home modified by Chris Tillman

Chris Tillman — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 01:13:33 -0000

--- v1
+++ v2
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 Debian-iMac
 Debian-iMac is a collection of files and
 instructions needed for installing Debian linux on an iMac PPC
@@ -214,7 +213,7 @@
 yaboot with a dual-boot menu so you can choose either MacOS or Linux
 at boot time. 
 
-
We also have made available an
+
We also have made available an
 Applescript
 which is convenient for burning floppies from Linux floppy images.
 Obviously this won't be any good for you if you don't have a floppy

home modified by Chris Tillman

Chris Tillman — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 01:12:11 -0000

Debian-iMac

Debian-iMac is a collection of files and
instructions needed for installing Debian linux on an iMac PPC
computer. Actually, these files may be installed on any PowerPC
computer; but the instructions are slanted toward iMac and other
NewWorld users who don't have a floppy drive. These files will NOT be
useful for owners of the newer Intel-based Macs (2006 or newer).
Look, under MacOS, in About This Mac “Processor” section to
determine whether you have a PowerPC or not.

Please download one of the debian-imac packages from our Project
Release page, (7.4 version recommended) or checkout the
debian-imac CVS repository, and you'll have all the files you need to
install. Instructions are below, let us know if you need assistance
getting Linux installed.

Available Versions

There are three versions of the archive represented by the Debian
versions contained within.

7.4: The stable release of
Wheezy (released 8 Feb 2014). The installer has been patched for bug
#640789 to make it useful on systems with Mac OS installed. The
installer kernel is 3.2-smp (32-bit).
3.0r0: Woody, as of 10 Aug
2002. Includes an early version of the Linux powerpc 2.4 kernel.
2.2r3: Potato, released 15 Apr 2001. Debian 2.2 is not
well suited for Apple computers manufactured after late 2000,
particularly not the G4 PowerBooks and iBook2.

7.4 Instructions

This archive installs the 'wheezy' Debian system for the
'powermac' flavor of the powerpc architecture. This distribution
can't be used for a floppy install; the instructions assume you have
an existing Mac OS system so you can use the hd-media install.

The archive is derived from the hd-media debian-installer
installation files:

http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/main/installer-powerpc/current/images/powerpc/hd-media/

However the iso-scan bug #640789 has been patched in the included
initrd.gz.

Installation

You will need to partition your disk if you have a single-disk
system, and that will entail backing up this archive along with
everything else on your system, and restoring it after partitioning
is complete. File locations referred to below are significant only
after partitioning has been completed.

English versions of the Debian installation instructions are
provided in the doc folder.

install.en.pdf
install.en.txt

The html version is currently available at
http://www.debian.org/releases/wheezy/installmanual,
as well as translations in these languages:

Chinese (China)
Czech
French
German
Greek
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Vietnamese

Within the installer after it launches, you can choose the
language you wish to use.

These documents may provide valuable assistance should anything
not go as simply as it should seem to here. The instructions here
supplement the Debian instructions. Please read through and print
them out, especially Chapters 4 through 7, so you can refer to them
during your installation.

Disk partitioning is described in chapters 3 and 4. You must back
up all files you care about on your existing hard disk before
partitioning! Use the MacOS Drive Setup program or a commercial MacOS
partitioning utility to create the needed placeholder partition
within MacOS BEFORE starting the installer. Since most Macs come with
several small driver partitions and one huge partition for MacOS, and
because Drive Setup cannot edit individual partitions but only works
by wiping the entire drive, you will need to have your MacOS CD in
order to re-install MacOS. I am not aware of any free partitioning
programs which can shrink an existing partition safely.

Don't bother creating different Linux partitions from MacOS; the
installer's partitioning tool is specialized for Debian and yaboot,
and will do a better job. From MacOS, you should just leave a block
of free space which can be partitioned after the installer is
launched. The Debian installation will require at least 500 MB for a
console- only installation, but I'd recommend a full desktop for
which you'll want at least 5 GB.

After re-installing MacOS (in a now-smaller partition), extract
the provided debian-imac archive by double clicking it.

Starting the Installer

These instructions are for NewWorld Macs. This includes most Macs
made between 1998 and 2005, including G3, G4, and G5, but does NOT
include the Intel PowerMacs manufactured from 2006. For newer Intel
Macs, you will need the Intel version of Debian, not the PowerMac
version as provided here. You could install it similarly, though.

Open the Debian-iMac folder created by unpacking this archive, and
the 'drag contents to disk icon' folder within. Drag the following
files onto your hard drive icon. These files must reside at the root
level of the partition to be loaded by the boot loader.

vmlinux <-- kernel binary
yaboot <-- Standard bootloader
for NewWorld Macs
yaboot.conf <-- Configuration
file instructing the bootloader
initrd.gz <-- RAM disk image
containing the Debian installation system
debian-7.4.0-powerpc-netinst.iso <-- netinst iso image

If you partitioned earlier, make a note of the partition number of
the MacOS partition where you place these files. You will need to
supply the partition number in the command you type at the Open
Firmware prompt below.

You can use the pdisk L command to check for the partition number
without changing the partition map. The pdisk utility is provided on
all Mac OS X machines within Applications/Utilities/Terminal; type
"sudo pdisk". There is
also an older version of pdisk, which might run within MacOS 9 or
earlier, provided here in the release
folder. Extract from pdisk.20000516.hqx, and then double click on
the resulting "pdisk" application.

Restart the Mac, and immediately (during the chime) hold down the
Option, Command (apple/cloverleaf), o, and f keys all together. After
a few seconds you will be presented with the Open Firmware prompt.

O >

At the prompt, type

O > boot hd:x,yaboot

replacing x with the partition number of the MacOS partition where
the installation files were placed, followed by a return. In a few
more seconds you will see a yaboot prompt

boot:

At the yaboot prompt, type

boot: install

followed by a return. (This is also the default if you don't type
anything, you can see the other options using the Tab key.)

This should start the Debian installation program, at "Select
a Language", and you can pick up in Chapter 6 of the
installation manual to proceed.

If the installer stops very quickly, usually displaying something
like OF-quiesce, then you probably need to change your boot command
to send the video=ofonly option
to the kernel. Just try re-booting from Open Firmware and at the
boot: prompt, type

boot: install video=ofonly

Keep the 4 files you used to boot the installer around, for as
long as you run this version of the Linux kernel; they will serve as
your 'rescue disk' allowing you to boot back into the Debian
installation system if needed. You just type rescue
at the boot: prompt to put the installer into Rescue mode.

After this point, you are in the standard Debian installation,
just read the fine manual and follow the online instructions, and you
should be set. The final step in the Debian installation installs
yaboot with a dual-boot menu so you can choose either MacOS or Linux
at boot time.

We also have made available an
Applescript
which is convenient for burning floppies from Linux floppy images.
Obviously this won't be any good for you if you don't have a floppy
drive; it should be helpful to those with OldWorld Systems.

Recent changes to home

home modified by Chris Tillman

Debian-iMac

Debian-iMac is a collection of files and instructions needed for installing Debian linux on an iMac PPC @@ -214,7 +213,7 @@ yaboot with a dual-boot menu so you can choose either MacOS or Linux at boot time. -

home modified by Chris Tillman

Debian-iMac

Available Versions

7.4 Instructions

Installation

Starting the Installer