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, 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 supports four architectures: Intel x86-based architectures; Motorola 680x0 machines such as Atari, Amiga, and Macintoshes; DEC Alpha machines; and Sun SPARC machines. These are referred to as i386, m68k, alpha, and sparc, respectively.
This document covers installation for the alpha architecture. Separate versions of this document exist for other architectures.
This is the first official release of Debian GNU/Linux for the Alpha architecture. We feel that it has proven itself sufficiently to be released. However, because it has not had the exposure (and hence testing by users) that our i386 and m68k versions have had, you may encounter a few bugs. Use our Bug Tracking System to report any problems; make sure to mention the fact that the bug is on the Alpha platform. It can be necessary to use the debian-alpha mailing list as well.
Complete information regarding supported DEC Alphas can be found at Linux Alpha HOWTO. The purpose of this section is to describe the sub-architectures supported by the boot disks.
Alpha stations are grouped into sub-architectures because there are a number of generations of motherboard and supporting chip-sets. Different 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 sub-architectures supported by the Debian installation system. The table also indicates the code name for these sub-architectures. 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 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 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 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
Different Alpha sub-architectures have different methods of
bootstrapping: MILO, or SRM. Some sub-architectures
may use both; most use either one or the other. You'll need to
determine which bootstrapping method your sub-architecture uses; it
will make a difference below.
Code Name Bootstrap Method ========= ================ alcor MILO or SRM avanti MILO or SRM book1 SRM only cabriolet MILO or SRM eb164 MILO or SRM eb64p MILO or SRM eb66 MILO or SRM eb66p MILO or SRM jensen SRM only lx164 MILO or SRM miata MILO or SRM mikasa MILO or SRM mikasa-p SRM only noname MILO or SRM noritake SRM only pc164 MILO or SRM ruffian MILO only sable SRM only sable-g SRM only sx164 MILO or SRM takara MILO or SRM xl MILO or SRM xlt MILO or SRM
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 5.4.
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 system via NFS. 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 are 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. ALPHA-TODO -- storage systems supported by linux but not supported by boot disks
You must have at least 5MB of memory and 35MB 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. ALPHA-TODO -- NICs supported by linux but not supported by boot disks
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 piece 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 free software community is an important market.