Install Debian Lenny on Stock Kurobox

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Revision as of 18:18, 28 September 2010 by Nicholas.robinson (Talk | contribs)
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WARNING!

This procedure requires repartitioning and reformatting your Kurobox's hard drive, erasing ALL existing data.
Please backup ALL important data before proceeding!


This is a guide to installing the latest stable release of Debian Lenny 5.0.5 with 2.6.25.1 kernel on a KuroboxHG with stock firmware.

Contents

Introduction

Whilst much information is available for installing various Debian releases on the Kurobox/KuroboxHG, most installations require re-flashing the device's firmware with uBoot. This guide details installation on a Kurobox/KuroboxHG running the stock firmware, eliminating the risk of re-flashing with uBoot. This is achieved by installing Debian Sarge 3.1 as an auxiliary operating system, using loader.o to load a 2.6.25.1 kernel and then booting Debian Lenny 5.0.5 from a separate partition.

The Installation procedure is very simple and summarised by the following steps:

  1. Force EM Mode
  2. Login via Telnet
  3. Partition the Hard Drive
  4. Transfer Debian Images
  5. Extract Debian Images
  6. Configure and Reboot

Following this, Basic Configuration is discussed:

  1. Initial Configuration
  2. Install Services

Finally, Limitations are outlined to encourage further development.

Installation

Force EM Mode

EM mode is easily entered by installing a new drive in your Kurobox.

Alternatively:

  • SSH into KuroBox
  • Erase MBR: 
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1
  • Reboot: 
reboot

OR

  • Dismantle KuroBox by depressing tabs and sliding off sheath
  • Remove hard drive by further dismantling and removal of screws
  • Connect drive to another machine via IDE / USB->IDE converter
  • Erase MBR: 
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/disk1 bs=512 count=1
  • Reassemble KuroBox
  • Boot KuroBox

Log In via Telnet

Assuming you have successfully entered EM mode, the Kurobox will assume the address 192.168.11.150 in the absence of a DHCP server. If you are running DHCP, please consult your DHCP client list to determine the Kurobox's address.

Login via telnet: 

telnet 192.168.11.150
  • Username: root
  • Password: kuroadmin

Partition the Hard Drive

Our goal is to create the following partiton-table: 

/dev/hda1 Bootable Type 83(Linux) 2GB for Sarge
/dev/hda2 Type 82(LinuxSwap) 256MB 
/dev/hda1 Type 83(Linux) 4GB for Lenny
/dev/hda3 Type 83(Linux) the rest of the Disk
  • Clear existing partitions: 
mfdisk -e /dev/hda
  • Create new partitions map (2GB Sarge[boot], 256MB Swap, 4GB Lenny, xxGB Data): 
mfdisk -c /dev/hda
  • Create Sarge system partition: 
n <enter> p <enter> 1 <enter> <enter> +2048M <enter>
  • Make Sarge system partition bootable: 
a <enter> 1 <enter>
  • Make Swap partition: 
n <enter> p <enter> 2 <enter>  <enter>  +256M <enter>
  • Designate Swap: 
t <enter> 2 <enter> 82 <enter>
  • Create Lenny system partition: 
n <enter> p <enter> 3 <enter> <enter> +4096M <enter>
  • Make Data: 
n <enter> p <enter> 4 <enter> <enter> <enter>
  • Print partition map: 
p <enter>
  • Write partition map to disk: 
w <enter>
  • Format partitions: 
mkfs -j /dev/hda1
mkfs -j /dev/hda3
mkfs -j /dev/hda4
mkswap /dev/hda2
  • Mount Sarge partition: 
mkdir /mnt/hda1
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1
  • Mount Lenny partition: 
mkdir /mnt/hda3
mount /dev/hda3 /mnt/hda3

Transfer Debian Images

  • Connect to the KuroBox via FTP:
    • Address: 192.168.1.150
    • Username: root
    • Password: kuroadmin
  • Transfer debian-sarge-2.6.25.1-kuroHG-20100722.tgz to /mnt/hda1
  • Transfer debian-lenny-2.6.25.1-kuroHG-20100722.tgz to /mnt/hda3

