Re: Debian 12 on iMac G5
On Sun, Feb 04, 2024 at 03:57:30PM -0500, Jeffrey Walton wrote:
On Sun, Feb 4, 2024 at 3:33 PM Claudia Neumann
<dr.claudia.neumann@gmx.de> wrote:
Can I boot from USB?
I don't think you can boot from USB on G5's. Or I was not able to boot
from a USB thumb drive when I installed Debian on my PowerMac G5. The
Open Firmware would not allow it. I had to burn the CD or DVD.
Actually yes, you can boot from USB on the iMac G5. Here it is the procedure:
0. prepare a USB key with the netinstall image using ``dd``
1. hold ``Command + Option + O + F`` while booting until you get the
OpenFirmware command line
2. type the following command ``boot usb<N>/disk@<n>:,\<path-to-bootloader>``
Replace <N> with the USB port number you are using. On the iMac G5 they go from
0 (top) to 2 (bottom).
Replace <n> with the disk number assigned. This is usually 0 or 1.
Replace <path-to-bootloader> with the full path to the grub bootloader.
In practice, assuming that you have the USB key in the top USB port.
```
boot usb0/disk@1:,\boot\grub\powerpc.elf
```
How do you find this yourself? Using ``dev / ls`` you get the hardware layout
(device tree). In there you will see a node under a PCI endpoint named
``disk@<n>``. Remember type ``devalias``, and you will see that a ``usb<N>``
name is mapped to the PCI endpoint you found before.
--
Federico Vaga
Reply to: