PLIP Install HOWTO

PLIP Install HOWTO
Gilles Lamiral, [email protected]

v1.22, 16 June 2000

This paper describes how to install a Gnu|Linux distribution on a com�
puter without Ethernet card, or CD-ROM, but just a local floppy drive
and a remote nfs server attached by a Null-Modem parallel cable. The
nfs server has a cdrom drive mounted and exported.

______________________________________________________________________

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. License

3. How did I write this howto ?

4. What do you need ?

5. The documentation

6. Conventions

7. Network parameters

8. PLIP on the Source side

9. The cdrom nfs server side

10. FIPS, PARTED, splitting of hard disk partitions

11. Debian installation

11.1 Preparing the two floppies
11.2 The real installation process
11.3 An installation break: PLIP on the target side
11.4 Return to the normal install process

12. Installing Slackware, RedHat, Caldera

12.1 Slakware installation
12.1.1 Making boot,root and plip disks
12.1.1.1 1a- creating the boot and root disks.
12.1.1.2 1b- Creating the PLIP disk
12.1.1.3 1c- launching the installation.
12.1.2 2a- Install PLIP module
12.1.3 3a- Now create your NFS drive.
12.1.4 4a- Installing Slakware
12.2 (BF
12.3 Troubleshooting

13. Installing from a DOS partition

14. Install the plip interface permanently

14.1 On the source side
14.2 On the target side

15. Need to compile a new kernel ?

16. What's new

17. To do

18. List of contributors and acknowledgements

______________________________________________________________________

You can find the latest release of the PLIP-Install-HOWTO, by Gilles
Lamiral, located at:
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/PLIP-Install-HOWTO.html

1.

Introduction

Writing a PLIP install HOWTO seems useless nowadays since Ethernet
cards are cheap: NE2000 cards cost about the same as a Null-Modem
cable. This is true for desktop computers, but not for laptop
computers, in which the PCMCIA card costs more than 10 times as much
the Null-Modem cable. Moreover, there is a parallel port on every
computer, but not always a network card.

Of course, this howto can be used to install Linux on every personal
computer without loss of generality.

This paper is just what I've done to install a Debian GNU/Linux
distribution on a Toshiba Port�g� 620CT laptop, from a NFS exported
cdrom drive, via a Null-Modem cable.

A Null-Modem cable is also called a LapLink cable but this word is
trademarked by Traveling Software under the number 75466713 since
1986, so I won't use it anymore.

This HOWTO will be obsolete when every Linux distribution include a
PLIP install option. For example, the Debian installation only needs
to add two commands to make this HOWTO obsolete (ifconfig + route). I
hope one Debian maintainer will consider this point.

I would be happy to know if someone used the PLIP-Install-HOWTO to
install other Linux distributions from other network protocols (ftp,
http, nfs, samba, or even NT/Novell servers)

Feedback with typos, bad English, comments, money, job, joy, fears,
cries are welcome and recommended (not all with the same eagerness).

2.

License

I put this documentation under the OpenContent
<http://www.opencontent.org/opl.shtml> license. This means this
document is given without any warranty. You can use it, redistribute
it, or modify it, by respecting the following conditions: You have to
clearly specify the nature and the content of the modifications, their
date and keep the opencontent license in case of redistribution. If
you sell it, you sell the medium, not the content. This is a summary,
read the license to get more details.

For those who can't read the license online, I give a textual copy:

OpenContent License (OPL)
Version 1.0, July 14, 1998.

This document outlines the principles underlying the OpenContent
(OC) movement and may be redistributed provided it remains
unaltered. For legal purposes, this document is the license under
which OpenContent is made available for use.

The original version of this document may be found at
http://www.opencontent.org/opl.shtml

LICENSE

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3.

How did I write this howto ?

I wrote this paper during the installation process but since I
encountered several problems at the same time, my notes were disparate
and sometimes I forgot to write the good command lines because I was
too fed up to reboot (kernel compilations) and edit this file each
time.

When the installation went wrong (it did, I'm a beginner on laptops,
plip, linux nfs, portmapper, Debian), I tried several things to fix
the problems. When they remained too long, my brain was focused on
solving, not writing.

So, when the installation process finally succeeded, I decided to
restart the process from scratch by noting everything in order to save
your time. It was the first time I had installed Linux twice on the
same computer.

Then, in order to verify the document, I again restarted from scratch
with a Slink Debian distribution (the next after the Hamm one). It was
the first time I had installed Linux 3 times on the same computer. I
hope it was the last time I have to do that.

Conclusion: If you do what is in this paper, it should work.

4.

What do you need ?

� A Personal Computer, laptop or desktop, called the target computer
or simply target.

� A 3 1/4" inch floppy drive on the target.

� Two or three fresh floppies. They don't need to be formatted. You
also need one more DOS formatted floppy if you have to play with
FIPS.

� Another computer with a cdrom drive and nfs services, called source
computer or simply source. It doesn't have to be a Linux system but
just a system which can export a cdrom drive via nfs. In this
HOWTO, I assume it is a Linux system.

� A cdrom distribution. I took a Debian Hamm (2.0r3) from an old
Infomagic compilation. I think every distribution can be installed
this way, but I'm not sure. I've read a French document, written
by Chmouel Boudjnah, saying the RedHat distribution has an easy
installation process. Chmouel's document also deals with the Debian
distribution, so if you read French, you can use Chmouel's document
instead of this one.

� A Null-Modem DB 25 cable. Is it the same as a serial cable? You'll
find the answer in the next release.

� Some time: 3 hours.

� Coffee. 1 liter.

