Re: Setting OpenFirmware boot params on a 6500
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the help!
>> [...]
>> This is possibly because BootX is on the system on the SCSI disk, and Linux
>> is on the IDE disk, and none of the partitions of the IDE disk is mounted.
>> Even not the HFS partition, presumably because it's not initialized.
>> [...]
>
> BootX grabs the kernel file from the Linux Kernels folder, which is (or should
> be) in the MacOS System Folder. IIRC it can also use a kernel from the same
> folder BootX is in. So the kernel file will be on the same disk as BootX.
> The kernel you install on the linux partition is not actually used in booting,
> with BootX.
Here is what did work for me:
- Boot from the MacOS 9 system on the external SCSI disk
- put a linux.bin and ramdisk.image.gz in the "Linux Kernels" of the MacOS 9
system
- Specify to boot from /dev/hda2 in BootX
- Boot into Linux
So, though I am not using the linux.bin and ramdisk.image.gz (since I'm
booting from /dev/hda2) it did the trick of getting rid of the BootX error
message ("Error, could not find a suitable kernel file").
All works fine, with the exception that my network link stalls indefinitely
every now and then. Just brining the link down and up (either in software,
or by physically unplugging and plugging the cable) makes it work again. I
expect a bug in the driver. If I can't resolve it, I just ask again on the
appropriate list.
Now it would be nice to put MacOS on one of the partitions of the internal
IDE disk (hda), so I don't need the external SCSI drive anymore, but that's
not as urgent. I'll just have to find a (MacOS) tool to initialize/mount the
partition in MacOS. If someone has a suggestion, let me know personally
(please not on the list, since it is not Debian related). The version of
Drive Setup I used didn't do it.
> If you are going to continue to use BootX, you don't need to muck
> around with OpenFirmware parameters at all.
Yes, it was. I tried with the OpenFirmware first, and screwed up again. Just
took myself a vow just to use BootX :-)
> Later, once you get Linux booted, you can look in /proc/cpu/device-tree
> or some similar path to see what your video card path is, and try other
> options.
Thanks! That's useful info.
All in all, installing Debian wasn't as hard as expected, and I was
surprised to find so many packages out there (compared to what's available
with fink on MacOS X). I doubted between OpenDarwin and Debian, and I'm real
glad to have chosen Debian. Great distribution! Hats of to all developers!
>> PS: this is a resent; I forgot to confirm my list subscription.
>
> BTW, you don't have to be subscribed to post :)
Yes. I noticed. Sorry about the double posting. Just feeling a bit stupid
here.
Freek
Reply to: