debian boot parameters

emetib · 07-05-2003, 04:25 PM

i want to install debian on a old machine and use it as a firewall. this is my problem.

how do i tell the boot: that i have 141m of memory, instead of the 15m that the bios says that i have?

i've looked over the F keys and don't see a thing for it. am i screwed except when i go to configure my lilo and then put it in then?

thanks.

Mara · 07-06-2003, 04:22 PM

If your bios says you have 15MB, it won't help when you tell the kernel you have more. You need to fix the hardware problem (make BIOS see more).

emetib · 07-06-2003, 06:14 PM

that is a problem. it's an old system that only reconizes 40 of that 141. so i'm kind of screwed there.

i did read when configing a kernel resently, that you can have the kernel ignore the bios when it comes to hardware. don't know if this would apply to this or not. i haven't played enough with it to see.

thanks, and keep up the good work as a mod.

take care.

pkoebbe · 07-09-2003, 07:09 AM

I was trying to install various distributions onto older Compaq ProLiant servers a few months ago and ran into problems with the installers not knowing how much memory was available. I had to use mem=exactmap mem=<blah blah> at the boot prompt to get it to work. Here is a link to a site that is specifically for Compaq servers, but the memory page might be helpful:

http://www.cpqlinux.com/memory.html

Peace,
Phillip