Re: [Gnewsense-dev] Call for testers: gNewSense / MIPS almost complete

[Sam Geeraerts]

Robert Millan schreef:
> Hi,
>
> gNewSense for MIPS/Yeeloong is almost complete now.  What we have is:
>
>   - A blob-free Linux image that works on the Yeeloong.
>
>   - A port of D-I.
>
>   - A set of changes that implement gNewSense branding/theming.
>
>   - A set of APT archives that provide:
>     - Lenny without the non-free packages (pruned-upstream)
>     - Security support, again without the non-free bits 
> (pruned-upstream-security)
>     - An overlay with replacements for the non-free bits and/or branding stuff, 
> etc
>
> A netboot image can be obtained from:
>
>   http://aybabtu.com/rmh/gnewsense/netboot/
>
> Instructions:
>
>   - Put vmlinux and initrd.gz in a USB image (in the example I used ext2)
>
>   - Get to pmon2000 prompt and type:
>
>       load /dev/fs/address@hidden/vmlinux
>       initrd /dev/fs/address@hidden/initrd.gz
>       g console=tty no_auto_cmd
>
>   - Follow installation process in D-I.
>
>   - Once finished, your system can be boot with:
>
>       load /dev/fs/address@hidden/boot/vmlinux-2.6.27.1-yeeloong
>       g console=tty no_auto_cmd root=/dev/hda3
>
>     (assuming you installed to third partition of the internal
>     disk, otherwise you'll have to change wd0c and hda3)
>
>     And you can make this the default by setting "al" and "karg"
>     variables.
>
> Some areas could need a bit more polish but everything is there already.
> The system in my laptop now looks like gNewSense, walks like gNewSense and
> smells like gNewSense.
>
> I need people to help identify issues that need to be addressed.  Please
> test the image above and report.  Thank you!

Hm, in the partitioning stage the installer tells me I should use "the 
old ext2 (revision 0) filesystem" (maybe same problem as Laurent 
Guerby). I go back and do that.

Then it says my boot partition should be the first primairy partition on 
the disk. I liked to keep what was on there, so I just continued. At the 
end it tries to get a file from the mirror server, but fails, so I 
choose "Ignore".

A bit later it says it failed to install 'colo' in /target/. Continuing.

Then it fails to execute preconfigured command ("echo do_symlinks = no > 
/target/etc/kernel-img.conf ; apt-install 
linux-image-2.6.27-libre-medan"). Next. Finished. Reboot.

PMON2000 still confuses me. I booted with wd0b and /dev/hda5. The latter 
makes sense because I created a logical partition, but how does that 
match with wd0b? Oh wait, I installed that Chinese Debian distro on 
/dev/hda3 and that has vmlinux-2.6.27.1-yeeloong. I'd still say b!=3. My 
new install on /dev/hda5 on the other hand has no kernels. /boot 
contains default.colo and delo.2nd.

Anyway, it boots into a console and I can log in. Yay! What I can't do 
is "sudo" and I was never asked to set a password for root.

And that concludes the story of my experiences with Robert's netboot. I 
hope it will prove useful. Join us next time for more exciting gNewSense 
hacking. (Seriously, join us!) Goodnight.