"Can't OPEN: /vmlinux" error in OpenFirmware 2.0
Hi,
I'm trying to install Debian 3 (woody) as the sole OS on my powermac 5400/180
but I've been stuck for a few days now trying to input the right settings in OF
(v2.0) to make Linux boot from the hard disk (IDE 1.2Gb). I know this issue has
been documented at many places and discussed in the mailing lists but I still
have not found what was the problem in my configuration. The settings suggested
by A.Arthur (http://penguinppc.org/projects/quik/) seem to fail for me. Here are
my (unsuccessful!) OF settings:
nvsetenv input-device kbd
nvsetenv output-device ttya
nvsetenv auto-boot? true
nvsetenv boot-device ata/ATA-Disk@0:0
nvsetenv boot-file " /vmlinux root=/dev/hda2 video=atyfb:vmode:17:cmode:16"
nvsetenv boot-command "begin ['] boot catch 1000 ms cr again"
nvsetenv load-base 100000
I think the long boot-command is not necessary here but I put it just in case.
Note that "/vmlinux" in my case is NOT a symbolic link: it is an exact copy I've
made of "/boot/vmlinux-2.2.19-ppc". I thus also adjusted the "/etc/quik.conf"
file, which now looks like:
## This file generated during installation.
## Debian GNU/Linux PowerPC
init-message="Debian GNU/Linux PowerPC (woody)"
default=Linux
timeout=100
root=/dev/hda2
partition=2
## Do not point image= to a symlink, quik can't follow symlinks
image=/vmlinux
label=Linux
read-only
(I executed "/sbin/quik -v -f -r /target" after these changes).From there, two
different things can happen at restart:
-If I previously entered ttya (or ttyb) as the output-device, the bell chimes
two times, and then nothing; no screen or hard disk activity. If from there I
cold-boot (cntrl - command - power) I still hear the chime twice, then the hard
disk reads something for a second or two and then nothing again. Still no
screen. Usually I then restart holding opt-p-r, boot from the installation
floppies and do the settings all over again. Getting directly into OF by setting
"auto-boot? false" or by holding cmd-opt-o-f at boot never worked in many tries.
-Now, if I simply replace "ttya" by "screen" as the output-device and let the
other OF variables exactly as above, I still get the two chimes at first reboot,
and still no activity from the disk, but the screen now works and display a
"Can't OPEN: /vmlinux" error message. Cold-booting from there brings me directly
into OpenFirmware, where I always get a "CLAIM refused" error message (or
similar - I don't remember exactly) whenever I try to boot linux manually from
ata/ATA-Disk@0:0.
That's about it. It seems the system never gets to executing quik at boot. Or is
it?. What's wrong here?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Jerome
##########################################
Jerome Levesque, M.Sc. student
Laboratoire de chimie theorique
Departement de chimie
Université de Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke, P.Q.
CANADA
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