Installing Linux under X1000 for the first time

[ggw]

The 2GB CF arrived last night. I put it in the X1000. The X1000 CF connector pins and the CF plug sockets look(ed) like they can mate either way. I guessed and they mated.

However, "System:System/Media Toolbox" does not show anything looking like a CF. What I see is:
sb600sata.deice
diskimage.device

How do I do anything with this compact flash?

[LyleHaze]

The CF card is not recognized by AmigaOS at this time.

It IS recognized by CFE, and by Linux. (and that is what you'll want!)

The next task is to copy the Linux kernel(s) to the CF card.
When I did mine I had to plug it into a CF reader on a windows PC, but
I think you may be able to do it directly from Linux now, thanks to
Darrens driver.

I'll stop here and let the Linux experts take over.

[edit] the card only goes in one way, a slight groove on one edge would resist going in wrong.
On the X1000, it is front label side up.

[ggw]

Thanks Lyle,

You are always good with the answers.

While I was following Epsilon's suggestions about how to make HD Audio work for normal operation, I removed the CF (since it didn't seem to be working) and tried to insert it the other way around. Indeed, about half way in it met a raised place on the lower side slot and strongly resisted being pushed further.

The CF card is not recognized by AmigaOS at this time.

It IS recognized by CFE, and by Linux. (and that is what you'll want!)

The next task is to copy the Linux kernel(s) to the CF card.
When I did mine I had to plug it into a CF reader on a windows PC, but
I think you may be able to do it directly from Linux now, thanks to
Darrens driver.

I'll stop here and let the Linux experts take over.

[edit] the card only goes in one way, a slight groove on one edge would resist going in wrong.
On the X1000, it is front label side up.

I was also going to the trouble to configure DvPlayer as per suggestions in another thread. One week too late for the "Fargo" movie, I finally got the 2 "required" libraries into Libs and HD audio played admirably so (also finally) I'll make the vaguely promised donation of about 6 weeks ago. My wife's miscellaneous movie video of "The 3 Stooges" was less than the dramatic highpoint that Fargo would have been, but, a "standard" is just a "standard", not necessarily a thing of beauty.

Anyhow, I am NOT awed by the DvPlayer controls. I gave up trying to get it to quit being full screen and get back into a window. I STOPPED and quit. Then I went to post here but the internet was not accessible. I (still) assumed that I had joggled the internet card when I removed the PCI audio card, so back in I went. Nope, the internet card was solid. Upon the next boot up I intercepted boot up with F and got to CFE. The 3rd line from the top showed that the CF card (3 volts) was recognized. I was greatly encouraged. "menu" and let it finish only to be disappointed when media toolkit was still non-plussed.

But, internet was available again (?, but happy), and here I am.

I guess Trevor had the CF in there specifically for Linux then? I'll try to find out about how to copy to the CF. Sigh. I am NOT a Bill Gates kind of guy, so I don't know anybody with CF anything. Certainly there is no such on my Sun^h^h^hOracle Blade1000.

I'm still wondering about that "unplug keyboard, plug it back in" business.

If its not one thing, its another. The PATA drive I installed now refuses to be recognized in the X1000, but is happily seen back over in my AmigaOne. I really want that to be the disk to hold my Linux OS... Debian is my first one to try.

That's all the time for this evening anyway. Maybe I'll get Linux Thursday night!

[LyleHaze]

Just remember to take deep breaths..

I think the CF is intended as a "boot device" for CFE/Linux.
If I remember correctly the X1000 is the first AmigaOne to use CFE instead of UBoot.
The main job of these "boot managers" is to:
Power up the system, recognize and configure devices, PCI and otherwise,
Determine what device to boot from and start loading the OS.

CFE offers support for booting from HD or CF, as well as network (I think)
It offers the possibility of booting into Linux or AmigaOS, and to choose from
a list of possible boot volumes.

Even though I have only one linux partition, I am real happy to be able to choose
which AmigaOS boot volume at each bootup. I have at least five different
setups, and if I screw one up I can just choose one of the others for an easy
recovery.

Anyway, getting back to CompactFlash: I believe the Linux kernel does not
natively read AmigaOS file types, so there has to be a FAT file system to
load the linux kernel. (The Kernel is the very first part of an OS to load)
That's why many people put the Linux kernel on a USB stick. But that is
sometimes inconvenient. By making the CF card your "home base" for Linux
Kernels, you'll always have them right there where you want them, without
tying up a hard drive for the purpose. Of course the REST of Linux needs to
be on a drive somewhere, but the Kernel is what starts the process.

Oh, and in case it's not apparent, I am a complete newbie when it comes to
Linux. I never even touched it before my Debian install on the X, and truthfully
I don't go there very often. So if I got anything here wrong, I trust the more
experienced penguins to correct me.

Maybe one day we'll be able to reach the CF card from AmigaOS, but I don't expect
it to happen this week or next, as there are too many other things that need
attention first. Because of some work I did on Xena, I know how and where to reach
the CF card, but I have no idea how to connect it to a filesystem.

Most important: Have Fun!
LyleHaze

[mechanic]

The PATA drive I installed now refuses to be recognized in the X1000, but is happily seen back over in my AmigaOne. I really want that to be the disk to hold my Linux OS...

Make sure the pata drive is set as master with the little jumper. If you are using a pata cable with 2 connectors you may have to try both of them.

