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-Well here is a little description of what DrakX needs to work in comparison
-to the RH newt install.
-
-********************************************************************************
-* CVS **************************************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-Like all good free software, DrakX is in CVS :)
-
-You can access it at http://www.mandrakelinux.com/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/gi
-
-or via
-
-export CVS_RSH=ssh
-export CVSROOT=:ext:anoncvs@cvs.mandrakesoft.com:/cooker
-cvs checkout gi
- (enter password 'cvs')
-
-
-This is only read-only access. If you want more, tell me (pixel@mandrakesoft.com)
-
-Alas, all is not in CVS as a lot of things are binary files.
-For the other things, take SRPMS/DrakX-*.src.rpm
-
-Please note that redoing *all* the stuff is not for the faint of heart. I myself
-sometimes wonder what the whole make does :-%
-Instead, changing some .pm files is quite easy (nice interpreted language)
-
-********************************************************************************
-* Making your custom install ***************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-If you have your own rpms you want to add, or make your own updated cdrom, you
-just have to issue:
-
-% gendistrib --noclean --distrib <DIRS>
-
-Where <DIRS> is the root of all the media that the install will see, this first
-one is the main one :
-
-(1) network or 1-cdrom installs
- DIRS == the root directory of the Distribution
-
-(2) multi-cdrom install
- DIRS == the root directories of all the media that the install will see
-
-``gendistrib'' will scan the file Mandrake/base/hdlists in the main root
-directory (the first one in DIRS) to search for all media used. Typically you
-use Mandrake/RPMS* for RPM packages repository.
-For multi-cd, please use Mandrake/RPMS or Mandrake/RPMS1, Mandrake/RPMS2, etc.
-For one CD or a network/hd volume, please use Mandrake/RPMS.
-
-Optionnally, you can modify ``Mandrake/base/rpmsrate''; this file manages
-the relative importance of the files, and thus their installation or not.
-
-Also, mdkinst_stage2.gz must be remade if you modify files in Mandrake/mdkinst.
-See below for information about these files.
-
-********************************************************************************
-* FILES ************************************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-First here are the different things needed :
-
-Mandrake/base/hdlists
- description of the available install media.
- format is one line for one medium as
- <hdlist_name> <rpms_directory> <description>
- <hdlist_name> should be match regexp /hdlist\S*.cz2?/
- for example (two cd install) you get
- hdlist1.cz Mandrake/RPMS1 Boot CD
- hdlist2.cz Mandrake/RPMS2 Extension CD
-
-Mandrake/base/hdlist*.cz
- table of rpm's headers, referred by ``hdlists''
- their contents can be listed using ``packdrake -l <hdlist_file>'' or
- or ``parsehdlist <hdlist_file>''.
- ! Need to be remade when Mandrake/RPMS* changes (with ``gendistrib'') !
-
-Mandrake/base/depslist.ordered
- for each packages, tell which package it depends on. Also contains the
- size for some (obscure) bloody reasons.
- ! Need to be remade when Mandrake/RPMS* changes !
- (with ``gendistrib --noclean --distrib .'')
-
-Mandrake/base/compss
- obsoletes comps. It store packages in different categories, generated
- from the %{GROUP} field
- ! Need to be remade when Mandrake/RPMS* changes !
- (with ``gendistrib --noclean --distrib .'')
-
-Mandrake/base/rpmsrate
- ranks and classify packages, so that the installer will know which
- ones to install. format is :
- <intern_group>
- <level> <packages>
- where <intern_group> is a symbolic name used in Mandrake/base/compssUsers* files,
- and <level> defines importance level as described below :
- 5 must have
- 4 important
- 3 very nice
- 2 nice
- 1 maybe
- by default (for non expert), group selects packages for level 4 (important)
- and 5 (must have). export mode add 3 (very nice) level. other level (below 2)
- can only be selected using individual package selection.
-
-Mandrake/mdkinst
- live system used on certain installs. See ``Ramdisk or not'' below for
- more.
-
-Mandrake/base/mdkinst_stage2.bz2
- for the ramdisk. live sytem in ext2 filesystem bzipped2.
- generated from Mandrake/mdkinst tree using misc/make_mdkinst_stage2
- See ``Ramdisk or not'' below for more.
-
-Mandrake/base/rescue_stage2.bz2
- rescue ramdisk. live sytem in ext2 filesystem bzipped2.
- this is the ramdisk loaded when typing rescue on boot prompt.
- there is no live system available, only the ramdisk is used.
