Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide Copyright © 2004 – 2015 the Debian Installer team This document contains installation instructions for the Debian GNU/Linux 8 system (codename “jessie”), for the 32-bit soft-float ARM (“armel”) architecture. It also contains pointers to more information and information on how to make the most of your new Debian system. Note: Although this installation guide for armel is mostly up-to-date, we plan to make some changes and reorganize parts of the manual after the official release of jessie. A newer version of this manual may be found on the Internet at the debian-installer home page (http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/). You may also be able to find additional translations there. 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. Table of Contents Installing Debian GNU/Linux 8 For armel......................................................................................ix 1. Welcome to Debian .........................................................................................................................1 1.1. What is Debian? ...................................................................................................................1 1.2. What is GNU/Linux? ...........................................................................................................2 1.3. What is Debian GNU/Linux?...............................................................................................3 1.4. What is Debian GNU/kFreeBSD? .......................................................................................3 1.5. Getting Debian .....................................................................................................................4 1.6. Getting the Newest Version of This Document....................................................................4 1.7. Organization of This Document...........................................................................................4 1.8. About Copyrights and Software Licenses............................................................................5 2. System Requirements .....................................................................................................................7 2.1. Supported Hardware.............................................................................................................7 2.1.1. Supported Architectures ..........................................................................................7 2.1.2. Three different ARM ports......................................................................................8 2.1.3. Variations in ARM CPU designs and support complexity ......................................8 2.1.4. Platforms supported by Debian/armel.....................................................................9 2.1.5. Platforms no longer supported by Debian/armel.....................................................9 2.1.6. Graphics Hardware Support ..................................................................................10 2.1.7. Network Connectivity Hardware...........................................................................10 2.1.8. Peripherals and Other Hardware ...........................................................................10 2.2. Devices Requiring Firmware .............................................................................................10 2.3. Purchasing Hardware Specifically for GNU/Linux ...........................................................11 2.3.1. Avoid Proprietary or Closed Hardware .................................................................11 2.4. Installation Media ..............................................................................................................12 2.4.1. CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/BD-ROM ..........................................................................12 2.4.2. Network .................................................................................................................12 2.4.3. Hard Disk...............................................................................................................13 2.4.4. Un*x or GNU system ............................................................................................13 2.4.5. Supported Storage Systems ...................................................................................13 2.5. Memory and Disk Space Requirements.............................................................................13 3. Before Installing Debian GNU/Linux .........................................................................................14 3.1. Overview of the Installation Process..................................................................................14 3.2. Back Up Your Existing Data!.............................................................................................15 3.3. Information You Will Need................................................................................................15 3.3.1. Documentation ......................................................................................................15 3.3.1.1. Installation Manual ...................................................................................15 3.3.1.2. Hardware documentation..........................................................................15 3.3.2. Finding Sources of Hardware Information............................................................16 3.3.3. Hardware Compatibility ........................................................................................16 3.3.3.1. Testing hardware compatibility with a Live-System ................................17 3.3.4. Network Settings ...................................................................................................18 3.4. Meeting Minimum Hardware Requirements .....................................................................18 3.5. Pre-Partitioning for Multi-Boot Systems ...........................................................................19 3.6. Pre-Installation Hardware and Operating System Setup....................................................20 3.6.1. ARM firmware.......................................................................................................20 3.6.2. Setting the ethernet MAC address in U-Boot........................................................20 3.6.3. Kernel/Initrd/Device-Tree relocation issues in U-Boot.........................................21 iii 4. Obtaining System Installation Media .........................................................................................22 4.1. Official Debian GNU/Linux CD/DVD-ROM Sets.............................................................22 4.2. Downloading Files from Debian Mirrors...........................................................................22 4.2.1. Where to Find Installation Images ........................................................................22 4.2.1.1. Kurobox Pro Installation Files..................................................................22 4.2.1.2. HP mv2120 Installation Files ...................................................................23 4.2.1.3. QNAP Turbo Station Installation Files .....................................................23 4.2.1.4. Plug Computer and OpenRD Installation Files ........................................23 4.2.1.5. LaCie NASes Installation Files.................................................................23 4.3. Preparing Files for TFTP Net Booting...............................................................................23 4.3.1. Setting up RARP server.........................................................................................24 4.3.2. Setting up a DHCP server......................................................................................24 4.3.3. Setting up a BOOTP server ...................................................................................25 4.3.4. Enabling the TFTP Server .....................................................................................25 4.3.5. Move TFTP Images Into Place..............................................................................26 4.4. Automatic Installation........................................................................................................26 4.4.1. Automatic Installation Using the Debian Installer ................................................26 5. Booting the Installation System...................................................................................................27 5.1. Booting the Installer on 32-bit soft-float ARM..................................................................27 5.1.1. Boot image formats ...............................................................................................27 5.1.2. Booting by TFTP...................................................................................................27 5.1.2.1. TFTP-booting in U-Boot ..........................................................................27 5.1.3. Booting from a USB stick in U-Boot ....................................................................29 5.2. Accessibility.......................................................................................................................29 5.2.1. Installer front-end ..................................................................................................29