115 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
115 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
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Installing Linux on your system
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Ok, this is a short guide for those people who actually want to get a
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running system, not just look at the pretty source code :-). You'll
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certainly need minix for most of the steps.
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0. Back up any important software. This kernel has been
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working beautifully on my machine for some time, and has never destroyed
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anything on my hard-disk, but you never can be too careful when it comes
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to using the disk directly. I'd hate to get flames like "you destroyed
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my entire collection of Sam Fox nude gifs (all 103 of them), I'll hate
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you forever", just because I may have done something wrong.
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Double-check your hardware. If you are using other than EGA/VGA, you'll
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have to make the appropriate changes to 'linux/kernel/console.c', which
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may not be easy. If you are able to use the at_wini.c under minix,
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linux will probably also like your drive. If you feel comfortable with
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scan-codes, you might want to hack 'linux/kernel/keyboard.s' making it
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more practical for your [US|German|...] keyboard.
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1. Decide on what root device you'll be using. You can use any
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(standard) partition on any of your harddisks, the numbering is the same
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as for minix (ie 0x306, which I'm using, means partition 1 on hd2). It
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is certainly possible to use the same device as for minix, but I
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wouldn't recommend it. You'd have to change pathnames (or make a chroot
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in init) to get minix and linux to live together peacefully.
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I'd recommend making a new filesystem, and filling it with the necessary
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files: You need at least the following:
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- /dev/tty0 (same as under minix, ie mknod ...)
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- /dev/tty (same as under minix)
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- /bin/sh (link to bash)
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- /bin/update (I guess this should be /etc/update ...)
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Note that linux and minix binaries aren't compatible, although they use
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the same (gcc-)header (for ease of cross-compiling), so running one
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under the other will result in errors.
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2. Compile the source, making necessary changes into the
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makefiles and linux/include/linux/config.h and linux/boot/boot.s. I'm
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using a slightly hacked gcc-1.40, to which I have added a -mstring-insns
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flag, which uses the i386 string instructions for structure copy etc.
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Removing the flag from all makefiles should do the trick for you.
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NOTE! I'm using -Wall, and I'm not seeing many warnings (2 I think, one
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about _exit returning although it's volatile - it's ok.) If you get
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more warnings when compiling, something's wrong.
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3. Copy the resultant code to a diskette of the right type.
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Use 'cp Image /dev/PS0' or equivalent.
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4. Boot with the new diskette. If you've done everything right
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(and if *I've* done everything right), you should now be running bash as
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root. You can't do much (alias ls='echo *' is a good idea :-), but if
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you do run, most other things should work. I'd be happy to hear from
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anybody that has come this far - and I'll send any ported binaries you
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might want (and I have). I'll also put them out for ftp if there is
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enough interest. With gcc, make and uemacs, I've been able to stop
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crosscompiling and actually compile natively under linux. (I also have
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a term-emu, sz/rz, sed, etc ...)
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The boot-sequence should start with "Loading system...", and then a
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"Partition table ok" followed by some root-dev info. If you forget to
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make the /dev/tty0-character device, you'll never see anything but the
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"loading" message. Hopefully errors will be told to the console, but if
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there are problems at boot-up there is a distinct possibility that the
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machine just hangs.
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5. Check the new filesystem regularly with (minix) fsck. I
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haven't got any errors for some time now, but I cannot guarantee that
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this means it will never happen. Due to slight differences in 'unlink',
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fsck will report "mode inode XXX not cleared", but that isn't an error,
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and you can safely ignore it (if you don't like it, do a fsck -a every
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once in a while). Minix "restore" will not work on a file deleted with
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linux - so be extra careful if you have a tendency to delete files you
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don't really want to.
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Logging out from the "login-shell" will automatically do a sync, and
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will leave you hanging without any processes (except update, which isn't
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much fun), so do the "three-finger-salute" to restart dos/minix/linux or
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whatever.
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6. Mail me and ask about problems/updates etc. Even more
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welcome are success-reports (yeah, sure), and bugreports or even patches
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(or pointers to corrections).
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NOTE!!! I haven't included diffs with the binaries I've posted for the
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simple reason that there aren't any - I've had this silly idea that I'd
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rather change the OS than do a lot of porting. All source to the
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binaries can be found on nic.funet.fi under /pub/gnu or /pub/unix.
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Changes have been to makefiles or configuration files, and anybody
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interested in them might want to contact me. Mostly it's been a matter
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of adding a -DUSG to makefiles.
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The one exception if gcc - I've made some hacks on it (string-insns),
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and have got it (with the gracious help of Bruce Evans) to correctly
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emit software floating point. I haven't got diffs to that one either, as
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my hard-disk is overflowing and I cannot accomodate both originals and
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changes, but as per the GNU copyleft I'll make them available if
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someone wants them. I hope nobody want's them :-)
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Linus torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi
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