The [[http://www.trimslice.com/|TrimSlice]] is a low-power desktop system based on the Tegra2 ARM system-on-a-chip. Currently shipping is a [[http://www.trimslice.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22|development board]], which comes with Ubuntu preinstalled on a built-in SSD.

In the long run, it should be possible to adapt debian-installer and install using an SD card with a downloaded image and keyboard and monitor. Meanwhile, here are instructions on how to manually install Debian armel on an SD card. You need:
 * a TrimSlice dev-kit, i.e. the actual hardware target;
 * an SD-card >= 1G;
 * a computer with an SD-card reader, serial port, Debian installed, and root on this computer.
 * Optional: a USB to Serial cable adapter which allows you to plug in a serial cable to your computer on a USB port if you don't have a serial port.

All commands need root.

==== Prepare SD ====

Insert the SD in your Debian system. Make sure it is not mounted. Then create a single partition of type "linux", e.g.:
{{{
fdisk -uc /dev/<device>     # e.g. sdc or mmcblk3
o
n
p
1
<default>
<default>
w
}}}

Then create an ext3 filesystem on it and mount it somewhere, e.g.:
{{{
mkfs.ext3 /dev/<device>     # e.g. sdc1 or mmcblk3p1
mkdir -p /mnt/sd
mount /dev/<device> /mnt/sd # e.g. sdc1 or mmcblk3p1
}}}

Now, install multistrap:
{{{
apt-get install multistrap
}}}
and create a file `multistrap.conf`:
{{{
[General]
arch=armel
directory=/mnt/sd
aptsources=Debian
bootstrap=Debian

[Debian]
packages=apt netbase ifupdown
source=http://ftp.debian.org/debian/
keyring=debian-archive-keyring
suite=squeeze
omitdebsrc=true
}}}

Then run
{{{
multistrap -f multistrap.conf
}}}

Finally, we need some tweaks to make sure the image boots properly:

{{{
cd /mnt/sd
cp -a /dev/ttyS0 dev/
cp -a /dev/console dev/
echo "proc /proc proc defaults 0 0" > etc/fstab
cp /etc/inittab etc/inittab
echo "T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 115200 vt100" >> etc/inittab
echo "trimslice" > etc/hostname
cp /etc/hosts etc/hosts # and edit to set hostname to "trimslice"
cp /etc/resolv.conf etc   # and edit appropriately
}}}

Finally, edit `/mnt/sd/etc/network/interfaces`. If you want to use DHCP, write
{{{
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
}}}
or if you want to use a static IP, use something like
{{{
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
      address 192.168.1.2
      netmask 255.255.255.0
      gateway 192.168.1.1
}}}

==== Boot SD ====

Connect the serial cable from the dev-kit. On the Debian machine, do
{{{
screen /dev/ttyS1 115200,cs8,-ixon,-ixoff
}}}
then plug in the power for the TrimSlice. Quickly press a key to interrupt the default boot. Then type
{{{
usb start 1
mmc init 0
setenv bootargs root=/dev/mmcblk3p1 rw rootwait console=ttyS0,115200n8 mem=448M@0M mem=512M@512M nvmem=64M@448M vmalloc=320M nohdparm init=/bin/sh
ext2load usb 0:1 4080000 /boot/uImage
bootm 4080000
}}}
Note that this uses the Ubuntu kernel from the builtin SSD. After you get a root prompt, do
{{{
date -s 'Apr 25 13:50 2011 CEST' # set to current date
mount /proc
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin \
  DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive DEBCONF_NONINTERACTIVE_SEEN=true \
  LC_ALL=C LANGUAGE=C LANG=C dpkg --configure -a
}}}
As of 25 April 2011, configuring will fail with the following error:
{{{
Setting up dash (0.5.5.1-7.4) ...
No diversion 'diversion of /bin/sh by dash', none removed.
This should never be reached
dpkg: error processing dash (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
}}}
This seems to be a bug. As a workaround, do
{{{
/var/lib/dpkg/info/dash.preinst install
}}}
Finally, do
{{{
dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
passwd # set root passwd
mount /dev/root -oremount,ro
}}}

Then sync, power-cycle and this time boot without the `init=/bin/sh`, that is
{{{
usb start 1
mmc init 0
setenv bootargs root=/dev/mmcblk3p1 rw rootwait console=ttyS0,115200n8 mem=448M@0M mem=512M@512M nvmem=64M@448M vmalloc=320M nohdparm
ext2load usb 0:1 4080000 /boot/uImage
bootm 4080000
}}}

You'll be prompted to change the root password; this is because PAM is confused by the date being 1970. Change it and fix the date again. You can then use `apt-get` to install additional packages.