2.1. Supported Hardware

2.1. Supported Hardware
	Chapter 2. System Requirements

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 https://www.debian.org/ports/mips/ for more details on 32-bit MIPS (little-endian) architecture systems which have been tested with Debian GNU/Linux.

Rather than attempting to describe all the different hardware configurations which are supported for 32-bit MIPS (little-endian), this section contains general information and pointers to where additional information can be found.

2.1.1. Supported Architectures

Debian GNU/Linux 12 supports 9 major architectures and several variations of each architecture known as “flavors”.

Architecture	Debian Designation	Subarchitecture	Flavor
AMD64 & Intel 64	amd64
Intel x86-based	i386	default x86 machines	default
Intel x86-based	i386	Xen PV domains only	xen
ARM	armel	Marvell Kirkwood and Orion	marvell
ARM with hardware FPU	armhf	multiplatform	armmp
64bit ARM	arm64
64bit MIPS (little-endian)	mips64el	MIPS Malta	5kc-malta
		Cavium Octeon	octeon
		Loongson 3	loongson-3
32bit MIPS (little-endian)	mipsel	MIPS Malta	4kc-malta
		Cavium Octeon	octeon
		Loongson 3	loongson-3
Power Systems	ppc64el	IBM POWER8 or newer machines
64bit IBM S/390	s390x	IPL from VM-reader and DASD	generic

This document covers installation for the 32-bit MIPS (little-endian) 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.

2.1.2. Multiple Processors

Multiprocessor support — also called “symmetric multiprocessing” or SMP — is available for this architecture, and is supported by a precompiled Debian kernel image. Depending on your install media, this SMP-capable kernel may or may not be installed by default. This should not prevent installation, since the standard, non-SMP kernel should boot on SMP systems; the kernel will simply use the first CPU.

In order to take advantage of multiple processors, you should check to see if a kernel package that supports SMP is installed, and if not, choose an appropriate kernel package.

You can also build your own customized kernel to support SMP. You can find a discussion of how to do this in Section 8.5, “Compiling a New Kernel”. At this time (kernel version 3.16) the way you enable SMP is to select “Multi-Processing support” in the “Kernel type” section of the kernel config.

2.1.3. Graphics Hardware Support

Debian's support for graphical interfaces is determined by the underlying support found in X.Org's X11 system, and the kernel. Basic framebuffer graphics is provided by the kernel, whilst desktop environments use X11. Whether advanced graphics card features such as 3D-hardware acceleration or hardware-accelerated video are available, depends on the actual graphics hardware used in the system and in some cases on the installation of additional “firmware” blobs (see Section 2.2, “Devices Requiring Firmware”).

Details on supported graphics hardware and pointing devices can be found at https://wiki.freedesktop.org/xorg/. Debian 12 ships with X.Org version 7.7.

2.1.4. Network Connectivity Hardware

Almost any network interface card (NIC) supported by the Linux kernel should also be supported by the installation system; drivers should normally be loaded automatically.

2.1.5. Peripherals and Other Hardware

Linux supports a large variety of hardware devices such as mice, printers, scanners, PCMCIA/CardBus/ExpressCard and USB devices. However, most of these devices are not required while installing the system.


Chapter 2. System Requirements		2.2. Devices Requiring Firmware