Re: help installing on powerbook6,8 w/ dead cd drive
I used to boot my Powerbook G4 just fine with USB CD drive. The only
problem was to find a correct device path in the OF device tree.
Otherwise, you should be able to netboot easily -- the setup is quite
well documented on the web.
On 3/22/09, Ross Gohlke <developer@grinz.com> wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I have tried and failed to install Debian on my powerbook. Please review
> my procedure and suggest revisions.
>
> SPECIFICATIONS
> powerbook6,8 - 1.5 GHz PowerPC 12"
> Mac OS 10.4
> Dead SuperDrive
> No USB Boot (Open Firmware doesn't recognize external disks)
> Internal 150GB drive formatted with Disk Utility years ago into 2 drives
> -- 1 UFS, 1 case-sensitive HFS+. Disk Utility also created an 8MB
> Apple_Boot partition for each of these partitions, for a total of 4
> partitions.
> Open Firmware only recognizes Apple_Boot partitions. Presumably it does
> not see my HFS+ partition because it is case-sensitive.
> I cannot rewrite the disk partition map because I cannot run off-disk (no
> CD drive, no bootable external drive).
> Debian distro: debian-500-powerpc-businesscard-1.iso, downloaded from
> http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/
>
> SITUATION
> The downloaded yaboot assumes the rest of the files are on the same
> partition. Open Firmware only sees Apple_Boot partitions, which are too
> small to hold vmlinux AND initrd.gz. Modifying yaboot.conf/yaboot requires
> ybin, which requires a running Debian, which I don't have.
> Manually loading the kernel should work:
> http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/yaboot-howto/ch9.en.html#s9.3 I
> should be able use root=/dev/hda5 (case-sensitive HFS+ partition).
>
> PROCEDURE
> MAC OS X
> Double-click Debian ISO to mount it.
> In Terminal, mount first Apple_Boot partition and copy vmlinux to it: %
> mkdir /Volumes/apple_boot
> % mount -t hfs /dev/disk1s2 /Volumes/apple_boot
> % cp -a /Volumes/Debian:PowerPC_lenny/install/powerpc/vmlinux
> /Volumes/apple_boot/
> % cp -aR /Volumes/Debian:PowerPC_lenny/install /
> Reboot into Open Firmware (cmd-opt-o-f)
> 0 > boot hd:2,\vmlinux root=/dev/hda5 initrd=/install/powerpc/initrd.gz
> initrdsize=10240 append="--"
>
> Loading ELF
>
> Claim failed.
>
> This happens whether I put initrd.gz on HFS+ or on 2nd Apple_Boot.
>
> I also looked into netbooting, but documentation is inconsistent and I
> could not find netbootable binaries.
>
> QUESTIONS
> Is /dev/hda5 right for root=?
> Is HFS+ drive being case-sensitive the reason Open Firmware, vmlinux or
> both cannot see it?
> Even if I could boot the kernel, would the installer be able to use the
> UFS partition?
> Am I using the wrong distro?
>
> Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
>
> Here's to dipping into Debian!
> Ross
>
>
>
>
>
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>
--
Regards, Wartan.
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