Debian does not impose hardware requirements beyond the requirements of the Linux or kFreeBSD kernel and the GNU tool-sets. Therefore, any architecture or platform to which the Linux or kFreeBSD kernel, libc, gcc, etc. have been ported, and for which a Debian port exists, can run Debian. Please refer to the Ports pages at http://www.debian.org/ports/arm/ for more details on ARM architecture systems which have been tested with Debian GNU/Linux.
Rather than attempting to describe all the different hardware configurations which are supported for ARM, this section contains general information and pointers to where additional information can be found.
Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 supports eleven major architectures and several variations of each architecture known as “flavors”.
Architecture | Debian Designation | Subarchitecture | Flavor |
---|---|---|---|
Intel x86-based | i386 | ||
AMD64 & Intel EM64T | amd64 | ||
ARM | armel | Intel IOP32x | iop32x |
Intel IXP4xx | ixp4xx | ||
Marvell Kirkwood | kirkwood | ||
Marvell Orion | orion5x | ||
Versatile | versatile | ||
ARM with hardware FPU | armhf | Freescale | mx5 |
Intel IA-64 | ia64 | ||
MIPS (big endian) | mips | SGI IP22 (Indy/Indigo 2) | r4k-ip22 |
SGI IP32 (O2) | r5k-ip32 | ||
MIPS Malta (32 bit) | 4kc-malta | ||
MIPS Malta (64 bit) | 5kc-malta | ||
MIPS (little endian) | mipsel | Cobalt | cobalt |
MIPS Malta (32 bit) | 4kc-malta | ||
MIPS Malta (64 bit) | 5kc-malta | ||
IBM/Motorola PowerPC | powerpc | PowerMac | pmac |
PReP | prep | ||
Sun SPARC | sparc | sun4u | sparc64 |
sun4v | |||
IBM S/390 | s390 | IPL from VM-reader and DASD | generic |
IPL from tape | tape | ||
64bit IBM S/390 | s390x | IPL from VM-reader and DASD | generic |
IPL from tape | tape |
Debian GNU/kFreeBSD 7.0 supports two architectures.
Architecture | Debian Designation |
---|---|
Intel x86-based | kfreebsd-i386 |
AMD64 & Intel EM64T | kfreebsd-amd64 |
This document covers installation for the ARM architecture using the Linux kernel. If you are looking for information on any of the other Debian-supported architectures take a look at the Debian-Ports pages.
Each distinct ARM architecture requires its own kernel. Because of this the standard Debian distribution only supports installation on a number of the most common platforms. The Debian userland however may be used by any ARM CPU.
Most ARM CPUs may be run in either endian mode (big or little). However, the majority of current system implementation uses little-endian mode. Debian currently only supports little-endian ARM systems.
The supported platforms are:
Intel's I/O Processor (IOP) line is found in a number of products related to data storage and processing. Debian currently supports the IOP32x platform, featuring the IOP 80219 and 32x chips commonly found in Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices. Debian explicitly supports two such devices: the GLAN Tank from IO-Data and the Thecus N2100.
Kirkwood is a system on a chip (SoC) from Marvell that integrates an ARM CPU, Ethernet, SATA, USB, and other functionality in one chip. We currently support the following Kirkwood based devices: OpenRD (OpenRD-Base, OpenRD-Client and OpenRD-Ultimate), plug computers (SheevaPlug, GuruPlug and DreamPlug), and QNAP Turbo Station (all TS-11x, TS-21x and TS-41x models).
Orion is a system on a chip (SoC) from Marvell that integrates an ARM CPU, Ethernet, SATA, USB, and other functionality in one chip. There are many Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices on the market that are based on an Orion chip. We currently support the following Orion based devices: Buffalo Kurobox, D-Link DNS-323 and HP mv2120.
The Versatile platform is emulated by QEMU and is therefore a nice way to test and run Debian on ARM if you don't have the hardware.
Debian's support for graphical interfaces is determined by the underlying support found in X.Org's X11 system. Most AGP, PCI, PCIe, and PCI-X video cards work under X.Org. Details on supported graphics buses, cards, monitors, and pointing devices can be found at http://xorg.freedesktop.org/. Debian 7.0 ships with X.Org version 7.6.
Almost any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should also be supported by the installation system; modular drivers should normally be loaded automatically.
On ARM, most built-in Ethernet devices are supported and modules for additional PCI and USB devices are provided.