Re: does Yaboot really need first partition?
> do i really have to put the bootstrap partition before the first
> mac-os partition?
The reason for placing the bootstrap partition first is that it will then
be booted by default. This way when MacOS mucks with your firmware, you
can simply reset it with cmd-opt-p-r to restore yaboot to default.
> i followed the "famous" instruction
> http://www.xiph.org/~jack/ibook/instnotes.html
> and have a bootstrap partition after my mac-os partitions. it works
> for booting via open firmware (boot hd:11,\\yaboot). but it does not
> work automatically like it should.
Remove any line saying "nonvram" from /etc/yaboot.conf, then run ybin.
This will make yaboot the default boot file wherever the partition is.
Another problem with these *infamous* instructions is that they give the
bootstrap partition type Apple_HFS. This puts you at risk of having MacOS
unbless your bootloader. Use mac-fdisk to reinitialize this partition
with type Apple_Bootstrap. Don't forget to run 'mkofboot' again after
recreating the partition.
> i would prefer not to do all the mac-os installation again. so, is it
> possible to live with a bootstrap partition after the mac-os partition?
> is it (or will it be) possible to make such a bootstrap partition work
> normally?
You can change the logical ordering of the partitions without reformatting
the drive. See the "reorder" command in the mac-fdisk man page for
details.
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