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Installing Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 For Intel x86
Chapter 11 Appendix


11.1 Further Information



11.1.1 Further Information

A general source of information on Linux is the Linux Documentation Project. There you will find the HOWTOs and pointers to other very valuable information on parts of a GNU/Linux system.


11.2 Obtaining Debian GNU/Linux



11.2.1 Official Debian GNU/Linux CD Sets

If you want to buy a CD set to install Debian GNU/Linux system from CD-ROM you should look at the CD vendors page. There you get a list of addresses which sell Debian GNU/Linux on CD-ROMs. The list is sorted by country so you shouldn't have a problem to find a vendor near you.


11.2.2 Debian Mirrors

If you live outside of the USA and you want to download Debian packages, you can also use one of many mirrors which reside outside the USA. A list of countries and mirrors can be found at the Debian FTP server website.


11.2.3 Description of Installation System Files

This section contains an annotated list of files you will find in the disks-i386 directory. Which files you need to download will depend on the installation boot option and operating system installation media you have chosen.

Most files are floppy disk images; that is, a single file which can be written to a disk to create the necessary floppy disk. These images are, obviously, dependent on the size of the target floppy. For instance, 1.44MB is the normal quantity of data which is what fits on standard 3.5 inch floppies. 1.2MB is the amount of data which normally fits on 5.25 inch floppy disks, so use this image size if you have such a floppy drive. The images for 1.44MB floppy disks can be found in the images-1.44 directory. Images for 1.2MB floppy disks can be found in the images-1.20 directory. Images for 2.88MB disks, which are generally only used for CD-ROM booting and the like, are found in the images-2.88 directory.

If you are using a web browser on a networked computer to read this document, you can probably retrieve the files by selecting their names in your web browser. Depending on your browser you may need to take special action to download directly to a file, in raw binary mode. For example, in Netscape you need to hold the shift key when clicking on the URL to retrieve the file. Files can be downloaded from the URLs in this document, which are within the www server's .../current/ directory, or you can retrieve them via ftp from ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/. You can also use the corresponding directory on any of the Debian mirror sites.


11.2.3.1 Files for the Initial System Boot

Rescue Floppy images:
.../current/images-1.20/rescue.bin
.../current/images-1.20/safe/rescue.bin
.../current/images-1.44/rescue.bin
.../current/images-1.44/compact/rescue.bin
.../current/images-1.44/idepci/rescue.bin
.../current/images-1.44/safe/rescue.bin
.../current/images-1.44/ide/rescue.bin
.../current/images-2.88/rescue.bin
.../current/images-2.88/compact/rescue.bin
.../current/images-2.88/idepci/rescue.bin
.../current/images-2.88/ide/rescue.bin
These are the "Rescue Floppy" disk images. The rescue floppy is used for initial setup and for emergencies, such as when your system doesn't boot for some reason. Therefore it is recommended you write the disk image to the floppy even if you are not using floppies for installation.
Root image(s):
.../current/images-1.20/root.bin
.../current/images-1.44/root.bin
.../current/images-1.44/compact/root.bin
.../current/images-1.44/idepci/root.bin
.../current/images-1.44/ide/root.bin
This file contains an image of a temporary filesystem that gets loaded into memory when you boot from the rescue floppy. This is used for installations from hard disk and floppies.
Linux boot loader for DOS:
.../current/dosutils/loadlin.exe
You will need this boot loader if you are installing from a DOS partition or from a CD-ROM. See Booting from a DOS partition, Section 5.4.1.
DOS Installer Batch Files:
.../current/install.bat
.../current/compact/install.bat
.../current/idepci/install.bat
.../current/ide/install.bat
DOS batch file for starting Debian installation from DOS. This batch file is used in installations from hard disk or CD-ROM. See Booting from a DOS partition, Section 5.4.1.


11.2.3.2 Linux Kernel Files

This is the Linux kernel image to be used for hard disk installations. You don't need it if you are installing from floppies.

.../current/linux
.../current/compact/linux
.../current/idepci/linux
.../current/ide/linux
Linux kernel files.


11.2.3.3 Driver Files

These files contain kernel modules, or drivers, for all kinds of hardware that are not necessary for initial booting. Getting the drivers you want is a two step process: first you identify an archive of drivers you want to use, and then you select which particular drivers you want.

The driver archive floppies are not used until after the hard drive has been partitioned and the kernel has been installed. If you need a particular driver for initial booting, for your subarchitecture, or to access the hard drive, choose a kernel with the necessary driver compiled in and supply the correct boot parameter arguments. Please see Choosing the Right Installation Set, Section 4.2.1 and Boot Parameter Arguments, Section 5.1.

Remember that your driver archive must be consistent with your initial kernel choice.

