Re: Installing Linux from scratch (PowerMac 4400)
Andreas Gruenbacher <a.gruenbacher@infosys.tuwien.ac.at> writes:
> 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).
Use cmd-option-p-r to zap the pram and boot back to the macos. You
should then be able to boot off a macos cd. Linuxppc has some good
documentation on this stuff:
http://www.linuxppc.com/userguide/booting.html
> 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.
You can buy a converter from a good electronics store. IIRC, the mac
end uses RS-422 (the part I bought just said mac-to-pc serial
converter). Connect this to an ordinary null modem cable, and you're
in business.
You'll probably want to use the boot-vars program to set output to the
screen, but this doesn't work on all machines, and you might have to
go the serial cable route.
Good luck,
cbb
Reply to: