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Install Debian 6 "Squeeze" from a Linux LiveCD

Warning: This script will WIPE your Xbox 360 harddisk (/dev/sda) and install Debian 6

If you have XeXmenu or another dashboard homebrew on that drive, you will loose it all: Follow these instructions only if you understand what you are doing.

debian_squeeze.sh will create two partitions. 1 GB swap on sda1 and the rest of the disk as a root-filesystem on sda2. Run the script as root from the a Linux LiveCD. You will need a DHCP-server on your network for this script.

How do I run it?

Click "Application > Accessories > Terminal" and type the following commands:

sh sudo su wget `<http://file.libxenon.org/free60/linux/script/debian_squeeze.sh> sh ./debian_squeeze.sh

Reboot the 360 when you are told. Boot with (Linux kernel binary)[http://file.libxenon.org/latest_kern>], supply correct "root=" parameter via kboot.conf (*kboot currently only supported via xell-reloaded-testing builds), boot the kernel/system and login as user: xbox, password: xbox. Have fun :) (If you are not having fun, let us know about the errors you are experiencing.)

debootstrapping script

debian_squeeze.sh 

#!/bin/bash
# set the date to anything except 1/1/1970 since this causes issues
# time is now also set after first boot by .bashrc script below
date -s 1/1/2009
# if /dev/sda is mounted then paritions get wiped by dd but sfdisk fails!
swapoff /dev/sda1
umount /mnt/debian
# partition and mkfs hdd (all data is lost!)
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1
sfdisk /dev/sda << EOF
,124,S
,,L
EOF
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda2 bs=512 count=1
mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda2
mkswap /dev/sda1
sync; sync; sync
swapon /dev/sda1
# setup paths
mkdir /mnt/debian
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/debian
cd /mnt/debian
mkdir /mnt/debian/work
cd /mnt/debian/work
# download extract and run debootstrap
wget http://ftp.nl.debian.org/debian/pool/main/d/debootstrap/debootstrap_1.0.38_all.deb
ar -xf debootstrap_1.0.38_all.deb
cd /mnt/debian
zcat < /mnt/debian/work/data.tar.gz | tar xv
export DEBOOTSTRAP_DIR=/mnt/debian/usr/share/debootstrap
export PATH=$PATH:/mnt/debian/usr/sbin
debootstrap --arch powerpc squeeze /mnt/debian ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/
# create needed files on hdd
echo Xenon > /mnt/debian/etc/hostname
cat > /mnt/debian/etc/fstab << EOF
/dev/sda2     /          ext3     defaults   0   0
/dev/sda1     none    swap    sw           0   0
proc            /proc    proc    defaults  0   0
EOF
cat > /mnt/debian/etc/network/interfaces << EOF
iface lo inet loopback
auto lo
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
EOF
cat > /mnt/debian/etc/apt/sources.list << EOF
deb ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/>squeeze main contrib non-free
EOF
#Change root-pwd to "xbox" inside chroot
chroot /mnt/debian echo "root:xbox" | chroot /mnt/debian /usr/sbin/chpasswd
# Add user: xbox with password: xbox
chroot /mnt/debian /usr/sbin/useradd -m -d /home/xbox -p paRRy2CC47LXY xbox
# create .second_stage script on hdd
cat >> /mnt/debian/root/.second_stage << EOF
#!/bin/bash
date -s 1/1/2009
apt-get update
apt-get install ntp wget openssh-server locales -y --force-yes
dpkg-reconfigure locales
apt-get install gnome -y
echo "AVAHI_DAEMON_START=0" > /etc/default/avahi-daemon
/etc/init.d/networking restart
cd /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/
wget -O xenosfb_drv.so http://file.libxenon.org/free60/linux/xenosfb/xenosfb_drv.so_squeeze
cd /etc/X11/
wget http://file.libxenon.org/free60/linux/xenosfb/xorg.conf
rm -r -f /work/
echo "Installation completed."
echo "To boot the system: Reboot and load the kernel with correct root= params."
echo "You should be greeted by a fresh install of Debian 6 Squeeze"
EOF
chmod a+x /mnt/debian/root/.second_stage
# Execute second part of installation in the chroot environment
mount -t proc none /mnt/debian/proc
mount --rbind /dev /mnt/debian/dev
cp -L /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/debian/etc/resolv.conf
chroot /mnt/debian /root/.second_stage
umount /mnt/debian/dev /mnt/debian/proc /mnt/debian

Fix possible xorg fail

After it has finished installing and has rebooted into gnome open a new shell by typing Ctrl+Alt+F6 or Ctrl+Alt+F1 and type,

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Then follow the instructions below.

  1. Attempt to autodetect video hardware? > No
  2. X Server Driver: Xenosfb
  3. Generic Video Card > Enter
  4. Video card’s bus identifier: Press enter for default
  5. Amount of memory: Press enter for default
  6. Use kernel framebuffer device interface? > Yes
  7. Autodetect keyboard layout? > Yes
  8. Keyboard layout: us
  9. XKB rule set to use: xorg
  10. Keyboard model: choose your rule set based on the options
  11. Keyboard variant: leave blank if you’re in the U.S.
  12. Keyboard options: Leave as default
  13. Mouse Protocol: ImPS/2
  14. Emulate a 3 button mouse? > Your choice
  15. Xorg server modules: Default
  16. Write default Files section to configuration file? > Yes
  17. Attempt monitor detection? > Yes
  18. Use generic monitor if it doesn’t detect it.
  19. Video modes to be used by the X server: 1280x768 (1024x768 if garbled)
  20. Method for selecting the monitor characteristics: Medium
  21. Monitors best video mode: Choose what’s best for your monitor.
  22. Write monitor sync ranges to the configuration file? > Yes
  23. Desired default color depth in bits: 24.

After that go back to gnome by typing Ctrl+Alt+F7.

Reboot X by typing Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.

Category: Linux