XPost: linux.debian.maint.boot
From: [email protected]

Package: installation-reports

INSTALL REPORT

Debian-installer-version: rc1, downloaded from ftp.au.debian.org.
uname -a: Linux metebelis 2.4.26-r4k-ip22 #1 Sun Jul 18 20:49:31 UTC 2004
mips GNU/Linux
Date: Sun Aug 15, 5pm GMT+10
Method: Installed over a serial console (no keyboard or monitor) using
bootp/tftp. Serial cable from the mips box was connected to an
i386 machine running minicom, where i did the actual typing.
dhcp server and tftp server were on a third box (i386/sid), all
on a local subnet. Debian packages were downloaded from
ftp.au.debian.org, no proxy used.

Machine: SGI Indy
Processor: R4600, 133MHz
Memory: 64M
Root Device: SCSI (/dev/sda)
Root Size/partition table: 1.06G in size.
Approx. 16M for SGI volhdr (part. 9),
then approx. 590M for / (ext3) (part. 1),
then approx. 418M swap (part. 2).
Output of lspci and lspci -n:
metebelis:~# lspci
pcilib: Cannot open /proc/bus/pci
lspci: Cannot find any working access method.
metebelis:~# lspci -n
pcilib: Cannot open /proc/bus/pci
lspci: Cannot find any working access method.
metebelis:~#

Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it

Initial boot worked: [O]
Configure network HW: [O]
Config network: [O]
Detect CD: [ ]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives: [O]
Partition hard drives: [*] (worked with difficulties)
Create file systems: [*] (worked with difficulties)
Mount partitions: [O]
Install base system: [O]
Install boot loader: [O]
Reboot: [O]

Comments/Problems:

Mostly went very smoothly -- I was quite pleasantly surprised I could
do the entire installation over a serial console without a monitor or
keyboard.

Biggest difficulty was partitioning. The machine originally came with irix installed, and the machine already had four partitions (1:boot, 2:swap, 9:volhdr and 11:volume(iirc)).

I deleted partitions 1, 2 and 9 and recreated them with different sizes.
I then went on to the next d-i stage (create filesystems), and I was given an error that there were no partitions available for creating filesystems on
(iirc -- alas I didn't write this down). I went back to the partitioner and deleted all four partitions (1,2,9,11). I recreated 1, 2 and 9 and found
that 11 had automagically recreated itself (though with 1010 sectors instead
of the original 1011 from the initial irix partitioning). d-i was then quite happy to carry on from here.

One problem I did have with the partitioner was that you couldn't read the
full partition table on an 80-column terminal. The device names were
so long (/dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target1/lun0/part1, etc.) that the table
was pushed too far to the right -- the partition size was obfuscated,
and anything to the right of it (such as the partition type) could not be
read at all.

The other trouble I had was during package configuration over the serial console, in that I could not always see what options I was choosing
during the base system configuration.

Specifically, when running minicom from a konsole under X, the bold text
looked identical to standard text; as a result I was working blind in the
list selections (e.g., which timezone are you in, how do you want
exim to handle your mail). When running minicom from tty1 I could handle
the lists fine (since the bold showed up), but some yes/no choices were
unclear (e.g., does your hardward clock use GMT) -- there was no indication
of which option i currently had selected. In both the konsole and tty1 scenarios, the list of tasks (devel, desktop, manual package selection, etc) gave no indication as to where my cursor was -- I had to press space at
random intervals to see which option changed state so i could navigate.

Perhaps these navigation issues could be improved by using a visual feedback that does not rely on cursor position and font attributes alone? An example might be an asterisk that moves up and down a list (or between two buttons)
as you press the arrow keys.

All in all though, the installation was a very pleasant experience. My congratulations to the d-i team for such a smooth process.

Ben.


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