Re: new installation
Adam C Powell IV wrote:
>
> Bruno Waes wrote:
>
> > so, to use BootX i still need macos, now this system comes with only one hd,
> > and it has macos on it ...
> > does there exist something like fips, to shrink the macos partition ? so i
> > can make space for linux, or do i have to add a new hd ? and can i just add
> > a pc ide hd ?
>
> Yes, you can, this is what I did. But then because OF can't see slave drives,
> you need to either swap the CD out for the new HD, or play some games to boot
> off the slave. Most annoying!
>
> To boot from /dev/hdb6, I either boot from BootX, which has the kernel in the
> MacOS partition, and just give it /dev/hdb6 as the root partition; or have quik
> boot from a kernel on an external zip disk with root specified in quik.conf; or
> boot from a .coff file on a floppy, with the root partition specified in OF.
>
> But if you don't want to get a new hard drive, you have one option: quik. Seems
> a shame to have to get a new drive just for a firewall.
>
> I wish I knew more about the boot floppies, so I could help you to get
> everything working without MacOS. :-(
>
> Bruno Waes wrote:
>
> > ok, i found a hfs boot floppy on the installation cdrom ..
> >
> > when i boot with that i get first a small computer icon with tux in front,
> > then when it has done reading the disk, it changes to a framebuffer screen
> > but that seems to have a sync that is too high or so, ... i can see the
> > black screen and the tux icon on a messed up screen for a bit then it
> > changes to black screen and ejects the disk, ... then nothing more happens
> > ... what do i have to do next and is there a way to chnge the resolution or
> > so of the boot disks framebuffer or so ?
>
> Hmm... here's something which may work. Is there a .coff kernel image on the
> CD, e.g. vmlinux-2.2.18pre21.coff? If so, try copying that onto an
> HFS-formatted blank floppy. Then when you boot, hold down something like
> command-option-O-F to boot into OF.
>
> Oh wait, before you reboot, look for the Boot Variables MacOS utility, so you
> can disable auto-boot and set the input device to the keyboard and output to
> screen (see my last post on the values of these vars for 4400/clones). Then
> when you reboot, you should not need command-option-O-F to get you into OF.
>
> So, assuming you can get to OF, type:
>
> boot fd:vmlinux-2.2.18pre21.coff video=atyfb:vmode:12
>
> I forget what 12 corresponds to, but lower number generally gives lower
> resolution. (Boot floppies people, what other options does he need the first
> time? Something about initrd=/dev/hdc/filename?)
If you get this far, you should just be able to use the regular boot
floppy, no?
boot fd: video=atyfb:vmode:12
Of course then you'll probably have the dreaded no-keyboard-response
problem when it prompts for the root floppy. I've actually gotten
pretty good at rapidly inserting the root floppy just in the nick of
time, and the installation magically continues on. You have to be
pretty quik on the draw after the boot floppy is ejected. It took
me several tries to get it right.
The next question is how you boot after installation. On these
starmax machines, is the OF working better than apple's on old world
powermacs? If so, quik is definitely a possibility. The only hard
thing about quik it is that the OF on apple oldworld macs is so
flaky that it can't be counted on to do the same thing twice in a
row, like booting from a hard disk. Except it boots the apple roms
just fine, which is why BootX is the best choice if you can. An
extra ide disk isn't too expensive if you get an old one. You don't
have to make it a slave, instead you can make the CDROM a slave,
no? Even if it was a slave, BootX will be able to see it, so all
you would need to do is specify the root file system in the bootx
parameters. I think there is a special box just for the root file
system spec.
a
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