This section contains information about what hardware you need to get started with Debian. You will also find links to further information about hardware supported by GNU and Linux.
Debian does not impose hardware requirements beyond the requirements of the
Linux kernel and the GNU tool-sets. Therefore, any architecture or platform to
which the Linux kernel, libc, gcc, etc. have been ported, and for
which a Debian port exists, can run Debian.
There are, however, some limitations in our boot floppy set with respect to supported hardware. Some Linux-supported platforms might not be directly supported by our boot floppies. If this is the case, you may have to create a custom rescue disk (see Replacing the Rescue Floppy Kernel, Section 9.3), or investigate network installations.
Rather than attempting to describe all the different hardware configurations which are supported for Alpha, this section contains general information and pointers to where additional information can be found.
Debian 2.2 supports six architectures: Intel x86-based architectures; Motorola 680x0 machines such as Atari, Amiga, and Macintoshes; DEC Alpha machines; Sun SPARC machines; ARM and StrongARM machines; and some IBM/Motorola PowerPC machines, including CHRP, PowerMac and PReP machines. These are referred to as i386, m68k, alpha, sparc, arm, and powerpc, respectively.
This document covers installation for the alpha architecture. If you
look for information on other architectures take a look at the Debian-Ports pages.
Complete information regarding supported DEC Alphas can be found at Linux Alpha
HOWTO. The purpose of this section is to describe the systems
supported by the boot disks.
Alpha machines are subdivided into different system types because there are a number of generations of motherboard and supporting chip-sets. Different systems (``sub-architectures'') often have radically different engineering and capabilities. Therefore, the process of installing and, more to the point, booting, can vary from system to system.
The following table lists the system types supported by the Debian installation system. The table also indicates the code name for these system types. You'll need to know this code name when you actually begin the installation process:
Family/Model Code Name
============= =========
ALPHAbook 1 book1
ALCOR
AS 600 alcor
AS 500 5/3xx alcor
AS 500 5/5xx alcor
XL-300/366/433 xlt
AVANTI
AS 200 4/* avanti
AS 205 4/* avanti
AS 250 4/* avanti
AS 255 4/* avanti
AS 300 4/* avanti
AS 400 4/* avanti
DP264 dp264
DP264 dp264
AS DP10 dp264
AS DP20 dp264
AS ES40 dp264
AS XP1000 dp264
UP2000 dp264
EB164 eb164
AlphaPC164 pc164
AlphaPC164-LX lx164
AlphaPC164-SX sx164
EB64+
EB64+ eb64p
AlphaPC64 cabriolet
AlphaPCI-64 cabriolet
EB66 eb66
EB66+ eb66p
JENSEN
DECpc 150 jensen
DEC 2000 Model 300 jensen
MIKASA
AS 1000 4/xxx mikasa
AS 1000 5/xxx mikasa-p
NAUTILUS
UP1000 nautilus
NONAME
AXPpci33 noname
UDB noname
NORITAKE
AS 1000A 4/xxx noritake
AS 1000A 5/xxx noritake-p
AS 600A 5/xxx noritake-p
AS 800 5/xxx noritake-p
Personal Workstation
PWS 433a or 433au miata
PWS 500a or 500au miata
PWS 600a or 600au miata
RAWHIDE
AS 4000 rawhide
AS 4100 rawhide
AS 1200 rawhide
RUFFIAN
Deskstation RPX164-2 ruffian
Samsung AlphaPC164-UX/BX ruffian
SABLE
AS 2100 4/xxx sable
AS 2000 4/xxx sable
AS 2100 5/xxx sable-g
AS 2000 5/xxx sable-g
TAKARA takara
XL
XL-233/266 xl
Multi-processor support -- also called ``symmetric multi-processing'' or SMP -- is supported for this architecture. However, the standard Debian 2.2 kernel image does not support SMP. This should not prevent installation, since the standard, non-SMP kernel should boot on SMP systems; the kernel will simply use the first CPU.
In order to take advantage of multiple processors, you'll have to replace the
standard Debian kernel. You can find a discussion of how to do this in Compiling a New Kernel, Section
8.4. At this time (kernel version 2.2.18pre21) the way you enable SMP is
to select ``symmetric multi-processing'' in the ``General'' section of the
kernel config. If you compile software on a multiprocessor system, look for
the -j flag in the documentation on make(1).
