bootstrapping debian on my sbc

[ link: sbc-bootstrap-with-debian | tags: debian linux sbc | updated: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:50:09 ]

So my sbc of choice these days is the WRAP 1C-2. This model is powered by a 266Mhz Geode and has 128M of RAM, a CF reader, 1 mini-PCI slot, a serial console and 3 10/100 Mbit NICs. I get mine (I have three now) from Xagyl Communications. Each was about $200.

This entry talks about bootstrapping debian onto a CF card.

A few notes on hardware I have.

I have noticed that my USB CF card reader failed to run lilo or grub to install the bootloader. I am using my PCMCIA CF card reader in my laptop. It works. I am not sure what the limitation was with USB, I have not tried it recently.
My kernel is 2.6.16.
I am running a recent install with udev.
my boot dis is /dev/sda, which means that my CF card is /dev/hda. This is nice because I can have only one lilo.conf file for installing and for booting on the hardware. If you boot of /dev/hda make sure you don't accidentally overwrite your system's bootloader.

The procedure is:

get the CF card mountable, this will depend on your setup. I ran:

$ fdisk /dev/disk/by-id/ata-SanDisk_*

Add a single partition of type Linux and make it bootable

$ mkfs.ext3 /dev/disk/by-id/ata-SanDisk_*-part1

Mount it

$ mkdir /mnt/flash
$ mount /dev/disk/by-id/ata-SanDisk_*-part1 /mnt/flash
$ mount -t proc none /mnt/flash/proc/

install base system

$ debootstrap --arch i386 etch /mnt/flash/

Make a few device nodes...

$ mknod /mnt/flash/dev/hda b 3 0    
$ mknod /mnt/flash/dev/hda1 b 3 1   
$ mknod /mnt/flash/dev/console c 5 1
$ mknod /mnt/flash/dev/null c 1 3

do what the bootstrapping doesn't do

You have to setup the following files manually. make sure you are editing the ones in /mnt/flash not the ones on root. I am providing my files as an example:

/mnt/flash/etc/fstab

/dev/hda1       /       ext3    noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
proc            /proc   proc    defaults                  0 0
tmpfs           /tmp    tmpfs   defaults,size=5M          0 0

/mnt/flash/etc/hostname
```
hostname.network.foo
```

/mnt/flash/etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 localhost hostname
192.168.1.1 hostname hostname.network.foo

/mnt/flash/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo eth0


iface lo inet loopback


iface eth0 inet static
        address 192.168.1.1
        netmask 255.255.255.0

/mnt/flash/etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian testing main
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main

/mnt/flash/etc/inittab

this should be added at the bottom:
```
T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 38400 vt100
```

finish off the install
```
$ mount -t proc none /mnt/flash/proc
$ chroot /mnt/flash /bin/su -
```
The following steps are ran in the chroot...
```
# apt-get update
# apt-get install configure-debian -y
# configure-debian --all
```
When configuring the following are my recomendations
- debconf: dialog, medium
- use shadow passwords
You can now install whatever packages you want
```
# apt-get install openssh-server openssh-client
```

make system bootable

(again from the chroot)

Install kernel and lilo.

# apt-get install mbr lilo linux-image-2.6-486 -y

When configuring say yes for a local symlink and don't abort linux-image install, we will fix it in a bit.

Put this in /etc/lilo.conf:

  boot = /dev/hda
  disk = /dev/hda
    bios = 0x80
  disk = /dev/sda
    inaccessible


  prompt
  timeout=150
  vga=normal
  read-only
  serial=0,38400n8
  default=linux


  image = /vmlinuz
    initrd = /initrd.img
    root = /dev/hda1
    append="console=ttyS0,38400n8"
    label = linux

And then install the MBR.

* WARNING: this could kill your system's disk. *

!!! read the comment above about my hardware !!!

* WARNING: are you sure you want to do this? *

# install-mbr /dev/hda
# lilo -M /dev/hda -C /etc/lilo.conf

cleanup

Exit the chroot...

# sync
# exit

Kill all processes running inside the chroot:

$ lsof | grep /mnt/flash | awk '{ print $2 }' | xargs kill -9

Unmount...

$ umount /mnt/flash/proc
$ umount /mnt/flash

And you're done.

Bart's Blog

About

I am an embedded Linux software developer and consultant operating under Jukie Networks Inc in Ottawa, Canada.