First of all you need to point your browser of choice to gNewSense MIPS linux image directory1 and download initrd.gz
and vmlinux-2.6.31.6-libre1
. Note that the version name on vmlinux-2.6.xx.x-libre1
may vary as the image gets updated after time.
Finished downloading? Great! Now it's time to format the USB drive in ext2 so your YeeLoong can read it. If you have already formatted the USB drive you can skip this step.
We start by running the command 'fdisk /dev/sdb'
(just change it to the path of your USB drive) to erase the existing partition table. When the terminal enter fdisk and you can see 'Command (m for help):'
, type the letter 'p'
and hit ENTER. Then type 'd'
and hit ENTER to delete existing partitions, and it will ask you for the number of the partition. The number is what follows 'sdb', type it in and hit ENTER. If there is more partitions, repeat the process with them. After all partitions on your USB drive have been deleted, hit 'n' and ENTER to create a new partition, then 'p' and ENTER to make it a primary partition. fdisk will now ask you which cylinder the partition should start at, just hit ENTER and fdisk will choose from the beginning of the drive by default. Then you will be asked for the last partition, again, hit enter and it will by default choose the end of the drive. You should now be back at the command prompt for fdisk. To see that everything went according to plan just it 'p'
and hit ENTER to see your new partition table.
Now its time to set the filesystem type for your new partition. As mentioned above, we want to use the ext2 filesystem. Type 't'
and hit ENTER and you will be asked to give the HEX-code for the filesystem you want to use. Type '83'
and hit ENTER. As you have logically figured out, that is the HEX-code for the ext2 filesystem. Now just hit 'w'
and ENTER to write your new partition table to your USB drive and you are all set to create your filesystem.
Back in the terminal, issue the command 'mkfs -t ext2 /dev/sdb'
and as before, change 'sdb'
to the path of your USB drive. Now just copy your two downloaded files onto your USB drive like usual, or with the 'cp'
command.
And voila, you are set to boot gNewSense on your YeeLoong!
[1] http://archive.gnewsense.org/gnewsense-metad/installer/current/mipsel/loongson/netbook/