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InstallingLinuxOldWorldPowerPC

So jared and I are installing linux (Debian) on an OldWorld? PowerPC? mac box.

Starting the install

We tried BootX?, and that didn't work too well.

So now we're making boot floppies that can hopefully boot the CDs that we had burned for some iMacs.

Frustrations

The boot floppies aren't working as well as hoped -- possibly because they're all old disks and have errors and stuff.... (grrrr!!!)

Cool! -- the next one we made worked perfectly!

parititioning

the debian installer uses mac-fdisk. look for documentation on it, like this page:

• see the page http://people.debian.org/~branden/ibook.html#run_installer (very helpful)
• http://penguinppc.org/projects/yaboot/doc/mac-fdisk-basics.shtml (also useful)
• http://www.freeos.com/printer.php?entryID=4349 (more linkage)

we did: (this is basically off of that website)

• d -- then like 4p (deleted the main HFS system)
• b -- bootstrap, then the parition (4p),
• c -- to create swap, 5p, size was 500M (2 * 256MB ram)
• c -- to create /root, 6p. size was 3.5 GB (the rest of the drive).

Then, we had to reboot.

then did some more install stuff (pretty straight forward here).

It's all broken!

dude -- it really was. we couldn't get anything to boot, and we called up Sam (this is like at 12:50 here), and he didn't know.

And then I started reading OpenFirmware? docs on Apple's website, and I started to learn Forth?, and that was just wrong and immoral of me to do....

But light came our way.

reset the PRAM!!

just hit Command + Option + P + R while it's booting, and hold that and let it reboot about 3 times.

Then you can boot off a floppy, etc...

back on track...

Desktop? -- lightweight

we needed a GUI system of some kind, but KDE or Gnome are just going to be way too damn slow (this is a PowerPC? Beige, folks! :)

I'm looking for window managers right now...

The end

RobinsonTryon - 05 Feb 2003