1. kernel and initial ramdisk
2. swap space
3. EXT3 root file system

This procedure can be used to install the Full Debian Distibution to a USB drive, Microdrive, or IDE drive, without needing an existing Linux system to write Debian to the drive. To perform the installation, you will need a compact flash card that is at least 512 mb in size, as well as a USB Compact flash reader, and a PCMCIA compact flash adapter.

1. Connect the USB Compact flash reader to a networked computer that is capable of using the reader. The computer can be running Windows, Linux, or any other operating system that is capable of this.
2. Insert the compact flash card into the USB compact flash reader.
3. Download the following files from the links above to the compact flash card: debian-root.tar.gz debian_install.sh ramdisk.gz
4. Add appropriate u-boot configuration files for your board to the compact flash card. The root_config_usb_install.txt file is used to install to a USB disk or to a microdrive in a USB Compat flash reader, while the root_config_ide_install.txt file is used to install to an IDE disk. These files must be renamed to root_config.txt on the compact flash card.
5. Add additional u-boot configuration files from this page to the compact flash card. At a minimum you will need a start.txt file. Some boards may need a tty_config.txt file.
6. Download an approptiate Linux kernel for your Eurotech board. Copy the kernel to a file named zImage on the compact flash card.
7. Remove the compact flash card from the compact flash reader, place it in the PCMCIA compact flash adapter, and insert it into the PCMCIA slot of your board.
8. Attach an appropriate drive to your board. If you will be installing to a Microdrive, place the Microdrive in a supported USB Compact flash reader and connect it to your board. Or, attach a supported USB hard disk to the board. Or, if your board supports IDE, connect a supported IDE hard disk to the board.
9. Boot your board. You will be asked to confirm the installation of Debian to the Microdrive, USB drive, or IDE drive.
10. Once installation is complete, remove the compact flash card from the board.

This procedure can be used to install the Full Debian Distribution using annother existing Linux system to write Debian to the drive that will later be connected to the Eurotech system.

1. Place the Microdrive in either a supported USB Compact Flash reader or a PCMCIA adapter and connect it to your PC running Linux. Note the device name (/dev/hde, /dev/sda, etc.) Or, attach a USB hard disk to your Linux PC and note the device name from the kernel messages (use the command 'dmesg' to view them).
2. Download debian-root.tar.gz and debian_install.sh to your home directory on the Linux PC.
3. Download an approptiate Linux kernel for your Eurotech board to a file named zImage in your home directory. Note that you must use an EABI version of the kernel with this version of the Full Debian distribution.
4. Run the installer as root, with the proper arguments giving the location of the required files (use the '-h' option to get a listing of required arguments). Example:

   
   	chmod +x debian_install.sh
   	debian_install.sh debian-root.tar.gz zImage /dev/hde
   

   Be sure to replace /dev/hde with the actual device name of the disk you wish to install to.
5. After installation, detach the disk from your PC, and attach it to your board.

After installing the Full Debian distribution to a disk using either of the above methods, follow this procedure to boot your board.

If you installed to a microdrive, place the microdrive in the PCMCIA adapter. Copy the appropriate Linux kernel to the first partition of the microdrive. Note that you must use an EABI version of the kernel with this version of the Full Debian distribution.

If you installed to a USB or IDE hard disk, you must either use a PCMCIA flash card with a Linux kernel or program it into the on-board flash. The bootloader cannot boot from a USB or IDE hard disk directly.

For systems such as the BitsyXb, BitsyG5, TurboXb, Sphere, VIX, Portal, and VGX, which use the u-boot bootloader, a set of u-boot configuration files is also needed. See this topic for all the available files, download the appropriate files and copy them to a compact flash card. Note that you will need at a minimum start.txt, full root root_config.txt, and a tty_config.txt file for your system. A hw_config.txt file for your system's frame buffer is recommended for best performace of the X Window System.

For older systems that do not use the u-boot bootloader, a cmdline.txt file is needed. For the BitsyX, there is a cmdline_bitsyx.txt which should be used in its place.

The root password for the Debian distributions is 'rootme'. After installing the system, you should begin by logging is as 'root' on the serial port (debug port), and using the "passwd" command to change this password.

Normally, the serial (debug) port on Eurotech boards is also the system console. You can change this by changing the value of 'console=' on the kernel command line in the bootloader configuration file. See the appropriate bootloader manual for your board for more details.

There is an additional command line option, 'SERIALGETTY=', which controls which serial port is used for logins. This can be different from the 'console=' parameter, which controls which terminal recieves the kernel messages.

There is also an optional command line option, 'SERIALBAUD=', which controls the speed of the serial port used for logins.

By default, the Debian distribution will attempt to auto- configure the network interfaces using DHCP. If you do not have a DHCP server on your network or you do not wish to use DHCP, you can configure a static IP address by editing the file /etc/network/interfaces and changing the line

iface eth0 inet dhcp

to read

iface eth0 inet static
        address <IP address>
        netmask <netmask>
        broadcast <broadcast>
        gateway <gateway>

Where the addresses are in dotted-quad notation (aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd)

You should also change /etc/resolv.conf to list the proper nameservers for your network.

The Debian distribution comes with native compilers, editors and debuggers so you can begin developing your application directly on your embedded computer system. In most cases, you could even attach a keyboard and begin working without needing any other systems. However, most people find the VGA screen on the development kit too small for serious program development.

