Bug#637284: Can't install wheezy on a 2011 iMac

[Mike Hore <mike_hore@aapt.net.au>]

Hi Jonathan and all,

I think I've verified that there are two separate issues here -- the 
problem with the radeon video driver, and something else that causes the 
boot to lock up.

I located the correct driver:

http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/ati-driver-installer-11-8-x86.x86_64.run

I downloaded this and put it on my external drive.  I then booted into 
rescue mode (so I got a root shell).  I mounted the external drive.  I 
had to chmod to make the driver installer executable, then ran it.  The 
driver installation apparently ran normally.

Then I removed the blacklisting for radeon.  After that, I could reboot 
and the "flashing lights" problem had gone away.  However the boot still 
locks up, with rapidly flashing messages on the screen like I described 
earlier.  However now, in rescue mode, the messages are all about eth0 
being up.  So possibly the Broadcom driver is the culprit here, though I 
could do a net install without problems.

But at least I think I now have the correct video driver installed.  A 
problem will be that this isn't free in the Debian sense.  I didn't have 
to pay anything, but it's not free the way Debian means free.  So I 
don't know what issues this might raise for getting a new installer that 
really works for these iMacs.

Cheers,  Mike.

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          Mike Hore        mike_hore@aapt.net.au
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