Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

VastOne · 2012-05-25 23:46:50

This is a quick How To I documented on a recent Debian Netinstal using the businesscard ISO and taking it to SID and then on to my standard Xfce 4.10 Desktop and the OpenBox environment. The framework of this was borrowed from jelloir's Debian Sid Desktop Guide

Audience - Anyone wanting a quick way to Debian Sid

To start, Download the businesscard iso from here. Select your architecture and burn it to a cd or usb, whatever method you use to boot.

Wireless Edit/Addition

sunfizz98 has outlined a method for setting up wireless so that it can be used during the install for those without a wired connection. Both stat and safetycopy have used this with success.

Download/copy the following debian drivers to a folder /drivers on a thumb drive (these were the driver debs for my unit) I think you know what yours are already
- wpasupplicant
- wireless-tools
- libdbus-1-3
- libiw30
- libnl1
- libpcsclite1
Make text file named "interfaces" and copy to same folder addressed above structured as below:
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-ssid mynetworkname
wpa-psk secretpassphrase
Once I had that I just plugged the thumb in.
mount the thumb as /mnt

cd /mnt/drivers # or wherever you put them
dpkg -i *.deb
cp /mnt/drivers/interfaces /etc/network/interfaces
chmod 0600 /etc/network/interfaces
Restart the wireless with ifup and it should be there

Note from safetycopy Just a little note about the process outlined above: ifup didn't work for me - I had to reboot. Once I rebooted, though, wireless was available without any further steps.

Installation

Once you have booted the installer select Advanced options, then Expert install otherwise you will not be prompted about which release (Stable, Testing or Unstable) to use.
Tip: Run through the installer and ensure when prompted about the release, choose Sid - Unstable

The following is a quick run through.

Choose Language
select a language: choose your language
Select you location: choose you country, territory or area
Configure locales: select you country to base default locale settings on, typically this will be the UTF-8 variant

Additional locales: add any additional locales
System locale: choose the default system locale if you have chosen multiple locales in the previous option

Select a keyboard layout
Type of keyboard: choose PC-style (AT or PS-2 connector) keyboard
Keymap to use: select your keymap

Detect and mount CD-ROM
Modules to load: select any modules required

Load installer components from CD
Installer components to load: select any components - I leave these empty

Detect network hardware
Modules to load: select any modules required

Configure the network
Auto-configure with DHCP? Assign IP automatically - typically Yes
Hostname: set your computers hostname
Domain Name: Input your local domain name

Choose a mirror of the Debian archive
Protocol for file downloads: choose http or ftp
Debian archive mirror country: choose your country
Debian Archive mirror: choose your preferred mirror
HTTP Proxy information (blank for none): insert proxy settings otherwise leave blank
Debian version to install: sid - unstable

Set up users and passwords
Enable shadow passwords? Yes
Allow login as root? No
Root password: root password and verify
Create a normal user account now? Yes
Full name for the new user: Full user name
Username for your account: username
Choose a password for the new user: user password and verify

Configure the clock
Set the clock using NTP? Yes
NTP server to use: leave as default and continue
Select the state or province to set your time zone: select the state or province

Detect disks
Modules to load: select any modules required

Partition disks
Partitioning method: Manual

At this point it relies on you to decide upon and configure your disk formatting options.

Install the base system

(It should then begin downloading the base system packages)
Kernel to install: choose the latest linux-image-amd64 or your architecture
Drivers to include in the initrd: generic: include all available drivers

Configure the package manager
Use non-free software: Yes

Select and install software
Participate in the package usage survey? Yes
Choose software to install: Un-select all options except Standard System Utilities

Note If you are using a laptop and wireless, it is a good idea to select the Laptop Tasks/Tools (along with Standard System Utilities) here for more wireless and battery related tools

Install the GRUB boot loader on a hard disk
Install the GRUB boot loader to the master boot record? Yes

Finish the installation
Is the system clock set to UTC? No if multibooting with Windows, otherwise Yes
Installation complete: Continue

Now you will boot to a tty1 login screen. Login is as the user you created

NOTE 5 July 2012 - I have created two install scripts that will automate the rest of this install. One is for a complete install of the packages below and of a /etc/skel setup that will install all icons, options and setups for both OB and Xfce 4.10. The other is a script that will just be the base install of the packages that are included below.

NOTE Make sure you answer (Y)es to everything on both of these scripts. Some of these will be (N)o as a default and you MUST enter a Y for Yes.

