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Re: Debian installer image for Debian/m68k



On Thu, 31 Aug 2017, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz wrote:

> Hi!
> 
> I just created the first debian installer image for m68k since aeons, it 
> can be downloaded from here:
> 
> > https://people.debian.org/~glaubitz/debian-cd/2017-08-31/
> 

Nice work!

> Note: This has not been tested at all and booting on a Mac with EMILE
>       most likely doesn't work at all since xorrisofs didn't like any of 
>       the HFS-specific options so I had to drop them from the command 
>       line.
> 

Where can I find this code, BTW?

I was curious about the need for HFS so I went looking for signs of HFS on 
the old installer ISO images.

The Debian 3 m68k installer ISO mounts under System 7, which is helpful. 
On it you can find the Penguin bootloader, in Binhex encoded form:

install/mac/Penguin.doc.hqx
install/mac/Penguin-19.hqx
install/mac/Penguin-Colors.hqx

The etch-m68k ISO doesn't mount correctly under System 7 (it shows up as 
an audio CD).

When mounted under Linux you can find the necessary Penguin-19.hqx 
bootloader (which is a catch-22 type problem) as well as an 1.44 MB HFS 
floppy disk image:

install/tools/mac/penguin.hfs
install/tools/mac/PenguinColors.hqx
install/tools/mac/PenguinPrefs.hqx
install/tools/mac/Penguin-19.hqx

This HFS floppy disk image has the same files:

Penguin Colors
Penguin Prefs
Penguin-19

I'm not sure that the HFS floppy disk image is needed. It means you can 
get the bootloader without having to also get a utility to unpack the hqx 
file. But you'd still need a utility to mount the disk image or copy it to 
a floppy.

Adrian's ISO doesn't mount under System 7 either. It contains no Mac 
bootloader. End users would need to obtain a bootloader, a suitable kernel 
binary and matching initrd from somewhere. (The sourceforge v4.1 binary is 
probably sufficient, but if you need the mac8390 or mac89x0 NIC driver, 
you'd have to untar and insmod that.)

None of these 3 ISO images is bootable on a Mac, but Laurent has made 
available Debian 3 ISO images that are bootable.

Anyway, there are only a few good solutions that I can see:

1. Place an HFS partition alongside the ISO9660 image, which will mount 
   properly under System 7 and contains the Penguin bootloader,

2. Or use an ISO9660 format that works with System 7 and contains the hqx 
   encoded bootloader (just like the Debian 3 installer).

3. Or don't bundle Penguin, just offer the penguin.hfs floppy image or hqx 
   file as a separate download.

   Actually, the Debian 3 hqx is already available at 
   http://archive.debian.org/debian/dists/Debian-3.0/main/disks-m68k/current/mac/ 
   and a StuffIt archive is available from the Sourceforge project.

4. Or, don't bundle Penguin, but bundle EMILE instead, in the form of a 
   Mac-bootable ISO.

I'd be content with option 3 at this point (see below). EMILE seems to 
have been dropped from the Debian archive.

> You can also download debian-installer from here and boot the d-i kernel 
> and initrd and then use the CD above as a package source:
> 
> > http://ftp.ports.debian.org/debian-ports/pool-m68k/main/d/debian-installer/
> 

That tar archive has the crucial initrd and kernel binary, but the Mac 
tools have gone missing (Amiga and Atari tools are present though). It 
would be good to get the hqx files included again. Should I send a patch, 
or is that code still in the repo?

-- 

> Again, this has not been tested at all. If this turns your Amiga/Atari/Mac
> into a toaster, you have been warned!
> 
> Adrian
> 
> 


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