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3
4 <sect2 arch="alpha" id="alpha-firmware">
5 <title>Alpha Console Firmware</title>
6 <para>
7
8 Console firmware is stored in a flash ROM and started when an Alpha
9 system is powered up or reset. There are two different console
10 specifications used on Alpha systems, and hence two classes of console
11 firmware available:
12
13 </para>
14
15 <itemizedlist>
16 <listitem><para>
17
18 <emphasis>SRM console</emphasis>, based on the Alpha Console Subsystem
19 specification, which provides an operating environment for OpenVMS, Tru64
20 UNIX, and Linux operating systems.
21
22 </para></listitem>
23 <listitem><para>
24
25 <emphasis>ARC, AlphaBIOS, or ARCSBIOS console</emphasis>, based on the
26 Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) specification, which provides an operating
27 environment for Windows NT.
28
29 </para></listitem>
30 </itemizedlist>
31
32 <para>
33
34 From the user's perspective, the most important difference between SRM
35 and ARC is that the choice of console constrains the possible
36 disk-partitioning scheme for the hard disk which you wish to boot off
37 of.
38
39 </para><para>
40
41 ARC requires that you use an MS-DOS partition table (as created by
42 <command>cfdisk</command>) for the boot disk. Therefore MS-DOS partition
43 tables are the ``native'' partition format when booting from ARC. In
44 fact, since AlphaBIOS contains a disk partitioning utility, you may
45 prefer to partition your disks from the firmware menus before
46 installing Linux.
47
48 </para><para>
49
50 Conversely, SRM is <emphasis>incompatible</emphasis> with MS-DOS partition tables.
51 <footnote><para>Specifically, the bootsector format required by the Console
52 Subsystem Specification conflicts with the placement of the DOS
53 partition table.</para></footnote> Since Tru64 Unix uses the BSD disklabel format,
54 this is the ``native'' partition format for SRM installations.
55
56 </para><para>
57
58 GNU/Linux is the only operating system on Alpha that can be booted from
59 both console types, but &debian; &release; only supports booting on
60 SRM-based systems. If you have an Alpha for which no version of SRM is
61 available, if you will be dual-booting the system with Windows NT, or if
62 your boot device requires ARC console support for BIOS initialization,
63 you will not be able to use the &debian; &release; installer. You can
64 still run &debian; &release; on such systems by using other install
65 media; for instance, you can install Debian woody with MILO and upgrade.
66
67 </para><para>
68
69 Because <command>MILO</command> is not available for any of the Alpha
70 systems currently in production (as of February 2000), and because it
71 is no longer necessary to buy an OpenVMS or Tru64 Unix license to have
72 SRM firmware on your older Alpha, it is recommended that you use SRM
73 when possible.
74
75 </para><para>
76
77 The following table summarizes available and supported system
78 type/console combinations (see <xref linkend="alpha-cpus"/> for the
79 system type names). The word `ARC' below denotes any of the
80 ARC-compliant consoles.
81
82 </para><para>
83
84 <informaltable><tgroup cols="2">
85 <thead>
86 <row>
87 <entry>System Type</entry>
88 <entry>Console Type Supported</entry>
89 </row>
90 </thead>
91
92 <tbody>
93 <row>
94 <entry>alcor</entry>
95 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
96 </row><row>
97 <entry>avanti</entry>
98 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
99 </row><row>
100 <entry>book1</entry>
101 <entry>SRM only</entry>
102 </row><row>
103 <entry>cabriolet</entry>
104 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
105 </row><row>
106 <entry>dp264</entry>
107 <entry>SRM only</entry>
108 </row><row>
109 <entry>eb164</entry>
110 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
111 </row><row>
112 <entry>eb64p</entry>
113 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
114 </row><row>
115 <entry>eb66</entry>
116 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
117 </row><row>
118 <entry>eb66p</entry>
119 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
120 </row><row>
121 <entry>jensen</entry>
122 <entry>SRM only</entry>
123 </row><row>
124 <entry>lx164</entry>
125 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
126 </row><row>
127 <entry>miata</entry>
128 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
129 </row><row>
130 <entry>mikasa</entry>
131 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
132 </row><row>
133 <entry>mikasa-p</entry>
134 <entry>SRM only</entry>
135 </row><row>
136 <entry>nautilus</entry>
137 <entry>ARC (see motherboard manual) or SRM</entry>
138 </row><row>
139 <entry>noname</entry>
140 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
141 </row><row>
142 <entry>noritake</entry>
143 <entry>SRM only</entry>
144 </row><row>
145 <entry>noritake-p</entry>
146 <entry>SRM only</entry>
147 </row><row>
148 <entry>pc164</entry>
149 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
150 </row><row>
151 <entry>rawhide</entry>
152 <entry>SRM only</entry>
153 </row><row>
154 <entry>ruffian</entry>
155 <entry>ARC only</entry>
156 </row><row>
157 <entry>sable</entry>
158 <entry>SRM only</entry>
159 </row><row>
160 <entry>sable-g</entry>
161 <entry>SRM only</entry>
162 </row><row>
163 <entry>sx164</entry>
164 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
165 </row><row>
166 <entry>takara</entry>
167 <entry>ARC or SRM</entry>
168 </row><row>
169 <entry>xl</entry>
170 <entry>ARC only</entry>
171 </row><row>
172 <entry>xlt</entry>
173 <entry>ARC only</entry>
174 </row>
175
176 </tbody>
177 </tgroup>
178 </informaltable>
179
180 </para><para>
181
182 Generally, none of these consoles can boot Linux directly, so the
183 assistance of an intermediary bootloader is required. For the SRM
184 console, <command>aboot</command>, a small, platform-independent
185 bootloader, is used. See the (unfortunately outdated) <ulink
186 url="&url-srm-howto;">SRM HOWTO</ulink> for more information on
187 <command>aboot</command>.