Option 1 - Complete Install

Login now as the user you created

Setup a root password with the same password as your user

sudo passwd root

wget http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21077800/vsido.sh

chmod +x vsido.sh

sudo ~/vsido.sh

Option 2 - Base Install

Login now as the user you created

Setup a root password with the same password as your user

sudo passwd root

wget http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21077800/baseonly.sh

chmod +x baseonly.sh

sudo ~/baseonly.sh

If you want to do this manually continue on from this point

The first thing I did was add debian multimedia and Experimental (for Xfce 4.10 and the newest Iceweasel) to sources.list

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

add these two lines to the bottom

deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org sid main non-free
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ experimental main

ctrl x to save it and Yes when asked to confirm

sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get install deb-multimedia-keyring
sudo apt-get update

Install the base apps for the Xfce 4.10 desktop

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends xorg alsa-utils alsa-base cpufrequtils gamin xdg-utils desktop-base gnome-icon-theme dmz-cursor-theme

sudo apt-get -t experimental install xfce4-panel xfce4-session xfce4-settings xfce4-appfinder thunar xfwm4 xfwm4-themes xfdesktop4 thunar-volman tumbler

sudo apt-get -t experimental install iceweasel

OpenBox

sudo apt-get install openbox obmenu obconf openbox-themes lxappearance nitrogen

Install Wireless Tools

sudo apt-get install -y -f firmware-linux firmware-linux-nonfree firmware-ralink firmware-iwlwifi firmware-ipw2x00 b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer firmware-b43legacy-installer mobile-broadband-provider-info wireless-tools wpasupplicant libdbus-1-3 libiw30 libnl1 libpcsclite1

Additional Apps

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends xfce4-terminal xfce4-power-manager xfce4-screenshooter xfce4-volumed medit menu synaptic gparted xfburn htop build-essential gksu gdebi gpicview scrot conky-all file-roller bzip2 zip unzip unrar transmission-gtk xchat unace lzop rzip unalz zoo xz-utils arj

Install a login manager

sudo apt-get install lightdm

Now for a reboot with this

sudo shutdown -r now

Login as your user

Open a terminal

Setup a root password with the same password as your user

sudo passwd root

Create /etc/apt/preferences and /etc/apt/apt.conf

sudo medit /etc/apt/apt.conf

add this and save it

APT::Default-Release "sid";

now this

sudo medit /etc/apt/preferences

add this and save it

Package: *
Pin: release a=sid
Pin-Priority: 500


Package: *
Pin: release a=experimental
Pin-Priority: 100

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Install the codecs

sudo apt-get install w64codecs

or for 32 bit

sudo apt-get install w32codecs

Additional Apps
Edit these to your liking

sudo apt-get install -y -f  gnumeric  gpicview hardinfo  gksu gdebi alsa-base vlc epdfview gcalctool filezilla transmission-gtk terminator uget ttf-freefont ttf-mscorefonts-installer ttf-bitstream-vera ttf-dejavu fontconfig-config screen scrot whois rpl conky-all zenity bash-completion gvfs-bin gvfs-fuse file-roller unrar unace lzop rzip unalz unzip zip zoo xz-utils arj dmz-cursor-theme gtk2-engines-murrine tango-icon-theme gnome-colors xfsprogs reiserfsprogs reiser4progs jfsutils ntp ntfs-3g libcairo2 wireless-tools firmware-linux firmware-iwlwifi debian-keyring xdg-utils gtk2-engines gtk2-engines-pixbuf libxss1 fortunes logrotate build-essential gstreamer0.10-plugins-base libdvdcss gmusicbrowser fonts-liberation ttf-liberation git git-core

Sensor and Monitoring Apps

sudo apt-get install -y -f conky tint2 lm-sensors hddtemp bum

Configure each of these (lm-sensors and hddtemp) that need it

Additional apps for quality sound

sudo apt-get install -y -f mpg321 libgstreamer-perl gstreamer0.10-plugins-good gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg libgstreamer-interfaces-perl

Getting Flash to Work in Iceweasel

Here is how you do it

First, download the file from here

and extract it to

/home/your home directory/.mozilla/plugins

If there is no plugins directory, create it

SpaceFM setup

Need to add a source to sources.list

sudo medit /etc/apt/sources.list

add this line

deb http://ignorantguru.github.com/debian/ unstable main

Now run in terminal these commands

sudo gpg --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv-keys 0x01937621 0x107165A1

sudo bash -c 'gpg --export -a 01937621 107165A1 | apt-key add -'

sudo apt-get update

Then install it with

sudo apt-get install spacefm

I use SlicknesS as a gtk2 theme from here

I also use Pepperlake as a Windows Manager Theme from here

I use LinuxLex-8 Icons

Here is a thread to another How To I created to make Tint2 a better launcher and task panel. The second post on that thread has all my icons I use for Tint2

