Hi guys I want to attempt a linux install on my Pegasos 2 is there a simple to install ready to go Linux distro available,.... PS I am a linux NOOB.

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@Fairdinkem

Possibly Debian Squeeze, Ubuntu PPC or Crux PPC,

I'll also be looking at Linux for supporting AmigaOS4 in building some of what I am doing for my own efforts...
I'm also experienced a bit with setting up Linux but on x86 and amd64 based machines instead.

If I am able to help set you up with a working system I'll be happy to try and help.

offtopic...
but anyway:

IIRC, Peg2 has gone open source. How hard it would be to build Peg2 HW emulator / sandbox / PCI card / whatever to enable AOS4 and MOS to be used on more HW than what is being done today?
(with CPU JIT on x86+ARM and without CPU emu on PPC)
It might also help MOScrowd in the architecture change.
And enable the use of existing PPC SW on x86.

Last edited by KimmoK on 21-Apr-2012 at 10:32 AM.

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// For freedom, for honor, for AMIGA
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@Belxjander

I am after a Ubuntu PPC distibution if possible

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@Fairdinkem


You could also try Fedora 16. Don't know if the Peg2 is still supported, but the Efika is.

http://archive.nl.eu.kernel.org/fedora-secondary/releases/16/Fedora/ppc/iso/Fedora-16-ppc-DVD.iso

@_analogkid_

Very nice with Fedora in mind I wish Mint 12 had ppc and Pegasos support.

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@Belxjander

Quote:

I'll also be looking at Linux for supporting AmigaOS4 in building some of what I am doing for my own efforts...

Do you mean using Linux sources for OS4 drivers? Is so that would be a good idea.

Last edited by Hypex on 21-Apr-2012 at 03:52 PM.

Just wanted to throw into the mix that there are files you can download for installing Ubuntu 9.04 on the Pegasos but they are poorly organsied and have absoutely no instructions in there what so ever.

If there are any instructions it only serves to show how poor it is as all I have seen is a bunch of Pegasos boot files chucked into some directory with no readmes in there what so ever to help!

What surprises me most is that you can't autoboot a CD on the Pegasos. At least everything I read about installing an OS requires typing in commands into the firmware. Given the Pegasos was quite a well put together machine I am surprised the firmware was that backwards. Especially since SmartFirmware looked similar to Apple OpenFirmware and look what that can do.

All Debian ISOs I have downloaded have support files for Pegasos but it looks like a hold over from the good old days as it references files that don't exist making it next to useless.

Last edited by Hypex on 21-Apr-2012 at 04:09 PM.

@Hypex

There are good PPC distros like latest
Debian and Mint, or Yellow Dog Linux.

Could we donate docs, bounties, machines or anyhow help that
SAMs, Peg`s, Efikas, AmigaOne and MacMini boards are
fully supported out of box?

Some sort of friendliness with Linux community

Last edited by vox on 21-Apr-2012 at 05:57 PM.

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@Hypex

Actually doing a full built-from-source distirbution portation as well as ripping the kernel apart and converting over some of the drivers supported for various devices...

I am especially interested in getting some of the FileSystem drivers supported in AOS4 as well if possible
once I am finished with the Linguistics package "Perception-IME" ...

no idea how long the Polymorph-VM package is going to take me but I don't particularly care for time tables much... no sense of time at all so any estimates I make are wildly optimistic or pessimistic depending on my mood.

Though I will definitely have to learn how to make a functional device driver, I never did get to learn how to do this on the original Classic series... and I feel it to be a missing piece to my understanding how to program various things.

EDIT:I'll have 2 HDDs for 2 OS to be installed, Amiga OS 4.x will have multiple partitions and so will Linux,
specifically on the sam440flex I am starting my machine build with.

so if I can build a distribution disk for the A1 / Pegasos / sam and X1K series boards all to be supported,
then I will do my best... if I happen to make that work as one of the Polymorph target options as well... even better...
But I will go for one step at a time, starting with finishing payments for the machine I am buying.

Just wish I wasn't beating my head against a wall with a time-limit.

Last edited by Belxjander on 21-Apr-2012 at 07:41 PM.

@Belxjander

If you are going to build a distro for Pegasos I hope it is a Linux Mint 11 or 12 distro. Mint 11 had a PPC distro made but apparently Mint 12 dropped all PPC support.

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@Fairdinkem

Well I will start with a Linux From Scratch effort before adding the package management and expanding things from there...

if you want a Linux Mint ... I have no experience with that distribution... so I will have to check it out.

Just need to finish organizing the last 200 Euro worth of payments for a sam440flex

@vox

I was surprised that Debian supported the Pegasos. But it was fairly easy for them as they just added a boot script and a chrp kernel.

As to the Mac PPC Linux looks like it is targetted to the Mac first and then also runs on other IBM Power hardware.

But for supporting all our NG Amiga platforms that would be asking for a lot and I think perhaps too much. Including adding the X1000 to that bunch. The problem is that for each machine we have, they need a kernel and a custom initrd.

Taking the UBoot only machines as an example. First for proper auto boot they need bootstrap code or a SLB on the boot block. Then they need a customed kernel and modules. Because of the nature of later kernels they need an initrd with certain kernel modules inside for booting. The logical place for these would be in the installer initrd image. So as you can see each machine would need a custom installer initrd with kernel and modules all packaged together in a UBoot bootable image file. And this is only to boot and run the installer with!

On top of that, the install needs to have a boot menu added or created, and also the full set of kernel modules installed to the target. As an example the 2.6.31 kernel package takes up 30MB and this without a boot image included which must be generated!

