Re: Installation, Debian 12, iMac G5, USB thumb drive => “Your installation media couldn’t be mounted. “

Hi Cedar,

The results of the commands you recommended I run are below. Still looks like bad hardware to me.

Thanks!

Joe

--------

After iMac was power-cycled and with just the known good Ethernet cable plugged into the Ethernet port, Ethernet port blown out with compressed air, NO USB to Ethernet adapter plugged in:

joe@debian1:~$ date
Thu Sep 4 06:40:38 AM EDT 2025
joe@debian1:~$ sudo ifconfig
[sudo] password for joe:
enP1p3s15f0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet6 fe80::20d:93ff:fe4a:42d2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 4 bytes 5564 (5.4 KiB)
RX errors 3 dropped 7 overruns 0 frame 2
TX packets 76 bytes 12707 (12.4 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 27 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host>
loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback)
RX packets 480 bytes 40266 (39.3 KiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 480 bytes 40266 (39.3 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

joe@debian1:~$ sudo ip link set enP1p3s15f0 up
joe@debian1:~$ sudo dhclient
sudo: dhclient: command not found
joe@debian1:~$ sudo dhcpcd
dhcpcd-10.2.4 starting
dev: loaded udev
DUID 00:01:00:01:30:4c:26:c7:00:0d:93:4a:42:d2
no interfaces have a carrier
joe@debian1:~$ sudo ip link show enP1p3s15f0
2: enP1p3s15f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
altname enx000d934a42d2
joe@debian1:~$ sudo dmesg | grep -i eth
[ 2.743937] pmac64_cpufreq: Frequency method: SCOM, Voltage method: SMU
[ 5.812401] gem 0001:03:0f.0 eth0: Sun GEM (PCI) 10/100/1000BaseT Ethernet 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2
[ 8.581065] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: renamed from eth0
[ 9.550494] windfarm: SMU failed new fan command falling back to old method
joe@debian1:~$ sudo dmesg | grep enP1p3s15f0
[ 8.581065] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: renamed from eth0
[ 49.467366] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Found BCM5221 PHY
[ 65.284839] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 65.284975] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 66.500717] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 82.308774] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 82.308936] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 90.820762] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 107.844850] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 107.844990] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 120.004718] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 139.460825] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 139.460964] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 141.892777] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 144.324829] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 144.324984] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 145.540737] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 147.972807] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 147.972944] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 150.404784] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 154.052775] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 154.052926] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 177.156744] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 192.964824] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 192.964960] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 212.420756] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 228.228763] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 228.228924] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 239.172755] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 254.980784] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 254.980946] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 267.140748] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 282.948784] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 282.948922] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 297.540760] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 315.780854] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 315.780996] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 316.996742] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 320.644820] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 320.644957] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[ 323.076717] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[ 338.884802] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, full-duplex
[ 338.884955] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
joe@debian1:~$ sudo ifconfig
enP1p3s15f0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet6 fe80::20d:93ff:fe4a:42d2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 13 bytes 74952 (73.1 KiB)
RX errors 3 dropped 12 overruns 0 frame 2
TX packets 196 bytes 31612 (30.8 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 62 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host>
loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback)
RX packets 941 bytes 78619 (76.7 KiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 941 bytes 78619 (76.7 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

joe@debian1:~$ sudo ip link show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enP1p3s15f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
altname enx000d934a42d2
joe@debian1:~$
joe@debian1:~$ sudo ip addr show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 ::1/128 scope host noprefixroute
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enP1p3s15f0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
altname enx000d934a42d2
inet6 fe80::20d:93ff:fe4a:42d2/64 scope link noprefixroute
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
joe@debian1:~$ sudo nmcli device status
DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION
lo loopback connected (externally) lo
enP1p3s15f0 ethernet unavailable --
joe@debian1:~$ sudo lspci | grep -i ethernet
0001:03:0f.0 Ethernet controller: Apple Inc. Shasta (Sun GEM)
joe@debian1:~$
joe@debian1:~$ date
Thu Sep 4 06:44:50 AM EDT 2025
joe@debian1:~$

On Wed, Sep 3, 2025 at 10:56 AM Cedar Maxwell <cedarmaxwell@mac.com> wrote:

Hey Joe,

If you want to continue troubleshooting your built-in Ethernet, try:

sudo ip link set enP1p3s15f0 up
sudo dhclient

then:

ip link show enP1p3s15f0

If it still shows NO-CARRIER, this could mean no cable is plugged in or
driver/firmware issue.

