Linux on PowerPC FAQ-O-Matic : Trash :
Can I install LinuxPPC onto an Expansion Bay Hard Drive?
Installation of 4.1 on an expansion bay drive requires a few steps beyond the standard installation because of the way the expansion bays are supported in Linux.
Please read the standard installation documents, paying special attention to the part on disk naming and partitioning (http://www.linuxppc.com/userguide/part.html). This guide will only deal with the extra steps necessary to install on the expansion bay drive.
The only reason this guide is necessary is due to the way the newer kernels support the expansion bay hard disks. All partitions of a drive in the right bay are referenced as /dev/hdcX and the partitions in the left bay are referenced as /dev/hdeX, EVEN IF IT IS THE SAME PHYSICAL hard disk being swapped back and forth. Furthermore, the kernel supplied on the v4.1 CD does not even support the left bay at all, and the pdisk program seems to have this same problem.
The simplest solution to this problem is to copy everything from the CD onto the top level of one of the HFS partitions on the internal disk, making sure to keep all the files and folders at the same relative levels as they are on the CD. Take the CD module out, install the expansion bay drive. You should now be able to partition and perform an install from the internal hard disk. Make sure that these files are on a HFS partition, not a HFS+ partition.
If you don't have room for the contents of the CD, or don't have a large HFS partition, you need to do some extra work and a bit of module swapping.
A] First we'll deal with the necessary software.
A.1) BootX -- Copy the BootX application onto your hard disk, putting it next to your system folder (which must be a HFS partition for this to work).
A.2) ramdisk.image.gz -- Copy the ramdisk.image.gz file from the CD and put it into the system folder.
A.3) pdisk -- copy the pdisk program from the CD and put it anywhere on your hard disk.
A.4) vmlinux -- You will need to download a newer kernel which fully supports left bay devices. I don't know where the support first showed up, but any kernel above v2.2.1 should work. Grab the latest kernel (called vmlinux) from ftp://mirror.linuxppc.org/linuxppc/pmac/kernel-binary/ . Make sure you use Binary mode during the transfer. Place this vmlinux file inside the system foler.
B] Partition the Drive
Remove the CD module and install the drive in the right bay (pdisk seems to have this right bay limitation). Partition the drive as the installation pages suggest. One thing that the installation docs don't reccomend but should is to write down which partitions you intend to hold which file systems, i.e. you want /usr to do on /dev/hdc4.
I saved about 300Mb to serve as a Mac HFS partition to swap files back and forth between the OSes. This comes in very handy in normal operation.
C] Start the installation
C.1) Plug in your computer! C.2) Remove the drive from the right bay. C.3) Install the CD module in the right bay, put the CD in C.4) make sure you are plugged in C.5) Remove the battery from the left bay C.6) Install the drive in the left bay C.7) Double click on the BootX application on your internal hard drive.
Check both boxes (No video Driver and Use Ramdisk)
Hit the Linux Button
Choose a CD based installation and do a "normal" install. One thing to
remember is that all the partions are now called /dev/hdcX because the
drive is in the left bay, so choose the partitions and mount points
appropriately.D] Enjoy and cleanup
Once the installation is complete (you may have other questions/problems, but these most likely are not specific to the expansion bay), log in and push your system around some.
Linux has recorded the location of your partitions in /etc/fstab. My normal operation is to have the battery in the left, and the drive in the right. To get this setup, you will need to edit /etc/fstab and change all references of /dev/hdcX to /dev/hdeX. I also added in the MacOS partition so it will automatically mount. Shutdown linux, swap the battery back in and place the drive in the right bay, and boot linux back up.
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