Difference between revisions of "Guide to install Linux on lab computer"

Revision as of 14:23, 8 May 2009

CentOS 5.3 on Dell Studio Hybrid

IP: 137.110.115.231

Hardware Specs

• CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T8100, 2.10GHz
• NIC: Realtek RTL 8111/8168B PCI-E
• Graphics: Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, Chipset: 965GM
• RAM: 3GB
• Native OS: Windows Vista Home
• Dell 1909Wb display: 1440x900@60Hz

Notes

• To insert/remove DVD touch Eject icon on front panel.
• Installation policy: erase Windows partition, but leave recovery partition intact
• NIC should install automatically
• Select DHCP based configuration for network parameters
• Graphics driver: use Intel GM965/GL960
• install GRUB on MBR, no GRUB password
• create 6GB swap drive (should be default)

Getting the Intel graphics unit to work

• Download four libraries from Intel site
• Instructions at: http://intellinuxgraphics.org/install.html
• xorg.conf driver configuration parameters: http://alcor.concordia.ca/manpages/sys4/intel.4.html
• xf86 driver needs libdrm >= 2.4.3 (centos 5.3 comes with 2.0.2)
• libdrm 2.4.4 requires pthread-stubs, can be found at

http://people.redhat.com/ywong/RHEL-5-addons/x86_64/compiz-fusion/libpthread-stubs/libpthread-stubs-0.1-1.el5.x86_64.rpm

• Use the following /etc/X11/xorg.conf file:

# Xorg configuration created by system-config-display

Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier     "single head configuration"
        Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
        InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier  "Keyboard0"
        Driver      "kbd"
        Option      "XkbModel" "pc105"
        Option      "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Monitor1"
    VendorName "Dell"
    ModelName "Dell 1440x900"
    HorizSync 30-83
    VertRefresh 56-75
    ModeLine "1440x900@60" 106.40 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -Hsync +Vsync
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier      "VGA-0"
    Option "Ignore" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier      "LVDS-0"
    Option "Ignore" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier "intel"
        Driver      "i810"
#       Option     "monitor-TMDS-1" "Monitor1"
#       Option     "monitor-VGA" "VGA-0"
#       Option     "monitor-LVDS" "LVDS-0"
#        Option "UseDisplayDevice" "DFP, CRT"
        Option     "AccelMethod" "EXA"
        Option      "RenderAccel" "true"
        Option      "EnablePageFlip" "true"
#       Option      "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
#       Option      "ExaNoComposite" "false"
#       Option     "DRI" "true"
#       Option     "ForceCRT1" "false"
#       Option     "DPMS"
        Option  "AperTexSize" "131072"
        Option  "ModeDebug" "true"
EndSection

Section "Module"
        Load "glx"
        Load "dri"
        Load "GLcore"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
        Mode 0666
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "intel"
        Monitor    "Monitor1"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth     24
                Modes     "1440x900@60" "800x600"  # mode 1920x1440 must previously have been overwritten with 1440x900 using the 915resolution tool
                Viewport 0 0
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Add support for widescreen monitors

• Download 915resolution from http://www.geocities.com/stomljen/download.html
• Copy 915resolution to /usr/sbin/
• Run 915resolution (eg, for Dell 1909Wb):

/usr/sbin/915resolution -c G965 5c 1440 900 32

• Restart X11 (init3; init5)
• To permanently install the 915resolution script add this text as file "/etc/init.d/915start".

#!/bin/sh

PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
NAME=915start
DESC=915start

# test -x $DAEMON || exit 0

case "$1" in
  start)
        echo -n "Starting $DESC: "
        echo "$NAME."
         915resolution -c G965 5c 1440 900 32
        ;;
  stop)
        echo "$DESC cannot be stopped."
        ;;
  restart|force-reload)
        echo -n "Starting $DESC: "
        echo "$NAME."
         915resolution -c G965 5c 1440 900 32
        ;;
  *)
        N=/etc/init.d/$NAME
        echo "Usage: $N start" >&2
        exit 1
        ;;
esac

exit 0

Then create a symlink in /etc/rc.d/:

ln -s ../init.d/915start S20915start

Then create a file "/etc/default/915resolution" and put the following text in it:

