HOWTO for 2.2.1 and 2.2.10 kernels

Installing Linux on a DECstation isn't very easy. Anyway, here's a short description (you'll need a working *nix box with bootp, tftp and nfs servers):

• Get a crosscompiling environment from ftp://bolug.uni-bonn.de/mips/. You'll find cross-egcs and cross-binutils there.
  
  
• Get the latest kernel source tree from the cvs server, from the faq:
  
  

For those who always want to stay on the bleeding edge and want to avoid having to download patch files or full tarballs we also have an anonymous CVS server. Using CVS you can checkout the Linux/MIPS source tree with the following commands:

   cvs -d :pserver:cvs@linus.linux.sgi.com:/cvs login

(Only needed the first time you use anonymous CVS, the password is "cvs")

   cvs -d :pserver:cvs@linus.linux.sgi.com:/cvs co <repository>

where you insert linux, libc, or gdb for <repository>.

The other important CVS archive of the Linux community is vger.rutgers.edu where a lot of code is being collected before being sent to Linus for distribution. Although vger itself no longer offers anonymous access, there are mirror sites which do provide anonymous access. For details how to access them see http://cvs.on.openprojects.net/. The modules which are of interest are "linux", "modutils", "pciutils", "netutils".

• The CVS does not contain several R3000 related changes and the changes for HZ != 100 on the DECstations. It will, on the other hand, work right out of the box for R4x00 based DECs, besides the clock problem. The necessary changes are available as seperate patches.
  
  
• Ok, what do you need for your machine?
  
  
• Baget Series: apply ftp://ftp.linux.sgi.com/pub/linux/mips/test/r2300_patch.gz
  
  
• R4x00 based DECstations: apply ftp://ftp.linux.sgi.com/pub/linux/mips/test/hz_patch.gz
  
  
• R2000/r3000 based DECstations: apply both of the above.
  
  
• Build a kernel with the following .config (mind the cpu type as Linux-MIPS is cpu dependent, a R3000 kernel won't run on a R4x00 machine).

--- snip here ---

CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL=y
CONFIG_DECSTATION=y
CONFIG_CPU_R3000=y 
CONFIG_CPU_LITTLE_ENDIAN=y
CONFIG_ELF_KERNEL=y
CONFIG_BINFMT_ELF=y
CONFIG_NET=y
CONFIG_SYSVIPC=y
CONFIG_SYSCTL=y
CONFIG_TC=y
CONFIG_UNIX=y
CONFIG_INET=y
CONFIG_IP_PNP=y
CONFIG_IP_PNP_BOOTP=y
CONFIG_IP_NOSR=y
CONFIG_SCSI=y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SD=y
CONFIG_SCSI_CONSTANTS=y
CONFIG_SCSI_DECNCR=y
CONFIG_NETDEVICES=y
CONFIG_DECLANCE=y
CONFIG_SERIAL=y
CONFIG_ZS=y
CONFIG_SERIAL_CONSOLE=y
CONFIG_PROC_FS=y
CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y
CONFIG_NFS_FS=y
CONFIG_ROOT_NFS=y
CONFIG_SUNRPC=y
CONFIG_LOCKD=y
CONFIG_ULTRIX_PARTITION=y
CONFIG_CROSSCOMPILE=y

--- snip here ---

• Answer all questions that "make oldconfig" asks with 'return', this sets up the source properly.
  
  
• "make dep boot" builds a kernel image in arch/mips/boot/vmlinux.ecoff that boots either using TFTP or Ultrixboot.
  
  
• Set up bootp and tftp servers on your intel-box, just like described on http://decstation-unix-ag.org/
  
  
• Switch your DECstation to serial console "setenv console s" on the PROM prompt and connect a terminal or something similar to port #3, 9600 8N1, no handshake.
  
  
• Boot with "boot 3/tftp/nbImage console=ttyS2 (or ttyS0 on a 5000/xx aka MAXine)", et voila :-). The kernel should be up and running and panic with a "unable to mount root" message.
  
  

• You can get a root image from ftp://ftp.linux.sgi.com/pub/linux/mips/mipsel-linux/root/declinuxroot-990128.tgz
  
  
• Unpack this on your Linux box into an arbitrary directory and export this for NFS. Update your bootptab accordingly and the kernel should mount this root image via NFS.
  
  
• Link /dev/console to the right /dev/ttySx, the one you've used with the boot command, or else the kernel comes with the warning "unable to open an initial console".
  
  
• It may happen that mount bombs out with a segmentation fault. If this is the case, get a mount-*.rpm from ftp://intel.cleveland.lug.net/pub/Mipsel/RPMS and install it.
  
  
• There is some really wierd problems with login on the standard NFS root system. This can sometimes be solved by re-compiling the login binary from the util-linux SRPM from the ftp.linux.sgi.com FTP site, if this doesn't work for you grab, the SimplePAMApps package from ftp.xx.kernel.org:/pub/linux/libs/pam/pre/applications/SimplePAMApps-0.59.tar.gz Do a

  ./configure --without-pniam --without-pwdb
  

  make Make will stop somewhere in the su subdir with errors, then do

  cd pamapps/login
  make
  cp login /bin/login
  chmod u+s 4711 /bin/login
  

  
  
• In order to get networking going correctly get net-tools-1.49-1.mipsel.rpm from http://www.xs4all.nl/~vhouten/mipsel/other.html. A sign that you have an old package is that ifconfig shows wrong packet information.
  
  

 "boot 3/tftp/nbImage console=ttyS2 root=/dev/sda"

the kernel should mount the hardisk as it's root filesystem.

Login via serial console doesn't work, too, but telnet or rlogin will. You may want to edit some rc files in that case.

We're still working :-).

Another page with interesting tips and links is Karels at http://www.xs4all.nl/~vhouten/mipsel/