First of all, the optimal way of installing an operating system on these machines is
using an network install server but as there is no such solution (that is mature enough)
for linux, I'm going to write this howto on the basis of making a CD-install.
This HOWTO will guide you through installing Debian Linux on your Netra X1 machine from
a CD and doing the base configuration (including getting networking to work under Linux).
I won't go through the Debian setup process itself as it's pretty basic.
- This howto will be slightly Debian centric, but it will also work fine if you're going to install some
other linux flavor such as Aurora/SuSE/Gentoo etc with some minor changes (you can figure out what easily).
To be able to install Debian Linux on a SUN Netra X1 you will need the following:
- Standard SUN RJ45->Serial cable to get local console access (required)
- Generic IDE cd-rom drive (Most CD-R/DVD/etc drives won't be recognized, I used a Sony 8x model)
- Debian install cd for the SPARC platform (+ internet connection/all cd's later on)
- Philips screwdriver to open the casing
- A basic understanding of Debian Linux and hardware in general
2: Shutting down properly
First shutdown from within your installed Solaris/Linux distribution, then, using the serial
connection (fig. 3: LOM port) type #. to enter the LOM and then run the command "poweroff"
from the prompt, by doing this the unit will not automatically power up when you reconnect the mains (and boot into your current OS).
Fig. 2 RJ45 to serial adapter.
3: Installing a cd-rom drive
First of all start by unplugging the mains and all cables connected to the machine and wait 15 minutes.
Then use a philips screwdriver to loosen the one screw on the back of the unit and then
pull the top of the cover back (may require some force).
Fig. 3 Unit back.
If you've got 2 IDE drives connected you will have to disconnect the second drive during the install
(the left drive seen from the front of the unit).
Then make sure your CD-drive is set to 'master' (slave or csel will fail) and connect it to the left
IDE chain, connect the 5V power connector.
Fig. 4 open unit
4: Booting the installer
Reconnect the mains, if you did everything right the unit should NOT power up automatically (but if it does so, no worries).
Using the serial connection enter #. and the issue the command "poweron", you will be sent to the system console.
1: If you have solaris: When the machine is starting to load Solaris enter the LOM (type #) and issue the command "shutdown" and then "break", you should now be sent to the "boot" prompt.
Here you should enter "boot cdrom" which will boot the Debian linux install cd-rom in your cd-drive. If you're having trouble getting to the boot prompt check step 8 below.
2: If you already have linux, boot into linux and reboot with the argument "cdrom", i.e. "reboot cdrom".
If the boot fails there is a 99% chance that your cd-rom drive is NOT generic and therefor is not supported, your best bet is
to try another cd-rom drive or two. I had to try 4 different drives until I found one that worked.
5: Installing linux
Install Debian Linux using the installer via your serial connection, this should be pretty much self-explanatory
and you do not need to install anything special (yet) for everything to function. If you need help installing the system itself I suggest
you have a look at the www.debian.org support pages.
One thing I should mention (as noted by Scott): on the default Solaris installation that comes with the Netra X1's, Fire V100's and Blade 100's
there is a thing some users that are new to Solaris machines might notice when partitioning the disk.
The Solaris partitions got the "SUN disk label" flag set on them, this is something you can safely ignore when making your Linux partitions
(I strongly suggest using EXT3 for it's stability as the file system, the installer will prompt you if you wish to do this later on).
6: Setting up ethernet networking
About now you should successfully have a installed a booting system, now you need to take the following steps to get networking working (and then installing a newer kernel):
To load the network driver, run the command: modprobe tulip
and then add a line with the text "tulip" to /etc/modules, this will make the networking driver support load automatically
at boot time. Please note that the tulip driver is not made especially to support the Davicom ("DMFE") network interfaces but it's
always worked good for me and most likely it will for you too.
Please note that Linux gives the ethernet port marked "0" the name eth1 and vice versa, which might cause some confusion if you're not aware of it.
After doing this your network support should be functioning, you can safely ignore any messages that arises upon loading the module.
Now either use pump/dhclient to configure one of your NIC's (eth0 & eth1) with DHCP or use ifconfig to give them staticIP addresses.