-
-images/*.img
- boot images to use with DrakX. Use:
- - cdrom for cdrom install
- - network for ftp/nfs install (non-pcmcia devices)
- - hd for hard-disk install
- - pcmcia for pcmcia install (see ``PCMCIA install'' below for more)
-
- the following modules have been removed from:
- network.img: acenic sk98lin de4x5
- cdrom.img and hd.img: BusLogic seagate fdomain g_NCR5380 dc395x_trm tmscsim
- hd.img: dpt_i2o eata eata_pio eata_dma
- cdrom.img: aztcd gscd isp16 mcd mcdx optcd cm206 sjcd
- pcmcia.img: apa1480_cb
- they are now in "other.img",
-
- blank.img is a blank boot image without a kernel nor initrd. this image
- can be used to generate custom boot disk.
-
- if you think one of those modules is used a lot, tell me, i may find some room
- to put it back on the main floppies.
-
-
-********************************************************************************
-* logs *************************************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-During install, a lot of interesting stuff can be found in different places:
-in consoles and in files. To switch to console 2 for example, do Ctrl-Alt-F2
-from the X install.
-- alt-F1: the stdout of the install. Not very interesting stuff
-- alt-F2: simple shell. Quite a lot of commands are available but as they are
-written in perl (for space), they do not handle the very same options as normal.
-After install, you can do ``chroot /mnt'' to see your system just like after
-rebooting. ``rpm -qa'' works for example.
-- alt-F3: a lot of interesting things. Be carefull, some ``ERROR'' messages are
-not interesting.
-- alt-F4: kernel's place. aka the output of dmesg.
-- alt-F7: the graphical install lives there
-
-- command "bug" puts on floppy lots of interesting stuff.
-- /tmp/ddebug.log: same (or nearly the same) as alt-F3
-- /tmp/syslog: same as alt-F4
-- /mnt/root/ddebug.log: at the end of each step, DrakX tries to backup
-/tmp/ddebug.log to /mnt/root. Available only after mounting of /.
-- /mnt/root/install.log: the log of the installation (or upgrade) of the rpms
-(just like rpm's /mnt/tmp/(install|upgrade).log)
-- /mnt/root/auto_inst.cfg.pl: a kickstart file generated at the end of each
-step. Can be used in 2 ways: kickstart install or ``defcfg'' install. Hopefully
-you know about kickstart. ``defcfg'' is a way to customize the default values in
-install. For example, French can be the default language with a qwerty keyboard,
-the auto-partitionning partitions can be changed, the default user class can be
-set to developer (!)...
-
-********************************************************************************
-* po translation files *********************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-DrakX uses .po files for its translation. A script takes the different
-strings out of the .pm files. It generates the DrakX.pot file which contains
-all the english strings to translate.
-To add a new language, you just have to add it to lang.pm (if it's not there
-already) and put the .po in the perl-install/po directory (see ``Ramdisk or
-not'' to know if you have to regenerate the mdkinst_stage2.gz)
-
-********************************************************************************
-* PCMCIA install ***************************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-If the media you use to install is a pcmcia device, use the pcmcia boot disk.
-
-********************************************************************************
-* Ramdisk or not ***************************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-The DrakX install is much bigger than the newt one. So the ramdisk which was
-used is getting big, and costs a lot in memory
-(eg: the mdkinst_stage2 is 14MB - 23/09/99)
-(update! now size is 21MB - 24/01/01)
-(update! now size is 19MB - 26/04/01)
-
-| | newt | DrakX
-|-------+---------+----------------------------------------------------------
-| nfs | live | live
-| ftp | ramdisk | ramdisk
-| http | ramdisk | ramdisk
-| hd | ramdisk | live if Mandrake/mdkinst/usr/bin/runinstall2 is a link,
-| | | ramdisk otherwise
-| cdrom | ramdisk | live if memory < 52MB, ramdisk otherwise
-
-Where ramdisk is needed, if detected memory is below the limit allowed for
-ramdisk (maintained in file gi/mdk-stage1/config-stage1.h; currently 52 Mb),
-a failure dialog will be printed explaining that there is not enough memory
-to perform the installation.
-
-When i say live, it means that the stage1 will *mount* the
-Mandrake/mdkinst and use it that way.
-
-The ramdisk is used in place of the live in some cases. This ramdisk is filled
-with mdkinst_stage2.gz
-
-For cdrom install, the ramdisk is used to speed up things (access time is quite
-high on cdrom drives)
-
-For pcmcia, it depends on the type of install.
-
-
-********************************************************************************
-* modules **********************************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-Modules can be found in at least 2 places:
-- in /modules/modules.mar
-- in /lib/modules.cz<KERNEL_VERSION_RELEASE>
-
-/modules/modules.mar is used in mdk-stage1. It contains only modules
-interesting for one kind of install. For example in an hd install, it
-contains scsi modules. For a network install, it contains network card
-modules. (To create, extract or view files in a ``mar'' archive, please
-use gi/mdk-stage1/mar/mar; this is basically an archive format meant to
-be minimalistic)
-
-/lib/modules.cz<KERNEL_VERSION_RELEASE> contains all modules, it is used
-in stage2.
