SHARP MM1110 TFTP Install with Debian Sarge

Hello all,

Well. I have the Sharp MM1110 (known as a Sharp MM10 in the USA) and I
write this as Debian Sarge is installing upon it.

This blog entry will apply to anyone with a Sharp MM10 wishing to install
Sarge on one, or anyone with a similar laptop (eg an IBM without a floppy
or CD drive).

The installation was done completely by network installation, no external
drives are required.


PREREQUISITES FOR INSTALLATION:

* Sharp MM11110 or similar laptop
* Another PC/Server on the same network running Linux (I used a PC with RH9)
* Broadband Internet connection or better (for downloading Sarge via HTTP)

SOFTWARE USED:

* DHCPd: http://www.isc.org/index.pl?/sw/dhcp/
* ATFTPd: ftp://ftp.mamalinux.com/pub/atftp/
* PXELINUX: http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php
* SARGE NETINST IMAGES: http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/testing/main/installer-i386/rc1/images/netboot/

QUICK OVERVIEW OF TASKS AHEAD:

* Install DHCP Daemon on server (to allocate IP to Sharp, and to tell it to do
a TFTP boot).
* Install a TFTP Daemon on server (to allow the Sharp to boot the installer
kernel).
* Download and place the Debian Sarge Netinstall files in your tftpboot folder.
* Installation of Sarge.

TASK 1: Installing & Configuring a DHCP daemon.

I used Red Hat 9 for my server, so I used the version of dhcpd that came with
that. It's based on ISC DHCP.

View your /etc/dhcpd.conf. This is how my one looks:

ddns-update-style ad-hoc;
default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;

#this is for the tftp server..
allow booting;
allow bootp;

subnet 62.3.116.104 netmask 255.255.255.248 {
range 62.3.116.106 62.3.116.108;

option domain-name "xbolt.net";
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.248;
option broadcast-address 62.3.116.111;
option routers 62.3.116.109;
option domain-name-servers 62.3.116.105, 62.3.116.106;

group {
#tftp server address
next-server 62.3.116.105;
filename "/tftpboot/pxelinux.0";

#static assignment....
host chewbacca {
hardware ethernet 00:10:4B:49:EC:71;
fixed-address 62.3.116.105;
}

host skywalker {
hardware ethernet 08:00:1F:B3:23:30;
fixed-address 62.3.116.108;
}
}
}

A quick explanation of the above:

The first three lines:
ddns-update-style ad-hoc;
default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
Are all default stuff and should be included to make dhcpd happy.

The next two lines are all about telling the dhcpd server that it will accept
BOOTP or network booting.

allow booting;
allow bootp;

The next part of the config groups the rest of the config by subnet, setting up
my clients. I used to run a static IP network here, and generally still want to
do so; so instead of allowing dynamic IP allocation to hosts, I read the MAC
address from ifconfig eth0 on each host and use the format

host xyz {
hardware-address MAC:ADD:RES:S
fixed-address 123.456.789.012
}

This allows the host to always have the same IP address, as long as it's MAC
address is the same.

#tftp server address
next-server 62.3.116.105;
filename "/tftpboot/pxelinux.0";

Is probably the most important part, since it tells dhcpd where the tftp files
reside (ie what you will be providing via tftp).

next-server is the IP address of your TFTP server.

I chose the standard folder /tftpboot to hold my tftp stuff. Pxelinux.0 is the
file that dhcpd passes control to after the tftp download. Pxelinux is a subset
of SYSLINUX, created by H. Peter Anvin, which you will see almost on all linux
distros. To download SYSLINUX (which includes the PXELINUX stuff, as well as
pxelinux.0) visit http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php.

TASK 2: Installing & Configuring a TFTP daemon.

Once you have configured dhcp, you can then get to installing your TFTP server.

I started to use the TFTP daemon which came with Red Hat, but I couldn't get it
working, so I went with atftpd in the end of the day, which is available at:

ftp://ftp.mamalinux.com/pub/atftp/

There are a few security issues with it, so I suggest you ensure you are
using the latest version, and you check for patches and patch it accordingly
before you use it however.

