General installation


Last updated 4/5/01

I have heard that RH7.1 works straight out of the box. 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):


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 :
  1. Read /usr/src/linux/Documentation/fb/*
  2. 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
  3. 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:

Networking


I find it simple to do the following :
Hope this helps.

David Arnold