Package: debian-installer
Architecture: powerpc
Flavour: pmac
Hi!
I got two 7300/200 these days and tried to install Debian Stable (sarge)
on them. Looking through the ppc-specific installation instructions, I
want to give some hints/bugs/wishlist items (note that this box isn't
pre-installed with MacOS, so I cannot just copy over the hd-install
stuff, no BootX, no StuffIt, no nothing):
* The 7300/200 seems to not be able to boot off a CD-ROM, at least I
failed to do that using
http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/3.1_r0a/powerpc/iso-cd/debian-31r0a-powerpc-businesscard.iso
Maybe I just used a wrong boot command line, but the install
instructions are somewhat poor describing the actual boot process
(note: I just got these Macs and never ever touched any Mac before).
* Booting from floppy images
(ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/installer-powerpc/current/images/powerpc/floppy-2.4/*)
also didn't work. The {ofonly,}boot.img floppies are just always
ejected.
* The install manual references a boot-floppy-hfs image, but that's
not in the sarge installer directory. Though, it exists in woody's
installer.
* After failing with installing sarge, I tried to install woody. The
boot-floppy-hfs.img boots ("boot floppy:vmlinux"), the installation
basically works (http://www.biccard.com/alan/7200/7200boot.html).
Even the Quik part was fixed (contraty to the document above), nice.
However, woody's installer kernel (2.2.x) seems to have some trouble
with the MESH SCSI controller. On both of my Macs, tested with three
different HDDs, I got into I/O errors sooner or later (sometimes
during debootstrap'ing the initial installation, sometimes later
on).
Unfortunately, it doesn't work to initially boot with
boot-floppy-hfs and then continue with sarge's boot/root/driver
floppies. These do have devfs issues and are unwilling to work.
Woody's install document
(ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-powerpc/current/README.txt)
even references the SRM console, so it's obviously just copied from
the Alpha port and was fixed in some places afterwards.
So I'd like to get sarge boot floppies (or a CD, if the 7300/200 can
boot off it) to install Debian on this box. Also, the documentation
should be a bit more verbose especially about the boot command and
eventually ask the user to first reset the OF variables...
Thanks, JBG
--
Jan-Benedict Glaw jbglaw@lug-owl.de . +49-172-7608481 _ O _
"Eine Freie Meinung in einem Freien Kopf | Gegen Zensur | Gegen Krieg _ _ O
fuer einen Freien Staat voll Freier Bürger" | im Internet! | im Irak! O O O
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