xiven.com stating the blatantly obvious since 2002

Ascension

Steps to install Debian on a computer with an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe (nForce2) motherboard and GeForce3 Ti500:

  1. Get hold of full set of Debian discs.
  2. Boot from install disc.
  3. Install on spare 60GB hard drive.
  4. Realise that neither of the 2 network interfaces works nor the graphics card or USB mouse.
  5. Download Linux nForce drivers from nVidia website.
  6. Use floppy disk to get drivers onto computer.
  7. Attempt to make the drivers.
  8. Realise that newer kernel version is required.
  9. Install newer kernel version (2.4.18) from CD.
  10. Play around in make menuconfig for 20 minutes.
  11. Compile and install new kernel.
  12. Install nvnet drivers.... success!
  13. Install audio drivers....
  14. Oh dear it's hung. Time to hit the reset button.
  15. Wait 15 minutes for fsck to finish.
  16. Run modconf, enable nvnet module.
  17. Run ifconfig eth0 up. At last! A working network connection!
  18. Hmmm.. how do I get the network to work next time I reboot without typing the command manually. Oh well, figure that one out later.
  19. Attempt to enable samba. Oops, samba says I must have missed an option in the kernel. Oh well, sort that one out later
  20. Use SCP to get nVidia graphics drivers from network.
  21. Install graphics drivers. Reboot.
  22. X starts. Computer hangs with blank screen. Reset.
  23. Wait 15 minutes for fsck to finish.
  24. Search Internet for problem.
  25. Find potential solution. Try it.
  26. X starts. Computer hangs with blank screen. Reset.
  27. Wait 15 minutes for fsck to finish.
  28. Repeat above 3 steps several times.
  29. Make note to self: must look into upgrading to XFS or EXT3 very very soon.
  30. Last ditch attempt: download kernel 2.6.1.
  31. Ooh, 2.6.1 has nForce2 AGP GART support built in. Does it also have nForce2 network and sound support?
  32. No. That would be far too sensible.
  33. And the drivers I have don't work with the 2.6 kernel.
  34. Install new kernel anyway. Wahey, I have a working graphics card and mouse. Shame I don't have a net connection any more.
  35. Give up and return to Windows.

So, does anyone have any idea how I can:

Any help is appreciated. Keep in mind that I am pretty clueless when it comes to the inner workings of Linux.

Posted: 2004-01-28 19:16:03 UTC by Xiven | Cross-references (0) | Comments (3)

Cross-references

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Comments

  • Aquarion (2004-01-28 19:48:35 UTC)

    My best suggestion as far as using Linux on anything newer than debian stable is this:

    Use Gentoo. (http://www.gentoo.org)

  • Xiven (Registered) (2004-01-28 22:27:01 UTC)

    Interesting. I like Debian because of its nice package management system (apt), plus the fact that I have at least some experience with it. What's this "Portage" thing like?

  • Kai Hendry (2004-01-28 23:11:52 UTC)

    I know nForce stuff is a bit problematic on Debian atm.

    First ensure your nForce 2 chipset bits are supported by which XFREE version and which kernel.

    Use debian beta installer:
    http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

    Upgrading from ext2 to ext3 is quite easy. From memory, tune2fs -j /dev/hda3, and fix fstab with auto. Debian installer ships with ext3 as default I think.

    leet lusers like myself run unstable. :)