iBook Boot Issue (was Re: PowerBook G3 Wallstreet Hang Using Debian Kernel)
Hi Riccardo,
On 11/2/25 2:22 AM, Riccardo Mottola wrote:
Hi Stan,
Stan Johnson wrote:
I'm able to reproduce the hang on my Wallstreet (266 MHz, 512 MiB)
using an updated Debian SID and the Debian kernel/initrd. However, the
hang doesn't happen on my PowerBook Lombard or Pismo. As you've
reported, the symptoms are that the screen goes blank and the
backlight stays on, and the system freezes (Linux doesn't boot).
I wonder if there is a connection with the freezes I am seeing on my
iBook first generation. I was running 6.5 kernel with no issues, working
framebuffer and X11.
What videocard does your Wallstreet have? ATI Rage LT ? I think It quite
similar to the Rage (non-128) I have.
According to Linux, my Wallstreet has a "3D RAGE LT PRO". My Lombard is
similar to your iBook; the Lombard also has a "3D RAGE LT PRO".
Latest 6.16 kernel from Debian freezes during boot, the output is not
black... but who knows what is around with VRAM. Using debian snapshots
I determined that 6.12 also works for me. Further investigation in the
future.
Are you able to test with debian snapshots. Your use of video=ofonly is
interesting, need to check in the bootloader how to do it. It supports
only two kernels, it is cumbersome.
Which bootloader are you using? Your system appears to be a New World
Mac, so either Yaboot or GRUB is supposed to work (though as far as I
know, GRUB doesn't work if you want to be able to boot Mac OS 9 or Mac
OS X from the GRUB menu). Also, GRUB doesn't work at all on the Lombard,
so it might not work on your iBook (I'm not sure since I don't have an
iBook to test). If you're using Yaboot, you can specify as many kernels
as you want (same as in GRUB).
With Yaboot, you can edit the yaboot.conf file directly. You can use
"mac-fdisk -l" or "parted -l" to determine your Apple_Bootstrap
partition, then mount that partition (e.g. "mount /dev/sda9 /mnt" if
your Apple_Bootstrap partition is /dev/sda9). I usually keep a copy of
the last working yaboot.conf in /etc and in the Apple_Bootstrap
partition as yaboot.conf.old and then edit the real yaboot.conf directly
(if you make a mistake, you can boot into Mac OS X by holding down the
option key at boot, then mount the Apple_Bootstrap partition there to
fix yaboot.conf or copy yaboot.conf.old back to yaboot.conf).
I no longer use ybin to update yaboot.conf, I just edit yaboot.conf
directly. I use symbolic links in each Linux /boot directory so that
/boot/vmlinux points to whatever kernel I want to boot, and
/boot/initrd.img points to the appropriate initrd.img file, if I'm using
an initrd.img (I'm currently not, so that's commented out for Debian
SID). Other options, such as video options, are commented out except for
whatever I want to use or test.
Here's the yaboot.conf file I'm using for my Lombard PowerBook. I'm able
to boot from CD, Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, Debian SID, Gentoo or Debian 7 from
the Yaboot menu. For Debian SID, the resulting Linux command line is this:
# cat /proc/cmdline
root=/dev/sda12 ro video=atyfb:1024x768
----- cut here -----
## yaboot.conf generated by debian-installer
##
## run: "man yaboot.conf" for details. Do not make changes until you have!!
## see also: /usr/share/doc/yaboot/examples for example configurations.
##
## For a dual-boot menu, add one or more of:
## bsd=/dev/hdaX, macos=/dev/hdaY, macosx=/dev/hdaZ
device=hd:
boot=/dev/sda9
timeout=100
install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot
magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot
enablecdboot
macos=hd:10
macosx=hd:11
# defaultos=macosx
image=/boot/vmlinux
label=Debian_sid
partition=12
root=/dev/sda12
read-only
# initrd=/boot/initrd.img
# append="video=ofonly"
append="video=atyfb:1024x768"
image=/boot/vmlinux
label=Gentoo
partition=13
root=/dev/sda13
read-only
# initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="video=atyfb:1024x768"
image=/boot/vmlinux
label=Debian_7
partition=14
root=/dev/sda14
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="video=atyfb:1024x768"
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