5.

The documentation

I recommend these good readings in case you can't figure out how to
solve a problem. I've read them. You should too if you're curious or
conscientious.

Please, do not forget to consider the LDP mirrors, listed at:

Most HOWTOs are translated in many languages. Just go to the bottom of
a mirror page and follow the translations/ link.

If you want to use Linux on a laptop, read the latest Laptop-HOWTO, by
Werner Heuser, located at:

If you haven't installed any distribution yet, carefully read the
Installation-HOWTO, by Eric S. Raymond, located at:
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO.html>. And make more
coffee :-)

If you need information about your cdrom drive, read the CDROM-HOWTO,
by Jeff Tranter, located at:

If you haven't installed an nfs server yet, read the NFS-HOWTO, by
Nicolai Langfeldt, located at:

If you need to compile a new kernel on the source box, read the
Kernel-HOWTO, by Brian Ward, located at:

If you are new to PLIP, read the PLIP MINI-HOWTO, by Andrea
Controzzi, located at:

If you plan to make your Null-Modem cable yourself, a good reading is
the file PLIP.txt, by Donald Becker, located at:
/usr/src/linux/Documentation/networking/PLIP.txt
on your source linux computer, Luke.

6.

Conventions

The file contents and line commands and install screen-shots are
always in typewriter font, like this:

#!/bin/bash
#############################################
#### This is the great file /bin/Windows ####
#############################################

while [ "1" ]; do
echo "I do my best because I'm the best"
echo "Very soon, next Y2Kill (the 01/01/0000)"
echo "A new marvelous 64 bit release !"
echo "Please wait a little more"
sleep 18446744073709551615 # 2^64-1
done

or this:

$ killall Windows
Terminated

The file content lines should never begin with white space. You'll
have to remove them, if any. Sorry, I'm fed up with C-a M-AltGr-\
(remember, I'm a French azerty writer). Tab-emacs reflex is untamable
(coders who use Emacs always press the tabular key like a twitch).

Command input lines begin with a dollar $ (the prompt), you don't have
to type the dollar, just type the rest of the line; other lines are
the command output, you don't have to type them either.

Because all the configuration commands are important, you'll need to
use a system administrator shell, like root, on the source and the
target computers.

$ su
Password: blabla
#

graham says:

Why this "#"? Because this is for root's prompt. So, in the next
paragraph, say that you will use the '$' for the remainder of this.
See my comment below.

The prompt will be shown as "$" in the remainder of this documentation
"$", even if it should be "#". This is because "#" often means
comment, so it is ambiguous. I don't like ambiguity in computer
science.

7.

Network parameters

We will make a plip point-to-point network with those IP
configuration:

� target: 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.255

� source: 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.255

You should not already have those names in your name space:

$ ping source
ping: unknown host source

$ ping target
ping: unknown host target

You should not already have those IP addresses in your network space:

$ ping 192.168.0.1
PING 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto: Network is unreachable
ping: wrote 192.168.0.1 64 chars, ret=-1

--- 192.168.0.1 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

$ ping 192.168.0.2
PING 192.168.0.2 (192.168.0.2): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto: Network is unreachable
ping: wrote 192.168.0.2 64 chars, ret=-1

--- 192.168.0.2 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

If those commands don't give you errors, change the names or the
addresses.

You can choose other addresses, names or netmask (netmask must be the
same on both sides). In the rest of this document, I'll suppose you
choose these addresses and these names.

Add a line in /etc/exports

#### file /etc/exports ####
...
/cdrom source(ro) target(ro)
#### EOF ####

Because the portmaper tries to resolve IP addresses, add the IP
addresses and names in /etc/hosts

#### file /etc/hosts ####
...
192.168.0.1 target
192.168.0.2 source
#### EOF ####

Verify you have the item files for the hosts search list in the file
/etc/nsswitch.conf

#### file /etc/nsswitch.conf ####
...
hosts: files nis dns
...
#### EOF ####

8.

PLIP on the Source side

This section describes how to set up the plip interface in the source
server. If you run into trouble, I suggest that you read the PLIP
MINI-HOWTO.

Check that your lp device is not set. You should not have this entry:

$ cat /proc/devices
Character devices:
...
6 lp
...

If you do have it, kill the lpd daemon and remove the lp module:

$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/lpd.init stop
Shutting down lpd: lpd

$ rmmod lp

If you can't remove the lp module then you have to recompile the
kernel with lp service as a module.

Now, the "6 lp" line has disappeared from the /proc/devices file,
which is a reflection of the kernel capabilities.

You are not obliged to eliminate the lp device : the scheme may work
with lp. Without guaranty (it works for me). Check it yourself.

Check that your parallel port is handled:

$ ls /proc/parport/
0/

$ cat /proc/parport/0/hardware
base: 0x378
irq: 7
dma: none
modes: SPP,ECP,ECPEPP,ECPPS2

If you don't have any directory under /proc/parport/ then you have to
load the parport and parport_pc modules:

$ insmod parport
$ insmod parport_pc

You should see this new entry in /var/log/messages:

Oct 9 20:50:47 louloutte kernel:
parport0: PC-style at 0x378 [SPP,ECP,ECPEPP,ECPPS2]

Oct 9 20:50:47 louloutte kernel:
parport0: detected irq 7;
use procfs to enable interrupt-driven operation.