The pata drive should be seen from CFE as ide1.0 .

AOS Media toolbox should see it as sb600ide.

Linux will see it as the first drive letter after the sata drives. If you have only one SATA drive then Linux will see it as /dev/sdb. If you have 3 SATA HDs then Linux will see it as /dev/sdd.

You can make a FAT partition on it (as 1st partition) to hold kernels. CFE will see it as ide1.0 and your root partition should be /dev/sdx2 where x is whatever drive letter gets assigned.

The USB keyboard problem is probably due to CFE having its own USB stack and when Linux takes over its stack does not recognize it until it gets plugged in again. That problem should(?) go away once you have a complete install.

[ggw]

@Mechanic

Thanks for the specifics.
My other PATA drive (also an external, removeable one) was recognized immediately. I'll look into what's eating #1 later.

I want to copy vmlinux-3.10.0 (and associated directory) to this CF card which is recognized by CFE.
Failing that (because I don't know how ... at the moment... to do it without some other computer + a CF reader[/writer?]... which I don't have), I still have vmlinux-3.10.0 on this USB thumbdrive.

It seems to me I can, without penalty, solve the CF transfer later. Right now I can use the thumbdrive to get Debian onto this recognized PATA drive. Later, after I figure out how to get vmlinux-3.10.0 onto the CF, I just change the ramdisk command line, put *it* in the menu, etc. and that's it... no more thumb drive required.

Any errors in that scheme?

The PATA drive I installed now refuses to be recognized in the X1000, but is happily seen back over in my AmigaOne. I really want that to be the disk to hold my Linux OS...

Make sure the pata drive is set as master with the little jumper. If you are using a pata cable with 2 connectors you may have to try both of them.

The pata drive should be seen from CFE as ide1.0 .

AOS Media toolbox should see it as sb600ide.

Linux will see it as the first drive letter after the sata drives. If you have only one SATA drive then Linux will see it as /dev/sdb. If you have 3 SATA HDs then Linux will see it as /dev/sdd.

You can make a FAT partition on it (as 1st partition) to hold kernels. CFE will see it as ide1.0 and your root partition should be /dev/sdx2 where x is whatever drive letter gets assigned.

The USB keyboard problem is probably due to CFE having its own USB stack and when Linux takes over its stack does not recognize it until it gets plugged in again. That problem should(?) go away once you have a complete install.

[ggw]

1) The "keyboard not being recognized" during Linux (Debian, at least) installation.
---------------------
This has no guaranteed work around. AmigaONE keyboard gets recognized about 1 out of 4 times.
Unplug, wait replug seems to have been a red herring.
When it works it stays working until the next reboot.
None of the other 3 "cheap" keyboards act any different.

2) I completed the Debian installation.
------------------------
The (Debian?) instructions about how to set CFE environment variables are NOT to be followed.
I have to go read up on how it should be. I wrote down what the "end of installation" settings were suggested, so I have those to refer to.

3) Possible solution to getting vmlinux-3.10.0 onto my CF card.
-------------------------
Is anyone in North America with a working CF reader willing to allow me to mail this CF to them for transferring vmlinux-3.10.0 (+ associated directory) on to it?

[LyleHaze]

Possible solution to getting vmlinux-3.10.0 onto my CF card.
-------------------------
Is anyone in North America with a working CF reader willing to allow me to mail this CF to them for transferring vmlinux-3.10.0 (+ associated directory) on to it?

I am willing to help if you also send or e-mail me the files you'd like installed.
My own Linux installation was quite a while ago, so I'm nto sure that mine would be good for you.

HOWEVER.. I booted into my Debian install today and the CF card IS accessible from there.
So unless your Linux version does NOT have the CF drivers already in, you might just be able
to do it yourself.
I assume you can get into Debian by USB or some other means. With the CF card installed already, start Debian and check for a drive named for the size of your CF card.. If you find it you can just copy the kernel files from your USB drive right over!

If you want to send it to me then mail me as lyle haze at gmail dot com, and I'll pass along my mailing address. (Virginia, Norfolk area in case you get multiple offers)

[mechanic]

Any errors in that scheme?

The associated directory must also go into /libs/modules. It won't hurt
having a copy on the CFcard.

Once you have Deb running, open the file manager and on the left side
your CF should be listed. Mine shows up as 'Kingston'.

For a lot of operations you will need to be 'root'. In one of the Menus
there should be a selection 'Root Terminal'. Once you log into that you
can start the file manager by typing 'nautilus' and move files around.

[nbache]

Is anyone in North America with a working CF reader willing to allow me to mail this CF to them for transferring vmlinux-3.10.0 (+ associated directory) on to it?

Are you sure it is worth the postage there and back? See e.g. this offer: http://www.amazon.com/USB-2-0-CompactFl ... B000W4T9KG

I admit I don't know if that particular reader works under OS4 (it was merely my first Google hit), but there are lots of others out there for not very much money. I think a general rule is, the fewer formats it can read, the greater the chance of it working under OS4. There are some multi-format card readers which present themselves on the USB bus as multiple units or something which apparently our USB stack isn't too fond of. So steer clear of those "63 in 1" wonderboxes.

I got myself a little DeLock thing with USB 3.0 and just a CF slot some time ago, it works fine under OS 4.

Best regards,

Niels