Ubuntu/Kubuntu on Mac G5.

[Larry Grover]

Brian Durant wrote:
> On 24. jan 2006, at 13.49, Larry Grover wrote:
> 
>> Brian Durant wrote:
>>
>>> On 24. jan 2006, at 3.35, Larry Grover wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm not sure why OSX won't boot, but perhaps it is related to  the  
>>>> problem in setting the correct open firmware device name?
>>>
>>> Wow Larry, I am impressed:-) Well OK, fairly impressed. Now I can   
>>> boot into Ubuntu, but OS X is still a no go. Yaboot simply can't  
>>> load  OS X. it tries, and the screen flickers, but nothing  happens. 
>>> After  three tries, it says something like booting "Mac  OS X..." and 
>>> nothing  works, so I have to do a hard reboot.
>>
>>
>> Whew!  Well it sounds like half your problem is sorted.
>>
>> I'm quite puzzled by why OSX won't boot.  I know you've posted this  
>> before, but would you mind posting the following, from inside  Ubuntu 
>> after you boot from your hard drive using yaboot:
>>
>> (1) the output from "fdisk -l" /dev/sdb (your OSX system disk)
> 
> 
> /dev/sdb
>         #                    type name                  length    
> base      ( size )  system
> /dev/sdb1     Apple_partition_map Apple                     63 @  
> 1         ( 31.5k)  Partition map
> /dev/sdb2              Apple_Free                       262144 @  
> 64        (128.0M)  Free space
> /dev/sdb3               Apple_HFS Untitled           319910838 @  
> 262208    (152.5G)  HFS
> /dev/sdb4              Apple_Free                           10 @  
> 320173046 (  5.0k)  Free space
> 
> Block size=512, Number of Blocks=320173056
> DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0
> 
>> (2) the contents of your /etc/yaboot.conf file
> 
> 
> ## yaboot.conf generated by the Ubuntu 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
> 
> boot=/dev/sda2
> device=/ht at 0,f2000000/pci at 3/k2-sata-root at c/k2-sata at 0/disk at 0:
> partition=3
> root=/dev/sda3
> timeout=100
> install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot
> magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot
> enablecdboot
> 
> # to boot OSX by default
> # to boot linux by default, change to defaultos=linux
> defaultos=macosx
> 
> macosx=/dev/sdb3
> 
> image=/boot/vmlinux
>     label=Linux
>     read-only
>     initrd=/boot/initrd.img
>     append="quiet splash"
> 
> image=/boot/vmlinux.old
>     label=old
>     read-only
>     initrd=/boot/initrd.img.old
>     append="quiet splash"


Well, this looks correct to me.  The output from the fdisk command 
indicates that your OSX system is on sdb3, and the linke 
"macosx=/dev/sdb3" in your yaboot.conf file should be correct.

Re-reading the yaboot.conf man page, it says that the line beginning 
"macosx=" should give the open firmware or unix device path to the OSX 
boot partition.  Perhaps yaboot is having trouble understanding the unix 
path?  What happens if you find the open firmware path from:

ofpath /dev/sdb3

and try substituting it into the line which begins "macosx="?

>>> Any ideas will be appreciated. I am glad Ubuntu can boot, but I  
>>> need  to be able to boot both OS's and unplugging the hard drive  
>>> every time  I switch OS can't be an option.
>>
>>
>> Right, this is not a long-term solution.  I think there is  something 
>> you can do in the interim, while you finish sorting out  the problem 
>> with yaboot and OSX.
>>
>> If you hold down the "option" key while you are booting your  machine 
>> (start holding it down immediately after you power-on the  machine or 
>> immediately after you start to reboot, and continue  holding it down) 
>> you should get a graphical window showing you  icons for all the 
>> bootable devices connected to your system (I  think this is generated 
>> by OpenFirmware).  It should show you icons  for both hard drives.  
>> You can use the mouse to select your OSX or  your Ubuntu drive, for 
>> booting.
> 
> 
> The thing is that still being newbieish to both Linux and OS X, I  don't 
> fully understand this. Here is what I know:
> 
> 1) I can boot into the Ubuntu HD with both drives connected.
> 2) Holding down the command-option-o-f keys all together after  pressing 
> the power-on button does not bring up an OF prompt. If I  choose "L" for 
> the Ubuntu partition, the OF prompt will show up  before Ubuntu is booted.
> 3) I can't bring up the graphic OF interface. I thought it was just  "o" 
> as well, but that doesn't work. The info you linked to suggests  that I 
> could get a graphical interface by holding down only the  option key at 
> boot up.

Let me make sure I understand you.  Is the following correct?
(1) with both drives connected, you can boot into Ubuntu using the 
yaboot prompts?
(2) with both drives connected, you can not boot into OSX using yaboot?
(3) if you boot with with "option" key held down, and boot drives 
connected, you can select either ubuntu or OSX (your next email seemed 
to indicate this is true)?

Can you clarify what happens when you boot/power-on with the 
command-option-o-f key combination pressed?  Are you sure you are 
getting the keys held down soon enough and that you are holding them 
down long enough (it's a rather awkward fingering and you may need to 
hold it for longer than you think).  Anyway, unless you really know what 
you're doing, open firmware is an unfriendly environment.

Regards,
Larry