General installation
Last updated 4/5/01
I have heard that RH7.1 works straight out of the box.
- Toshiba Tecra 8100
- 17G IBM-DARA-21800 (CHS)
- Toshiba external floppy
- Toshiba 24x DVD, 128K cache
- 128M memory
- Linksys Etherfast 10/100 + 56k PCMCIA card
- 8M Savage MX 3D, either a 86C290 or 86C270
- 14.1 TFT LCD display
I suggest you follow the installation procedure as explained below. It
will involve several reconfig/reboots of the kernel, but it should be
simpler getting each stage working before moving onto the
next.
Well, maybe compile the sound in ;)
Machine came with NT, user wanted win98. I booted off the RH6.2 cdrom,
switched to a virtual terminal and wiped the HD with the 'dd' command.
Then I installed the Windows side of things.
Split the windows partition with FIPS, into 7G and 10G partitions, then
began the actual linux installation.
Regrettably, the HD cylinders crank up beyond 1024 (17G disk), so
the parition table is arranged (I use fdisk):
- /win
- /boot
- swap
- extended partition...
Install of Red Hat 6.2 went fine, but rebooting into the system for the
1st time garnered an unpleasant surprise. The keyboard would not work.
The laptop booted fine (bit of a surprise, given this was my first time
actually doing a 1024/extended install), would display the prompt but
refuse to accept any keyboard/mouse input.
Reinstalling, I disable gpm and select the mouse setting to 'no mouse'.
Still not working. Hmm. Looks like a minimum install then adding as we
go. As per usual I make a backup floppy (you do make one, right?)
'gpm' manually invokes a drunk mouse. 'gpm -t ps2' is much better
As I was to discover, the problem is X.
X
X is the big problem with the 8100. Basically, none of the freely
available X servers support the 8100's video chipset, so we have to
use the framebuffer instead.
The
Tecra 8100 email list was invaluable for getting me started.
In a nutshell, to get the framebuffer working, the following should be done :
- Read /usr/src/linux/Documentation/fb/*
- Reconfigure the kernel
- Select 'y' to CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL
- At the bottom of the config process, select 'y' for
- CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE
- CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT
- CONFIG_FB
- CONFIG_DUMMY_CONSOLE
- CONFIG_FB_VESA
- CONFIG_FB_CFB8 (You may not HAVE to select this
one
- CONFIG_FB_CFB16 (The video card
supports 16 bit colour @ 1024x768 res)
- CONFIG_FB_CFB24 (If you're feeling lucky)
- CONFIG_FB_CFB32 (This shouldn't work)
- CONFIG_FONT_8x8
- CONFIG_FONT_8x16
- Copy the new image to the correct place, make modules..
- edit /etc/lilo.conf
In the proper image section, add the following line verbatim:
vga=791
- save/quit and run /sbin/lilo
- Reboot. If it worked, you'll see a penguin and some diagnostic
information in the 'vesafb' section (use dmesg to check).
Now for X/xdm..
From the cdrom, install whichever X* files you want.
Do NOT install an accelerated server, instead install XF86_FBdev.
The file /usr/X11R6/bin/X is/should be a symbolic link to the X server.
#ln -sf /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_FBdev /usr/X11R6/bin/X
You'll have to make the same link in /etc/X11
#ln -sf /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_FBdev /etc/X11/X
This is my
configuration file for X. You can use it but I specifically
disclaim any damage this file may cause to your laptop. Sorry, I was
too lazy to edit it properly ;)
Now check if X works by typing 'startx'.
If startx works, we're home and hosed.
For RH6.2, all I had to do was enable the last line in /etc/inittab,
and make the number in the 'initdefault' line '5'.
Also, running xdm causes xsm to be invoked (which we don't want)
Edit /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession:
**
startup=$HOME/.xsession should become:
startup=$HOME/.Xclients
**
in the last 'if' block, remove the line:
exec xsm
**
You can change your default session at the prompt:
% switchdesk gnome
Sound
Ken Beyer's excellent page will help you get up and running with
sound. But I simply did the following:
- We have to compile sound into the kernel..
- CONFIG_SOUND = 'm'
- CONFIG_SOUND_SONICVIBES = 'm' (Don't know if you really
need this)
- CONFIG_SOUND_OSS = 'm'
- Download the 3 packages (alsa-driver, alsa-libs, alsa-utils) from
alsa and bunzip/untar them under
/usr/src (or whatever is your preference)
- Run './configure' then edit 'Makefile' as per step 3 on Ken's
page
- Follow the instructions from step 9 onwards
Networking
I find it simple to do the following :
- download the latest PCMCIA sources from pcmcia.sourceforge.org to
/usr/src
- # make config
- source directory is /usr/src/linux
- for alternate directory
- 'n' to "Build trusting versions of card utilities?"
- 'y' to "Include 32bit (Cardbus support)"
- 'y' to "Include PnP resource checking"
- for install directory (should pick it up
automagically)
- # make all ; make install
- Read the PCMCIA-HOWTO, section 2.5.2. This details the changes
that need to be made to RH systems.
- Unfortunately, installing the PCMCIA sources causes the LinkSys
card to not recognise switching from LAN to modem and vice versa. In a
nutshell, the interrupts settings do not work, but using setserial to
set the irq of the modem to 0 always works. Weird. I have found this true
for both the Tecra 8100 and Inspiron 3800.
- If you wish to switch from the LAN to the modem without having to
eject the card, you'll have to do the following:
- move /usr/sbin/pppd to /usr/sbin/ppp
- create /usr/sbin/pppd:
#!/bin/sh
/sbin/ifconfig eth0 down
setserial /dev/ttySX irq 0
/usr/sbin/ppp $1 $2
(I usually call pppd as % pppd call my-isp)
- You'll have to make these programs setuid root
- When I get a bit more experience, I'll include a script that works
the other way, going from modem to LAN - nothing major, just reseting
the routes. At the moment, the eth0 initialisation routes don't
revert back to the 'proper' setting - just another thing for me to fix
one day..
Hope this helps.
David Arnold