Re: Reference to Apple_bootstrap partition (was: Installation Open-firmware error)

[Bryan Pierce <bdpierce1@bdpierce.com>]

Hello again everybody!!


I've come very close to figuring this out, there is just one last 
problem I've got to figure out and then I'm expecting
things to finally work.

Just to kind of recap....this is what I've been able to do so far. 
(Trying to install Debian via Hard-disk install approch on a powerPC 
(PowerMac G4)


  *   Partition the drive with 2 partitions
               (1) a HFS+ partation - as a placeholde which is deleted 
to make space for the Linux partitions
               (2) an HFS+ partition - which then has OS 9 installed

  *   Using pdisk (a.k.a. mac-fdisk) to delete the first partition and 
install an "Apple_bootstrap" partition
               (*)  there is another "disktool" program at the command 
line which is useful for getting disk names and partition numbers

  *   Next step - where I'm at now - is to place the Debian installer 
files ("boot.img.gz") onto the Apple_bootstrap partition
               (*)    ( it is possible next to add an "ext2" or "ext3" 
partition  for the Linux system but I don't think it really matters )
               (*)    (( I've realized now that the files are actually 
supposed to go onto the Apple_bootstrap partition ))

  *   Starting the computer in Open Firmware - having limited success 
figuring out the commands, for example....

> >  After my post I found somewhere that
> >      boot hd:,\\yaboot  ...would force the computer to search the partitions
> > (and I also realized that hd:9 was the correct partition)
> >
> >     
> That \\ means system folder (blessed), using only one \ would mean
> root folder, which should work in your case.
>
> Can you see your files with 'dir hd:,\'?
>   

OK, the "\\" is finally starting to make sense
And, I've tried seeing the partitions contents with "dir hd:x,\"  - and 
this seems critical to the next step


  *   The Next Step -- I now realize that I need to gunzip or zcat the 
files directly onto the Apple_bootstrap partition
using something like the following command (And it's a matter of 
coincidence, I had copied this into my last post
saying I didn't have a clue what it meant ;-)

>          quote:
>       There is an all-in-one file |hd-media/boot.img.gz| which contains all
> the installer
>        files (including the kernel) as well as *yaboot* and its
> configuration file. Create a partition
>        of type "Apple_Bootstrap" on your USB stick using *mac-fdisk*'s *|C|*
> command and extract
>       the image directly to that:
>
>             # zcat boot.img.gz > /dev//|sda2|/
>   
And so the first half of of this line works fine. I actually don't 
understand the "/dev//|sda2|/" half of the line...and I'm
thinking that if I could get someone to explain that, my problems would 
be almost solved.

The problem is that I don't know how to get a directory path to the 
Apple_bootstrap partition

  *   The partition shows up in pdisk and with disktool  but I can't 
seem to get a reference to it in the OS X Unix terminal
               (*)  "cd Volumes" and "ls" only shows the Apple hfs+ 
partitions (the Apple_bootstrap partition does not show up)
               (*)  otherwise the "zcat" command with the ">" would do 
the trick
          
  *   If I could figure out the meaning of the  double slashes and the 
pipe symbols in "/dev//|sda2|/ " in this line, my problem
       should be more than half-way solved
               (*)  feel like I'm guessing with "hd" vs. "ide" vs. 
"sda", etc. but in most cases "disk1s8" seems to work

  *   At any rate, the problem is figuring out how to move the files to 
this Apple_bootstrap partition, when it doesn't show up in the finder, 
and I can't seem to get a reference to it from the Unix Terminal



As always, your time and help is greatly appreciated!!

Sincerely,

Bryan Pierce



p.s.  by the way, Risto, to answer a couple of your questions earlier.


Risto Suominen wrote:
> >  My original attempt was partitioning my hard-drive, thinking that I could
> > use one partition for the boot.img files (shying away from the idea of
> > booting off a flash drive)
> >
> >     
> Are you running an OS from CD? Mac OS 9? Or is it installed on HD?
>
>   
I'm running on a PowerMac G4 so I can boot of my main OS X hard-drive 
while trying to install Debian on the second hard-drive.




> That's the problem. I don't really understand the difference between
> an Apple_HFS and an Apple_Bootstrap partition. Both are HFS. Probably
> the latter is a requirement for OF booting. This may depend on OF
> version, too.
>
>   
Yes, it is my understanding that it is needed for OF booting.

> Don't give up. You are probably not far from success.
>
> Risto
>
>
>   

I appreciate your help and your encouragement!!
Thanks, Risto!!