[Updated 6.11.1996 for aboot 0.5 + ELF kernel]

This file is a changed version of Jim Paradis' documentation on installing Linux on the "Jensen" Alpha board. I have changed this to reflect the steps necessary to use aboot instead of the standard bootloader.

Using aboot has two advantages compared with Jim's original solution you don't need a special modified kernel to install. Any standard vmlinux.gz can be used.

• aboot can load multiple kernels direct from a ext2-filesystem from a partition on the root disk after installation, so you can easily try out new test kernels without destroying your only working kernel.
• aboot can pass *any* bootoptions you want to the kernel, and does not limit their size
• using aboot, you can auto-boot Linux from the SRM console even if you require boot-options longer than 8 characters (eg. root=... :-))

The necessary files can be found in:

ftp.alphalinux.org/pub/Linux-Alpha/jensen/install

You will need the following files:

minlabel.exe : Partitioning utility
copyboot.exe : Utility for copying the bootdisk to the hard drive

lxboot.aboot : copy of an aboot-ready sector 0 (disklabel) from my disk. copyboot needs this to extract the position and length of the bootcode from the image

bootlx.aboot : The aboot first-stage loader image itself Currently, this is aboot-0.2. As soon as I find the time, I will provide a version with aboot-0.3* and with an extra option so that you do not have to recompile aboot to get the whole functionality.

vmlinux-*.gz : A stock kernel with the following options [IIRC]:

• ramdisk
• all SCSI devices, AHA1742
• NE2000, WD8003, SMC ultra
• DOS, Minix, ext2, iso9660 filesystems
• PS/2 mouse, serial + parallel port drivers

I tested this on a Jensen with Firmware ROM 1.7. Things should work with older ROM versions, too. When you want to upgrade your firmware and have an ELSA WINNER 1000 graphics card in your system, be aware ROM versions above 1.7 hang during initialization of the ARC firmware when the ELSA card is used in EISA mode - this seems to be due to a bug in the ELSA's own firmware ROM, and ELSA is not willing to help in that case.

WARNING: it seems that aboot will not work on a Jensen with a firmware >1.7 - you get a fail message directly when loading aboot. The only solution I know is downgrading to a 1.7 firmware (which has no disadvantages AFAIK).

Procedure:
1. Prepare your floppies:

• Create a DOS-formatted floppy with the standalone ARC utilities (MINLABEL.EXE and COPYBOOT.EXE)
• Create the bootimage and write it to a second, formatted floppy:
  • cat lxboot.aboot lxboot.aboot bootlx.aboot vmlinux.gz >/dev/fd0
  (or do the same with COPY /B on a DOS system and copy the resulting file to disk using RAWRITE.EXE).The double lxboot.aboot is not a typo - we need a filler of 512 bytes since for reasons I forgot, aboot expects to be placed starting at sector *2* on the disk.
  You can replace vmlinux.gz with any newer kernel you like - use quickstrip before compressing to save space.

• If you are installing Red Hat, prepare a pseudo-bootdisk: take any of the bootdisk images and create a disk as describes in the installation docs. The setup tool needs this to copy a kernel to your harddisk later during the installation, and will insist to do so. You can later replace this kernel with a real one for the Jensen.
• Create the ramdisk floppy image for your distribution plus any other disks which your installation may need (debian base-disks etc.).
• You will, of course, need the installation media for your OS distribution (CD or floppies)

• Get to the ARC console opening screen. If your Jensen comes up to the ARC console (it says "ARC" in the first line and presents you with a menu), you're all set. If it comes up to the SRM console (>>> prompt), enter the command "SET OS NT" and press CTRL-P to enter the ARC console.
• Insert the "ARC utilities" disk.
• Choose "Run a program"
• Enter:
  
  a:minlabel
  [use eisa(0)disk(0)fdisk(0)minlabel.exe if that fails]
  
  
  This invokes the standalone minlabel utility, which is exactly like the Linux minlabel utility.

• Choose the disk you are going to partition. I [Jim] have made every effort to make these utilities understand Linux-style device names, so you should be able to enter something like "/dev/sda". ['sda' seems to work fine - ms]
• Partition the disk. Most likely you'll want a small (4Mb) initial partition for the bootstrap, and the rest of the disk for Linux. If you have only one disk on your system, you'll have to further partition the disk to provide a Linux partition and a swap partition. Make sure that the space for the bootstrap is not only the first partition, but is at the beginning of the disk (offset 0).
• Exit the minlabel program.

• be sure that you have set the correct floppy drive type. Even if you *do* have a 2.88MB ED drive, you should set this to 1.44MB if you want to read a 1.44MB disk using copyboot. To set this, use 'Edit environment variables' from the Setup menu and set 'FLOPPY=2'. You may have to do this directly before the next step, otherwise you get read errors after block 720 and the system will not boot.
• Choose "Run a program" from the ARC menu
• Enter: a:copyboot
[use eisa(0)disk(0)fdisk(0)copyboot.exe if that fails]
• Select source and destination devices
  (source is typically /dev/fd0, destination is /dev/sda, /dev/sdb,...)
• Remove the ARC utilities disk from the drive and insert the Linux bootimage disk.
• Hit ENTER to start copying.

4. Set up the system to come up to SRM console: