When will arch 0.6 be released.

kakabaratruskia · 2003-12-27 03:38:46

I need sata support to install linux. Thought about freebsd, but it looked there where to many probabilities I would kill my computer. Tried fedora, and it was crap. So I wanted to know when is 0.6 going to be release. Anybody knows or can speculate?

undeadpenguin · 2003-12-27 04:17:56

I would assume soon since the 0.6 initscripts are out...

kritoke · 2003-12-28 16:30:25

I would think the two major things are keeping it from being released: making sure kernel 2.6 is working alright and the new release of xfree86. There might be other issues with the setup and things like that, but I know if I were going to release arch, I would wait until I got the new XFree86 in. It has autodetection in it, which would be nice to have something like that on the install cd.

Kritoke

pjmattal · 2003-12-28 22:05:36

Could anyone weigh in briefly on what it takes to build a new installer CD? I haven't mucked with isolinux much in the past, but fear that this is the time.

Perhaps a package for building installer CDs is in order? If I can figure out how this works, I'll be more than happy to create one. I know that Jason has done this for his custom Vaio install iso, so I'm hoping when he gets a free minute, he'll give a brief overview of what needs to be done to get the boot CD to boot that kernel, and what is required to get Arch to install the 2.6 kernel instead. It just doesn't strike me as something that would be that difficult, looking at the CD, but at the moment, I'm a bit in the dark about the overall process/design of the install CD.

- P

pjmattal · 2003-12-29 04:07:45

Update: I discovered (how did I never know this before!) using a hex editor that mkisofs embeds the commandline used to create an iso image IN the image itself! This helped immensely in figuring out how to make a bootable 2.6 installer CD.

So far, I've managed to get isolinux to boot the 2.6 kernel, but I think I don't have the right stuff compiled into the kernel to make it work (i.e. ramdisk support among other things).. as I just used the stock kernel from the kernel26 package as my first attempt. I'll be able to spend some more time on this tomorrow.

Anyhow, I'm making some progress. I'll let others know (here) if I succeed in getting Arch installed onto an SATA drive with 2.6 kernel direct from a CD. That would be nice! If anyone knows anything about what kernel options are needed for the installer kernel, please share!

Thanks,
Paul

kakabaratruskia · 2003-12-29 04:26:10

If you get it to work, please upload your iso. (Ask judd for some space in the server).

pjmattal · 2003-12-30 17:18:39

All,

I have succeeded in making a new installer ISO that boots and installs the 2.6.0 kernel, for both IDE and SCSI systems.

You may fetch it from:

ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/incoming/arch-0 … se-pjm.iso

I started with the 0.5-base iso and here's what I did:

* Took Judd's kernel26-2.6.0-2 package and recompiled it without the 26 suffixes;
from this I created a kernel-2.6.0-1 package
* Attempted to add all the analagous SCSI options into a kernel-scsi-2.6.0-1
* Created a base installer that uses current "base" as of this morning, only with my kernel
packages swapped in

A few tweaks needed to be made to accomodate the 2.6 kernel and the newer packages:

* Had to modify the syntax in the arch/setup script to use "file:///" rather than "local:///"
when it creates its default pacman.conf
* Had to install new versions of the module utils into the initrd.img; I took modprobe,
insmod, and lsmod from the current module-init-tools-0.9.14-3 package
* Had to install a new version of mkreiserfs into the initrd.img; I took mkreiserfs
from the current reiserfsprogs-3.6.11-1 package

I tried to keep everything else as normal as possible.

Since this isn't really a 0.5 release and it isn't 0.6 either, I called it 0.590 pre-Widget. I tried uploading once and it failed midway.. I couldn't resume, so rather than confuse everyone, I upped the version number to 0.591 for the full image.

The MD5sum for the 0.591 image should be:

496392b89e2fc2fb43fd6794105de45e

I hope this proves helpful to everyone! I'd be happy to discuss implementation detail/ choices with anyone/everyone; just email me at pjmattal at elys dot com, or drop me a message here. I was able to use it to install Arch on my new Shuttle SK43G system with an SATA drive (it's the VIA VT8237 southbridge SATA controller) and all appears to be working beautifully!

Of course, this installer is in no way sanctioned by anyone; use it at your own risk, and it may or may not represent the wishes of Judd or others; to the extent that it doesn't, I'd be happy to continue work on the image to put it in line with general thoughts about how Arch installers should be/behave.

Best,
Paul

P.S. At time of writing, the upload had not yet completed. Be sure you've got the full file before you begin your install! By 1pm EST, the full image should be present on the server. Please check your MD5sums.

pjmattal · 2003-12-30 18:12:52

I completed the upload, and redownloaded, and verified the MD5sum, per the above message. All is in order!

Enjoy,
Paul

kakabaratruskia · 2003-12-30 20:35:51

thanks Downloading now.
I was wondering, did you put support for ICH5 chipsets (in the sata support), cause that's the one I use.

pjmattal · 2003-12-30 20:43:03

I don't know if there's support for ICH5 chipsets; I just used the stock configurations that Judd set up in the kernel26-2.6.0-2 package for my kernel bases. However, I'd be happy to consider building another version if it turns out you're not supported.

- P

pjmattal · 2003-12-30 20:45:40

One additional thing:

I needed to edit my grub.conf file to add "noapic" on the kernel line, as my board would not work with it enabled. It's disabled in the kernel when it boots from the CD, but you need to add noapic manually when you do system configuration in the install process.

If you've already installed, you can also edit the grub command line before executing.. then fix grub.conf once you've successfully booted. Did I mention I love grub?

- P

kakabaratruskia · 2003-12-30 21:33:04

pjmattal wrote:

I don't know if there's support for ICH5 chipsets; I just used the stock configurations that Judd set up in the kernel26-2.6.0-2 package for my kernel bases. However, I'd be happy to consider building another version if it turns out you're not supported.
- P

I couldn't be more tankful. If I have problems I'll let you know.

kakabaratruskia · 2003-12-31 18:23:58

worked perfectly.

pjmattal · 2003-12-31 20:38:38

Glad to hear it is working. So far, I've installed it on the following Asus motherboards without hitch:

Asus A7V600 (using PATA)
Asus A7V133 (using PATA)
Asus A7V133-C (using PATA)
Shuttle SK43G Barebones (using SATA)

2.6 kernel is performing like a champ for me!

- P

Arch Linux

#1 2003-12-27 03:38:46

When will arch 0.6 be released.

#2 2003-12-27 04:17:56

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#3 2003-12-28 16:30:25

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#4 2003-12-28 22:05:36

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#5 2003-12-29 04:07:45

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#6 2003-12-29 04:26:10

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#7 2003-12-30 17:18:39

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#8 2003-12-30 18:12:52

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#9 2003-12-30 20:35:51

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#10 2003-12-30 20:43:03

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#11 2003-12-30 20:45:40

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#12 2003-12-30 21:33:04

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#13 2003-12-31 18:23:58

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

#14 2003-12-31 20:38:38

Re: When will arch 0.6 be released.

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