I repeat the message "detected irq 7, use procfs to enable interrupt-
driven operation", so:

$ echo 7 > /proc/parport/0/irq

Check that plip module is loaded:

$ lsmod |grep plip

If plip module is not loaded, then load it:

$ insmod plip

You should see something like this in /var/log/messages

==> /var/log/messages <==
Oct 8 16:34:12 louloutte kernel:
NET3 PLIP version 2.3-parport [email protected]

Oct 8 16:34:12 louloutte kernel:
plip0: Parallel port at 0x378, using IRQ 7

If you can't load the plip module then you have to recompile the
kernel with plip service as a module.

The syslog message says the module is loaded on the plip0 interface.
Configure the plip0 interface:

$ ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 up

Check that everything is okay.

$ ifconfig plip0
plip0 Link encap:10Mbps Ethernet HWaddr FC:FC:C0:A8:00:02
inet addr:192.168.0.2 P-t-P:192.168.0.1 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
Interrupt:7 Base address:0x378

Now you can ping locally the source server:

$ ping source
PING source (192.168.0.2): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.0.2: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=0.3 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=0.2 ms

--- source ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 0.2/0.2/0.3 ms

Verify that the route to target exists:

$ route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
target * 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 plip0

If the route doesn't exist, add it:

$ route add -host 192.168.0.1 dev plip0

When the target is configured you will be able to do a ping test:

$ ping target
PING 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=4.5 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=4.3 ms

--- 192.168.0.1 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 4.3/4.4/4.5 ms

But if you try it now you should have:

$ ping target
PING target (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes

--- target ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

Now, the server network is ready to work. Congratulations.

9.

The cdrom nfs server side

This section describes how to mount and export via NFS a cdrom drive.

Mount the cdrom. If you encounter a problem with your cdrom drive,
read the CDROM-HOWTO. I assume that the cdrom device is /dev/hdd but
it could be /dev/sr0 or /dev/hdb etc. The mount point I choose is
/cdrom but you can choose the one you want:

$ mount -t iso9660 /dev/hdd /cdrom

You have to set up nfs services. If something goes wrong, read the
NFS-HOWTO

Verify your kernel supports nfs:

$ cat /proc/filesystems
ext2
nodev proc
nodev nfs
nodev ncpfs
nodev devpts
iso9660

Verify your portmapper can handle mountd and nfs client requests:

$ rpcinfo -p
program vers proto port
100000 2 tcp 111 portmapper
100000 2 udp 111 portmapper
100005 1 udp 655 mountd
100005 1 tcp 657 mountd
100003 2 udp 2049 nfs
100003 2 tcp 2049 nfs

Lines with nfs or portmapper have to be there. NFS on tcp ? progress
have been made !

Then, rerun portmap, mountd, nfs:

$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/portmap.init stop
Stopping INET services: portmap

$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/portmap.init start
Starting portmapper: portmap

$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/nfs stop
Shutting down NFS services: rpc.mountd rpc.nfsd

$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/nfs start
Starting NFS services: rpc.mountd rpc.nfsd

/etc/rc.d/init.d/ is /sbin/init.d/ on SuSE Linux systems. I had a
dream last nigth: LSB was respected. (LDB: Linux Standard Base)

Then, try to mount it "locally" (via nfs) on the source box and clean
the test:

$ mkdir /tmp/nfstest
$ mount -t nfs source:/cdrom /tmp/nfstest
$ ls /tmp/nfstest/
README debian/ locatedb.3 tools/
TRANS.TBL ftp.netscape.com/ ls_lR.3 upgrade/
boot/ install/ realaudio/

$ echo great stuff !
$ umount /tmp/nfstest
$ rmdir /tmp/nfstest

Bad luck ? Read the NFS-HOWTO and /var/log/messages.

Check the nfs server with those commands:

$ rpcinfo -p

Run portmap with the -v flag:

$ portmap -v

kill portmap, mountd, nfsd and rerun them in this order: portmap,
mountd, nfsd. Take a rest, get more coffee. Read again the NFS-HOWTO
and restart.

Now, the exported cdrom drive nfs server is ready to work.
Congratulations.

10.

FIPS, PARTED, splitting of hard disk partitions

This section is for anybody who has only one primary FAT partition
(DOS, Windows 3.xx, NT) and wants to keep it without loosing data.
Make some backups because if you burn it, I won't be responsible - you
will.

Journey to PARTED

Andrew Clausen ([email protected]), GNU Parted maintainer, wrote "You
might want to mention GNU Parted in the PLIP-Install Howto." That is
done. Since I didn't try it I can only give you the links to parted by
http <http://www.gnu.org/software/parted> and parted ftp
<ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/parted>. Help yourself. Parted seems very good.

Andrew said: "GNU Parted is a *LOT* more powerful than FIPS (think
Partition Magic). For example, it can convert FAT16 <=> FAT32, change
the size of the FATs, doesn't require a defragger, etc. And it
supports ext2, linux-swap..."

Back to FIPS.

Download FIPS <ftp://ftp.debian.org/pub/debian/tools/>. Don't forget
the mirrors ftp.xx.debian.org where xx is your country abbreviation
(fr, fi, us, uk, etc.).

At the time of this writing the archive file is called fips20.zip.

The fips program is already in the debian cdrom distribution. I found
it (yes, after downloading the fips20.zip file) in
/cdrom/debian/tools/fips15.zip (It supposes your cdrom is mounted on
/cdrom)

I guess you are on a Unix world but you're not compelled to do so. Go
in a good working place on the source computer:

$ mkdir /tmp/fips-2.0/
$ cd /tmp/fips-2.0/
$ unzip -l /archive/fips/fips20.zip
...
$ unzip /archive/fips/fips20.zip
...
$ ls
$ dos2unix fips.doc fips.faq readme.1st

1. Read the file readme.1st

2. Read the file fips.doc

3. Read the file fips.faq

Boot your target computer. Be in pure DOS (quit Windows).

