7    /home          128 MB
> /dev/hda8    /var              2300 MB (rest of the disk)
>
> 16. Item #9, Prepare_the_new_root-partition. OK.
>
> 17. Item #10, In_newroot_context:make_full_featured_rpm. I was not
> really sure what this meant (create a full RPM database?). I selected
> OK.

When booting from a floppy we only have the (mini) rpm-program from
busybox.  So this step installs the (full featured) rpm-program from
FC4 that is used to perform all following installations.  Doing so, it
was no longer necessary to provide a rather large rpm-program on the
RULE-installation floppy.

>
> 18. It asked for the FC4 CD1, which should be available, so I pressed
> ENTER. Automatic mounting did not work, so I switched to the 2nd
> console and mounted with:
>
> mount -t iso9660 /dev/scd0 /mnt/cdrom
>
> This worked fine, so I selected the MANUAL MOUNT button at the bottom
> of the screen and pressed ENTER.
> I received numerous messages on the screen such as:
>
> rpm: extract_archive: ./usr/lib/locale: File exists
> rpm: need to fix this
>
> So, RPM complains, but it continues. Finally I get the message
>
> /bin/rpm should work now
> hit ENTER

This message is unnecessary.  You could switch to the second virtual
console and call 'rpm --version' to prove it.

>
> Which I did, and the installer continued.
>
> 19. Item #11, In_newroot_context:Install_FC4. I press ENTER. I am
> asked to insert the CD. It is there, so I press ENTER. It does not
> work, so I go through the manual mount procedure described under
> 19. above.

Since I split up the installation to many single scripts that can be
called in a random and independent order it was necessary to
mount/unmount the installation medium every time the installation
script was called.  In your special case this is very uncomfortable as
you have to mount the cdrom manually several times.  With ATAPI-cdrom
this is no problem.  The cdrom stays in the drive and can be easily
mounted again.

>
> 20. I am now presented with the package groups menu. So far, so good! 
> I select base, network, dhcp, laptop and openssh. I choose to install
> documentation, not skip it. I get the message:
>
> Installing 109 rpms from Fedora FC4 disc1 - this make take a
> while... It took about 10 minutes to execute.
>
> 21. Item #12, In_newroot_context:Set_hostname_and_users. Pressed ENTER.
> hostname: numberfive
> root password: ********
> new user: cdrigby
> user password: *********
>
> 22. Item #13, In_newroot_context:Install_bootloader_GRUB. Pressed
> ENTER. I chose to install the slinky kernel, since I'm not sure if the
> FC4 kernel will run on this K6 CPU. Inserted the boot floppy, and the
> installer accessed it. During the GRUB install process, I received,
> multiple times, something like the following error message (it was not
> displayed for long enough to get the wording exact):
>
> Modprobe Fatal: /lib/modules/2.6.11.12/modules.dep not found. Well,
> indeed, its not there, since I unmounted the modules floppy. It did
> not seem to matter, though.

I saw this message as well, as I didn't use modules at all.

>
> 23. Item #14, In_newroot_context:Create_bootfloppy. OK, but got the
> error message that FC4 kernel + initrd does not fit in 1440k. The
> installer claimed to be using the slinky kernel to create the boot
> disk, but it apparently did not do anything, and no boot floppy was
> created.

Yes, making a boot floppy doesn't work as it did before.