You can use 'ssh' from a linux workstation to access your embedded system over the network. ssh X-forwarding is enabled by default - allowing X clients running on the embedded board to display on your workstation screen. Once you log in to your board via ssh, you should have a DISPLAY environment variable set by ssh - DO NOT CHANGE IT or X forwarding will stop working.

Starting an X program (xterm, etc.) from your SSH session should automatically display the program on your Linux workstation.

The SSH daemon is not started automatically. See the notes below on SSH for more details.

The Debian distribution comes with many common development libraries, including C, C++, x11 and gtk. See the section on 'Installing additional Debian Packages' for information on installing any development libraries you may need that are not included by default.

NOTE: Compiling a kernel or kernel modules natively on the system is not recommended. You should use the proper cross-compiler as listed in the 'Getting Started' section of the Linux support pages

Debian's 'apt-get' command allows you to easily install any of thousands of pre-compiled packages available for ARM. Before using apt, however, you must "update" it to ensure that it has access to the most recent list of packages.

By default, apt-get is configured to use the master Debian package repository for most packages, and suppliment this with a few Eurotech-specific packages from an package repository. While you can reconfigure apt to use a Debian mirror closer to you for better download speeds, we recommend that you leave the configuration for the Eurotech repository as-is so you can access sources and updates for Eurotech-specific packages.

A list of Debian's mirrors can be found at this URL: http://www.debian.org/mirror/list By default, the system is configured to use debian-archive.applieddata.net, which points to a suitable Debian mirror (currently archive.kernel.org).

After configuring apt, you should run

apt-get update

to pull the latest package lists from your chosen mirror.

After updating, you can install a package with the command

apt-get install <package name>

You can look at a list of thousands of Debian packages available for installation by visiting Debian's package site at http://packages.debian.org/

When searching or browsing the package list, you should select the 'testing' distribution. ('etch' is the code-name for the current 'testing' branch of Debian)

If you are going to downloading the same files from the debian site many times, you might consider setting up a proxy server like Squid on your server or workstation. Once you have squid working (you can test it with your browser), add a line like the following to the file /etc/apt/apt.conf for your server:

Acquire::http::Proxy "http://192.168.1.1:3128";

Most packages included in this release are unmodified from those distributed with the stock Debian distribution. A few have been modified to work better on our hardware. The source code to each package included in this release is available via the 'apt-get' command. First configure apt as described above. To download and unpack the source to a package, use 'apt-get':

apt-get source <package name>

The source will be unpacked into a subdirectory. To build the package, from source, you can also use 'apt-get'

apt-get build-dep <package name>
apt-get source -b <package name>

This will install any prerequisites for building the package, then download the source, unpack it, and build it. The result will be one or more '.deb' files, which you can install using dpkg:

dpkg -i <package name<.deb

The Debian root filesystems now support ssh (and the companion SCP and SFTP protocols) for enhanced security for remote access. The ssh system has replaced telnet and ftp functionality with the more secure ssh and scp commands. Use 'man ssh' for more information. By default, the SSH server is not started but does allow root access. (This is a change from previous behaviour.) To start the ssh server, run '/etc/init.d/ssh start' from the command line. To make the system start SSH automatically at boot-time, create a symbolic link from /etc/rc3.d/S20ssh to /etc/init.d/ssh. This will start the ssh server automatically at runlevel 3 (runlevel 3 is the default).

The SSH daemon has been designed with security in mind, but no software can ever be 'bug-proof'. If you do not require network remote access, disable SSH by removing the ssh start files from the /etc/rc*.d directories.

Before you start the SSH server, please be sure you have at least changed the root password!

You should seek the advice of an experienced systems administrator or security professional before deploying a networked system.

FTP is not enabled by default, as the inetd daemon does not run by default. To enable inetd and the ftp server, run '/etc/init.d/openbsd-inetd start' from the command line. To make the system start inetd automatically at boot-time, create a symbolic link from /etc/rc3.d/S20ooenbsd-inetd to /etc/init.d/openbsd-inetd. This will start the inetd server automatically at runlevel 3 (runlevel 3 is the default).

FTP is not a secure protocol! The authentication information (usernames, passwords) is sent over the wire in clear text! Wherever possible, users are encouraged to switch to SSH/SCP/SFTP.

When enabled, the FTP daemon allows anonymous upload to /usr/ftp/incoming. While an anonymous user can list the files uploaded there, the daemon's configuration prevents anonymous users from downloading from this directory.

If you need to enable non-anonymous FTP, you will need to edit the file /etc/vsftpd.conf (see the comments in that file). FTP access for the root user will still not be allowed; you should create a non-privileged user for FTP access.

The microdrive or USB disk is much like the disk drive on your workstation. You are probably careful to shutdown your workstation before powering it off. You should be equally careful with Debian on the microdrive - run the shutdown command and wait for it to complete before removing the power from your board. Also, the Microdrive is a very fragile piece of equipment. It is especially sensitive to pressure on the top and bottom (large flat areas) of the drive. When handling a Microdrive, always hold it by its edges! To remove a Microdrive from a PCMCIA slot adapter, use your thumbnails to push it out of the adapter from the front (where the pins connect to the drive) rather than pulling the drive out from the back. Review our FAQs regarding handling of Hitachi Microdrives (TM).

MD5SUMS provides MD5 checksums for all files in this release.

This distribution is a Debian armel distribution for Eurotech embedded computer systems. It supercedes our previous 2009-03-09 Debian distribution.