Read again the file fips.doc from the section "5. Before you start".

Be aware of hidden files.

Graham comment: Hidden files will not be moved by DeFrag (as far as I
know), so FIPS will reclaim less space for use by Linux. Use the
ATTRIB command to remove the "hidden" attribute. Some things may
require that files are hidden, so it will be necessary to hide the
same files again later. I think that it would also be a good idea to
run scandisk at this moment. Perhaps I do not trust DOS.

Be aware to eliminate the "virtual memory" file (swap for Win*) during
the fips process. In Windows 3.11 (quite up to date, no?) this swap
file is configured from Program-Manager->Control-Panel->Enhanced (a
i386 chip icon).

Click, Click->Click on the chip and re-click on a button called
"Virtual Memory".

Adjust the size to none, Click<-Click<-Click<-Click back plus Alt-F4
to close all your windows. Don't you think the Gates are too closed
too?

Graham comment: I am not sure that this is a good idea. What happens
if "386spart.par" is not hidden? I think that DEFRAG will move it,
and Windows will complain next time it starts, then rebuild the file.
Since we are clearly keeping DOS/Windows, the user will require a swap
file again later. By not deleting it, the disc space is reserved for
that time.

I don't what to say. I've just parroted FIPS manual because I
succeeded with it.

So drink coffee, and pray.

Run SCANDISK:

C:\> SCANDISK

Correct every cluster. You should have no dead cluster now.

Quit SCANDISK

Run DEFRAG on C:

C:\> DEFRAG C:

All used clusters are at the beginning of the hard disk.

Quit DEFRAG

Make a bootable floppy disk:

C:\> FORMAT A: /S

Copy AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS to the new floppy if you want to keep
your local features (keyboard keys etc.). Remove the line running
SMARTDRIVE.EXE in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Keep a minimal AUTOEXEC.BAT

On the source box: Copy the fips files restorrb.exe, fips.exe and
errors.txt to this floppy disk.

$ mcopy errors.txt fips.exe restorrb.exe a:

Graham comment: Doesn't this assume that mtools are installed? If the
floppy disc is mounted as type msdos, the standard "cp" command should
do the job, and mtools would not be needed. I have never used mtools,
but I have played with DOS files from Linux.

Yes, this assume that mtools are installed. mcopy is faster to type
than mkdir, mount, cp, umount, rmdir.

Boot the target with the floppy. Run fips while reading the section
"Using FIPS" in the file fips.doc

Do not forget to answer yes when fips ask for a rootboot saving.

When everything is ok, save your hard disk space:

$ cd
$ rm -rf /tmp/fips-2.0/

Now you have a nice free space for a new operating system.

11.

Debian installation

I'm not a Debian proselyte since it is my first Debian installation.
Debian lovers are the same kind of people as Macintosh lovers or Linux
lovers in the operating systems space. Nothing else counts. Since I'm
already a Mac and Lin lover (and French too :-) it was time to fall in
love.

Debian is well, clearly and internationally documented. Thanks to all
those guys who bred this really open distribution.

I could leave you on your own during the installation process. But
since we have to interact with a shell during it, the entire process
will be described in details.

I know the description is Debian specific. I prefer to give you a
complete example than nothing except a ``run a shell at the right
moment and type bla bla...''. I do like concrete examples.

Simon Forget <[email protected]> told me he could not use this howto
with his Toshiba Libretto 50CT because the kernel could not recognize
the pcmcia floppy drive during the installation process. I don't know
why but there is a solution using plip, if you already have a dos
partition on the target computer.

This solution is simpler and faster because no floppy drive nor plip
network are necessary during the installation process. If you are
interested in this solution, go directly to the section ``Installing
from a DOS partition''. I'm keeping the old one installation
routine because this new one needs a DOS partition that becomes
superfluous when you definitively want to leave the dark side.

11.1.

Preparing the two floppies

On the source side, mount the cdrom and go in the install directory

$ mount -t iso9660 /dev/hdd /cdrom
$ cd /cdrom/debian/dists/stable/main/disks-i386/current/

Read the file install.html with a browser or install.txt with a cat,
less or more (a dog).

Now, record the install (alias rescue) floppy. Write a "resc1440.bin"
label on it:

$ dd if=resc1440.bin of=/dev/fd0H1440

Record the drivers floppy. Write a "drv1440.bin" label on it:

$ dd if=drv1440.bin of=/dev/fd0H1440

Lock the writing on those floppies.

Now you're ready to start the real installation process.

11.2.

The real installation process

Insert the resc1440.bin floppy on target drive. Reboot your target
box.

Welcome to Debian GNU/Linux 2.x!
...

Read the text The prompt is :

boot:

Press <ENTER>

Loading root.bin...........
loading linux...
....

A new screen:

Next: Select Color or Monochrome display

Choose yours with the arrow up/down keys and press <ENTER>

Next: Continue with the installation

press <ENTER>

Software in the Public Interest
presents
*** Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 ***
...

Read the text Press <ENTER> (You see <Continue> on the screen)

Next: Configure the Keyboard

press <ENTER> Select your country and press <ENTER>

Next : Partition a Hard Disk

Press <ENTER>

Select Disk Drive
/dev/hda

If you have several disks choose the good one (where you want to
install Linux) and Press <ENTER>

You are now using the program cfdisk. Using cfdisk is safe until you
decide to [Write] the partition on disk. Leaving cfdisk with [Quit] is
safe.