Driver Floppies images:
.../current/images-1.20/driver-1.bin
.../current/images-1.20/driver-2.bin
.../current/images-1.20/driver-3.bin
.../current/images-1.20/driver-4.bin
.../current/images-1.20/driver-5.bin
.../current/images-1.20/safe/driver-1.bin
.../current/images-1.20/safe/driver-2.bin
.../current/images-1.20/safe/driver-3.bin
.../current/images-1.20/safe/driver-4.bin
.../current/images-1.20/safe/driver-5.bin
.../current/images-1.44/driver-1.bin
.../current/images-1.44/driver-2.bin
.../current/images-1.44/driver-3.bin
.../current/images-1.44/driver-4.bin
.../current/images-1.44/compact/driver-1.bin
.../current/images-1.44/idepci/driver-1.bin
.../current/images-1.44/safe/driver-1.bin
.../current/images-1.44/safe/driver-2.bin
.../current/images-1.44/safe/driver-3.bin
.../current/images-1.44/safe/driver-4.bin
.../current/images-1.44/ide/driver-1.bin
.../current/images-1.44/ide/driver-2.bin
.../current/images-1.44/ide/driver-3.bin
.../current/images-1.44/ide/driver-4.bin
These are the Driver Floppies disk images.
Driver Floppies archive
.../current/drivers.tgz
.../current/compact/drivers.tgz
.../current/idepci/drivers.tgz
.../current/ide/drivers.tgz
If you are not limited to diskettes, choose one of these files.


11.2.3.4 Utilities

http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/dosutils/rawrite2.exe
This is a DOS utility to write a floppy disk image to a floppy. You should not copy images to the floppy, but instead use this utility to ``raw write'' them.


11.2.4 GPG, SSH and other Security Software

United States laws place restrictions on the export of defense articles, which, unfortunately, includes some types of cryptographic software. PGP and ssh, among others, fall into this category. It is legal however, to import such software into the US.

To prevent anyone from taking unnecessary legal risks, some Debian packages are available from a server outside the US which serves the various cryptographic programs: Debian non-US Server.

This text is taken from the README.non-US file, which you can find on any Debian FTP archive mirror. It also contains a list of mirrors of the non-US server.


11.3 Linux Devices

In Linux you have various special files in /dev. These files are called devices files. In the Unix world accessing hardware is different. There you have a special file which actually runs a driver which in turn accesses the hardware. The device file is an interface to the actual system component. Files under /dev also behave differently than ordinary files. Below are the most important device files listed.

     fd0	First Floppy Drive
     fd1	Second Floppy Drive
     hda	IDE Harddisk / CD-ROM on the first IDE port (Master)
     hdb	IDE Harddisk / CD-ROM on the first IDE port (Slave)
     hdc	IDE Harddisk / CD-ROM on the second IDE port (Master)
     hdd	IDE Harddisk / CD-ROM on the second IDE port (Slave)
     hda1	First partition of the first IDE harddisk
     hdd15	Fifteenth partition of the fourth IDE harddisk
     sda	SCSI Harddisk with lowest SCSI ID (e.g. 0)
     sdb	SCSI Harddisk with next higher SCSI ID (e.g. 1)
     sdc	SCSI Harddisk with next higher SCSI ID (e.g. 2)
     sda1	First partition of the first SCSI harddisk
     sdd10	Tenth partition of the fourth SCSI harddisk
     sr0     SCSI CD-ROM with the lowest SCSI ID
     sr1     SCSI CD-ROM with the next higher SCSI ID
     ttyS0    Serial port 0, COM1 under DOS
     ttyS1    Serial port 1, COM2 under DOS
     psaux    PS/2 mouse device
     gpmdata  Pseudo device, repeater data from GPM (mouse) daemon
     cdrom	Symbolic link to the CD-ROM drive
     mouse	Symbolic link to the mouse device file
     null	everything pointed to this device will disappear
     zero	one can endlessly read zeros out of this device


11.3.1 Setting Up Your Mouse

The mouse can be used in both the Linux console (with gpm) and the X window environment. The two uses can be made compatible if the gpm repeater is used to allow the signal to flow to the X server as shown:

     mouse => /dev/psaux  => gpm => /dev/gpmdata -> /dev/mouse => X
              /dev/ttyS0             (repeater)        (symlink)
              /dev/ttyS1

Set the repeater protocol to be raw (in /etc/gpm.conf) while setting X to the original mouse protocol in /etc/X11/XF86Config or /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.

This approach to use gpm even in X has advantages when the mouse is unplugged inadvertantly. Simply restarting gpm with

     user@debian:# /etc/init.d/gpm restart

will re-connect the mouse in software without restarting X.

If gpm is disabled or not installed with some reason, make sure to set X to read directly from the mouse device such as /dev/psaux. For details, refer to the 3-Button Mouse mini-Howto at /usr/share/doc/HOWTO/en-txt/mini/3-Button-Mouse.gz, man gpm, /usr/share/doc/gpm/FAQ.gz, and README.mouse.


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Installing Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 For Intel x86
version 3.0.18, 18 December, 2001
Bruce Perens
Sven Rudolph
Igor Grobman
James Treacy
Adam Di Carlo