From: Mathieu Chouquet-Stringer Subject: [HOWTO] Linux on the Fiery ZX Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.alpha Date: 27 Aug 2003 14:20:29 -0400 Organization: Guest of ProXad - France Here's version 0.2: I received some comments and corrections. 1 - Flashing the Fiery 1.1 First thing is to boot the srom debugger to flash a new firmware Things you need: - 1 floppy drive - 1 floppy ribbon (note that they're not all the same pinout wise) - 1 fat formatted floppy - keyboard/monitor for the VGA console or a null serial cable To do so, grab the FAT formatted floppy and copy this file: lx164dbm.cmp (note the cmp extension that's really the one you need) to the floppy and rename it to fwupdate.exe (You can get it from the EBSDK: http://ebsdk.bkbits.net/). The ZX will load it during the boot process. Also add the debug rom image because we're going to flash it: lx164dbm.rom While we're working on the floppy, grab this file lx164nt.rom and dump it to the floppy. (http://h18000.www1.hp.com/support/files/alphant/firmware/ca164lxsx.html) Enable jumper CF7 on the motherboard (it's located near the special Fiery slots, and there's like 8 jumpers in a row), it will load the Fail Safe Bootloader which loads and executes the file fwupdate.exe on the FAT formatted floppy. Power on the Fiery. It should beep 1-2-3 (one beep, followed by two, followed by three) and should start reading the floppy. When it's done, you should get a prompt on the VGA console (if you have one and if the debugger has been able to initialize it) or on the serial port (9600 8-N-1). 1.2 Flashing the firmware Before proceeding you should probably read the debug monitor manual just so you know what you can do and what you shouldn't do. One important thing I've learned is the way the ZX is set up it boots using the 3rd firmware in the flash. It means that lx164nt.rom (which is alphabios, I haven't been able to run srm) will have to be in third position in the flash. So the trick is to keep #1 (Fail Safe Bootloader), flash the debugger or another copy of the Fail Safe Bootloader (because they are both small and fit in the 1MB flash along with alphabios) at number #2 and finally flash AlphaBios at #3. Get a list of all the roms in the flash: romlist. Note the address of #2 and #3 Erase them: flasherase address (don't screw this up) When you're done only 1 should be left (Fail Save Bootloader) Load the debugger image flload lx164dbm.rom (fldir is the local ls if you want to see what's on the floppy). Flash it at number #2 (the address would probably be 0x10000): flash and then type in the address Repeat the same operation for Alphabios (the address on mine is 0x50000, same thing don't erase the Fail Safe Bootloader or you're on your own). Check what you've got: romlist and verify that #1 is Fail Safe Bootloader #2 is debug monitor or FSB (it really doesn't matter what it is: we just need something at #2) #3 is AlphaBios If what you see is what you expect, you should be ready to boot your favorite OS. 2 - Booting the thing Power down the box, remove the jumper you put on CF7 and then restarts it (the box not the jumper). If you have a VGA card that's compatible with AlphaBIOS (I use a genuine ATI Radeon 7500), good for you: it's a real pain to use alphabios using the serial console (and the wrong serial emulator). [Taken from the OpenVMS FAQ: http://h71000.www7.hp.com/wizard/faq/vmsfaq_016.html] The full list of AlphaBIOS key sequences -- these sequences are needed when using an LK-series keyboard with AlphaBIOS, as AlphaBIOS expects a PC-style keyboard: F1 Ctrl/A F2 Ctrl/B F3 Ctrl/C F4 Ctrl/D F5 Ctrl/E F6 Ctrl/F F7 Ctrl/P F8 Ctrl/R F9 Ctrl/T F10 Ctrl/U Insert Ctrl/V Delete Ctrl/W Backspace Ctrl/H Escape Ctrl/[ Return Ctrl/M LineFeed Ctrl/J (Plus) + upselect (some systems) (Minus) - downselect (some systems) TAB down arrow SHIFT+TAB up arrow All you have to do is to follow the instructions in your installation manual and boot from a cd, floppy, network (using linload/milo). Basically, you have to setup a new boot entry in alphabios. Final notes: - I've written this thing from memory so if you see any typos/mistakes (and I'm sure there's a ton of them), let me know - I've never been able to get srm working and a guy from EFI told me the ZX has never be tested with it: if you get it to work, again, please let me know - if this (very short) guide is useful to you, I would love to hear about it -- Mathieu Chouquet-Stringer E-Mail : mathieu@newview.com Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. -- Hanlon's Razor --