We are going to make just two new primary partitions, a Swap one and a
big Linux one. If you want to do more partitions, leave some free
space or extended partitions, you can. But read the documentation
about Partitioning in the Installation-HOWTO.

If you previously ran the FIPS program, you see the hda1 partition
(DOSFAT16). Switch to the next free partition with the up/down arrow
keys.

Select [New] with the right/left arrow keys and press <ENTER>

Select [Primary] and press <ENTER>

Enter the size of your swap partition. Twice the ram is usual if you
have less than 128 mega bytes of ram. If you have 2 giga bytes of ram,
it's because you don't want to swap. In that case, no swap partition
is needed.

Select [Beginning] and press <ENTER>

Select [Type] and press <ENTER> Type 82 (Linux Swap) and press <ENTER>

Switch to the next free partition with the up/down arrow keys Select
[New] and press <ENTER>

Select [Primary] and press <ENTER>

Enter the size in MB (You can leave the default) and press <ENTER> Its
type is already Linux. If not, change to Linux (83) with [Type]

The partition table is defined now. Verify everything looks good. If
you're not sure, read the documentation with [Help]. If doubts are
still there, select [Quit] and leave the installation process. Go for
a walk and restart from the beginning of this section.

I assume your are confident now.

Select [Write]

Are you sure you want to write the partition table to disk?

Type yes and press <ENTER>

Select [Quit] and press <ENTER>

Next: Initialize and Activate a Swap Partition

Press <ENTER>

Please select the partition to initialize as a swap device

Select /dev/hda2 (normally already selected) Press <ENTER>

Scan for Bad Blocks?

select <YES> and press <ENTER>

Are you Sure?

select <YES> and press <ENTER>

Initializing swap partition
...

Next: Initialize a Linux Partition

Press <ENTER>

Select Partition Please select the to initialize as a Linux "ext2"
file-system.

Select /dev/hda3 (normals already selected) and press <ENTER>

Scan for Bad Blocks?

Select <YES> and press <ENTER>

Are you Sure?

Select <YES> and press <ENTER>

A new page full of numbers. You can take a rest because it takes some
time (especially with big hard disk).

Next: Mount a Previously-Initialized Partition

Press <ENTER>

Please select the partition to mount

Select /dev/hda3 and press <ENTER>

Mount the /dev/hda3 device as the Root FileSystem?

Select <Yes< and press <ENTER>

Next: Install Operating System Kernel and Modules

Press <ENTER>

Please select the medium you will use to install the system

Select /dev/fd0 and press <ENTER>

Please place the Rescue Floppy in the first floppy drive

The floppy is already there.
Select <Continue> and press <ENTER>

Installing the Rescue Floppy ...
Please place the Drivers Floppy in the first floppy drive

Eject the Rescue Floppy and insert the Drivers Floppy, the one I you
labelled drv1440.bin (you did it, didn't you?).
Select <Continue> and press <ENTER>

Installing the Drivers Floppy ...

A new screen:

Next: Configure Device Driver Modules

Press <ENTER>

Select Category

Read the text.

Please select the category of modules

Select net and press <ENTER>
Select plip.

Module plip

Select "Install the module in the kernel" and press <ENTER>
No parameters are needed.
Select <Ok> and press <ENTER>

Installation succeeded
Please press ENTER when you are ready to continue.

Press <ENTER>

Select Exit (Finished with these modules) and press <ENTER>
Then you see the same kind of screen again.
Select Exit (Finished with these modules) and press <ENTER>

Next: Configure the Network

Choose a name, you can use a different name than debian or target.

Is your system connect to a network?

Select <No> and press <ENTER>

STOP STOP STOP. You see now:

Next: Install the base system

Now we need a shell.

Press Alt F2 and <ENTER> You are in a root shell.

11.3.

An installation break: PLIP on the target side

You are in a root shell.

Verify the plip module is loaded:

$ lsmod
Module Pages Used by
plip 3 0

Find the exact name of the plip interface:

$ dmesg
...
NET3 PLIP version 2.2 [email protected]
plip1: Parallel port at 0x378, using assigned IRQ 7

You can find the same information with

$ cat /proc/kmsg
...
<4>NET3 PLIP version 2.2 [email protected]
<4>plip1: Parallel port at 0x378, using assigned IRQ 7
...

Ctrl-c

Configure the plip interface:

$ ifconfig plip1 192.168.0.1 pointopoint 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.255 up

Verify everything is ok:

$ ifconfig plip1
plip0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr FC:FC:C0:A8:00:01
inet addr:192.168.0.1 P-t-P:192.168.0.2 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
Collisions:0
Interrupt:7 Base address:0x378

Verify the route to source exists:

$ route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo

If not, like in the previous example, add the route to 192.168.0.2,
the source:

$ route add -host 192.168.0.2 dev plip1

Now the route is installed:

$ route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.0.2 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 plip1
127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo

Now you can perform a successful ping from the source server (ping is
not available on the Debian install process):

$ ping target
PING target (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=14.0 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=4.3 ms

--- target ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 4.3/9.1/14.0 ms

If it doesn't work, check the Null-Modem cable connection, rerun
dmesg, ifconfig, route. Verify everything. Take a rest. Restart.

When the ping is ok, return to the normal installation process:

On the target: Press Alt F1

11.4.

Return to the normal install process

You are back to the normal installation process. You should still
see:

Next: Install the base system

Press <ENTER>

Please select the medium you will use to install the system

Select nfs and press <ENTER>

Please choose the NFS server and the mount path ...