Try: dmesg | grep -i eth

or

dmesg | grep enP1p3s15f0

and see if there's any messages about the kernel complaining about
firmware.

On Wed, 2025-09-03 at 08:09 -0400, Joe Flowers wrote:
> Thanks, Cedar!
>
> The machine is working great except for the built-in Ethernet
> adapter, but I can live with the USB to Ethernet dongle.
>
> John's response pushed me to the "Guided" setup, and it worked great!
>
> Thanks for the GUI recommendations. I have made a note of them.
>
>
> MacOSX is long gone on this machine. ifconfig is not on Debian,
> apparently.
>
> But, below are other enumerations of the Ethernet setup. Would be
> nice to have the built-in working, but beggars...
>
>
> Thank you, in any case!
>
>
> ----
>
> 172.16.99.227 04-69-f8-ec-83-23 <----- This is my USB to
> Ethernet adapter that is working.
>
>
> joe@debian1:~$ sudo ifconfig
> [sudo] password for joe:
> sudo: ifconfig: command not found
> joe@debian1:~$
>
>
> joe@debian1:~$ ip link show
> 1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
> mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
> link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
> 2: enP1p3s15f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc
> fq_codel state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
> link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
> altname enx000d934a42d2
> 3: enx0469f8ec8323: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc
> fq_codel state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
> link/ether 04:69:f8:ec:83:23 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
>
>
> joe@debian1:~$ ip addr show
> 1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
> group default qlen 1000
> link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
> inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
> valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
> inet6 ::1/128 scope host noprefixroute
> valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
> 2: enP1p3s15f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc
> fq_codel state DOWN group default qlen 1000
> link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
> altname enx000d934a42d2
> 3: enx0469f8ec8323: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc
> fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
> link/ether 04:69:f8:ec:83:23 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
> inet 172.16.99.227/24 brd 172.16.99.255 scope global dynamic
> noprefixroute enx0469f8ec8323
> valid_lft 86253sec preferred_lft 86253sec
> inet6 fe80::669:f8ff:feec:8323/64 scope link noprefixroute
> valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
>
>
> joe@debian1:~$ nmcli device status
> DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION
> enx0469f8ec8323 ethernet connected Wired connection 1
> lo loopback connected (externally) lo
> enP1p3s15f0 ethernet unavailable --
> joe@debian1:~$
>
>
> joe@debian1:~$ lspci | grep -i ethernet
> 0001:03:0f.0 Ethernet controller: Apple Inc. Shasta (Sun GEM)
> joe@debian1:~$ netstat -ie
>
> ---
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 2, 2025 at 2:01 AM Cedar Maxwell <cedarmaxwell@mac.com>
> wrote:
> > On 8/28/25 23:41, Joe Flowers wrote:
> > >
> > > OK. Thanks to the command-line ideas from Jeroen and Cedar, I was
> > > able
> > > to get much further (plus I know how to get into the command-line
> > > now!
> > > Yay!), but I'm not exactly sure what caused it to finally see the
> > > USB
> > > stick for the Installation media step.
> > >
> > > The installation seemed to go OK and finish OK, but on restart,
> > > the iMac
> > > will not boot. I get the Mac icon that means bootable media
> > > cannot be found.
> > > I'm guessing maybe I made a partitioning mistake or a
> > > partitioning quirk
> > > or grub?
> > >
> > > Here is my partitioning setup:
> > >