Extract Debian Images

  • Extract Sarge image with: 
cd /mnt/hda1
tar xvzf /mnt/hda1/debian-sarge-2.6.25.1-kuroHG-20100722.tgz
  • Extract Lenny image with: 
cd /mnt/hda3
tar xvzf /mnt/hda3/debian-lenny-2.6.25.1-kuroHG-20100722.tgz
  • Delete the images with: 
rm /mnt/hda1/debian-sarge-2.6.25.1-kuroHG-20100722.tgz
rm /mnt/hda3/debian-lenny-2.6.25.1-kuroHG-20100722.tgz

Note: If you are using a non-HG Kurobox, both Sarge and Lenny kernel images should be replaced by extracting http://www.genbako.com/kernelimage-2.6.25.1-kuroBOX.tgz to /mnt/hda1/boot' and /mnt/hda3/boot

Configure and Reboot

By default both debian installations are configured to acquire their address via DHCP with the hostname "KURO-BOX". If you need to change these details:

  • Configure interfaces:
    • Sarge 
vi /mnt/hda1/etc/network/interfaces
    • Lenny 
vi /mnt/hda3/etc/network/interfaces
  • Configure hostname:
    • Sarge 
vi /mnt/hda1/etc/hostname
    • Lenny 
vi /mnt/hda3/etc/hostname
  • Finally, to boot into Debian Lenny 5.05, type: 
write_ok
reboot

Basic Configuration

Initial Configuration

After a successful reboot, the following initial configuration steps are recommended:

  • Log in via telnet
    • Username: tmp-kun
    • Password: tmp-kun
  • Setup Terminal: 
export TERM=vt100
  • Switch to super user: 
su
    • Password = root
  • Change root password: 
passwd
  • Create a user account: 
adduser username
  • Reconnect via Telnet as username
  • Switch to super user 
su
  • Remove user tmp-kun: 
deluser tmp-kun
rm -Rf /home/tmp-kun/
  • Update Package List: 
apt-get update
  • Upgrade installed packages: 
apt-get dist-upgrade

Install Services

Services will vary dependant on usage, however most users will require SSH, installed via: 

apt-get install ssh

Limitations

Ideally the auxiliary Sarge installation should not be necessary, however much work is required to facilitate this. Please let me know if you have such a solution.

Please let me know or amend this article if you discover solutions or further limitations.

Change Log

28/09/2010

The shutdown and reboot limitations have now been resolved by means of a crontab @reboot script (detailed above). This script has not been incorporated into the repository images as it removes the built-in safety net that dual booting provides. (i.e. without the script if Lenny fails to boot you can reboot in Sarge, mount the Lenny filesystem and fix the problem; with the script if Lenny fails to boot you will need to force EM mode or remove the hard drive to rectify the problem).

23/07/2010

The Sarge image referenced here is derived from http://www.genbako.com/debian-2.6.17.3/debian-sarge-2.6.17.3-kuroHG-20060702.tgz, patched with the 2.6.25.1 KuroboxHG image found at http://www.genbako.com/kernelimage-2.6.25.1-kuroHG.tgz / http://www.genbako.com/modules-2.6.25.1-kuroHG.tgz. The sources.list has been updated to reflect the current 'archived' status of Debian sarge and all updates as of 23/07/2010 have been applied.

The Lenny image referenced here is derived from http://www.revulo.com/kuro-box/Debian/lenny.html, patched with the 2.6.25.1 KuroboxHG image found at http://www.genbako.com/kernelimage-2.6.25.1-kuroHG.tgz / http://www.genbako.com/modules-2.6.25.1-kuroHG.tgz. All updates as of 23/07/2010 have been applied.

Feedback

Feedback and discussion is welcomed via http://forum.buffalo.nas-central.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=22002

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