Type: 192.168.0.2:/cdrom
Press <ENTER>

Please choose the path inside the mounted NFS filesystem

Type /debian (normally already there) and press <ENTER>

If no error message complains about the nfs mount then bravo. You can
verify this mount by entering the shell again:

Press Alt F2

$ mount
...
192.168.0.2:/cdrom on /instmnt type nfs (rw, addr=192.168.0.2)

$ ls /instmnt/debian
README README.non-US doc/
README.CD-manufacture README.pgp@ hamm/
README.mirrors.html TRANS.TBL tools/
README.mirrors.txt dists/

Press Alt F1

You're back again to the normal installation process.

Now the plip nfs cdrom connection is done. Let's go on and finish our
job.

Please select the directory containing a file base2_0.tgz

Select list and press <ENTER>

Please Wait
The installation program is building a list of ...

A new screen:

Select Archive Path
Please select the directory that you will use to install the Base
System from.

Only one long item, already selected. Press <ENTER>

The Base System is being extracted from
/instmnt/debian/dists/.....

Take a second rest, you deserve it

Next: Configure the Base System

Press <ENTER>

Select Timezone

Select your timezone and your directory and press <ENTER>

Timezone Configuration

Read and press <ENTER>

Timezone Configuration.

An other page Read, select <YES> and press <ENTER>

Next: Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk

Press <ENTER>

Create Master Boot Record?

Read
Select <Yes> and press <ENTER>

Make Linux the Default Boot Partition?

Read.
Select <No> and press <ENTER>

Next: Make a boot Floppy

Press <ENTER>

Change Disk
Please place a blank floppy disk in the first floppy drive.

Do it and press <ENTER>
The floppy is being formated

Creating a filesystem on the floppy...
Copying the operating system kernel...

A new screen:

Next: Reboot the System

Press <ENTER>

Reboot the system ?

Remove the floppy and press <ENTER>

The system reboot. Are you still with the dark side? I guess yes, so
insert the boot floppy you've just made and reboot again with Ctrl-
Alt-Del

See the boot messages.
Read the text.

New password:

Enter a root password.

Re-enter new password

Do it.

Shall I create a normal user account now? [Y/n]

Enter n and press <ENTER>

Shall I install shadow passwords? [Y/n]

Enter y and press <ENTER>

Do you want to use a PPP connection to install

Enter n and press <ENTER>

Now you may choose one of several selections ...
Do you want to perform this step?

Enter n and press <ENTER>

I'm going to start the 'dselect' program...

Press <ENTER>
Select [Q]uit and press <ENTER>

You may now login as 'root' at the login: prompt...
...
debian login:

Enter root.

Password:

Enter the root password.

...
debian:~#

The system is installed and working. CONGRATULATIONS!

My job stops here. Read the install documentation of your distribution
and go on with the Unix system administration job.

When you reboot your system, the plip connection won't be in good
shape. But now you now what to do.

I suggest you some work:

� Configure the plip interface for the normal boot process (in the
file /etc/init.d/network).

� Configure /etc/fstat on the target to mount simply the remote
source cdrom via nfs.

source:/cdrom /cdrom nfs noauto,intr 1 2

� Learn Lilo. Configure it for your DOS and Linux systems and install
it on a floppy.

� When you master Lilo on the floppy, install it on your hard drive.

� Install and configure the X Window System.

� Have fun.

� Mail me a feedback.

12.

Installing Slackware, RedHat, Caldera

This section is written by Florent SAUNIER.
[email protected]

I have performed a Slakware installation using PLIP very succesfully.
I have also been able to install REDHAT and caldera Open linux using
the very same method described below.

As previously specified by Gilles, a slakware installation requires
everything specified in the chapter "What do you need" with time
increased to 10 hours if you desire to install xfree(86) and some
developpement tools.

Further on, you need to read first Gilles installation as I set up
mine accordingly to his preset.

Finally, I have performed Slakware and Caldera installation on
Twinhead 550C laptop, with 8Mb Ram, and 2Gbytes Hard drive.

12.1.

Slakware installation

� 1- Make 2 disks (boot and root) and prepare a plip disk

� 2- Install PLIP module

� 3- Create a NFS drive to use PLIP with

� 4- Launch the Slakware (or Caldera) Installation

� 5- Drink all remainder of coffee and go to bed waiting completion
of installation

12.1.1. Making boot,root and plip disks

To install slakware verion using ATAPI CDROM from your source you will
need standard kernel image bareapm.i or bare.i. If you want to make an
install from SCSI support take scsinet.i image.

Other image exists, such as net.i which sould include PLIP function
but on my i486 laptop, Twinhead550C, the imagedoes not work. I have
experienced that the standard image allways work on any laptop I have
used.

12.1.1.1.

1a- creating the boot and root disks.

From ms-dos create the boot disk by typing:

rawrite bareapm.i

then create the root disks:

rawrite color.gz.a (if you are using color screen)

12.1.1.2.

1b- Creating the PLIP disk

On a dos format disk copy the following file :

� 1- plip.o (object program for the plip tool)

� 2- parport_pc

� 3- parport

Those programs are compulsory prior a PLIP install, you will find
them into the slakware installation CDROM under the directory
/MODULES. Same apply to the Caldera installtion. MAke find file if
you cannot find them.

12.1.1.3.

1c- launching the installation.

Insert your boot disk in your Laptop and start computer. Follow the
installtion procedure and wait till the system ask for the root disks.
Insert it and wait for the prompt login: "Slakware login".

To start the Slakware installation you must log as root. Type then
root at the prompt. Be aware that at that time of installation your
keyboard is still qwerty.

12.1.2.

