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2. Unpacking, compiling and testing the package

This section is Etherboot specific.

2.1 Unpacking the distribution

Unpack the distribution using gunzip and tar, using either of the following commands:


        tar zxvf etherboot-4.0.tar.gz
        gunzip < etherboot-4.0.tar.gz | tar xvf -

2.2 Compiling the ROM images

Precompiled ROM images are provided in the bin/ directory but you may wish to review the options compiled in and make your own versions. For the 32 bit version you need a recent release of gcc and the binutils tools. This package was compiled with the tools from a RedHat 5.2 distribution but it should work with any recent Linux distribution. For the 16 bit version you need the bcc tools from the Embedded Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS) project, for more details see the notes on 16 bit Etherboot. You need the 16 bit version only if you intend to run Etherboot on a 286 or 086/088 PC.

Assuming you have decided to make the 32 bit version, you only have to go to src-32/, edit the options in Config and say make. This will create all the ROM images available. The .lzrom images are the same as the .rom images. Since the .lzrom images are smaller and work exactly the same, there is no real reason to use .rom images any more, unless you are nervous about compression algorithm patents. We believe the algorithm used does not infringe patents, having been in public use for some time, but we do not know all the legal ramifications. See here for more details.

Here is a brief description of the options available:


Basic options:

-DDHCP_SUPPORT  - Use DHCP instead of BOOTP (default on)
-DIMAGE_MENU    - Allow to interactively chose between different
                  bootimages; read vendortags.html for further
                  information.
-DMOTD          - Display message of the day; read vendortags.html
                  for further information.
-DANSIESC       - evaluate a subset of common ANSI escape sequences
                  when displaying the message of the day; this
                  probably does not make sense unless you also
                  define -DMOTD or at least -DIMAGE_MENU.
                  Combining this option with -DSERIAL_CONSOLE
                  is a waste of EPROM space.                      
-DGFX           - support extensions to the ANSI escape sequences for
                  displaying graphics (icons or logos); this
                  requires -DANSIESC
-DASK_BOOT=n    - Ask "Boot from Network or from Local? " at startup,
                  timeout after n seconds (0 = no timeout); this
                  can be done in a more generic way by using the
                  IMAGE_MENU, but it requires that the "bootp"
                  server is accessible, even when booting locally.
-DANS_DEFAULT=ANS_NETWORK
                - Assume Network to previous question
                  (alternative: ANS_LOCAL) on timeout or Return key
                  See etherboot.h for prompt and answer strings.
-DEMERGENCYDISKBOOT
                - if no BOOTP server can be found, then boot from
                  local disk. The accessibility of the TFTP server
                  has no effect, though! So configure your BOOTP
                  server properly.

Basic options only on Etherboot/32:

-DPASSWD        - enable password protection for boot images; this
                  requires -DIMAGE_MENU
-DUSRPARMS      - allow the user to interactively edit parameters
                  that are passed to the booted kernel; you should
                  probably enable -DPASSWD as well; this feature
                  requires -DIMAGE_MENU
-DFLOPPY        - boot from floppy/hd if bootimage matches the
                  pattern "/dev/[fh]d*"; if you do not have
                  enough space in the EPROM, then disable this
                  feature and use "mknbi-blkdev" for booting
                  from a local blockdevice.
-DCONFIG_PCI_DIRECT
                - define this for PCI BIOSes that do not implement
                  BIOS32 or not correctly

These options should normally not need to be touched:

-DNOINT19H      - Take control as soon as BIOS detects the ROM
                  Normally hooks onto INT19H
-DMOVEROM       - if your motherboard does not cache adapter memory
                  space, then this option can speed up loading of
                  compressed BOOT-Prom images. It has no effect on
                  uncompressed images. Unless you are very tight on
                  free space, you will usually want to define this
                  option.
-DDELIMITERLINES - print a line of = characters at the start
                  and also just before starting an image.
-DSIZEINDICATOR - update a running total of the amount of code
                  loaded so far, in kilobytes
-DT509HACK      - send two bootp packets before waiting for a 
                  reply to the first. Makes a 3c509 do bootp
                  quicker
-DT503_AUI      - Use AUI by default on 3c503 cards.

These options are only for a serial console for Etherboot/32:

-DSERIAL_CONSOLE- use a serial line for input and output
-DCOMPORT       - 0x0 for COM1, 0x1 for COM2 etc
-DCOMPARM       - configuration for COMPORT, save values:
                   0xe3 == 9600/8n1, 0xa3 == 2400/8n1

2.3 Testing the ROM images

You can test the image with a floppy before burning an EPROM. On Linux just put a blank floppy in fd0 and say make card.fd0 where card is the name of your network card and it will copy a bootable image onto the floppy. If you wish to do this by hand, it's easy, just prepend floppyload.bin to card.rom (or card.lzrom) and write this combined binary to the floppy raw, i.e. starting at the boot block. Like this:


        cat floppyload.bin 3c509.lzrom > /dev/fd0

When you boot with this floppy it will load the Etherboot ROM image from floppy and execute it. It should be able to detect your card. To get the bootrom to acquire an IP address and load the intended code, you need to set up bootp, tftp and NFS services, which we will discuss next.

We suggest you continue to use floppy booting until you have completed the setup of the server and are satisfied that diskless booting works.


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