Linux Newb w/ PPC unable to boot from linux CD

[tobywan]

Hi everyone. I found a few posts similar to this, but all dead-ended without any documented resolution. I sure hope someone out there can help. I want to build a linux file server for my home network, but I cant seem to get the Mac to boot from any of the linux CD's I burn, even though they can each appear on the MacOS desktop.

I have tried Mandrake PPC 8.0, Yellow Dog 2.2.2 and Ubuntu Server 6.06.2 PPC. I have also tried a 7-CD bittorrent of Fedora. but the first ISO image keeps coming down corrupted. I am burning with ImgBurn v 2.4.4.0 and using the slowest burn speed, 1x. (Fedora is the "recommended flavor" in my Linux Admin text, but it contains plenty of Ubuntu references and comparisons too.)

I happen to have a fully functional Mac PPC 8600/300 MHz. Nice because it has built-in ethernet and plenty of RAM (244 MB), and with Mac OS 9.1 handles USB adapter card and TCP/IP fairly well. The PPC 8600 runs on a 604ev 32-bit processor, and predates the 64-bit G5 by about 2-4 years, so its still considered an "old world" Mac.

I want to use it as my lab box while I follow the exercises in Wale Soyinka's Linux Administration: A Beginner's Guide, Fifth Ed. [2009, McGrawHill]. But, I need someone to tell me how to make a PPC Linux CD Installer disk to be recognized as bootable on my machine, or how to create a bootable floppy to run the install CD off of, or how to install linux server from within the Mac OS 9.1. (I had already repartitioned the 4GB HD so that 3GB are unallocated and just waiting for linux.)

The way I figure, one or more of these options [I]must[I] be possible, or else why would anyone bother to write any Linux distros for the PowerPC, right? So, please, somebody, help me out so I can post my next thread in the Linux Server Forum. Thanks.


"Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow."
Lawrence Clark Powell, 1906-2001.

[reed9]

Just to make sure, you aren't burning the disc as a data file are you?
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

If you're burning it properly, I might try a different program.

You've set the computer to boot from the CD drive? I'm not familiar with Macs, but I understand you're supposed to hold the 'c' key down during boot.

Why are you using such old linux releases? I would use something more recent, or even if you get it installed, you're bound to run into trouble. Ubuntu no longer has an official PPC port, though I think there is an unoffical one, but Debian does.

[tobywan]

Thanks for the post, Reed9. No, I am not burning the file onto the CD - I am burning them correctly. When I use the same program to burn cd & dvd iso's of linux for intel hardware, everything runs smooth. (However, I did have a problem once with a corrupted iso image from a bittorrent cd-set of CentOS 5.3 for x86_64, but that's a different issue.)

The Ubuntu Server 6.06.2 is the latest version for PPC. The others were older install CDs that I just happen to have available and tried only as part of my troubleshooting.

On this particular Macintosh, holding down the 'c' is necessary and works great when booting from a bootable MacOS CD. But the BIOS does not recognize my linux installers, perhaps because they lack some critical boot-recognition file that Mac CDs have?

I saw something called "Boot X" mentioned in some other posts, but without clarification or instructions that bit of knowledge is not too helpful.

My PPC 8600 still has its original SCSI 24x CD-P, so is unable to read DVDs or burn any media. (The FCC was still debating whether end users could be trusted with consumer lasers back then. ).

I do have an option to add an IDE DVD+/-RW in the Zip drive bay, but as this mobo has only SCSI integration, I have to use a 3rd-party PCI ATA card to connect it and I am doubtful that the BIOS can recognize the card without the assist of an OS.

I also have a PCI USB card installed, and could attempt to try an external optical drive, but I expect the same problems - this BIOS is too old to recognize USB without OS assistance.

So that leaves me with needing to download iso files (CD only) to my Vista PC, then burning the CD there while working some additional magic that will make that CD recognizable as bootable to the Mac BIOS.

Greatly appreciate any and all ideas or suggestions.

tobywan.

"Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow."
Lawrence Clark Powell, 1906-2001.

[reed9]

Aha, I may have discovered the problem. According to the Debian ppc installation guide, "OldWorld PowerMacs will not boot a Debian CD, because OldWorld computers relied on a Mac OS ROM CD boot driver to be present on the CD, and a free-software version of this driver is not available. All OldWorld systems have floppy drives, so use the floppy drive to launch the installer, and then point the installer to the CD for the needed files."

This would quite likely be the case for other distros as well.

I would say either try a network install, or use a boot floppy then. Again, Debian makes it fairly easy to create a bootable floppy. 4.3.*Creating Floppies from Disk Images

[tobywan]

Reeed9,

Thanks, I really appreciate the help. I plan to make sure anyone following this thread in the future sees complete trial & result processes, and not just dead-end threads such as I found. So while you may not need all of the detailed info I provide, please understand that I am writing to the broader audience.

I continued to google a bit last night and found a page dealing with "BootX" that I thought was interesting. LinuxForums disallows urls in any of a user's first 15 posts, so I removed the traditional url precedent.

penguinppc.org/bootloaders/bootx/

I didn't see anything in the way of a "HowTo", but what follows is an exceprt copied from that site.

BootX is a graphical bootloader that allows Linux to boot after the Mac OS is running. (quik, on the other hand, is an Open Firmware-based bootloader that runs without Mac OS.) There are two ways to run BootX: as an application or as an extention. Both have the exact same interface.

The only difference between the application and extension is that the extension has a (ResEdit-configurable) timeout value, after which the default OS (which the user defines) is chosen. If Linux is selected, BootX shuts down the Mac OS, loads the Linux kernel into memory, and starts it running. If the Mac OS is selected, BootX simply exits.

I downloaded "BootX" to the Mac and checked it out. Once decompressed with Aladdin Stuffit it was a folder containing 5 objects, 2 of which are sub-folders. when viewed alphetically, the list is as follows (with brief descriptions per line item).

miBoot.img ... Mac "Disc Copy" Self Mounting Image (smi)
miBoot.mcp ... file
obj ... empty directory
src ... directory containing 27 linux files
System ... MacOS boot file

I tried making a bootable floppy disk from "miBoot.smi" but discovered one piece of the Mac hardware that, apparently, is no longer fully functional". So that test will have to wait a replacement FDD. However, I did get a peek inside the FD image. It contains two Mac files: "Finder" and "System", and one non-Mac file called "zimage".

At this point I am temporarily setting aside the BootX tests. I will now check out the link that you provided, and will report back here with my findings.

Thanks again.

tobywan.

"Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow."
Lawrence Clark Powell, 1906-2001.