So as you could see doing a proper installer disc is a lot of work and one I think shoudl be done in the community. Another thing is that the Linux boot block code is made to boot on a Mac and so as we really need our own in place for a proper bootable CD this makes it harder.

@Belxjander

This sounds good. Thanks for you work.

A FileSystem of interest is the NTFS one for MorphOS that uses a FUSE interface which was ported to MOS. IIRC it is open sounce so something we could build upon.

It's said that there is less difference between OS3 and OS4 regarding a device compared to a library. As devices only need to understand commands and don't usually support jump tables. Not that this hleps when starting out but at least if you find some example code that should make it easier to port.

@Hypex

Quote:

Hypex wrote: @vox I was surprised that Debian supported the Pegasos. But it was fairly easy for them as they just added a boot script and a chrp kernel.

You shouldn't be surprised for two reasons:
1. The Pegasos is a CHRP compatible machine, thus no special kernel image is required. It runs with the same kernel image as some Mac machines.
2. Sven Luther was the Debian powerpc maintainer at the time when the Pegasos came out. And if I remember correctly Sven Luther was also working for Genesi. That certainly helped (not to forget that Sven Luther also offered help with the integration of AmigaOne specific patches - if they would have been available at that time).


Quote:

But for supporting all our NG Amiga platforms that would be asking for a lot and I think perhaps too much. Including adding the X1000 to that bunch. The problem is that for each machine we have, they need a kernel and a custom initrd.

It would be a lot of work, that's right! It would be necessary to create patches for the debian-installer and submit them to the respective maintainers within the Debian project. But it would immediately pay off with the next Debian release, when the install CDs are generated automatically for you! Surely testing and some bugfixing would still be required, but that is far less work.

Regarding the kernel images:
Different kernels would only be required, if the CPU architecture is different or the kernel has to be compiled with a specific compile-time option. All in all only a handful kernel images would be
required:
1. powerpc64: for all 64 bit CPUs (G5, Power4/5/6/7, PA6T)
2. powerpc32: 32bit Mac G3/G4 and CHRP machines
3. powerpc32-smp: multiprocessor variant of the 32 bit kernel
4. book3s-amigaone: AmigaOne SE/XE/uA1 kernel with non-coherent DMA compile time option - could otherwise be merged with the powerpc32 variant, as the uImage could be generated on the fly.
5. 4xx: for Sam440 and Sam460. If their U-Boot version supports flattened device trees, then only one kernel image should be needed. But the driver modules should always be the same!

Quote:

Taking the UBoot only machines as an example. First for proper auto boot they need bootstrap code or a SLB on the boot block. Then they need a customed kernel and modules. Because of the nature of later kernels they need an initrd with certain kernel modules inside for booting. The logical place for these would be in the installer initrd image. So as you can see each machine would need a custom installer initrd with kernel and modules all packaged together in a UBoot bootable image file. And this is only to boot and run the installer with!

Usually Debian puts some of the kernel modules in udeb packages to avoid bloated initrds.

Quote:

On top of that, the install needs to have a boot menu added or created, and also the full set of kernel modules installed to the target. As an example the 2.6.31 kernel package takes up 30MB and this without a boot image included which must be generated! So as you could see doing a proper installer disc is a lot of work and one I think shoudl be done in the community. Another thing is that the Linux boot block code is made to boot on a Mac and so as we really need our own in place for a proper bootable CD this makes it harder.

Your work on the ub2lb is a step in the right direction. It could even make it possible to have only one install CD for the AmigaOne XE/SE/uA1 and the Sam boards (which would keep the costs low for the Debian project, too).

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- A1 Linux support -

@Geri

I am a complete linux novice but I am attempting to do a net install of Debian Squeeze on my Sam440ep-Flex. been trying to get Lenny installed for about a week now but no luck.
Just tried the 5.010 powepc business-card install on a cd , booting the kernel from hard disk and it seems to be going well. will see if it finishes. Gave me the Option of installing Squeeze so the install files from the older versions must be outdated thus the problems installing Lenny.

Last edited by Spectre660 on 22-Apr-2012 at 06:39 PM.

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@Spectre660

I'm not a novice myself and have no qualms about building the entire system along with the required kernel building "from scratch"... as I have done this before on various slower machines (including one Pentium 120MHz box... damm that took its time)

I'll be definitely setting up a Linux in addition to AmigaOS4.x at least for my own use and don't mind trying to do a "Universal" build that can handle the A1 boards as well as the Pegasos, sam4x0 and X1K boards as well...

so the latest Debian "Squeeze" release is not going to be the only linux option.

I'm only curious as to what boot options will essentially be required beyond the initial "ext2" bootstrap image needed to be for the boot partition.

I'm already fully aware of what boot options exist in the sam4x0 UBoot for at least reading a boot kernel.

I just need to finish getting my hands on my own equipment so I can actively make all this happen sooner.

@Belxjander

Quote:

Well I will start with a Linux From Scratch effort before adding the package management and expanding things from there...

Don't forget to invent wheel while you're at it. There's zero reasons to go with LFS for a base of PPC distribution. What makes you think you can write better tools and design better infrastructure than Debian guys did? Who would maintain you packages? Patches?

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@opi

Not claiming to do better... just giving the option.

there is "RPM" based Linux with YellowDog, "DEB" based Linux with the Debian Gnu/Linux distribution,
and then there is source based like "Gentoo" and "SourceMage"...

I'd be doing the LFS to bootstrap a "SourceMage Gnu/Linux" option if it is wanted, you don't need to care either way

Better to have a choice isn't it?

@

first attempt failed.
preseed command path set to cd . will make a custom cd image and try again.

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Sam460ex : Radeon Rx550 Single slot Video Card : SIL3112 SATA card