> > > LVM VG vg1, LV lv1 - 398.5 MB Linux device-mapper (linear)
> > > #1 398.5 MB f ext2 /boot
> > > LVM VG vg1, LV lv2 - 398.5 MB Linux device-mapper (linear)
> > > #1 398.5 MB f HFS /boot/grub
> > > LVM VG vg1, LV lv3 - 75.2 GB Linux device-mapper (linear)
> > > #1 75.2 GB f ext4 /
> > > LVM VG vg1, LV lv4 - 4.0 GB Linux device-mapper (linear)
> > > #1 4.0 GB f swap swap
> > > SCSI2 (0,0,0) (sda) - 80.0 GB ATA WDC WD800J-40GB
> > > #1 32.3 kB Apple
> > > <---------------------------------------- bet this is the
> > > problem? I
> > > should have deleted this first?
> > > #2 80.0 GB K lvm untitled
> > > 25.1 kB FREE SPACE
> > > SCSI6 (0,0,0) (sdb) - 4.0 GB General UDisk <-------- my
> > > thumb drive
> >
> > I'd recommend starting the installation over and choosing "Guided -
> > Use
> > Entire Disk" once you get to partitioning. I don't know if you
> > meant to
> > create an LVM, but I'd recommend against that for your first
> > installation for simplicity's sake.
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > If the USB doesn't work this time, I need to dig through a
> > > filled-up
> > > cave for blank CD-R, DVD-R, or DVD+R discs (Thanks, Ken!).
> > > Hopefully,
> > > the CD/(DVD?) drive will work.
> > >
> > > The Built-in Ethernet hardware is apparently bad, and MacOSX
> > > still would
> > > not recognize either, but the Debian Installation did recognize
> > > the
> > > Apple USB-to-Ethernet dongle.
> >
> > I doubt your built-in Ethernet went bad on it's own. I've had
> > similar
> > issues before with both Mac OS X and Linux. If you type "ifconfig"
> > in
> > Terminal in OS X, what does it output?
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > Anyway, please offer any advice on where I may have messed up, so
> > > I can
> > > get this thing booting.
> > >
> > > BTW, any recommendations for a lightweight GUI to install? I
> > > need this
> > > machine mostly for gcc (some g++) and TCP/IP and thread
> > > programming,
> > > gdb, SSH/SCP.
> > >
> >
> > XFCE or LXQT are generally considered to be the top choices.
> >
> > >
> > > Thank you!
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 7:53 AM Joe Flowers
> > > <joe.flowers@nofreewill.com
> > > <mailto:joe.flowers@nofreewill.com>> wrote:
> > >
> > > On the “Detect and mount installation media” step, I get,
> > > “Your
> > > installation media couldn’t be mounted. “
> > >
> > > I burned debian-12.0.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso on a 4GB USB
> > > drive with
> > > rufus-4.9p.exe. Rufus said it had to use the dd method.
> > >
> > > When the iMac G5 is booted up with Mac OS X Version 10.5.8,
> > > I can
> > > see and browse the USB drive and read text files on it.
> > >
> > > I can boot to the USB drive with Federico Vaga’s excellent
> > > post
> > > (https://lists.debian.org/debian-
> > > powerpc/2024/02/msg00007.html
> > > <https://lists.debian.org/debian-
> > > powerpc/2024/02/msg00007.html> =>
> > > boot usb0/disk@1:,\boot\grub\powerpc.elf), and the Debian
> > > installation seems to proceed fine until I get to this
> > > error.
> > >
> > > “Your installation media couldn’t be mounted... “ “Retry
> > > mounting
> > > installation media?”
> > >
> > > I have not been able to get the Built-in Ethernet port nor a
> > > USB to
> > > Ethernet dongle to work when booted in Mac OS X, but I was
> > > hoping
> > > the Debian installation media could work with either of
> > > those two
> > > Ethernet hardware options. I do not have a WiFi card in this
> > > iMac
> > > G5, apparently.
> > >
> > > Any ideas, please?
> > >
> > > ---
> > >
> > > debian-12.0.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso
> > > SHA256:
> > > 1483ae25b215e69cbd2268b4aa58b23bc7f5522f6fc5697213af39cee6704c50
> > >
> > > rufus-4.9p.exe
> > > SHA256:
> > > 497f796e6d076d4855d697965c04626e6d3624658fce3eca82ab14f7414eede2
> > >
> > > ---
> > >
> >