path: root/greek/ports/powerpc/inst/apus.wml

#use wml::debian::template title="PowerPC Port (APUS)" NOHEADER="yes"
#include "$(ENGLISHDIR)/ports/powerpc/inst/menu.inc"
#use wml::debian::translation-check translation="a9738774706d265243f4d1b6f43b411f8536f5c8" maintainer="galaxico"

<h1>Installing Debian GNU/Linux on a PowerPC APUS Machine</h1>

<p>

Apus is the "Amiga PowerUp System", and consists of an Amiga computer,
A1200, A3000 or A4000, together with one of the PowerPC/m68k
accelerator boards from the now dead company Phase5, the BlizzardPPC
or CyberStormPPC board.

<h2>Known Problems</h2>
<p>

There are some issues involved with bootstrap on systems which don't
use either PowerUp or WarpUp only, but some hybrid mutant of them
both. I am not very familiar with this stuff as I use plain powerup
only, so I hope someone will contribute a more complete description of
it.
<p>

Also the SCSI controller of the CyberStormPPC is not yet supported by
Linux, so you cannot use disks attached to it.

<h2>Partitioning from the AmigaOS side</h2>
<p>

<code>amiga-fdisk</code> is the fdisk variant for RDB partition tables
used by the Amiga hardware. It is working, but I recommend you use the
Amiga partitioning tools to do it from AmigaOS instead.
<p>

HDToolbox, being the official Commodore partitioning tool, should be
installed on every AmigaOS system. Just launching HDToolbox should
partition the IDE disk of the onboard IDE interface. If you want to
access the SCSI disk on your BlizzardPPC board SCSI controller, you
should use the "hdtoolbox blizzppcscsi.device" command.
<p>

Another option is to use SCSIConfig, the partitioner from Phase5 which
is on the floppies that came with your accelerator board.
<p>

You will need to set the partition type to custom, and provide the
following partition type IDs:
<pre>
  * Linux partition: 0x4c4e5800
  * Linux swap partition: 0x53575000
</pre>

<h2>Bootstrap</h2>
<p>

You will find the <code>bootstrap</code> program in the
<code>apus/bootstrap</code> directory of the powerpc boot floppies
distribution (found at /debian/dists/woody/main/disks-powerpc/current).
<p>

The <code>bootstrap</code> program consists of three programs. All
three need to be executable and in your AmigaOS path. They are the
<code>bootstrap</code> executable and the ppcboot_wup or ppcboot_pup
part, that is the actual launcher (ppcboot_pup for the powerup system
and ppcboot_wup for the warpup system).
<p>

You will launch <code>bootstrap</code> with a line like this:
<pre>
\# bootstrap --apus "kernel options"
</pre>
where "kernel options" are defined in the following sections.
<p>

<code>bootstrap</code> will then give some output, then blank the
screen for 10 to 30 seconds, and then you will have the Linux console.

<h3>The Debian <code>bootstrap</code> Command</h3>
<p>

The actual <code>bootstrap</code> command to launch the Debian
installer system would be:
<pre>
\# bootstrap --apus -k apus/linux -r apus/images-1.44/root.bin root=/dev/ram
</pre>
After installation, to launch Debian, use:
<pre>
\# bootstrap --apus -k apus/linux root=/dev/sda3
</pre>
where sda3 is my Debian root partition, change it to the partition
that is hosting your root partition.


<h2>Kernel Options</h2>
<p>
You will need to add some kernel options depending on your actual
configuration, which will be explained in the following sections.

<h3>Graphic Card Options</h3>
<p>

The graphic device to be used is an option prefaced with video=.  Some
examples are shown below. To enable the native graphics in vga mode
(640x480):
<pre>
  video=amifb:vga
</pre>
To enable the Bvision/CyberVision graphic card in 1152x864 at 60Hz mode,
with the SUN12x22 fonts:
<pre>
  video=pm2fb:mode:1152x864-60,font:SUN12x22
</pre>

To disable one of the graphic devices:
<pre>
  video=amifb:disable
</pre>
You can map virtual consoles to the different devices being used. Use
<tt>
  video=map:01
</tt>
to map virtual console (vc) 1 to device 0, vc 2 to device 1, and after
that repeat the same pattern (vc3 to device 0, vc4 to device 1, etc.).
To map vc 1,2,3,5,6,7 to device 0 and vc 4,8 to device 1 you would use
<pre>
  video=map:0001
</pre>


<h3>The nobats Option</h3>
<p>

Blizzard users with scsi disks will need to use the "nobats" option.
<pre>
\# bootstrap --apus -k apus/linux root=/dev/sda3 nobats
</pre>

<h3>The 60nsram Option</h3>
<p>
People with 60ns ram can also use the 60nsram option.
<pre>
\# bootstrap --apus -k apus/linux root=/dev/sda3 60nsram
</pre>

<h3>Debugging Options</h3>
<p>
If you are experiencing problems, you can use the debug option to
specify console message output to go to a serial console or memory
instead of the normal console. This is useful for debugging when the
kernel output doesn't come to the console output.
<pre>
\# bootstrap --apus -k apus/linux root=/dev/sda3 60nsram debug=mem
</pre>
Then you can read the result with the bootmesg utility from the apus/bootstrap
directory.
<p>

Another useful tool is the dmesg utility which will give you the bootstrap
process debugging info.

<h2>Apus Particularities in <code>dbootstrap</code></h2>
<p>

There are some specific differences for apus in the use of
<code>dbootstrap</code>.

<h3>Partitioning the Hard Disk - <code>amiga-fdisk</code></h3>
<p>

The apus subarch uses the <code>amiga-fdisk</code> partitioning tool. As noted
above, you can also use AmigaOS-side partitioning tools.

<h3>Installing the OS Kernel and Modules</h3>
<p>

This option is actually not working. I am in the process of proposing
an "Install the OS Modules" option to replace it, but in the meantime
you can just skip this step. The kernel is not needed anyway, since it
resides on the
# <!-- FIXME Sven?? server? network? -->

<h3>Options Not Applicable for apus</h3>
<p>

Well some options simply don't make sense on apus, so until I exclude them
from the menu, just ignore them. They should not work anyway.

<p>
These options are:
<pre>
* Make System Bootable directly from the Hard Disk.

* Make a Boot Floppy.

* Eject the Floppy.
</pre>

<h2>Links for Further Information</h2>
<p>

The official Linux-apus doc and FAQ is at:
<p>
<a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-apus/">
http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-apus/</a>
<p>

Another source of valuable information is the Linux-m68k web site and faq
found at:

<p>
<a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-m68k/">
http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-m68k/</a>
<p>

There you will find lots of information regarding Linux on the amiga platform
that is common to Linux-m68k and Linux-apus.

<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>

Well, this little guide tries to explain all the particularities of the
Linux-apus installation of Debian. The rest of it is quite similar to any
other Debian/powerpc installation, as well as the generic Debian installation.
You will thus find further info in the <a href="$(DOC)/">Debian documentation
directory</a> as well as in the other generic Linux information sites and
docs.