Debian on DEC4640

[micha]

Hi there!

Does anyone have any experience installing Debian 13 or Proxmox on a DEC4640 OPNsense firewall appliance from Deciso?

/micha

[nero355]

I always wonder why someone never asks the question : "Why wouldn't it work ?!"

Instead of : "Would it work ?!"

:)

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Download install image, write to USB drive, plug in, connect serial console, boot from USB drive.

Report back if it doesn't work. DEC appliances are standard embedded PCs by all relevant metrics.

[micha]

Download install image, write to USB drive, plug in, connect serial console, boot from USB drive.

Report back if it doesn't work. DEC appliances are standard embedded PCs by all relevant metrics.

I have a Debian USB stick that I can use to boot on another device. The USB stick is plugged in. It is selected as the first boot device in the BIOS. Despite this, it won't boot from the installation media. Instead, the BIOS message "A0Loading bootloader..." appears.

[nero355]

I have a Debian USB stick that I can use to boot on another device.

BIOS or UEFI mode ?

The USB stick is plugged in. It is selected as the first boot device in the BIOS.

BIOS or UEFI mode ?

If you need something that will boot in UEFI mode for sure and allow you to try multiple ISO images I can recommend Ventoy : https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

For BIOS mode I just DD the USB Stick ISO _{(So not the CD/DVD ISO !!!)} to the USB Drive and never had a problem so far :)

[micha]

BIOS or UEFI mode ?

I used dd to transfer the Debian ISO image to the stick. Therefore, I'm assuming it's in BIOS mode.

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Then try to switch to UEFI. It's more or less standard for bootable media today.

[Greg_E]

If the image is UEFI, then DD should produce a UEFI USB stick, correct? Pretty sure I've used this, but it's usually through Rufus and I do this when I get problems with linux versions mismatched to what Rufus thinks it should be doing. DD generally allows the thing to boot afterwards.

And I don't see why Debian wouldn't run, I doubt there are any major hardware pieces that wouldn't have drivers.

Ventoy also often works, there are a few times when it lets me down, but those are fewer and far(er) between with the latest version.

Thinking back to my first question, I think I'm right. I DD'd (in Rufus) the SUSE Harvester ISO to a USB and it boots UEFI, this install no longer uses BIOS boot as an option since (I think) v1.7.0 release. I'm positive this was the process I used on the v1.7.1 iso when I updated my lab with new hardware (sold my last kidney for some larger ssd for the OS).

[Patrick M. Hausen]

If the image is UEFI, then DD should produce a UEFI USB stick, correct?

Sure. If the image is UEFI, dd produces an UEFI bootable drive, if it's BIOS boot, dd produces a legacy boot drive. It just writes the image to the drive byte by byte. It's the only tool I ever use.

[nero355]

I DD'd (in Rufus) the SUSE Harvester ISO to a USB and it boots UEFI, this install no longer uses BIOS boot as an option since (I think) v1.7.0 release.

I have indeed read about (open)SUSE dropping Legacy BIOS Boot Mode in the future but I can't remember the exact version so it could be that one.

[patient0]

BIOS or UEFI mode ?

I used dd to transfer the Debian ISO image to the stick. Therefore, I'm assuming it's in BIOS mode.

On a side node, what model is the DEC4640, an older one with what CPU/RAM?