This is a link to How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts. An in depth look at setting up GMusicBrowser and Layouts

Of course you will need to tweak some things but this is basically it... everything I did

One tweak I did for better looking fonts was this:

Open the Xfce Appearance settings, go to Fonts and change your preferred fonts and enable Antialiasing, then switch on Hinting to Slight. Then set Sub Pixel Rendering to RGB.... I use Liberation Sans as the default font

VastOne · 2012-05-25 23:49:23

Picture or it didn't happen

Sector11 · 2012-05-26 00:00:17

That looks too easy ... gotta give it a run and see if S11 can break it. big_smile

Configure the network
Auto-configure with DHCP? Assign IP automatically - typically Yes
Hostname: set your computers hostname
Domain Name: Input your local domain name

Dumb question - no wait, I've never done this before - not a dumb question.

I have a single home computer no local network, no router, just me, and a cable modem.

Hostname: Sector11
Domain Name: ??? - what's that? Don't they end with a .com or something?

I don't recall a live CD ever asking. Of course my forgetter might be kicking in.

Last edited by Sector11 (2012-05-26 00:58:32)

VastOne · 2012-05-26 01:05:33

Not a dumb question at all..

Leave it blank, for those that would need this would understand it.. big_smile

Sector11 · 2012-05-26 01:23:17

VastOne wrote:

Not a dumb question at all..
Leave it blank, for those that would need this would understand it..

Sounds good to me.

nestor · 2012-05-26 04:32:38

...

Last edited by nestor (2012-06-22 04:02:20)

VastOne · 2012-05-26 04:33:29

Sure...

Good luck with it... and I will be here to help where I can

machinebacon · 2012-05-26 04:36:19

Well done, Maestro. Added to the References wink big_smile

Please edit the sources.list in the howto, it automatically deformed the links in the code block to [urls]

VastOne · 2012-05-26 04:38:07

Will do...

Thanks mate... I appreciate it...

Also, take note at the heist of your signature... smile

machinebacon · 2012-05-26 04:51:00

^ Lovely! Together we are strong smile

Actually that line I copied from a post of bobobex. :blush: My secret crush big_smile

VastOne · 2012-05-26 04:52:43

^ lol lol

A good one to steal, but beware of the omnipresence of root!!!

Morning, btw...

dubois · 2012-05-26 10:42:39

This is remarkable similar to how I've done it in the past, and how I was going to write up a nice HowTo. You've done a good job VastTwo and a service to the community.

I was going to to get some new eyeglasses this morning after coffee -- now I know how I'm going to break them in. tongue

VastOne · 2012-05-26 15:14:23

I appreciate that dubois, thank you! smile

Ozitraveller · 2012-05-26 23:43:53

Nice job VastOne, it's now on my list of things to do today. smile

I'm just curious a bout a couple of things:
1. what is the advantage of starting with the stable businesscard iso?
2. how have you setup preferences and apt.conf?

Sector11 · 2012-05-27 00:02:18

machinebacon wrote:

^ Lovely! Together we are strong
Actually that line I copied from a post of bobobex. :blush: My secret crush

--------------------------------------------------------
We are a nice, friendly community here and I hope we stay that way.

Show your love - steal this signature

Yes, right! +1 more

pidsley · 2012-05-27 00:17:53

Ozitraveller wrote:

I'm just curious a bout a couple of things:
1. what is the advantage of starting with the stable businesscard iso?

I can (maybe) answer this one -- the business card iso is very minimal; it installs almost everything from the mirrors, and it gives you the option (in 'expert" mode) to start with a sid (or testing, or stable) install (even though it's called the "stable" iso) so if you specify "sid" it doesn't install anything you don't want from the other branches. The (minor) disadvantage is that every time you do an install with this iso it has to pull everything from the web, so if you have a slow internet connection and are planning to do several installs it might not be the best way.

As far as pinning and preferences go, I'll leave that to the experts, but afaik if you install a basic system with the sid or testing repos you don't have to worry about it. Here is the entire sources.list from my current install:

# TESTING
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian testing main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian testing main contrib non-free

## DEBIAN SECURITY
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib non-free

I don't have a preferences file or an apt.conf file, and I don't pull from experimental, multimedia, or waldorf.

