Ubuntu/Kubuntu on Mac G5.

Fri Jan 27 11:53:48 UTC 2006

On 25. jan 2006, at 5.38, Larry Grover wrote:

> 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.

My Ubuntu Dapper Flight 3 PPC install started getting really buggy.  
Things like opening 186 file browser windows when I double clicked on  
my USB pen drive icon, things not being able to be selected properly  
before the menus quit on me and open up something else, etc. Dapper  
is beta, so I understand this is a work in progress. Anyway, I ended  
up having to reset the PRAM on my G5, so I decided I needed to do  
something different. So, I partitioned my HD and installed YDL 4.0.1  
over my Ubuntu install. YDL 4.0.1 is way too buggy as well, and it  
isn't in beta, or so Terrasoft Solutions say ;-) The interesting  
thing, however is that the yaboot.config file worked perfectly. Not a  
single problem with booting into OS X, YDL or from a CD :-) That is  
why I made a copy :-))) Here it is:

# yaboot.conf generated by anaconda

boot=/dev/sda2
init-message="Welcome to Yellow Dog Linux! Hit <TAB> for boot options."
partition=3
timeout=30
install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot
magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot
delay=10
enablecdboot
macosx=/dev/sdb3

image=/vmlinux-2.6.10-1.ydl.1g5
	label=linux
	read-only
	initrd=/initrd-2.6.10-1.ydl.1g5.img
	root=/dev/sda4
	append="rhgb quiet"

At this point, what I will try to do is get Ubuntu on my G5 by seeing  
if I can install a vanilla Debian Sarge 31r1a-powerpc net install and  
then try to upgrade to Ubuntu by changing the apt sources file to  
Ubuntu Breezy repositories. Hopefully this will give me stability and  
will avoid the following problems that I have had with Ubuntu:

1) Open Firmware errors when I try to boot from a Breezy PPC install CD.
2) The problems with the windfarm_pm91 module.
3) The bugginess of Dapper Flight 3 PPC

Cheers,

Brian