2a- Install PLIP module

Install your source computer according to Gille indication. From
chapter 7 to 9.

Install PLIP on the target. To install PLIP module you need to launch
program from your PLIP disk. Remember you did it no !!!

Access to your floppy disk by:

& mount /dev/fd0h1440 /floppy
& cd /floppy
& insmod parport 'it will install your parallel port
& insmod parport_pc 'it will set it up
& insmod plip 'it will install plip module

If during the PLIP installation you encounter an error. It means that
your paralell port has not been correctly installed. you may type
again the instruction above, it does work sometimes !!, or go to the
parport directory and write appopriate setting.

& cd /proc/parport/0
& vi IRQ 'Verify that 7 is written in it if you are using
'that interruption'

Look at chapter 8,"PLIP on the source side" to get the proper setting.

You should not bother too much as at 95% on the 5 laptop I have
installed everyting went smoothly.

12.1.3.

3a- Now create your NFS drive.

From that point I have choosed to use the creation of a NFS drive on
the target computer. Then I will make an installation using the "From
directory" option rather than from an nfs support.

Do not forget you are still in US keyboard. Of course you have set up
your source accordingly to chapter 7, "Network parameters". You then
did ping your source, but yet you cannot ping the target.

So the first step is to configure your PLIP connection: On the target
type:

& ifconfig plip0 192.168.0.2 pointopoint 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.255 up

Test your Plip configuration by pinging the target from the source

& ping target

then create your nfs drive:

& cd /
& mkdir nfsdrive
mount -t nfs 192.168.0.2:/cdrom /nfstest

You have just configure a drive linked to your source directory /cdrom
were you suppose to have slakware CDROM connected to, from your target
directory call nfstest

Now everything is set up and you are ready to launch the Slakware
installation program, by typing "setup".

note:if you do not have enough memory, below 8mb setup will not being
launched then, you will have to make a swap space to allow the program
to work. first Create you disk partition with your swap by typing &
fdisk note your swap disk name eg /hda3 quit fdisk with 'w' Once its
done type:

& mkswap -c /dev/hda3
& swapon /dev/ha3

Your swap is now set up. You may then launch the "setup" program.

12.1.4.

4a- Installing Slakware

the setup programm shows various menu:

� HELP - Help file

� KEYMAP - Keyboard select (Azerty at least !!!)

� ADDSWAP - Create and select swap

� TARGET - Select target

� SOURCE - select the source

� SELECT - Select pakages to install

� CONFIGURE - Set up your linux system and make LILO

� EXIT - bye bye setup

4b- Select your keyboard, for French take -Fr-latin1.map

4c- Select your swap partition if not already configured

4d- Select the target, default is '/'

4e- Select the source. Here is the tricky stuff choose Installing from
a drive type the drive so : /nfsdrive/slakware slakware CDROM
directory

4f- Select packages to install

4g- Wait, Wait, Wait and Wait........

12.2.

Caldera Installation

I told you that Caldera work also with that install. In fact as
Caldera launch automatically is Setup program, once you arrived at the
menu were you suppose to choose your source disks type ALT F2 and go
to another screen then log as root and make your nfs drive as
described above in point 2 to 4. Then go back to the installtion
screen with ALT F1, and type the famous nfsdrive as your source
directory. Caldera will than install without problem.

12.3.

Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing any trouble with that installation you may
report it tome and I'll try to help as best as I can.

13.

Installing from a DOS partition

You can use this section if you already have a DOS partition on your
target computer. I think it is a faster installation method.

Read the section 5.3.1 "Installing from a DOS partition" from
install.txt. This section is also available on the Debian CD in the
html file ch-install-methods.html.

I just going to help you to make the first point : "1. Get the
following files from your nearest Debian" repository"

The transfer is easy with tomsrtbt.

Export the source cdrom drive via nfs.

Read the file tomsrtbt.FAQ

Create the floppy under DOS or Linux, you have the choice.

Linux installation:
a) extract the .tar.gz archive
b) Be root
c) Be in the tomsrtbt-<version> directory
d) Have a blank floppy with no bad sectors
e) Do './install.s'

Boot the target with the floppy. Log in root.

$ insmod plip
$ ifconfig plip1 192.168.0.1 pointopoint 192.168.0.2 \
netmask 255.255.255.255 up
$ route add -host 192.168.0.2 dev plip1
$ mount -t nfs 192.168.0.2:/cdrom /cdrom
$ mkdir /c
$ mount -t msdos /dev/hda1 /c
$ mkdir /c/debian
$ cd /cdrom/dists/stable/main/disks-i386/current/
$ cp resc1440.bin drv1440.bin base2_1.tgz root.bin linux \
install.bat loadlin.exe /c/debian

The \ means the command line continues on the next line. The cp
command takes some time. When finished, remove the floppy and then :

$ reboot

Boot under DOS.

C:\> cd debian
C:\DEBIAN> install

Here you go to install Debian from a DOS partition. You do not need
plip nor floppy during the installation process. Everything deals with
the hard drive. Read the Debian install documentation, it is a very
good and clear one.

14.

Install the plip interface permanently

14.1.

On the source side

I use an old Linux RedHat 4.1 distribution. The location of the files
can be different on other GNU/Linux distributions but the philosophy
is the same (The Unix System V convention).

