Booting from the network requires that you have a network connection and a TFTP network boot server (DHCP, RARP, or BOOTP).
The installation method to support network booting is described in Section 4.3, “Preparing Files for TFTP Net Booting”.
NetWinders have two network interfaces: The 10Mbps NE2000-compatible
card is eth0 and the 100Mbps Tulip card is
eth1.
You need NeTTrom 2.2.1 or later to boot the installation system. NeTTrom 2.3.3 is recommended: get these files from ftp://ftp.netwinder.org/pub/netwinder/firmware/:
nettrom-2.3-3.armv4l.rpm
nettrom-2.3.3.bin
nettrom-2.3.3.bin.md5sum
After rebooting and interrupting the boot process during the countdown, you must first configure the network either with a static address:
NeTTrom command-> setenv eth0_ip 192.168.0.10/24
where 24 is the number of set bits in the netmask, or a dynamic address:
NeTTrom command-> boot diskless
You may also need to configure the route1
settings if the TFTP
server is not on the local subnet. The rest of the config is pretty
standard (the save-all step is optional):
NeTTrom command-> setenv kerntftpserver 192.168.0.1
NeTTrom command-> setenv kerntftpfile boot.img
NeTTrom command-> save-all
NeTTrom command-> setenv netconfig_eth0 flash
NeTTrom command-> setenv kernconfig tftp
NeTTrom command-> setenv rootdev /dev/ram
NeTTrom command-> setenv cmdappend root=/dev/ram
Only the last four of these interfere with normal disk booting, so it is safe to issue save-all right before them, which will store the network settings in case you need to boot from the network again. If you want to use the serial console to install your NetWinder, you also need the following setting:
NeTTrom command-> setenv cmdappend root=/dev/ram console=ttyS0,115200
Use the printenv command to review your
environment settings. Finally, if your cmdappend
NeTTrom variable has the noinitrd option, you must
remove it so the downloaded kernel can boot with its attached ramdisk.
The easiest route for most people will be to use a set of Debian CDs. If you have a CD set, and if your machine supports booting directly off the CD, great! Simply insert your CD, reboot, and proceed to the next chapter.
Note that certain CD drives may require special drivers, and thus be inaccessible in the early installation stages. If it turns out the standard way of booting off a CD doesn't work for your hardware, revisit this chapter and read about alternate kernels and installation methods which may work for you.
Even if you cannot boot from CD-ROM, you can probably install the Debian system components and any packages you want from CD-ROM. Simply boot using a different media, such as floppies. When it's time to install the operating system, base system, and any additional packages, point the installation system at the CD-ROM drive.
If you have problems booting, see Section 5.3, “Troubleshooting the Installation Process”.
To boot a CD-ROM from the Cyclone console prompt, use the command boot cd0:cats.bin