Subject: RPMS being installed in the wrong place?

From: Chris Pringle <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 08:07:31 +0100 (BST)

I have an A5000, and I am now getting to the point, where the linux installer
will happily get to the installation of base etc. When it does get here it
seems to get slower and slower. By the time it gets to the second RPM package
it just stops. It then starts paging in and out of virtual memory rapidly.
My machine has 8mb of memory, so it shouldn't be this slow. Could it be 
possible that the linux installer is installing to the RAM disk rather than
to /dev/hda3? I have the latest kernel, and the A5000 bootdisk from the linux
FTP site, a 320mb root partition (now formatted) and a 67mb swap partition.

If I am successful in installing ARM linux, I will write a HOW-TO and put
it on my web pages. So far I have not used a PC or any other networked machine.

Regards,
---
Chris Pringle
22, St. Mary's Drive, Fairford, Glos. GL7 4LQ
P.S.Check out My web site at 
http://www.latrigg.demon.co.uk/Chris/index.html

unsubscribe: body of `unsubscribe linux-arm' to [email-masked]

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From: Phil Norman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 11:24:34 +0100 (BST)

> FTP site, a 320mb root partition (now formatted) and a 67mb swap partition.

Firstly, you won't need 67meg of swap unless you're doing something 
REALLY memory-hungry.  I have 20meg mem and almost never go into swap.

On to your question, I can certainly rule out it installing onto the RAM 
disc, since the RAM disc is a fixed size.  It is possible that, since 
you only have 8meg normal ram, the decompression of a large RPM (how 
large is the one it's getting stuck on?) could cause it to swap, but I 
rather doubt it.  Try, when it seems to have stopped working, switching 
to the virtual terminal (Alt-F2) and do 'cd /mnt' (this is where your 
root partition will be mounted AFAICR) and then 'ls'.  If you see just 
one item (lost+found) and the installer has already been through one RPM, 
you can be sure it's  not installing to the hard drive.  If there is 
something there then at least something's working.

> it on my web pages. So far I have not used a PC or any other networked

Well really the normal installation guide should suffice for installation 
via ftp.  However, since a lot of people seem to have problems installing 
armlinux (which is a pain in the neck, I must admit) it might be a nice 
idea for everyone who has had a problem with installation and can 
remember the solution to collate their solutions and shove a 'frequently 
encountered problems' file on the ftp site.  I'm quite happy to do the 
collation myself, so if anyone could send me their problems and solutions 
please do.  It might take a while to get it sorted (final exams coming 
up) but I'll try and get something ready if enough people respond.

Bye for now,
Phil

-- 
Rule of programming #4: The length of time taken to find a bug is
	directly proportional to its simplicity.

Phil Norman, mailing from Exeter University.
email:	[email-masked]
URL:	http://newton.ex.ac.uk/general/ug/norman

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From: Chris Pringle <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 08:28:03 +0100 (BST)

> REALLY memory-hungry.  I have 20meg mem and almost never go into swap.
Okay, I will reduce my swap space to 30Meg.

> something there then at least something's working.
I had already tried this, nothing there. So I decided to try it while it was
installing the base files, and it was writing them. I then found that it was
installing the packages successfully. It did stop again, but if you switch to
a virtual terminal and press return it carries on again. Strange. There must
be a bug in the virtual console driver. I have noticed this before, when 
trying to mount disks, it sometimes wouldn't give me another command line, so
if you went back to the installer and did something, the command line recovered.
> via ftp.
Well, a) the Ether3 driver doesn't work on the A5000 at the moment in the 
installer, and
      b) installing linux on the A5000 can be difficult, as you have to use
      utilities such as mknod.
      
  However, since a lot of people seem to have problems installing 

Regards,
---
Chris Pringle