MODE=5c
XRESO=1440
YRESO=900
BIT=32
HTOTAL=1904
VTOTAL=934

An alternate, untested way is: If you are not currently using the ATrpms repository then, as root, add the following lines to the bottom of your /etc/yum.conf file:

[atrpms]
name=CentOS $releasever - $basearch - ATrpms
baseurl=http://dl.atrpms.net/el$releasever-$basearch/atrpms/stable
gpgkey=http://ATrpms.net/RPM-GPG-KEY.atrpms
gpgcheck=1

Then execute the following command:

yum install 915resolution

Now you will need to configure the settings to match your monitor's native resolution. Edit the /etc/sysconfig/915resolution file with your favourite editor. You can use the following command:

vi /etc/sysconfig/915resolution

Change the contents of this file to match below, changing the resolution to match your display's resolution:

RESOLUTION="3c 1280 800"
</pre.
Finally we need to ensure this program is launched on startup by execute the following:
<pre>
chkconfig --add 915resolution
chkconfig 915resolution on

Reboot your system and you should now be able to use the resolution you entered.

CentOS 5.2 on Dell Optiplex GX620

1. Preparation
   1. request static IP address in 137.110.118 or 137.110.119 subnet, suggest DNS name (find inspiration at [1])
   2. send DNS name to Jurgen to update data bank at [2]
2. Hardware
   1. set up computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse on lab desk
   2. make sure mouse is wired and optical
   3. connect monitor with DVI cable, not VGA
   4. connect network cable to activated Ethernet jack
3. Install Operating System
   1. insert CentOS 5.2 DVD-ROM
   2. reboot computer
   3. hit F12 during POST and select external USB or DVD drive to boot from DVD
   4. use default regional settings (US/English)
   5. set root password to IVL password
   6. in time zone settings: enable NTP
   7. Configure network
   8. start network configuration tool in System->Administration->Network
   9. double click on connected Ethernet port
   10. enter this computer's static IP address
   11. net mask: 255.255.255.0
   12. DNS servers: 132.239.1.52, 128.54.16.2, 132.239.0.252
   13. reboot
4. Configure server access
   1. add machine's IP address to server's "exports" file
   2. "exportfs -r" on server
   3. add mount line to /etc/fstab (copy from sessions.ucsd.edu)
   4. mount -a
5. Give OS time to get network ready before mounting the NFS
   1. "vi /etc/init.d/netfs"
   2. insert the following line:

      action $"Sleeping for 30 secs: " sleep 30

      between line:

      [ ! -f /var/lock/subsys/portmap ] && service portmap start

      and

      action $"Mounting NFS filesystems: " mount -a -t nfs,nfs4

      This makes sure the server directory gets mounted.
6. Copy accounts
   1. ssh root@sessions
   2. cd .ssh
   3. scp * root@<new_machine>:.ssh
   4. cd
   5. vi labnodes.txt
   6. add "<new_machine>"
   7. ./passsync
7. Install additional libraries

yum -y groupinstall "Development Tools"
yum -y groupinstall "Development Libraries"
yum -y groupinstall "Chinese Support"
yum -y install kernel-devel
yum -y install arts-devel
yum -y install freeglut.x86_64
yum -y install freeglut-devel.x86_64
yum -y install libpng-devel.x86_64
yum -y install compat-libstdc++-33
yum -y install boost.x86_64
yum -y install boost-devel.x86_64
yum -y install ImageMagick.x86_64
yum -y install ImageMagick-devel.x86_64
yum -y install ImageMagick-c++.x86_64
yum -y install ImageMagick-c++-devel.x86_64
yum -y install mysql.x86_64
yum -y install mysql-devel.x86_64
yum -y install screen
yum -y install gnuplot
rpm -Uhv /home/jschulze/drivers/Cg-2.1_November2008_x86_64.rpm

1. Update all installed CentOS software:
   1. yum -y update RUN THIS COMMAND TWICE
   2. reboot
2. Install graphics driver
   1. on login screen: hit ctrl-alt-F1
   2. log in as root
   3. type "init 3"
   4. "sh /home/jschulze/rpm/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-173.14.12-pkg2.run"
   5. skip FTP server lookup
   6. do not install 32 bit compatibility libraries
   7. do auto-configure graphics driver
   8. reboot