If you do not got internet access you will need the debian cd's for the next step. Also, note that there is a "dmfe" davicom network driver available,
but most people have been unsucessful when trying to use it on SPARC machines and I do not recommend trying it until it matured more.
7: Getting a new kernel
Now you're ready (after adding either internet or local cd APT sources) to install a new kernel.
When I'm writing this the package kernel-image-2.4.18-sun4u is the latest available for these machines
and is working well for me. Just apt-get install kernel-image-2.4.18-sun4u and it should solve itself.
After doing this (if you added internet APT sources) I'd recommend you to run the following two commands:
apt-get update and apt-get upgrade to get the latest security and bug patched packages of your software.
After this step, you're done. If you ran into any trouble or have any questions, don't hesitate to email me at henric@digital-bless.com
You should also know that there are quite a few "exotic" problems you can run into if you try to compile your own SPARC64 kernel from the 2.4.x tree, therefor I
do not recommend doing so unless you really know what you're doing.
8: LOM / Serial access info (addendum)
It seems like some people have been having trouble understanding the LOM [lights out management] via serial thing...
Here's an more elaborate explaination of it:
If you have an look at fig 2 (in step 2) you've got a picture of an RJ45 to serial converter. The simple and only task of
this converter is to interface an RJ45 (ethernet) style connector to a serial-style standard PC connector.
In one end, you plug it into your computers serial contact, in the other end you plug in a standard NON-crossed ethernet
cable which you connect to the LOM port of your SUN Netra X1 (see fig. 3 at step 3 above). After doing this you've got
"serial access" to your unit. It works as an ordinary shell really, under windows you could use an application like hyperterm
to connect to it, if you use Linux you know there's a ton of them, so is there for Mac OS.
You should setup your serial client on your computer to access your netra with the following settings: 9600 bauds, hardware error correction.
After you connected via your serial connection you will be able to login to your machine with a regular shell (when booted) and issue LOM commands when it's
off / not booted. To get to the LOM prompt is quite easy, you can do it at any time, even when you're using an shell via the serial connection.
Just type # and it will drop you into a separate prompt. From here you can issue commands like shutdown (shutdown Solaris/Linux), poweroff (power off the unit
along with fans etc), poweron (turn on the unit, fans, etc), reset (poweroff-poweron), break (exit the LOM prompt) and many other things, just type help for a complete command listing.
9: Linux distributions that will work on the Netra X1 (addendum)
The following Linux distributions are reported to have Sparc64 support and boot on the sun netra x1, that I am aware of:
Aurora Linux
SuSE
Debian
Gentoo
UltraLinux
Mandrake (Support is ONLY availiable in version 7.1 at the moment, which is old and NOT RECCOMENDED).
FYI: You should be aware of that Linux only runs the kernel and it's modules in 64 bit mode, while all software runs in a "32-bit userland"
which in some cases might lead to that some tasks may appear to perform slower than on Solaris which is more 64-bit 'clean'.
10: Notes about installing linux on sun Blade 100 and Fire V100 machines (addendum)
First, the sun Netra X1 is basically a sun Blade 100 stripped of it's video and sound capabilities, so installing Linux on those machines is
virtually the exact same thing as installing it on a Netra X1 and has been reported to work fine.
Second, Scott reported to me that installing Debian Linux on a sun Fire V100 works fine. As the V100 machines uses the same
NIC the ethernet interface numbers are switched on these units too (see number 6 above for more info). Other than this, it should be
even easier to install Linux on the V100's as they got a built in cd-rom drive.
11: Notes about installing without access to installed OS / root access (addendum)
As some people have been asking if you can install Linux on the machine without an installed OS I decided to address the question;
- Yes, you can install linux without any installed OS just as well. You go through the same procedure as with a regular install, you will just need
to invoke a break command during or right after the basic hardware checks are done, then make a poweroff and you should be at the correct prompt.
If you fail to do this with a disk without an installed OS the machine will most likely halt or display an error such as "bad magic number" or like wise
due to that it can't find a default solaris partition.
The same procedure goes for machines that you do not have the root password for. Or if you're really handy you could just take the disk out of the machine
that you don't have the root password on and put it in another Solaris/Linux machine and copy over a new password file.