There are four different media which can be used to install Debian: floppies, CD-ROMs, local disk partitions, or the network. Different parts of the same Debian installation can mix and match these options; we'll go into that in Methods for Installing Debian, Chapter 5.
Floppy disk installation is a common option, although generally, the least desirable. In many cases, you'll have to do your first boot from floppies, using the Rescue Floppy. Generally, all you will need is a high-density (1440 kilobytes) 3.5 inch floppy drive.
CD-ROM based installation is also supported for some architectures. On machines which support bootable CD-ROMs, you should be able to do a completely floppy-less installation. Even if your system doesn't support booting from a CD-ROM, you can use the CD-ROM in conjunction with the other techniques to install your system, once you've booted up by other means; see Installing from a CD-ROM, Section 6.4.
Installation from local disk is another option. If you have free space on partitions other than the partitions you're installing to, this is definitely a good option. Some platforms even have local installers, i.e., for booting from AmigaOS, TOS, or MacOS.
The last option is network installation. You can install your base system via HTTP or NFS. You can also boot your system over the network. Diskless installation, using network booting and NFS-mounting of all local filesystems, is another option -- you'll probably need at least 16MB of RAM for this option. After your base system is installed, you can install the rest of your system via any sort of network connection (including PPP), via FTP, HTTP, or NFS.
More complete descriptions of these methods, and helpful hints for picking which method is best for you, can be found in Methods for Installing Debian, Chapter 5. Please be sure to continue reading to make sure the device you intend to boot and install from is supported by the Debian installation system.
The Debian boot disks contain a kernel which is built to maximize the number of systems it runs on. Unfortunately, this makes for a larger kernel, with a lot of drivers which will never be used (see Compiling a New Kernel, Section 8.4 to learn how to build your own). However, support for the widest possible range of devices is desirable in order to ensure that Debian can be installed on the widest array of hardware. Any storage system supported by the Linux kernel is also supported by the boot system. The following SCSI drivers are supported in the default kernel:
IDE disks are also supported. Note, however, that on many systems, the SRM
console is unable to boot from IDE drives, and the Jensen is unable to boot
from floppies. (see http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/FAQ-9.html
for more information on booting the Jensen)
You must have at least 16MB of memory and 100MB of hard disk. If you want to install a reasonable amount of software, including the X Window System, and some development programs and libraries, you'll need at least 300MB. For a more or less complete installation, you'll need around 800MB. To install everything available in Debian, you'll probably need around 2 GB. Actually, installing everything doesn't even make sense, since some packages conflict with others.
Linux supports a large variety of hardware devices such as mice, printers, scanners, modems, network cards, PCMCIA devices, etc. However, none of these devices are required while installing the system. This section contains information about peripherals specifically not supported by the installation system, even though they may be supported by Linux.
Any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should also be supported by the boot disks. Support for the built-in DECChip (Tulip) Ethernet on many Alpha models is compiled directly into the kernel. (FIXME: the kernel maintainer screwed up and forgot this, make sure this is fixed for the release) For other cards, you may need to load your network driver as a module.
There are several vendors, now, who ship systems with Debian or other distributions of GNU/Linux pre-installed. You might pay more for the privilege, but it does buy a level of peace of mind, since you can be sure that the hardware is well-supported by GNU/Linux.
Whether or not you are purchasing a system with Linux bundled, or even a used system, it is still important to check that your hardware is supported by the Linux kernel. Check if your hardware is listed in the references found above. Let your salesperson (if any) know that you're shopping for a Linux system. Support Linux-friendly hardware vendors.
Some hardware manufacturers simply won't tell us how to write drivers for their hardware. Others won't allow us access to the documentation without a non-disclosure agreement that would prevent us from releasing the Linux source code. One example is the IBM laptop DSP sound system used in recent ThinkPad systems -- some of these systems also couple the sound system to the modem. Another example is the proprietary hardware in the older Macintosh line.
Since we haven't been granted access to the documentation on these devices, they simply won't work under Linux. You can help by asking the manufacturers of such hardware to release the documentation. If enough people ask, they will realize that the free software community is an important market.