Debian does not impose hardware requirements beyond the requirements of the Linux or kFreeBSD kernel and the GNU tool-sets. Therefore, any architecture or platform to which the Linux or kFreeBSD kernel, libc, gcc, etc. have been ported, and for which a Debian port exists, can run Debian. Please refer to the Ports pages at http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu/ for more details on 64-bit PC architecture systems which have been tested with Debian GNU/Linux.
Rather than attempting to describe all the different hardware configurations which are supported for 64-bit PC, this section contains general information and pointers to where additional information can be found.
Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 supports eleven major architectures and several variations of each architecture known as “flavors”.
Architecture | Debian Designation | Subarchitecture | Flavor |
---|---|---|---|
Intel x86-based | i386 | ||
AMD64 & Intel EM64T | amd64 | ||
ARM | armel | Intel IOP32x | iop32x |
Intel IXP4xx | ixp4xx | ||
Marvell Kirkwood | kirkwood | ||
Marvell Orion | orion5x | ||
Versatile | versatile | ||
HP PA-RISC | hppa | PA-RISC 1.1 | 32 |
PA-RISC 2.0 | 64 | ||
Intel IA-64 | ia64 | ||
MIPS (big endian) | mips | SGI IP22 (Indy/Indigo 2) | r4k-ip22 |
SGI IP32 (O2) | r5k-ip32 | ||
MIPS Malta (32 bit) | 4kc-malta | ||
MIPS Malta (64 bit) | 5kc-malta | ||
MIPS (little endian) | mipsel | Cobalt | cobalt |
MIPS Malta (32 bit) | 4kc-malta | ||
MIPS Malta (64 bit) | 5kc-malta | ||
IBM/Motorola PowerPC | powerpc | PowerMac | pmac |
PReP | prep | ||
Sun SPARC | sparc | sun4u | sparc64 |
sun4v | |||
IBM S/390 | s390 | IPL from VM-reader and DASD | generic |
IPL from tape | tape |
Debian GNU/kFreeBSD 6.0 supports two architectures.
Architecture | Debian Designation |
---|---|
Intel x86-based | kfreebsd-i386 |
AMD64 & Intel EM64T | kfreebsd-amd64 |
This document covers installation for the 64-bit PC architecture using the Linux kernel. If you are looking for information on any of the other Debian-supported architectures take a look at the Debian-Ports pages.
This is the first official release of Debian GNU/Linux for the 64-bit PC architecture. We feel that it has proven itself sufficiently to be released. However, because it has not had the exposure (and hence testing by users) that some other architectures have had, you may encounter a few bugs. Use our Bug Tracking System to report any problems; make sure to mention the fact that the bug is on the 64-bit PC platform using the Linux kernel. It can be necessary to use the debian-bsd mailing list as well.
Multiprocessor support — also called “symmetric multiprocessing” or SMP — is available for this architecture. The standard Debian 6.0 kernel image has been compiled with SMP-alternatives support. This means that the kernel will detect the number of processors (or processor cores) and will automatically deactivate SMP on uniprocessor systems.
Debian's support for graphical interfaces is determined by the underlying support found in X.Org's X11 system. Most AGP, PCI, PCIe, and PCI-X video cards work under X.Org. Details on supported graphics buses, cards, monitors, and pointing devices can be found at http://xorg.freedesktop.org/. Debian 6.0 ships with X.Org version 7.5.
Almost any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should also be supported by the installation system; modular drivers should normally be loaded automatically.
Wireless networking is in general supported as well and a growing number of wireless adapters are supported by the official Linux kernel, although many of them do require firmware to be loaded. If firmware is needed, the installer will prompt you to load firmware. See Section 6.4, “Loading Missing Firmware” for detailed information on how to load firmware during the installation.
Wireless NICs that are not supported by the official Linux kernel can generally be made to work under Debian GNU/Linux, but are not supported during the installation.
Support for encrypted wireless during installation is currently limited to WEP. If your access point uses stronger encryption, it cannot be used during the installation process.
If there is a problem with wireless and there is no other NIC you can use during the installation, it is still possible to install Debian GNU/Linux using a full CD-ROM or DVD image. Select the option to not configure a network and install using only the packages available from the CD/DVD. You can then install the driver and firmware you need after the installation is completed (after the reboot) and configure your network manually.
In some cases the driver you need may not be available as a Debian package. You will then have to look if there is source code available in the internet and compile the driver yourself. How to do this is outside the scope of this manual.