188
189 </para><para condition="FIXME">
190
191 The following paragraphs are from the woody install manual, and are
192 included here for reference; they may be useful to someone at a later
193 date when Debian supports MILO-based installs again.
194
195 </para><para condition="FIXME">
196
197 Generally, none of these consoles can boot Linux directly, so the
198 assistance of an intermediary bootloader is required. There are two
199 mainstream Linux loaders: <command>MILO</command> and <command>aboot</command>.
200
201 </para><para condition="FIXME">
202
203 <command>MILO</command> is itself a console, which replaces ARC or SRM in
204 memory. <command>MILO</command> can be booted from both ARC and SRM and is
205 the only way to bootstrap Linux from the ARC console.
206 <command>MILO</command> is platform-specific (a different <command>MILO</command>
207 is needed for each system type) and exist only for those systems, for
208 which ARC support is shown in the table above. See also the
209 (unfortunately outdated)
210 <ulink url="&url-milo-howto;">MILO HOWTO</ulink>.
211
212 </para><para condition="FIXME">
213
214 <command>aboot</command> is a small, platform-independent bootloader, which
215 runs from SRM only. See the (also unfortunately outdated) <ulink
216 url="&url-srm-howto;">SRM HOWTO</ulink> for more information on
217 <command>aboot</command>.
218
219 </para><para condition="FIXME">
220
221 Thus, three scenarios are generally possible, depending on the
222 system's console firmware and whether or not <command>MILO</command> is
223 available:
224
225 <informalexample><screen>
226 SRM -&gt; aboot
227 SRM -&gt; MILO
228 ARC -&gt; MILO
229 </screen></informalexample>
230
231 Because <command>MILO</command> is not available for any of the Alpha
232 systems currently in production (as of February 2000), and because it
233 is no longer necessary to buy an OpenVMS or Tru64 Unix license to have
234 SRM firmware on your older Alpha, it is recommended that you use SRM and
235 <command>aboot</command> on new installations of GNU/Linux, unless you wish
236 to dual-boot with Windows NT.
237
238 </para><para>
239
240 The majority of AlphaServers and all current server and workstation
241 products contain both SRM and AlphaBIOS in their firmware. For
242 "half-flash" machines such as the various evaluation boards, it is
243 possible to switch from one version to another by reflashing the
244 firmware. Also, once SRM is installed, it is possible to run
245 ARC/AlphaBIOS from a floppy disk (using the <command>arc</command>
246 command). For the reasons mentioned above, we recommend switching to
247 SRM before installing &debian;.
248
249 </para><para>
250
251 As on other architectures, you should install the newest available
252 revision of the firmware <footnote><para>Except on Jensen, where
253 Linux is not supported on firmware versions newer than 1.7 &mdash; see
254 <ulink url="&url-jensen-howto;"></ulink> for more
255 information</para></footnote> before installing &debian;. For
256 Alpha, firmware updates can be obtained from
257 <ulink url="&url-alpha-firmware;">Alpha Firmware Updates</ulink>.
258
259 </para>
260 </sect2>
261
262
263 <sect2 arch="alpha"><title>Booting with TFTP</title>
264 <para>
265
266 In SRM, Ethernet interfaces are named with the <userinput>ewa</userinput>
267 prefix, and will be listed in the output of the <userinput>show dev</userinput> command,
268 like this (edited slightly):
269
270 <informalexample><screen>
271 &gt;&gt;&gt; show dev
272 ewa0.0.0.9.0 EWA0 08-00-2B-86-98-65
273 ewb0.0.0.11.0 EWB0 08-00-2B-86-98-54
274 ewc0.0.0.2002.0 EWC0 00-06-2B-01-32-B0
275 </screen></informalexample>
276
277 You first need to set the boot protocol:
278
279 <informalexample><screen>
280 &gt;&gt;&gt; set ewa0_protocol bootp
281 </screen></informalexample>
282
283 Then check the medium type is correct:
284
285 <informalexample><screen>
286 &gt;&gt;&gt; set ewa0_mode <replaceable>mode</replaceable>
287 </screen></informalexample>
288
289 You can get a listing of valid modes with <userinput>&gt;&gt;&gt;set ewa0_mode</userinput>.
290
291 </para><para>
292
293 Then, to boot from the first Ethernet interface, you would type:
294
295 <informalexample><screen>
296 &gt;&gt;&gt; boot ewa0 -flags ""
297 </screen></informalexample>
298
299 This will boot using the default kernel parameters as included in the
300 netboot image.
