ISO9660/HFS hybrid powerpc testers needed

[George Danchev <danchev@spnet.net>]

Hi,

We would like to test the new functionality of xorriso, that is
ISO9660/HFS hybrid images, therefore we would need some testers
who are willing to build and try to boot images on powerpc machines,
at least those supported by Debian. This might also include
downloading some large files, detection of possible defects, and
providing further debugging information.


Why do we want to change powerpc image production ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) Consistency - use the same image producer for all architectures.
Powerpc is the only architecture left in the hands of genisoimage,
images for all other architectures have been produced by xorriso
for the last couple of years.

2) Technical differences - xorriso would produce HFS+ rather than HFS.
This might make a difference. We tested production of CHRP. We could 
produce PReP if we had a Debian ISO image which was produced for PReP.
It is about a particular data file in the image which we would have to
expose as MBR partition.

A typical Debian powerpc image would list partition type
ID 0x96 - this is CHRP, whereas ID 0x41 would denote PReP.
(check with fdisk -lu debian-6.0.5-powerpc-businesscard.iso)


How to prepare a test media and compare with an existing one
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) Get and build the xorriso development snapshot (with ISO9660/HFS support)

    You will need these build dependencies:

    autotools-dev, libcam-dev [if on kfreebsd]
    zlib1g-dev, libacl1-dev, libattr1-dev
    pkg-config, libreadline-dev

    Get this snapshot of xorriso:
    
    $ wget http://www.gnu.org/software/xorriso/xorriso-1.2.3.tar.gz
    $ tar xzf xorriso-1.2.3.tar.gz
    $ cd xorriso-1.2.3 && ./configure && make

    Note: no need to 'make install', use it as xorriso-1.2.3/xorriso/xorriso 

    Note: tarball timestamp:
    $ grep -i timestamp xorriso/xorriso_timestamp.h 
    #define Xorriso_timestamP "2012.06.22.125623"

2) Download an existing Debian PowerPC image.
   
    Note: businesscard is handy being 70 MiB, also 'release' is sufficiently 
well tested as well

    $ wget http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/6.0.5/powerpc/iso-
cd/debian-6.0.5-powerpc-businesscard.iso

    - Put original Debian PowerPC image on a medium of your choice.

        CD/DVD/BD:

        $ xorriso-1.2.3/xorriso/xorriso -as cdrecord \
           dev=/dev/sr0 -v blank=as_needed -eject debian-6.0.5-powerpc-
businesscard.iso

        USB stick: (Caution: make sure not to overwrite your hard disk!)
    
        $ dd if=debian-6.0.5-powerpc-businesscard.iso bs=4M of=/dev/sdc
        $ sync

    - Boot it and see how far you get on your test machine, in order to ensure
      that the medium and the machine work as expected.

3) Mount the existing original Debian PowerPC image

    $ mkdir /mnt/test-powerpc
    $ mount -o loop debian-6.0.5-powerpc-businesscard.iso /mnt/test-powerpc

4) Create a new ISO image repacked.iso

    $ xorriso-1.2.3/xorriso/xorriso \
       -as mkisofs \
       -joliet-long \
       -r \
       -V 'Debian testing ppc 1' \
       -o repacked.iso \
       --iso-level 2 \
       -hfsplus \
       -hfsplus-file-creator-type UNIX tbxi /install/ofboot.b \
       -hfsplus-file-creator-type UNIX boot /install/yaboot \
       -hfsplus-file-creator-type UNIX boot /install/powerpc/vmlinux \
       -hfsplus-file-creator-type UNIX boot /install/powerpc64/vmlinux \
       -hfsplus-file-creator-type UNIX conf /etc/yaboot.conf \
       -hfsplus-file-creator-type UNIX conf /install/yaboot.conf \
       -hfs-bless-by p /install \
       -chrp-boot-part \
       /mnt/test-powerpc

    Save this output. You can also check the Primary Volume Descriptor:

    $ xorriso-1.2.3/xorriso/xorriso -indev repacked.iso -pvd_info

5) Put the newly created repacked.iso image on the same medium as original
    or on a fully equivalent one. See point 2).

    The difference between CD and DVD might matter.
    A difference of USB stick speed or capacity might matter.

    See whether you get as far as with the original Debian PowerPC image,
    or even experience better results, if the original was successful.

    Please, report your experience and ask for particular help if in doubt.
    Also any PowerPC users who have no opportunity to test are welcome to
    have a look at any possible problem reports.
 

Some hints, in case you face a problem:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   If the image does not work with -iso-level 2, then try
   an image that was produced with -iso-level 4.


Thank you for your time.

-- 
pub 4096R/0E4BD0AB <people.fccf.net/danchev/key pgp.mit.edu>

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