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Old 06-05-2005, 12:05 PM   #1
Franzmueller
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Ubuntu on Power PC : boot problem


Hello everybody.

I've been trying to install Ubuntu 5.04 on an old Power MacIntosh 9600 for a few days. I used BootX to boot the install CD and everything seemed to work fine.

I've completely erased the hard disk and the installer partitioned it automatically. So there's no MacOS on it anymore.

After the "basic system" was installed I had to reboot. Just before the shut down the installer signaled that it probably wouldn't be able to boot automatically.

And unfortunately this was true. Now, when I try to boot, I just get a grey screen with a cursor and a floppy icon.


Does anybody know what I can do to boot Ubuntu or anything else ?

Best regards, Franz.

ps: sorry for my English.
 
Old 06-06-2005, 03:47 PM   #2
nadroj
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the screen sounds like maybe a MacOS thing? maybe its in the CMOS or something and is still trying to boot to mac automatically, and when it reaches that screen it realizes theres no (mac) OS installed so it haults. can you check out the bios and look for a setting that would be appropriate there?
 
Old 06-10-2005, 06:28 AM   #3
Franzmueller
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There is no BIOS on old PowerPCs. That's the problem.
 
Old 06-10-2005, 06:53 AM   #4
okmyx
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With the older powerpc you still need a MacOS partition to boot to linux (MacOS -> BOOTX -> Linux).

The MacOS partition needn't be large (5-10Mb) just big enough to hold the nessesary system files (files copied from a Mac boot floppy would be enough) and the bootx control panel.
 
Old 10-15-2005, 12:25 PM   #5
Eleaf
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HOW did you get the cd to boot? I have everything ready, when BootX comes on, I select the kernel but I don't know how to make it start using the cd. I just shows a few lines of linux stuff and then stops. It will not boot from the cd, is there a certain argument that you have to pass for it to boot? I CAN'T FIND THIS ANYWERE! = S
 
Old 10-19-2005, 04:15 PM   #6
petespin27
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Eleaf, to get the CD to boot, make sure that you have the Kernel copied over to the 'kernels' folder in your system folder (I'm assuming that you made one). Copy the initrd.gz file from the CD to the system folder. When you fire up bootX, make sure that the 'use ram disk' option is checked, and choose the initrd.gz file that you copied over.

Franzmueller, I have found the best way to use ubuntu is to keep a macos partition and use bootX. Search through the ubuntu forums, and there are instructions on how to get the newly installed kernel over to the macos side. If you don't want to use macos, Debian installs the quik bootloader for you, assuming that you are installing on a master ide drive. I'm sure there's a way to use quik with ubuntu, but I don't know how to do it.
 
Old 10-23-2005, 12:39 AM   #7
Eleaf
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Quote:
Originally posted by petespin27
Eleaf, to get the CD to boot, make sure that you have the Kernel copied over to the 'kernels' folder in your system folder (I'm assuming that you made one). Copy the initrd.gz file from the CD to the system folder. When you fire up bootX, make sure that the 'use ram disk' option is checked, and choose the initrd.gz file that you copied over.
Yes, I've tried all that... It turns out though that the Powermac 8100/100 won't work with Ubuntu. It uses NuBus while the others use PCI. Ubuntu and most others only support PCI. It requires the NuBus kernel from the sourceforge project but that uses a very old kernel. I don't know what to do otherwise.. =-(
 
Old 10-23-2005, 05:12 AM   #8
spooon
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Yes in order to use BootX you need to have a separate working MacOS system partition. I prefer the quik bootloader (which comes with Debian), because it doesn't require MacOS.
 
Old 10-24-2005, 10:06 PM   #9
Eleaf
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Yes, sorry to take over this topic though... = P But I'm stumped with getting this to work with my NuBus powermac... = S See above.
 
Old 10-25-2005, 12:27 AM   #10
spooon
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Quote:
Originally posted by Eleaf
Yes, sorry to take over this topic though... = P But I'm stumped with getting this to work with my NuBus powermac... = S See above.
So you said you already visited the Linux Nubus kernel page; it says it supports your PowerMac 8100, which is good. It's true that they only have the 2.4 kernel; but I guess you have no other choice. (The 2.4 kernel might be better for hardware this old anyway.) In the "Useful Documents" section near the end, it has links to guides for installing Linux on various Nubus machines. I think the distros that work best are Debian and old versions of Yellow Dog; Debian even has a "kernel-image-2.4.27-nubus" and related packages.
 
Old 10-25-2005, 06:18 PM   #11
Eleaf
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Quote:
Originally posted by spooon
So you said you already visited the Linux Nubus kernel page; it says it supports your PowerMac 8100, which is good. It's true that they only have the 2.4 kernel; but I guess you have no other choice. (The 2.4 kernel might be better for hardware this old anyway.) In the "Useful Documents" section near the end, it has links to guides for installing Linux on various Nubus machines. I think the distros that work best are Debian and old versions of Yellow Dog; Debian even has a "kernel-image-2.4.27-nubus" and related packages.
Oh! Alright. I'll go ahead and try this out with debian then. I suppose your right! =)

Thanks a lot! =-)
 
  


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