301
302 </para><para>
303
304 If you wish to use a serial console, you <emphasis>must</emphasis>
305 pass the <userinput>console=</userinput> parameter to the kernel.
306 This can be done using the <userinput>-flags</userinput> argument to
307 the SRM <userinput>boot</userinput> command. The serial ports are
308 named the same as their corresponding files in
309 <userinput>/dev</userinput>. Also, when specifying additional kernel
310 parameters, you must repeat certain default options that are needed by
311 the &d-i; images. For example, to boot from <userinput>ewa0</userinput>
312 and use a console on the first serial port, you would type:
313
314 <informalexample><screen>
315 &gt;&gt;&gt; boot ewa0 -flags &quot;root=/dev/ram ramdisk_size=16384 console=ttyS0&quot;
316 </screen></informalexample>
317
318 </para>
319 </sect2>
320
321 <sect2 arch="alpha"><title>Booting from CD-ROM with the SRM Console</title>
322 <para>
323
324 Type
325
326 <informalexample><screen>
327 &gt;&gt;&gt; boot xxxx -flags 0
328 </screen></informalexample>
329
330 where <replaceable>xxxx</replaceable> is your CD-ROM drive in SRM notation.
331
332 </para>
333 </sect2>
334
335 <sect2 arch="alpha" condition="FIXME">
336 <title>Booting from CD-ROM with the ARC or AlphaBIOS Console</title>
337 <para>
338
339 To boot a CD-ROM from the ARC console, find your sub-architecture code
340 name (see <xref linkend="alpha-cpus"/>), then enter
341 <filename>\milo\linload.exe</filename> as the boot loader and
342 <filename>\milo\<replaceable>subarch</replaceable></filename> (where
343 <replaceable>subarch</replaceable> is the proper subarchitecture name)
344 as the OS Path in the `OS Selection Setup' menu. Ruffians make an
345 exception: You need to use <filename>\milo\ldmilo.exe</filename> as
346 boot loader.
347
348 </para>
349 </sect2>
350
351
352 <sect2 arch="alpha" condition="supports-floppy-boot">
353 <title>Booting from Floppies with the SRM Console</title>
354 <para>
355
356 At the SRM prompt (<prompt>&gt;&gt;&gt;</prompt>), issue the following
357 command:
358
359 <informalexample><screen>
360 &gt;&gt;&gt; boot dva0 -flags 0
361 </screen></informalexample>
362
363 possibly replacing <filename>dva0</filename> with the actual device
364 name. Usually, <filename>dva0</filename> is the floppy; type
365
366 <informalexample><screen>
367 &gt;&gt;&gt; show dev
368 </screen></informalexample>
369
370 to see the list of devices (e.g., if you want to boot from a CD).
371 Note that if you are booting via MILO, <command>-flags</command> argument
372 is ignored, so you can just type <command>boot dva0</command>.
373 If everything works OK, you will eventually see the Linux kernel boot.
374
375 </para><para>
376
377 If you want to specify kernel parameters when booting via
378 <command>aboot</command>, use the following command:
379
380 <informalexample><screen>
381 &gt;&gt;&gt; boot dva0 -file linux.bin.gz -flags "root=/dev/fd0 load_ramdisk=1 arguments"
382 </screen></informalexample>
383
384 (typed on one line), substituting, if necessary, the actual SRM boot
385 device name for <filename>dva0</filename>, the Linux boot device name for
386 <filename>fd0</filename>, and the desired kernel parameters for
387 <filename>arguments</filename>.
388
389 </para><para>
390
391 If you want to specify kernel parameters when booting via
392 <command>MILO</command>, you will have to interrupt bootstrap once you get
393 into MILO. See <xref linkend="booting-from-milo"/>.
394 </para>
395 </sect2>
396
397
398 <sect2 arch="alpha" condition="supports-floppy-boot">
399 <title>Booting from Floppies with the ARC or AlphaBIOS Console</title>
400
401 <para>
402
403 In the OS Selection menu, set <command>linload.exe</command> as the boot
404 loader, and <command>milo</command> as the OS Path. Bootstrap using the
405 newly created entry.
406
407 </para>
408 </sect2>
409
410 <sect2 arch="alpha" condition="FIXME" id="booting-from-milo"><title>Booting with MILO</title>
411 <para>
412
413 MILO contained on the bootstrap media is configured to proceed straight
414 to Linux automatically. Should you wish to intervene, all you need is to
415 press space during MILO countdown.
416
417 </para><para>
418
419 If you want to specify all the bits explicitly (for example, to supply
420 additional parameters), you can use a command like this:
421
422 <informalexample><screen>
423 MILO> boot fd0:linux.bin.gz root=/dev/fd0 load_ramdisk=1 <!-- arguments -->
424 </screen></informalexample>
425
426 If you are booting from something other than a floppy, substitute
427 <filename>fd0</filename> in the above example with the appropriate device name
428 in Linux notation. The <command>help</command> command would give you a brief
429 MILO command reference.
430
431 </para>
432 </sect2>

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