Re: Debian on IBM RS/6000 7248-43p

[T <bobs@thelibertytree.org>]

On Thu, 11 May 2023 13:34:48 +0200, Alexander Huemer wrote:

> On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 01:26:32PM +0200, Gabriel Paubert wrote:
>> On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 01:03:21PM +0200, Alexander Huemer wrote:
>> > Hi!
>> > 
>> > On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 12:12:40PM +0200, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz
>> > wrote:
>> > > Hi Alexander!
>> > > 
>> > > On Thu, 2023-05-11 at 12:01 +0200, Alexander Huemer wrote:
>> > > > > CD-ROM based installation is supported for most architectures.
>> > > > 
>> > > > Again, I don't know if CD-ROM based installation is expected work
>> > > > on PReP. [5] doesn't contain any ISO images. I've tried [6]
>> > > > though that doesn't boot.
>> > > 
>> > > Current images can found here:
>> > > 
>> > > > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/
ports/snapshots/__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!WusbLcdmFSNxyemb5ZCzGZepjyHg_TePq9j0I3dx-
OK7MeoAJf9g9blL5z9OH70U96Tn1LZK-4j8PLL_zOY62VdA4A$
>> > 
>> > Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately doesn't boot either.
>> > Again, I am not sure if this is supposed to work or if I need a
>> > special boot floppy or something like that.
>> 
>> I suspect it is hopeless, as far as I remember PReP support disappeared
>> when the ppc and ppc64 kernel trees were merged into the single powerpc
>> architecture.
> 
> I would be perfectly fine with installing an ancient Debian release.
> Apparently that has worked some people in the past. So far, nothing
> booted, but that is most likely due to operator error. I just can't
> figure out what that error is. The PReP firmware isn't very chatty
> regarding what is happening.
> 
> -Alex

Have you gone into the SMS yet to check firmware configuration 
(equivalent to BIOS menu)? When the 7248 is booting, when the keyboard 
icon displays, hit either F1 for GUI menu or F4 for TUI menu. You will 
need a copy of the SMS disk image on your floppy emulator. Some of the 
other F# keys do things, IIRC one of the higher F# keys forces the TFTP 
netbooting function, there's also probably one that does the same for CD-
ROM.

Key 	SMS Disk Required 	Function
F1 	Yes 	Graphical System Maintenance
F2 	No 	Select Boot Device
F4 	Yes 	Text-Mode System Maintenance
F5 	No 	Force Floppy Boot

An FYI, this machine uses the “El Torito” Bootable CD-ROM Format 
Specification, so you need an ISO of that type, or it won't boot.

This link has an SMS image file:
http://www.ext.zx.net.nz/computers/ibm/rs6000_132/