Compaq DS20E - Manual (Page 42)

Linux Installation and Configuration Guide for AlphaServer 42
ECG513/0100
You need to enter these commands, such that the drive reference on the second line needs to refer
to the drive which you installed to:
P00>>>set boot_file 2/boot/vmlinux.gz
P00>>>set bootdef_dev dka0
P00>>>set boot_osflags "root=/dev/sda2"
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
SuSE Version 6.1 Distribution
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.