Last edited by pidsley (2012-05-27 00:24:08)

VastOne · 2012-05-27 00:21:29

Ozitraveller wrote:

Nice job VastOne, it's now on my list of things to do today.
I'm just curious a bout a couple of things:
1. what is the advantage of starting with the stable businesscard iso?
2. how have you setup preferences and apt.conf?

Thank you Ozitraveller!

The main advantage is the ability to choose Sid as the base install when doing an Expert Install. The other is it's small size... smile

/etc/apt/apt.conf

APT::Default-Release "sid";

/etc/apt/preferences

Package: *
Pin: release a=sid
Pin-Priority: 500


Package: *
Pin: release a=experimental
Pin-Priority: 100

These are probably not necessary but it is a habit I have gotten used to... and with the addition of the Experimental repo, it makes preferences that much safer...

Thanks for reminding me of those, I have added them to the How To

Ozitraveller · 2012-05-27 01:20:01

Thanks VastOne and pidsley. I'm just about to donwload and give it a try. wink

VastOne · 2012-05-27 01:21:17

^ Cool... Let me know how it goes and any areas to correct..

As always, I appreciate the feedback..

sunfizz98 · 2012-05-27 05:28:04

@Vastone
Few questions
1. I assume the network config would only work if the user is hardwired to the network.
2. Why businesscard compared to netinstall iso besides file size?
3. Why is experimental repo in the sources.list instead of unstable (sid)?
4. Can SpaceFM do 4 window panes? It reminds me of Q-Dir from windows. big_smile
5. Gstreamer replace flashplayer-nonfree?
6. You seem to have a lot of archivers/unarchivers listed. Wouldn't 7z be more suitable?

Overall, excellent guide! Very easy to follow and understand. Sunfizz approved wink

CBizgreat! · 2012-05-27 05:32:08

Just another thanks Vast. smile Something else to bookmark for posterity here in the Crunch-academy. Crap ... Spend much time here, a person can run out of room in their browsers bookmarks section. lol

cbiz. smile

Last edited by CBizgreat! (2012-05-27 05:33:56)

VastOne · 2012-05-27 05:35:14

@sunfizz98

1. Not sure, since I have no wireless to test... I would guess the installer would/should detect and setup wireless as long as the firmware is setup correctly
2. The ability to choose Sid as a base install
3. Experimental is added along with Sid so that Xfce 4.10 and Iceweasel 12 can be installed. It is not replacing the Sid Repo
4. 3 panes. It is pcmanfm all grown up
5. Gstreamer and flash are two totally different animals. I chose the libflash.so method because I have far fewer issues with it
6. The archivers are a small footprint and not in the way but there if ever needed.

Thanks.. I appreciate it.. smile

VastOne · 2012-05-27 05:37:01

CBizgreat! wrote:

Just another thanks Vast. Something else to bookmark for posterity here in the Crunch-academy. Crap ... Spend much time here, a person can run out of room in their browsers bookmarks section.
cbiz.

Appreciate that cBiz!...

Any time I can get you to smile is a damned good day... smile

sunfizz98 · 2012-05-27 05:38:26

Is there a benefit to using the tarball from adobe when flashplugin-nonfree is in the repos? Unless I'm mistaken, the one in the repo is from adobe.

VastOne · 2012-05-27 05:40:48

With the tarball I have provided, I do not have the lag or choppiness like I have with the non-free. I also have had other bizarre flash behavior that is gone using that which is from Adobe in the tarball

It is why it is separated for the individual to choose to use one or the other.

CrunchBang Linux

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#1 2012-05-25 23:46:50

Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#2 2012-05-25 23:49:23

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#3 2012-05-26 00:00:17

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#4 2012-05-26 01:05:33

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#5 2012-05-26 01:23:17

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#6 2012-05-26 04:32:38

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#7 2012-05-26 04:33:29

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#8 2012-05-26 04:36:19

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#9 2012-05-26 04:38:07

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#10 2012-05-26 04:51:00

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#11 2012-05-26 04:52:43

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#12 2012-05-26 10:42:39

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#13 2012-05-26 15:14:23

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#14 2012-05-26 23:43:53

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#15 2012-05-27 00:02:18

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#16 2012-05-27 00:17:53

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#17 2012-05-27 00:21:29

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#18 2012-05-27 01:20:01

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#19 2012-05-27 01:21:17

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#20 2012-05-27 05:28:04

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#21 2012-05-27 05:32:08

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#22 2012-05-27 05:35:14

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#23 2012-05-27 05:37:01

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#24 2012-05-27 05:38:26

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

#25 2012-05-27 05:40:48

Re: Debian Netinstal Sid - Yet Another How To

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