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>Installing GNU/Linux on the IBM RS/6000 43P model 7248 HOWTO</TH
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><H1
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><A
NAME="OVERVIEW"
></A
>2. Overview</H1
><DIV
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><H2
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><A
NAME="HARDWARE"
></A
>2.1. The IBM RS6000 43P 7248-132</H2
><P
> This chapter contains a short overview over the 7248-133 and Linux
for PowerPC. The data for the other 7248 models should not be too
different from this.
</P
><P
> The IBM RS/6000 43P model 7248-133 is a not extremely new PReP
based PowerPC workstation which was produced from 1995 through
1997. The 43P series includes a lot of machines, both CHRP
and PReP based. Our model has among other things this to offer:
</P
><P
>
<P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
> PReP architecture </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Carolina type motherboard </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> 133MHz PowerPC model 604 processor </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> 512K synchronous L2 cache </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Max 192MB RAM (?)</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Integrated ncr53c810 SCSI-2 controller </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Integrated IDE controller </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Integrated AMD PCnet32 PCI ethernet adapter </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Integrated IBM E15 2MB graphics adapter
based on the S3 Vision864 chip </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Integrated Crystal Audio cs4232 sound adapter </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> 1.44MB Floppy disk drive </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> IBM 8X SCSI CD-ROM drive </P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Usually equipped with one 1.2GB IBM DPES 31080
SCSI hardisk </P
></LI
></UL
>
</P
><P
> You can find more information at IBM's sales manual for this
machine, found at <A
HREF=" http://www.ibmlink.ibm.com/"
TARGET="_top"
> http://www.ibmlink.ibm.com/</A
>. (click "United States",
"SalesManual", "Continue", and search for the product number
"7248" at the bottom)
</P
><P
> Linux has a native port to the PowerPC processor, and all
official code is maintained in the main kernel tree.
The main part of the port was done by Gary Thomas. The story of
the port <A
HREF="http://gate.crashing.org/doc/ppc/doc003.htm"
TARGET="_top"
> can be found here</A
>. For more information on running Linux on
the PowerPC processor, check out the
<A
HREF="http://www.penguinppc.org/"
TARGET="_top"
>Linux/PPC homepage/</A
>.
</P
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><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="PROCEDURE"
></A
>2.2. What's the matter, why not use the original installation procedure?</H2
><P
> Most Linux distributions for PowerPC computers are aimed for
the Apple PowerMac computer series. Those who support other
hardware seems (naturally enough) to aim at quite modern
hardware. The IBM 7248 series are not Macintosh computers nor
very modern (although neither very old). This means that the
standard kernels, the standard installation routines, and the
standard system configurations do not fit our precious 7248
computers.
</P
><P
> You should absolutely make no worries about this at all. We'll
make a few hacks, some manual configuration, and make it work
anyway. Don't despair, this document will lead you through
it, step by step.
</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="WHAT-DISTRIBUTIONS"
></A
>2.3. What distributions are supported</H2
><P
> The term "supported" here is maybe too strong, as few
distributions actually support the 7248. I will however in
this document try to describe how to install the following
Linux distributions on the 7248:
</P
><P
> <P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
>Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 ("Woody")</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>SuSE 7.3</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>YellowDog Linux 2.3/3.0 ("Dayton"/"Sirius") </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Mandrake 9.1 ("Bamboo")</P
></LI
></UL
>
</P
><P
> Some may ask where RedHat Linux is. RedHat does simply not
support 32 bits PowerPC processors at all, so end of
story. (Though there did exist a version of RedHat 7.2 for
some special IBM PowerPC based hardware. It was never a
success.) Those who are familiar with RedHat Linux should be
quite content with YellowDog anyway, as it is based on RedHat,
and feels very similar in use.
</P
><P
> You should be able to build a Gentoo or Linux From Scrath
installation on the 7248. See the respective <A
HREF="http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-ppc-install.xml"
TARGET="_top"
> Gentoo</A
> and <A
HREF="http://www.linuxfromscratch.org"
TARGET="_top"
>LFS</A
> web sites for
more information. You should probably be able to use some of
the information given in this document, but I have personally
never buildt a Gentoo or LFS installation, and probably never
will, so no details on those will be given in this document.
</P
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CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="TODO-OVERVIEW"
></A
>2.4. An overview on what to do</H2
><P
> Here is what we are going to do:
<P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
>Set up the hardware properly ("BIOS settings") with
IBM's System Management Services (SMS)</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Get installation files from CD or FTP</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Make boot floppies</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Get the machine to boot and start the installation program</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Partition the hard drives</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Install the system</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Boot the system</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Update the kernel</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Set up X </P
></LI
></UL
>
</P
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