Installing Debian on a ThinkPad 750P - Revision history

Whizkid: Edited to match reality. Document is now really usable.

2007-12-08T16:17:24Z

Edited to match reality. Document is now really usable.

Whizkid: Tweaked installation steps

2007-12-08T00:54:42Z

Tweaked installation steps

Whizkid: Disk usage minimums

2007-12-07T05:21:55Z

Disk usage minimums

Whizkid: Fixed apt configuration step, updated later steps

2007-12-07T05:19:21Z

Fixed apt configuration step, updated later steps

Whizkid: Trying to upgrade again.

2007-12-07T02:53:35Z

Trying to upgrade again.

Whizkid: Fail

2007-12-02T15:54:59Z

Fail

Whizkid: Sarge checkpoint

2007-12-02T03:10:56Z

Sarge checkpoint

Whizkid: Upgrading to Sarge checkpoint

2007-12-02T03:00:36Z

Upgrading to Sarge checkpoint

Whizkid: Getting updates

2007-11-26T09:19:41Z

Getting updates

Whizkid: Added 7th diskette

2007-11-26T09:00:33Z

Added 7th diskette

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ----
 ==Overview==
-I got out my 750P again and installed Debian, just because I can. These instructions are for Debian 3.0, or Woody. That version actually works. While 3.1 (Sarge) says you can use ThinkPads, it won't work on this machine. You can upgrade to a later Debian, or perhaps Ubuntu, but my goal for this document is to get Woody running as fully and up-to-date as possible. You will need 6 floppy diskettes (and a 7th if you make a boot floppy), a supported 16-bit PCMCIA wired network card and Internet access. Fortunately, most such cards are supported.
+These instructions are for Debian 3.0, or Woody. That version actually works. While 3.1 (Sarge) says you can use ThinkPads, it won't work on this machine. You can upgrade to a later Debian, or perhaps Ubuntu, but my goal for this document is to get Woody running as fully and up-to-date as possible. You will need 6 floppy diskettes (and a 7th if you make a boot floppy), a supported 16-bit PCMCIA wired network card and Internet access. Fortunately, most such cards are supported.
 The installation steps here should work on any 750-series ThinkPad. This guide does not cover partitioning or booting multiple operating systems.
-Executive summary for Debian experts: Just follow the normal instructions adding '''floppy=thinkpad''' as a boot parameter and it works just as you'd expect.
+Executive summary for Debian experts: Just follow the normal instructions adding '''floppy=thinkpad''' as a boot parameter and it works just as you'd expect. That parameter seems to be ignored when using the Sarge floppies.
 My 750P is loaded with 36MB RAM and a 5.1GB hard disk.
 == Preparation ==
@@ Line 44: / Line 46: @@
 == First Boot ==
-Upon first booting the new installation, Debian System Configuration runs. You can also run it at any time. Its path is '''/usr/sbin/base-config'''. Your network card should be recognized and configured at boot time. As one data point, I switched to another console and ran '''df''' to find that the installation had so far taken about 73.5MB of disk space.
+Upon first booting the new installation, Debian System Configuration runs. You can also run it at any time. Its path is '''/usr/sbin/base-config'''. Your network card should be recognized and configured at boot time.
 * Specify GMT or Local time. If you are using only Linux or UNIX-like OS's (on any machine), I suggest you use GMT. If you sometimes boot into a popular proprietary OS made in Redmond, Washington, you may wish to keep the system clock in local time.
 * Set your time zone
@@ Line 52: / Line 54: @@
 * Set up a normal user account
 * Answer No when asked to set up PPP if you've gotten this far
-At this point, Debian will attempt to install the rest of the base system. I specified several different mirrors and always ran out of room until I followed the instructions in the Woody Release Notes. See the Notes section below. Alternatively, you can bypass this step by selecting '''Cancel''', but adding packages will be much more difficult.
+At this point, Debian will attempt to install the rest of the base system. Since Woody is no longer maintained, special steps are required.
-* For Apt Configuration, select http or ftp
+* For Apt Configuration, select "manually edit sources" and put these two lines in the file (omit non-free if you want only Free software):
-* Specify whether or not to use non-US software
+ deb http://archive.debian.org/debian-archive/ woody main contrib non-free
-* Specify whether or not to use non-free software
+ deb http://security.debian.org/ woody main contrib non-free
-* Select a mirror location
+* Skip tasksel (run it later)
-* Select a specific mirror
+* Skip dselect (run it later if you like) - some updates will be installed
 * Configure your mail system, choosing 4 for a stand-alone system
-Congratulations! You have a working, if outdated Debian installation.
+Congratulations! You have a working Debian Woody installation.
 == Configuration ==
 After installation, some devices work and some don't. Please help update this page as you get devices to work.
 === Things that Work ===
 * Keyboard
@@ Line 78: / Line 79: @@
 * Fn+F6 volume up
 * Fn+F7 cycles displays (LCD, CRT, both)
-* Fn+F8 inverts LCD characters (750, 750P only)
+* Fn+F8 inverts LCD (750, 750P only)
 * Fn+F9 toggles character brightness (750, 750P only?)
@@ Line 97: / Line 98: @@
 * Fn+F12 suspend to disk
-== Notes ==
+= Upgrading =
-Upon first boot '''apt-setup''' runs. This is the error message I get when I try to get that to run:
+This section will hold details on upgrading to more recent releases.
 [[Category:750]] [[Category:750Cs]] [[Category:750C]] [[Category:750P]]
   [[Category:Debian]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ----
 ==Overview==
-I got out my 750P again and installed Debian, just because I can. These instructions are for Debian 3.0, or Woody. That version actually works. While 3.1 (Sarge) says you can use ThinkPads, it won't work on this machine. You can upgrade to a later Debian, or perhaps Ubuntu. You will need 6 floppy diskettes (and a 7th if you make a boot floppy), a supported 16-bit PCMCIA wired network card and Internet access. Fortunately, most such cards are supported.
+I got out my 750P again and installed Debian, just because I can. These instructions are for Debian 3.0, or Woody. That version actually works. While 3.1 (Sarge) says you can use ThinkPads, it won't work on this machine. You can upgrade to a later Debian, or perhaps Ubuntu, but my goal for this document is to get Woody running as fully and up-to-date as possible. You will need 6 floppy diskettes (and a 7th if you make a boot floppy), a supported 16-bit PCMCIA wired network card and Internet access. Fortunately, most such cards are supported.
 The installation steps here should work on any 750-series ThinkPad. This guide does not cover partitioning or booting multiple operating systems.
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 - Insert your network card and the rescue diskette and boot the machine.
 - At the '''boot:''' prompt, enter this command:
-  ramdisk floppy=thinkpad
+  linux floppy=thinkpad
 * Configure the keyboard
 * Partition your disk if necessary
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 * Initialize and activate any other partitions
 * Install Kernel and Driver Modules from floppies
 * Configure device driver modules. Choose Exit immediately.
-* Special step: Configure PCMCIA support. Select i82365 controller and leave all other options blank.
+* Configure the network, choosing a hostname and setting network parameters (DHCP works just fine).
 * Alternate step: Edit Kernel Boot Parameters to include '''floppy=thinkpad''' just as before
 * Install the Base System using network as a source. You can use http://archive.debian.org/debian-archive/ or another mirror that hosts Woody (Debian 3.0).

