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| RISCOS installation requirements |
What can and cannot be used is actually quite an involved subject. there are different aspects that must all be covered for things to 'just work'. The hardware interface must be supported, as must the device connected to it. The partitioning scheme used on hard drives must be understood by the partitioning software and the installer. The installer must also actually be looking for the drive or CD type in question. We try to cover the options below but if in doubt contact us to discuss your situation.
Note:The installer does not yet look for SCSI devices to install onto so you can only install to IDE devices at this time, even though the kernel may recognise your interface. It should find SCSI CD drives to install from however, but at the time of writing this has not been confirmed.
We also can't test everything ourselves and rely on user feedback to find out what is and is not possible.
The current state of the kernel device support is listed onwww.arm.linux.org.uk.
Below are some updates to that list or extra information about devices that cause problems, and information specific to the current Aleph ARMLinux release. Feedback on other devices and errors or workarounds for this list are very welcome.
Machines
The supplied 2.2.16 kernel will only work on a machine with VRAM (1 or 2MB). If you haven't got any then you just get a screen-full of randomly-coloured dots when the kernel starts. v2.4 kernels should fix this problem but this release has been designed around v2.2 kernels so upgrading to v2.4, whilst possible, can cause other problems instead.
The A5000 is not supported by this release of ARMLinux. We hope that a set of A5000 kernels and packages will be compiled at some point.
These machines are not supported by this release but ARMLinux can already be made to work on the RiscStation, so we expect support to be included in Aleph ARMLinux very soon. Keep an eye on the web site for updates.
Interfaces
Well supported and tested. You should have no problems installing to a drive here.
The older ARCIN interface is supported, but the newer Blitz is not yet. We are working on this. Also !Partman does not get on with these devices so you will need to plug the drive into the motherboard IDE interface and format it using !Hform, then do the partitioning before putting things back as normal, and doing the installation, selecting the IDEFS drive (typically /dev/hdc for the first IDEFS drive). See the Risc PC ARMLinux FAQ on our web site for details of possible problems with APDL interfaces and drives.
Works well although the module device detection has problems with some SCSI devices - like ZIP drives - and gets stuck trying to identify them. You may need to unplug the extra drives during installation.
This is the 2-speed one that has an extra circuit board next to the hard drive. This is not supported at the moment so you cannot install from this drive.
These are not currently supported so you can't install to or from a drive on this type of interface. We are actively working on this, but need programmers and cards to test on. If you can help with either of these get in touch.
We have found that even CD drives that give problems under RISC OS work fine from ARMLinux, although, on the whole, this isn't very useful!
These are mis-identified as Powertec cards and do not work.
Network Interfaces
All work fine.
A driver was written some time ago but had problems. We have just integrated it with the kernel so expect support in the next major release.
Last Updated: 2001.06.07
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