[CLUE-Tech] Alpha questions

[Dave Anselmi]

I wondered when the questions would start...  Here's my experience so far:

Sean LeBlanc wrote:

> Well, I'm trying to pretty much install anything on one of the Alphas from
> the Alpha luv-fest. I'm a complete neophyte when it comes to Alphas, so I'm
> trying to muddle my way through things. So far, I have not found a really
> good overview of ARC/SRM/AlphaBIOS and such. Anyone have any good tips or
> pointers to good docs?

Docs seem pretty scarce.  The one thing referenced everywhere is the faq on
alphalinux.org which seems to be down.

> At first, I was trying to install FreeBSD. The docs I found on FreeBSD and
> Alpha refer to using SRM console, and typing "boot dka0" to boot install
> from CD (and some other command for floppy install).

We don't seem to have SRM.  AlphaBIOS or the other one (maybe ARC?)  Debian has
an install doc that says it supports the AS255, but I don't know how much it
covers about console mode stuff.

When I started my alpha up, it beeped at me.  Since I couldn't find any docs on
the beeps, I reset the cmos and it started working.  There's a switch block
inside and a lable on top of the CD that tells you what the switches do - so you
can use that to reset the cmos.  There's also a 'boot from floppy' option that
may be necessary to get started - if the ROM console doesn't have a way to do
that (didn't see it in the menu, don't know if it would detect a floppy).

I tried using the serial console to start.  As close as I got (with teraterm) was
to use a VT382 at 9600 8n1.  That was readable, but the key mappings are screwy
so it was awkward after that.  Better to use a monitor and keyboard.

So now I'm off to get some debian boot disks, more to follow.

Dave



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From: Jef Barnhart <jdlabarnhart at attbi.com>
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This is how I was able to get Red Hat to install on the machine that I
have.

This machine is an AlphaStation 255 with the AlphaBios 5.68
I am using Red Hat 7.1 for Alpha

1) Make 3 disks.
	A. unzip the the file /milo/images/xl.img from the cdrom.

	B. dd the image to a floppy.
	(This will copy linload.exe and MILO to the disk.)
	# dd if=/path/to/xl.img of=/dev/fd0

	C. dd the image generic.img from the cdrom directory /images
	# dd if=/path/to/generic.img of=/dev/fd0

	D. dd the image ramdisk.img from the cdromdirectory /images
	# dd if=/path/to/ramdisk.img of=/dev/fd0

2) Start the machine.
	A. press <F2> to get to the bios setup.
	B. using the down arrow, go down until the line Utilities is 	
highlighted.
	C. use the left arrow to select OS Selection Setup...
	D. to add a line to boot from the floppy use the <INSTERT> key
	   (All the keys that you can use in this screen are at the 	    bottom
of the screen.)
	E. add the following lines.
		Boot Name: Linux floppy
		Boot File: A:	\linload.exe
		OS Path: CD:	\
	F. press <ENTER>
	   (The bios will not like this.)
	G. press <ENTER> again.
	   (You should now have another stansa with linux floppy as the 
	   boot device.)
	H. press <F10> to save the changes.
	G. press <ENTER> to config that you really want to save the 	
changes.
	I. press <ESC>
	J. press <ESC> once more.
	K. highlight the OS that you wish to boot and place the floppy 	   with
the xl.img and press <ENTER>
	L. after a little time you should have a MILO prompt.
	M. eject the xl.img floppy and insert the generic.img floppy.
	N. at the MILO boot the generic.img disk.
		MILO> boot fd0:
	O. it should come back with boot: and a flashing curser. enter 	
linux and press <ENTER>
		boot: linux
	P. eject the generic.img floppy and insert the ramdisk.img 	   floppy
and press <ENTER>

At this point you should be installing Red Hat. This is as far as I have
gotten. I had it installed but could not get it to reboot. As soon as I
have a sollution I will post it.

Jef