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:21, 7 December 2007
Line 18:		Line 18:

	Then run '''md5sum *''' to see if it matches the correct image. If not, try again, or use another diskette.		Then run '''md5sum *''' to see if it matches the correct image. If not, try again, or use another diskette.
		+
		+	Keep in mind that installing enough to boot will require around 150MB and end with about 80MB. Getting recent updates will require about 300MB of disk during that process.

	== Installation ==		== Installation ==

@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 * Set up a normal user account
 * Answer No when asked to set up PPP if you've gotten this far
-At this point, Debian will attempt to install the rest of the base system. I specified several different mirrors and always ran out of room. See the Notes section below. You can bypass this step by selecting '''Cancel'''.
+At this point, Debian will attempt to install the rest of the base system. I specified several different mirrors and always ran out of room until I followed the instructions in the Woody Release Notes. See the Notes section below. Alternatively, you can bypass this step by selecting '''Cancel''', but adding packages will be much more difficult.
 * For Apt Configuration, select http or ftp
 * Specify whether or not to use non-US software
@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 * Select a mirror location
 * Select a specific mirror
 * You can run tasksel if you like
 * You can run dselect if you like

@@ Line 125: / Line 125: @@
 This is where the fun ends, folks. That eventually worked for me, but I still have to upgrade the kernel, but ran out of disk space. 227MB is not enough to upgrade. I'll try again and update this page. --[[User:Whizkid|Whizkid]] 15:54, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
 [[Category:750]] [[Category:750Cs]] [[Category:750C]] [[Category:750P]]
   [[Category:Debian]]

@@ Line 122: / Line 122: @@
 * apt-get update
 * aptitude install aptitude
 [[Category:750]] [[Category:750Cs]] [[Category:750C]] [[Category:750P]]
   [[Category:Debian]]

@@ Line 94: / Line 94: @@
 == Notes ==
-This is the error message I get when attempting to install the rest of the base system:
+Upon first boot '''apt-setup''' runs. This is the error message I get when I try to get that to run:
   Failed to access the Debian archive
@@ Line 107: / Line 107: @@
 _Packages E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or
   opened.
-Any help resolving this issue is greatly appreciated. Please leave notes in the discussion for this page. --[[User:Whizkid|Whizkid]] 14:33, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
+Just cancel, and edit /etc/apt/sources.list to include these lines:
 [[Category:750]] [[Category:750Cs]] [[Category:750C]] [[Category:750P]]
   [[Category:Debian]]