AlphaStation 200 4/233

bad_bauer · n00b Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Posts: 38 Location: Butte MT

Has anyone tried to install Gentoo on a Digital AlphaStation 200 4/233?

When I try to boot, the system hangs when it tries to load the kenerl. I have the latest version of the SRM BIOS and I also have the latest version of the AlphaBios, but I haven't worked with that one because everyone says not to. Any ideas?
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dbackeberg · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 25 Location: Boston

What do you mean by "it hangs?"

What is the last thing on the screen; where does it stop booting? What is the string you entered to try to boot, what device are you trying to boot, etc.

riposte · n00b Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Posts: 69 Location: New Zealand

I have Gentoo running perfectly on an AlphaStation 200.
There were problems with the system hanging at various stages of the installation and I had the same trouble with the previous redhat install.
I seem to remember that the slow old scsi cdrom in it was quite sensitive to the quality of the media and the image burn speed used.
Once that was sorted out there were no further problems.

ragdon · n00b Joined: 18 Apr 2004 Posts: 18

I am also running gentoo on an Alpha 200, it works fine. The problems i had were with the tulip driver on the most recent kernel, so i've ended up using an older one.

I also have a minor problem when loading my kernel but its due to the way i've partitioned my hard drives. my root is on sdb1 whereas the /boot directory is on /sda, so i have to type 'b' at the SRM prompt, and then "b kernel root=/dev/sdb1" at the aboot prompt.

Are you having trouble booting your installation, or booting from the CD?

If the better quality CD option doesn't work, you could try clearing all the env settings from SRM using the iconfig command, and then just add the options you want with add_sound, add_de405, add_fax etc.

keep perservering, it is worth it.