Cryptobunnie
12-12-2007, 09:52 PM
Welcome this post is to help other people trying to install a linux system on the Apple iMac G5 PPC Rev-c (iSight built in)
I will describe the steps i finally took to get a working standerd debian etch install.
Issues users may have had in the past:
PPC distros fail to interact with Open firmware resulting in a locked up screen requesting to release keys
PPC distros boot but the halt on a backlit blank screen.
lack of fan control.
What you need:
Machine Name: iMac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac12,1
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 2.1 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 700 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.6f1
debian 4.0 (etch) standerd PPC install disc
"http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/4.0_r1/powerpc/iso-dvd/
Burn the image with your favorite burning software (i used diskutil on OS X)
burn it at 8x or slower for best results.
insert disc and restart the system.
hold down the "C" key after you here that ol apple boot sound.
at the yaboot screen we want to boot the expert install system do so issuing the following command:
expert64 video=ofonly
the debian cd will boot and present you with that ol red oldschool install menu.
Now if your hard drive has the stock partition scheme you are going to need to resize your main HFS+ partition. mine took the entire drive (250GB) so being as i dont have my OS X disc anymore i had no choice but to risk it and try a nondestructive resize of my OS X partition.
Also because parted doesn't play nice with HFS+ journaling we need to temporarily Disable journaling on the HFS+ volume to be resized to do this in OS X run the following:
sudo diskutil disableJournal x/
REPLACE x with the volume name (in my case it's lable was main thus:
sudo diskutil disableJournal main/
make sure the following lines confirm that journaling has been disabled
alas I found not one live CD that would boot giving me access to parted gprted etc...but dont worry because we are going to use parted located on the debian install disc!!!
go through the motions all the way up to partition disks.
then hold the alt (option) key and press right arrow and hit enter.
we now have a command line prompt to which we will run:
parted /dev/sdb
(/dev/sdb SHOULD be the main HFS+ volume if not adjust accordingly.)
now were in the parted prompt.
issue the print command to see the HD information such as partitions start block end block type label etc.
lets resize the HFS+ now
write down the start block and partition number to be shrunk down
im most cases the partition number should be 3
now issue the resize command
resize 3 startblock end block
im my case the start block of my HFS was at 134MB and end block was 250GB.
so in order for me to shrink my HFS+ by 150GB i used:
resize 3 134MB 100GB and hit enter.
a couple of mins will go by and you should be returned to the parted prompt
now run the print command you shuld now see the information has changed to reflect the shrinkage.
return to the install system by holding down alt and hit the left arrow.
continue with the install setting up your desired partitions and mount points.
when it becomes time to select and install software UNCHECK desktop envrionment.
the reason being is that GDM after install will not allow the booting to a working GUI in other words you will be building those componets from source so that you can get the proper tress etc.
the rest of the install is pretty much straight forward if you made a new world boot partition yaboot will automagicaly install perfect.
finish up the install and reboot.
yaboot will run automatically with three options l for GNU linux x for os X and c for cdrom.
hit l and allow the secondstage bootstrap to run.
at the second prompt type Linux hit enter
you may now scream in the name of victory! as you should now have a functional text based debian installed and running!
now for those whom are noobs like me and are all of a sudden broken hearted about no GUI dry your tears and pick your chin up.
you can have a GUI you just gota build it.
but even more important you have a running linux and as such you can customize your own live cd for the hardware make live parted cds just because it's text based doesn't mean you cant enjoy the uberness of linux.
so there you have it a basic debian instalation on a iMac G5 PPC (iSight)
where you go from here is entirely up to you as you now have the tools to really get down and dirty!
I hope this helps others with the same machine i spent the last 2 weeks trying just about EVERY flavor of linux and BSD...while pulling hair and slamming my head repeatedly on my desk
as for me i got a new mission! xorg and e17 ... at least there is alot more documentation on those subjects!
Cheers!!=)
I will describe the steps i finally took to get a working standerd debian etch install.
Issues users may have had in the past:
PPC distros fail to interact with Open firmware resulting in a locked up screen requesting to release keys
PPC distros boot but the halt on a backlit blank screen.
lack of fan control.
What you need:
Machine Name: iMac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac12,1
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 2.1 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 700 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.6f1
debian 4.0 (etch) standerd PPC install disc
"http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/4.0_r1/powerpc/iso-dvd/
Burn the image with your favorite burning software (i used diskutil on OS X)
burn it at 8x or slower for best results.
insert disc and restart the system.
hold down the "C" key after you here that ol apple boot sound.
at the yaboot screen we want to boot the expert install system do so issuing the following command:
expert64 video=ofonly
the debian cd will boot and present you with that ol red oldschool install menu.
Now if your hard drive has the stock partition scheme you are going to need to resize your main HFS+ partition. mine took the entire drive (250GB) so being as i dont have my OS X disc anymore i had no choice but to risk it and try a nondestructive resize of my OS X partition.
Also because parted doesn't play nice with HFS+ journaling we need to temporarily Disable journaling on the HFS+ volume to be resized to do this in OS X run the following:
sudo diskutil disableJournal x/
REPLACE x with the volume name (in my case it's lable was main thus:
sudo diskutil disableJournal main/
make sure the following lines confirm that journaling has been disabled
alas I found not one live CD that would boot giving me access to parted gprted etc...but dont worry because we are going to use parted located on the debian install disc!!!
go through the motions all the way up to partition disks.
then hold the alt (option) key and press right arrow and hit enter.
we now have a command line prompt to which we will run:
parted /dev/sdb
(/dev/sdb SHOULD be the main HFS+ volume if not adjust accordingly.)
now were in the parted prompt.
issue the print command to see the HD information such as partitions start block end block type label etc.
lets resize the HFS+ now
write down the start block and partition number to be shrunk down
im most cases the partition number should be 3
now issue the resize command
resize 3 startblock end block
im my case the start block of my HFS was at 134MB and end block was 250GB.
so in order for me to shrink my HFS+ by 150GB i used:
resize 3 134MB 100GB and hit enter.
a couple of mins will go by and you should be returned to the parted prompt
now run the print command you shuld now see the information has changed to reflect the shrinkage.
return to the install system by holding down alt and hit the left arrow.
continue with the install setting up your desired partitions and mount points.
when it becomes time to select and install software UNCHECK desktop envrionment.
the reason being is that GDM after install will not allow the booting to a working GUI in other words you will be building those componets from source so that you can get the proper tress etc.
the rest of the install is pretty much straight forward if you made a new world boot partition yaboot will automagicaly install perfect.
finish up the install and reboot.
yaboot will run automatically with three options l for GNU linux x for os X and c for cdrom.
hit l and allow the secondstage bootstrap to run.
at the second prompt type Linux hit enter
you may now scream in the name of victory! as you should now have a functional text based debian installed and running!
now for those whom are noobs like me and are all of a sudden broken hearted about no GUI dry your tears and pick your chin up.
you can have a GUI you just gota build it.
but even more important you have a running linux and as such you can customize your own live cd for the hardware make live parted cds just because it's text based doesn't mean you cant enjoy the uberness of linux.
so there you have it a basic debian instalation on a iMac G5 PPC (iSight)
where you go from here is entirely up to you as you now have the tools to really get down and dirty!
I hope this helps others with the same machine i spent the last 2 weeks trying just about EVERY flavor of linux and BSD...while pulling hair and slamming my head repeatedly on my desk
as for me i got a new mission! xorg and e17 ... at least there is alot more documentation on those subjects!
Cheers!!=)