I disabled /etc/xinetd.d/tftpd and created a new file /etc/xinetd.d/tftp-udp:

# tftp-udp

service tftp
{
id = tftp-udp
disable = no
socket_type = dgram
protocol = udp
wait = no
user = nobody
nice = 5
server = /usr/local/sbin/atftpd
server_args = /tftpboot --no-blksize
}

The file follows normal inetd or xinetd syntax, however, the server_args are
very important - if the /tftpboot folder is not specified, TFTPd will not know
where to provide the files from. The last option --no-blksize took me a long
time to figure out that it was required.

Before restarting xinetd (service xinetd restart) ensure that the permissions
of the /tftpboot folder are accessible by 'nobody'. A chmod 755 should be fine.

TASK 3: INSTALLING DEBIAN

Visit
http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/testing/main/installer-i386/rc1/images/netboot/
and download the latest netboot/netinstall image (pxeboot.tar.gz).
Included in this archive is a ready-made pxelinux configuration file
(pxelinux.cfg/default). This should be sufficient to get the debian sarge
installer running. The debian installer should also be present in the /tftpboot
folder called debian-installer. Here is what my tftpboot folder looked like
after unpacking the pxeboot.tar.gz file:

drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Aug 1 17:39 debian-installer
-rw------- 1 ajross ajross 7731200 Aug 10 14:09 pxeboot.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11824 Aug 1 17:39 pxelinux.0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Aug 1 17:39 pxelinux.cfg

Note that the permissions of the stuff is at least readable by everyone - this
is so that the tftp server can provide the files.

So, to recap, we have placed the netinstall image in the correct place, with
the right permissions, set up a tftpboot folder with the right permissions, set
up a tftpd server with the correct settings (and it is now running), set up a
dhcp server and ensured that it is running as well.

If all of the above passes the 'Yup, that's done' test, then move over to the
laptop. First off, whip an ethernet cable into it's port and switch it on,
pressing F12 at the nice sharp splash screen on boot. Choose 'Network Boot'
from the boot menu, and watch it get an IP.

If it doesn't get an IP, then you need to check your DHCP server settings.

If it gets an IP and fails at the point that it looks for a TFTP server, then
try restarting your xinetd server:

/sbin/service xinetd restart

If that fails, check over your TFTPd settings, consider using another TFTPD
server also. I'm only saying the one I used (eventually) worked for me.

Finally, the next step should be the booting of the debian-installer, which
should present you with the Debian splash logo. If you don't get this far,
check the integrity of your served files on /tftpboot and check your
pxelinux.cfg/default settings are accurate (if you don't use the folder
/tftpboot for serving your tftp files, this would definitely need to be
changed).

If everything has gone to plan, Debian should now be able to install over the
Internet and you should now be grinning like a cheshire cat as you wipe the
sweat from your brow!

TASK 4: PROBLEMS WITH DEBIAN AFTER INSTALLATION.

I had a wee problem after the installation completed - the machine would simply
crash on me 3/4 way through the init process. Eventually I worked out I could
Ctrl+C just before it hit that critical stage and try to guess what was making
it die on me -- turns out it was the HotPlug service.

If you really need HotPlug service (think pcmcia) then you may have problems
here (I can't help you, yet anyway). I disabled the HotPlug service by
Ctrl+C'ing around 5s before the crash and going into /etc/rcS.d and creating
the folder 'disabled' and moving S40hotplug into disabled.

I did upgrade the kernel to 2.6 at the same time using aptitude, but I don't
know if that helped me diagnose the fault - the fault still appears on 2.6 as
well as 2.4, but I did notice a performance hike on 2.6, so I would upgrade if
you like, and if you get adventurous, compile your own 2.6 so that it's
optimised for the Transmeta processor.

Sound also does not work, but I'll no doubt post on how to fix this later, and
that goes beyond the scope of this document anyway!

Until then,

HTH. Al.