Installing Linux from scratch (PowerMac 4400)

[Andreas Gruenbacher <a.gruenbacher@infosys.tuwien.ac.at>]

Hi,

I have a little problem getting my PowerMac 4400/200 to boot again.

As I was used to on Intel machines, I just repartitioned the harddisk with pdisk
and removed all MacOS partitions. Now the darn thing doesn't boot anymore. I
don't get into Open Firmware, either.

>From several bits of documentation I conclude that Open Firmware uses the serial
port per default on this machine. At least, if I press the magical Open Firmware
keys at boot time, the monitor doesn't get any signals (as opposed to when I
press nothing).

I would like to build a NULLMODEM CABLE so that I can configure my Mac from a
PC. I don't have a second Mac. Does anybody know the pinout and which pins to
connect for that purpose? I couldn't find any suitable online documentation on
the Web.

Is there any other way I can get the machine boot properly again? Does a MacOS
CD help?

Which settings do I need in Open Firmware to boot from CD, provided that I get
into Open Firmware (ever)?


Thanks a lot,
Andreas.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Andreas Gruenbacher, Vienna University of Technology
 a.gruenbacher@infosys.tuwien.ac.at
 Contact information: http://www.infosys.tuwien.ac.at/~agruenba