Linux on PowerPC FAQ-O-Matic : Trash :
Details for Installing LinuxPPC 2000 on an iBook SE (might apply to other systems as well)
<FONT FACE="Times"> PThere is a definite void in the official documentation available for getting linux up and running. All of the documentation I've seen appears to be too vague for those of us not intimately familiar with yaboot, linux, partitions, PRAM, etc. This document is my attempt to fill in some details that other resources have ALL omitted. It is the result of days of frustrating trial and error on my part and is intended to spare others some of that frustration./P
P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P PART 1 - General Information/P P----------------------------------------------------------------/P
PThis document describes the steps and pitfalls that you may face while trying to install Linux PPC 2K on an iBook./P
PFirst some terminology rules:/P Pa) <mac-mac> = Mac OS Partition Number to Boot into Mac OS./P Pb) <mac-yaboot> = Mac OS Partition Number to Boot into yaboot/P Pc) <linux-root> = Linux Partition Number containing installed linux stuff/P Pd) <linux-swap> = Linux Partition Number containing the Linux Swap space/P
P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P PART 2 - Getting Linux Up and Running (Pitfalls and Steps)/P P----------------------------------------------------------------/P
P1) Pitfall: <mac-yaboot> partition MUST BE AN HFS NOT AN HFS+ PARTITION!!!/P P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P2) Pitfall: The kernel that came on the CD freezes on boot on iBook SE. You must acquire a new, later kernel. Try here http://ppclinux.apple.com/~benh//P P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P3) Pitfall: The kernel file must be uncompressed (converted from vmlinux...gz to just vmlinux...)/P P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P4) Pitfall: The kernel (e.g. vmlinux-2.2.15pre14) must be just inside the <mac-yaboot> hard drive icon. DO NOT put it inside the system folder or any other folder. For example, if your <mac-yaboot> partition is called "Linux Boot" then the path to the linux kernel should be/P
P "Linux Boot:vmlinux-2.2.15pre14"./P
P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P5) Pitfall: The yaboot.conf file is VERY sensitive and VERY UNDOCUMENTED. All that I know is this:/P P a) device=hd: appears to be necessary/P P b) default=<label> specifies which of the configurations will be run if you just hit enter at the initial yaboot prompt or don't respond within the specified timeout time./P P c) timeout=<time> where time is specified in 1/10ths of seconds (e.g. 50 means 5 seconds 55 means 5 1/2 seconds). This timeout specifies how long yaboot will wait at the initial prompt before attempting to load the configuration specified by the "default" label above./P
PNOTE: The header (containing the above 3 options) is separated from the configurations (containing the following options) by an empty line. Each configuration is separated from the next by an empty line as well./P
P d) If anything is wrong in the configuration you get the "image not found" (or something like that) error/P P e) the video option in a given configuration is used to tell the kernel to use video hardware acceleration. Specifying "novideo" means NO VIDEO ACCELERATION, NOT NO VIDEO AT ALL./P P f) There are other configuration options that must be specified for the installation ram disk, but for booting AFTER installation you only need "image=", "label=", "root=" and "novideo"./P P g) 'image' has the syntax: "image=hd:<yaboot partition #>,<kernel name>". For example:/P P image=hd:12,vmlinx-2.2.15pre14/P P h) 'label' is a string describing the configuration being defined. Examples are: 'lable=linux', 'label=install', 'label=ramdisk', etc./P P i) 'root' has the syntax: "root=/dev/hda<linux root partition #>". For example:/P P root=/dev/hda13/P
P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P6) Step: Partition your drive as specified in the documentation. You need at least the following 4:/P
P**** IMPORTANT *****/P PMAKE SURE THE <mac-mac> PARTITION IS BEFORE THE OTHER ONES. THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR GETTING BACK TO MACOS AFTER YOU SET THINGS UP TO BOOT INTO LINUX!!!/P P**** IMPORTANT *****/P
P a) <mac-mac> (perhaps 2 Gb. Type: HFS or HFS+, doesn't matter) - Contains MacOS and All Mac Utilities./P P b) <mac-yaboot> (perhaps 100 Mb. Type: HFS. DO NOT CREATE THIS AS HFS+) - Contains yaboot, yaboot.conf and vmlinux kernels/P P c) <linux-root> (perhaps 2 Gb. Type: AUX) - Contains linux/P P d) <linux-swap> (perhaps 100 Mb. Type: SWAP) - Contains swap space for linux./P
P**** IMPORTANT *****/P PMAKE SURE THE <mac-mac> PARTITION IS BEFORE THE OTHER ONES. THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR GETTING BACK TO MACOS AFTER YOU SET THINGS UP TO BOOT INTO LINUX!!!/P P**** IMPORTANT *****/P
PThe astute reader will notice that this only accounts for around 4.2 Gb of the 6 Gb (or more if you upgraded) of disk space you have. You can distribute the remaining space however you want amongst these partitions. (NOTE: I think the limit for swap space that linux will use is 128 Mb so don't bother making the <linux-swap> bigger than that). If you like you can even create a new partition. Personally I increased the <mac-yaboot> partition to around 2 Gb, but it might make more sense to have a separate 1.7 Gb HFS+ partition instead. The choice is yours./P P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P7) Step: Install Linux PPC 2k. Start by booting from the CD ROM (restart and hold down the 'C' key until the screen goes black). The CD ROM boots into the installer. Just follow the instructions./P P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P8) Step: Configure the <mac-yaboot> partition by copying the System Folder from the Linux PPC to it. You may have to open and close the System Folder on the <mac-yaboot> partition to "bless" it. (You should see the Mac OS face on the folder if it's blessed)./P P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P9) Step: Make sure the later kernel is on the <mac-yaboot> partition as described in items 2, 3 and 4 above./P P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P10) Step: Edit the yaboot.conf file. To edit it you need to use an editor that ignores the file's associated type (since it's not text) such as Word or Alpha or something. Alternatively you can use MacLink Plus, ResEdit, a Contextual Menu shareware thingie, etc. to change the type to TEXT and then use SimpleText or whatever./P
PMake it look like this, making sure to replace <mac-xxx> with the appropriate partition # and <kernel> with the kernel name (e.g. vmlinux-2.2.15pre14-ben1):/P
Pdevice=hd:/P Ptimeout=30/P Pdefault=linux/P
Pimage=hd:<mac-yaboot>,<kernel>/P P label=linux/P P root=/dev/hda<linux-root>/P P novideo/P
Pimage=... whatever other boot configurations appear here are all optional./P P Just make sure they DON'T say "label=linux". FYI, I have not discovered/P P a configuration that lets you boot into Mac OS from yaboot (if anyone/P P knows of one please let me know)./P
P----------------------------------------------------------------/P P11) Step: Booting into linux./P
P******** IMPORTANT *********/P PTo get back to the Mac OS after this step you have 2 choices:/P P a) Reset PRAM (do a restart from within linux and before you hear the boot chimes press and hold COMMAND-OPTION-P-R until you hear a SECOND boot chime) or/P P b) Boot from another, MacOS bootable CD (other than the Linux PPC 2000 CD), such as the one that came with your computer and run Startup Disk control panel to set the boot partition back to your MacOS partition. /P P******** IMPORTANT *********/P
PTo boot into linux:/P PRun the Startup Disk control panel, and select the <mac-yaboot> partition and restart your computer. Enjoy./P /FONT/BODY /HTML
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Details for Installing LinuxPPC 2000 on an iBook SE (might apply to other systems as well)