-
-
-To install a module, use modprobe which is in /usr/bin. It's a perl wrapper
-around /usr/bin/insmod. It uses the dependencies found in
-/modules/modules.dep (stage1).
-
-/usr/bin/insmod is a wrapper around /usr/bin/insmod_. It just extracts the
-module out of /lib/modules.cz in /tmp. Then it calls insmod_.
-
-/usr/bin/insmod_ is the real prog (which you usually find in /sbin/). You need
-to give it the complete path.
-
-********************************************************************************
-* Making screenshots ***********************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-On a test machine, make a network install, switch to console (ctrl-alt-F2), enter:
-% xhost+
-
-then, on another computer:
-% DISPLAY=test_machine:0 xwd -root | convert - screenshot.png
-
-********************************************************************************
-* Miscellaneous ****************************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-> o Media access methods: nfs, ftp, http, hd, cdrom
-> o Stages: init, stage1, stage2
-> - What exactly each stage does
-
-init loads stage1
-stage1 loads stage2, on various medium type
-
-stage2 is too big to fit on a floppy, that's why stage1 exists
-
-> - How each stage relates to the various media access methods
-
-stage1 knows only how to access to the media is compiled for. It contains only
-the kernel modules needed for that media. For eg, the nfs/ftp/http stage1
-doesn't contain scsi modules nor ide.
-
-> - How one stage terminates and another begins. i.e., How does
-> stage1 find, mount, and launch stage2?
-
-/sbin/init just starts /sbin/stage1
-/sbin/stage1 takes care of mounting stage2 (in ramdisk if necessary)
- then it runs /usr/bin/runinstall2
-
-> o Text and Graphic mode installers
-> - Architectural overview of each
-
-have a look at gi/docs/object_class.fig
-
-
-********************************************************************************
-* OEM **************************************************************************
-********************************************************************************
-> I am a system OEM in Bangalore,India selling systems bundled with
-> Mandrake Linux. The problem is that with every system I sell, I need to
-> install & configure the system which takes HOURS!. Can I do a diskcopy
-> instead?
->
-> Please Help. This is a major bottleneck for me.
-
-many solutions:
-
-- make an install on drive hdb, then :
- dd if=/dev/hdb of=/dev/hdc
- but you should make sure the hardware is *REALLY* identical.
-
-- try the oem feature
- 3. - burn a cd out of *latest* cooker or 8.0 and above.
- - boot on it telling "oem" to syslinux
- !! it will destroy every data on the harddrive or
- resize (or use free space) if *ONLY* one fat partition is defined !!
- - you now have a very automated install matrix
- (duplicate it with "dd if=/dev/hdb of=/dev/hdc bs=1M count=730")
-
- put the harddrive in the oem box, the user will now have an *very* automated
- install, just asking the root password and user password, and some other
- question according its hardware.
-
- 4. just like 3. but you may have to mount /cdrom after typing rescue on
- syslinux prompt (oem script do it automatically if a automatic boot nfs
- network has been done as server is known). under /cdrom may be anything
- as long as it provides an installation tree of Mandrake Linux.
- after that run oem script by typing "/etc/oem -f" for normal installation
- or "/etc/oem -f server" for server installation (normal with server installed).
-
- 5. (just like 3. without burning a cd, doing the first part by hand)
- have a look at the /etc/oem script on the rescue and do it by hand...
-
-
-cu Pixel, fpons.
-
-
-comments:
-1. maybe copy unnecessary things -> take too long
- solution -> use bs=8k count=xxxx
-2. kernel_reread can be found on the new rescue, source is also at end of this
-mail. This solution works with one partition. Can be easily enhanced to many
-primary partitions... For extended partitions, more complicated, but not much :)
-3. has just been added in latest cooker. It may still have some pb. The main
-current limitation is IDE only, though it can be fixed easily for special cases.
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-#include <stdio.h>
-#include <sys/mount.h>
-#include <fcntl.h>
-
-void die(char *msg)
-{
- perror(msg);
- exit(1);
-}
-
-void kernel_read(char *dev)
-{
- int fd;
- if ((fd = open(dev, O_RDONLY)) == -1) die("can't open device");
- ioctl(fd, BLKRRPART, 0);
- close(fd);
-}
-
-int main(int argc, char **argv)
-{
- if (argc != 2) {
- fprintf(stderr, "usage: kernel_read_part <hard drive device>\n");
- exit(1);
- }
- kernel_read(argv[1]);
-}