Create the file /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip with this content:

#!/bin/sh

##############################
# file /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip #
##############################

# See how we were called.
case "$1" in
start)
# Start daemons.
/bin/echo "Starting plip interface: "
/bin/echo "Doing /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 up"
/sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 up
/bin/echo "Doing /bin/ping -q -c 4 target"
/bin/ping -q -c 4 target
/bin/echo "Starting plip interface: done"
;;
stop)
# Stop daemons.
/bin/echo "Shutting down plip interface:"
/bin/echo "Doing /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 down"
/sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 down
/bin/echo "Doing /sbin/modprobe -r plip "
/sbin/modprobe -r plip
/bin/echo "Shutting down plip interface: done"
;;
*)
echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
exit 1
esac

exit 0

# === End of File ===

Only the ifconfig lines are strictly necessary. Perhaps you will need
to add some modprobe commands if you don't use kerneld nor the kmod
feature of new kernels 2.2.x

Create the symbolic links in the rc*.d directories:

$ cd /etc/rc.d/rc0.d/
$ ln -s ../init.d/plip K97plip

$ cd /etc/rc.d/rc1.d/
$ ln -s ../init.d/plip K92plip

$ cd /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/
$ ln -s ../init.d/plip S11plip

$ cd /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/
$ ln -s ../init.d/plip S11plip

You can choose other numbers. Be aware to place the K??plip files
after the ones that shutdown services depending on plip. Be aware to
place the S??plip files before the ones that start services depending
on plip, nfs, nis, ftp, http etc.

Update the /etc/conf.modules file:

# /etc/conf.modules
...
alias parport_lowlevel parport_pc
post-install parport_pc echo 7 > /proc/parport/0/irq
...

Choose the good irq number (7 is mine, not yours).

Test the plip shell:

$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip
Usage: /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip {start|stop}

$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip stop
Shutting down plip interface:
Doing /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 down
Doing /sbin/modprobe -r plip
Shutting down plip interface: done

$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/plip start
Starting plip interface:
Doing /sbin/ifconfig plip0 source pointopoint target netmask 255.255.255.255 up
Doing /bin/ping -q -c 4 target
PING target (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes

--- target ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 4.4/8.3/14.0 ms
Starting plip interface: done

Updating the start scripts is a good accasion to reboot a Unix system,
to check the modifications. Do it:

$ init 6

14.2.

On the target side

Update the file /etc/init.d/network:

#! /bin/sh
#######################
# /etc/init.d/network #
#######################

ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1
route add -net 127.0.0.0

ifconfig plip1 192.168.0.1 pointopoint 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.255 up
route add -host 192.168.0.2 dev plip1

That's all because the parport features are directly in the kernel.

Updating the start scripts is a good occasion to reboot a Unix system,
to check the modifications. Do it:

$ init 6

15.

Need to compile a new kernel ?

Several times during the source server configuration we mentioned that
a kernel compilation on the source computer could be needed.

I list the things you need to change or set. If you have never
compile a kernel, read the Kernel-HOWTO.

Loadable module support --->
[*] Enable loadable module support

General setup --->
[*] Networking support
<M> Parallel port support
<M> PC-style hardware

Networking options --->
[*] TCP/IP networking

Network device support --->
[*] Network device support
<*> Dummy net driver support
<M> PLIP (parallel port) support
< > or <M> PPP (point-to-point) support
< > or <M> SLIP (serial line) support

Character devices --->
<M> Parallel printer support

Filesystems --->
[*] /proc filesystem support
<*> or <M> ISO 9660 CDROM filesystem support
Network File Systems --->
<*> or <M> NFS filesystem support

16.

What's new

v1.22, 16 June 2000

�

� Added a mention to PARTED http://www.gnu.org/software/parted as
told by Andrew Clausen ([email protected]).

� Added section Installing Slackware, RedHat, or Caldera, by
Florent SAUNIER.

� Corrected some English faults, thanks to Graham and Tomas.

v1.15, 26 November 1999

� The section "What's new". It is this section.

� The section "Install the plip interface permanently".

� The section "List of contributors and acknowledgements".

� Made the different chapters dealing with the detailed Debian
installation be a single chapter with the actual chapters as
just subsections.

� Made a new section "Installing from a DOS partition". A simpler
and faster method.

17.

To do

� Check a kernel compilation from scratch (no last .config file) with
only the options I gave. Add the missing ones if any.

� Make the Mandrake, SuSE, Turbo Linux, and Stampede detailed
installation chapters. Contributions are welcome. Gilles Lamiral
won't do that job unless given new computers and CDs.

Debian (done), Red Hat (done), Slackware (done), Caldera OpenLinux
(done).

� Make "The cdrom nfs server side" chapter become simply "the server
side" chapter with subsections like "cdrom medium", "zip medium",
"hard disk medium", and "ftp server" "nfs server", "samba server"
"http server". Again, contributions are welcome.

18.

List of contributors and acknowledgements

I thank all the people in this list of contributors or projects. If
you think I forgot someone, do not hesitate to complain.

Werner Heuser <[email protected]>
He said: "yesterday I had time enough to read your document.
It's great and in the next issue of my HOWTO (probably 2.
December) I will make a link to it."

He did.

LDP <[email protected]>
The Linux Documentation Project accepted the PLIP-Install-HOWTO
without any hesitation.

Simon Forget <[email protected]>
Simon had a problem with his pcmcia floppy drive. So he made me
search a solution that is, in fact, simpler and faster.

Andrew Clausen <[email protected]>
Andrew suggested me to talk about parted
http://www.gnu.org/software/parted

Florent SAUNIER <[email protected]>
Florent wrote the section called "Installing Slackware/Caldera".

Graham Bosworth <[email protected]>
Graham corrected my bad english all over the document.

Tomas Pospisek <[email protected]>
Tomas also corrected my bad english.