>
> 24. Item #15, reboot. OK.
>
> Upon rebooting, I saw the standard grub menu offering me the choice
> between "Fedora RC4 (1.6.9-1.667)"  and "Small Kernel from SLINKY
> boot-disk ()." I selected the Fedora kernel and got the following
> error:
>
> Booting 'Fedora FC4 (2.6.9-1.667)'
>
> kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.9-1.667 root=/dev/hda3 ro
>
> Error 15: File not found
>
> Press any key to continue...
>
> So I pressed the space bar and returned to the grub boot menu. I then
> selected the Small Kernel option. Unfortunately, I got the same error
> message, but referencing /boot/vmlinuz-26.11.12.
>
> I investigated further by booting again from the slinky boot disk and
> taking a look at the boot partition:
>
> mkdir /mnt/boot
> mount -t ext3 /dev/hda1 /mnt/boot
>
> The difficulty seems to be with the file /boot/grub/grub.conf. It
> references kernel vmlinuz-2.6.9-1.667, but the kernel actually
> installed is vmlinuz-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4. Similarly for the initial root
> disk, the grub.conf file references initrd-2.6.9-1.667, but the actual
> installed one is initrd-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4. Similarly for the small
> slinky kernel, the reference is to vmlinuz-, but what is installed is
> vmlinuz-2.6.11.12. That stanza references the same initrd as for the
> full FC4 kernel. Also, as I have a separate boot partition, I have to
> remove the base directory /boot from the entries of the grub.conf file.
>
> I edited the grub.conf file to match the actually installed files and
> rebooted. The system found the FC4 kernel and booted off of it. The
> system proceeded to the boot prompt and I was able to login at the
> console.
>
> Here is the initial /boot/grub/grub.conf:
>
> # File generated by the RULE 'Slinky' installer.
> # You do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
> # NOTICE:  If you have a /boot partition, all kernel and
> #          initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
> #          root (hd1,0)
> #          kernel /vmlinuz-version root=/dev/hdb7 ro
> #          initrd /initrd-version.img
> # boot=/dev/hda
> # boot=(hd0,0)
> default=saved
> timeout=60
> # splashimage=(hd0,1)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
> title Fedora FC4 (2.6.11-1.1369_FC4)
> #        root (hd0,0)
> kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.9-1.667 root=/dev/hda3 ro
> initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.9-1.667.img
> # Kernel from SLINKY installation in case the FC4-Kernel is too big
> title Small Kernel from SLINKY boot-disk ()
> kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11.12 root=/dev/hda3 ro
> initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.9-1.667.img
>
> Here is the corrected one:
>
> # File generated by the RULE 'Slinky' installer.
> # You do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
> # NOTICE:  If you have a /boot partition, all kernel and
> #          initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
> #          root (hd1,0)
> #          kernel /vmlinuz-version root=/dev/hdb7 ro
> #          initrd /initrd-version.img
> # boot=/dev/hda
> # boot=(hd0,0)
> default=saved
> timeout=60
> # splashimage=(hd0,1)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
> title Fedora FC4 (2.6.11-1.1369_FC4)
> #        root (hd0,0)
> kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 root=/dev/hda3 ro
> initrd /initrd-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4.img
> # Kernel from SLINKY installation in case the FC4-Kernel is too big
> title Small Kernel from SLINKY boot-disk ()
> kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.11.12 root=/dev/hda3 ro
> initrd /initrd-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4.img

Thank you for this hint.  When I tried to install the kernel from FC4
I found that it could not be started without about 32 MB ram.  And it
seems to be senseless to install with 16 MB but not be able to boot
this installation.  So I added the SLINKY installation kernel itself.
But this was not really finished at all - sorry.

>
> 27. Highlights:
>
> Cardmgr started okay and found the Adeptec 1460 SCSI adapter. The
> command: mount -t iso9660 /dev/scd0 /mnt/cdrom mounts the CD-ROM drive.
>
> I plugged the 3Com 3C589 into the open card slot and established a
> network connection with the command: dhclient eth0.
>
> I attempted to connect to this test system (hostname numberfive) from
> another computer using ssh. It did not work, and I eventually tracked
> down the problem. The user sshd (needed in order for privilege
> separation to work) was not created. I did it by hand has follows:
>
> groupadd -r sshd (this gave sshd the groupid of 101)
> useradd -c "Privilege-separated SSH" -g sshd -r -u 101 -d
> /var/empty/sshd -s /sbin/nologin sshd
>
> useradd created the id, but left it disabled, as opposed to leaving it
> without a password. So, I invoked vipw and changed the !! in the
> password field to a *. Then the command
>
> /etc/init.d/sshd start
>
> was able to start sshd and connect to numberfive from another system
> running the ssh client.
>
> I rebooted and determined that I was also able to boot from the slinky
> kernel as well. The system does not find the pcmcia card
> slots. Indeed, it does not find a lot things, but I think that may be
> a result of kernel version being different from the modules version.

Thanks again for your detailed report.  I try to add your fixes as soon
as possible.  Please be patient.

- Franz
-- 
Franz Zahaurek                        fzk at fzk.at
Gymnasiumstr. 26/7                    http://www.fzk.at
1180 Wien

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