Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide January 12, 2020 Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide Copyright © 2004 – 2019 the Debian Installer team This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Please refer to the license in Appendix F. i Contents 1 Welcome to Debian 1 1.1 What is Debian? . 1 1.2 What is GNU/Linux? . 1 1.3 What is Debian GNU/Linux? . 2 1.4 What is the Debian Installer? . 3 1.5 Getting Debian . 3 1.6 Getting the Newest Version of This Document . 3 1.7 Organization of This Document . 3 1.8 About Copyrights and Software Licenses . 4 2 System Requirements 5 2.1 Supported Hardware . 5 2.1.1 Supported Architectures . 5 2.1.2 Three different ARM ports . 6 2.1.3 Variations in ARM CPU designs and support complexity . 6 2.1.4 Platforms supported by Debian/arm64 . 6 2.1.4.1 Other platforms . 7 2.1.5 Multiple Processors . 7 2.1.6 Graphics Hardware Support . 7 2.1.7 Network Connectivity Hardware . 7 2.1.8 Peripherals and Other Hardware . 7 2.2 Devices Requiring Firmware . 7 2.3 Purchasing Hardware Specifically for GNU/Linux . 8 2.3.1 Avoid Proprietary or Closed Hardware . 8 2.4 Installation Media . 8 2.4.1 CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/BD-ROM . 8 2.4.2 USB Memory Stick . 9 2.4.3 Network . 9 2.4.4 Hard Disk . 9 2.4.5 Un*x or GNU system . 9 2.4.6 Supported Storage Systems . 9 2.5 Memory and Disk Space Requirements . 9 3 Before Installing Debian GNU/Linux 10 3.1 Overview of the Installation Process . 10 3.2 Back Up Your Existing Data! . 11 3.3 Information You Will Need . 11 3.3.1 Documentation . 11 3.3.1.1 Installation Manual . 11 3.3.1.2 Hardware documentation . 11 3.3.2 Finding Sources of Hardware Information . 11 3.3.3 Hardware Compatibility . 12 3.3.3.1 Testing hardware compatibility with a Live-System . 13 3.3.4 Network Settings . 13 3.4 Meeting Minimum Hardware Requirements . 13 3.5 Pre-Partitioning for Multi-Boot Systems . 14 3.6 Pre-Installation Hardware and Operating System Setup . 14 3.6.1 Boot Device Selection . 15 3.6.2 ARM firmware . 15 3.6.3 Setting the ethernet MAC address in U-Boot . 15 3.6.4 Kernel/Initrd/Device-Tree relocation issues in U-Boot . 15 ii CONTENTS 4 Obtaining System Installation Media 16 4.1 Official Debian GNU/Linux CD/DVD-ROM Sets . 16 4.2 Downloading Files from Debian Mirrors . 16 4.2.1 Where to Find Installation Images . 16 4.3 Preparing Files for USB Memory Stick Booting . 16 4.3.1 Preparing a USB stick using a hybrid CD or DVD image . 17 4.3.2 Manually copying files to the USB stick . 18 4.3.3 Manually copying files to the USB stick — the flexible way . 18 4.4 Preparing Files for TFTP Net Booting . 18 4.4.1 Setting up RARP server . 18 4.4.2 Setting up a DHCP server . 18 4.4.3 Setting up a BOOTP server . 19 4.4.4 Enabling the TFTP Server . 19 4.4.5 Move TFTP Images Into Place . 20 4.5 Automatic Installation . 20 4.5.1 Automatic Installation Using the Debian Installer . 20 5 Booting the Installation System 21 5.1 Booting the Installer on 64-bit ARM . 21 5.1.1 Console configuration . 21 5.1.2 Juno Installation . 21 5.1.3 Applied Micro Mustang Installation . 21 5.1.4 Booting by TFTP . 22 5.1.4.1 TFTP-booting in U-Boot . 22 5.1.5 Booting from USB Memory Stick with UEFI . 23 5.2 Accessibility.............................................. 23 5.2.1 Installer front-end . 23 5.2.2 Board Devices . 23 5.2.3 High-Contrast Theme . 23 5.2.4 Zoom . 23 5.2.5 Expert install, rescue mode, automated install . 23 5.2.6 Accessibility of the installed system . 24 5.3 Boot Parameters . 24 5.3.1 Boot console . 24 5.3.2 Debian Installer Parameters . 24 5.3.3 Using boot parameters to answer questions . 26 5.3.4 Passing parameters to kernel modules . 26 5.3.5 Blacklisting kernel modules . 27 5.4 Troubleshooting the Installation Process . 27 5.4.1 CD-ROM Reliability . 27 5.4.1.1 Common issues . 27 5.4.1.2 How to investigate and maybe solve issues . 27 5.4.2 Boot Configuration . 29 5.4.3 Interpreting the Kernel Startup Messages . 29 5.4.4 Reporting Installation Problems . 29 5.4.5 Submitting Installation Reports . 29 6 Using the Debian Installer 31 6.1 How the Installer Works . 31 6.1.1 Using the graphical installer . 31.