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- Quick setup guide
- =================
-
- 1. Creating the root Linux partition
- ------------------------------------
-
- Linux uses its own filesystem (called the "ext2" filesystem),
- thus it cannot be installed right on your existing Amiga
- partitions.
-
- The RedHat installer allows you to create Linux partitions
- using a command line driven tool called fdisk. Using fdisk
- can be rather tricky for novice users, therefore we recommend
- creating the partitions with HDToolBox or an equivalent tool
- before you start the installation procedure.
-
- You will need to create one or more partitions for the Linux
- ext2 filesystem. The main partition is always called the "root"
- partition. The easiest way to install Linux is creating one big
- root partition, but many experienced UNIX users like to have
- separate partitions for /usr, /home, /usr/local or /var.
- Until you learn how much space you need in each filesystem,
- we recommend installing the system on a single partition.
-
- To create a Linux native partition, open HDToolBox (or any
- other hard drive partitioning tool). Add a new partition
- and choose "Custom File System" in the filesystem selection
- window. The partition identifier should be set to 0x4c4e5800.
- All the other parameters (including MaxTransfer and Mask) are
- ignored by Linux.
-
- A basic Linux installation requires at least 300MB
- of disk space. The full CD installation takes approximately
- 500MB. For proper system use, we recommend a size ranging
- from 800MB to 2GB.
-
-
- 2. Creating the swap partition
- ------------------------------
-
- Linux also needs at least one partition where the virtual
- memory system will swap memory pages. This is called the
- "swap" partition. Whenever virtual memory is exausted, the
- system will malfunction or even crash. We recommend that
- you reserve at least 64MB of swap space for Linux.
- As a general rule, the swap partition should be at least
- twice the size of your system memory.
-
- To assign a partition as swap space, follow the same
- procedure described above for the root partition, but
- set the partition identifier to 0x53575000.
-
-
- 3. Starting the installation script
- -----------------------------------
-
- Now your hard disk is ready for Linux. To begin the
- RedHat installation, you need to boot Linux using a
- bootstrap filesystem which includes the RedHat installer.
-
- In order to do that, you must use an Amiga utility
- which loads the Linux kernel and starts it. For Linux68k
- this utility is called "amiboot". For Linux APUS it is
- called "bootstrap". The boot program has several command
- line options and it can also provide boot options to the
- kernel.
-
- For your convenience, a simple "Install" script is
- available on the CD. This script will ask you some
- questions and then it runs amiboot or bootstrap with a
- sensible set of command line parameters.
-
- Shall this script fail on your system, you will have to read
- the documentation and tweak with the command line options
- yourself.
-
- Then, Linux will boot with the ram-disk installation
- filesystem. In a few seconds the RedHat installer will
- come up and guide you through the rest of the installation
- procedure.
-
-
- 4. In case of trouble
- ---------------------
-
- If something goes wrong with the installation, please don't
- give up immediately! Installing a UNIX system may sometimes
- be tricky, but you CAN do it.
-
- Just read the documentation carefully and double-check
- every step to make sure you're not making any mistake.
- There are a number of issues related to particular hardware
- setups that are explained in detail by the documentation.
-
- When everything else fails, you can ask for help on the
- mailing lists. If you describe your problem in detail, it
- is very likely that someone will know how to deal with it.
-
-
- The Amiga Unix Compendium Team
-