Setup of Core2 Systems

1. Install a single NIC in the box. The onboard NIC does not work with Linux yet.

2. Disable the RAID configuration in BIOS. To get into the controller BIOS, hit <CTRL><I> twice as soon as the blue HP screen is first seen. Remove the drives from the raid configuration, and save. IF THIS IS NOT DONE, THE BOOT LOADER WILL NOT FUCTION CORRECTLY!

3. Insert the Scientific Linux 4.4 x64 disk 1, and boot from the cdrom

4. When the boot prompt comes up, type:

   linux ks=http://164.54.208.100/ks_core2.cfg

5. The system will then install the base SL4.4 system. When it is finished, it will tell you it is safe to reboot. Remove the CD, and reboot with <CTRL><ALT><DEL>

6. Next, configure the system for our installation. To do this, get the script fixup.sh, and execute it. The commands for this are:

   wget http://164.54.208.100/fixup.sh

   sh fixup.sh

7. Now upgrade the system to SL4.5. This is done with YUM, and a script upgrade.sh. The commands are:

   wget http://164.54.208.100/upgrade.sh

   sh upgrade.sh; reboot

8. Install the ATI video driver and configure X11. This involves downloading the driver, and running the installation script. The commands are:

   wget http://164.54.208.100/ati-driver-installer-8.42.3-x86.x86_64.run

   sh ati-driver-installer-8.42.3-x86.x86_64.run

   aticonfig –initial

9. Restart X with a <CTRL><ALT><BKSP>, and verify that X comes back up at the higher resolution. This can be done with the following command, as root:

   grep _active /var/log/Xorg.0.log

   Which returns:

   (II) fglrx(0): h_active: 1600 h_sync: 1664 h_sync_end 1856 h_blank_end 2160 h_border: 0

   (II) fglrx(0): v_active: 1200 v_sync: 1201 v_sync_end 1204 v_blanking: 1250 v_border: 0

10. The system is now ready for final installation, which requires the IP address, etc. This is handled in a different document.