Skip to content
  • Michael Teply @MacMaverick855 ·

    I attempted to use this script on a Mac ppc64 G5 (cheese grater). I was being assisted by someone on the Adelie IRC. It appears it installed, however, in order to boot this vintage G5 into Adelie 1.0 RC2, you have to use Open Firmware. Having actually had Adelie on this machine for a time, and removed it because of some issues, I attempted to follow the same install steps as before but they failed because the repos were rekeyed.

    The only way to have a Linux distro boot on a Mac is for the first partition of the drive to be Apple Partition Map (APM) mac-fdisk won’t even let you Delete it. So, previous formatting had the following layout: /dev/sda1 APM /dev/sda2 Apple_Bootstrap hfs NewWorld boot 100M /dev/sda3 Adelie ext4 230GB

    Booting from Open Firmware (OF) then requires the following be entered (assuming the boot partition is /dev/sda2

    Setenv boot-device hd:2,\grub\grub (or \boot\grub)

    This failed because the boot files couldn’t be found.

    I’m not really well versed in reading or writing scripts but am reviewing this script to see where the boot files may be and whether or not I can come up with a OF command to boot the system. I’m hoping that while in the “live” environment I can look at the files and determine the OF boot command to launch this.

    MacMaverick855

  • Zach van Rijn @z ·

    Another person in IRC said, today, of using the manual installation recipe at https://git.adelielinux.org/adelie/docs/-/wikis/Quick-Start-Guides/Installation#manual-installation:

    14:46 < axelgenus> "If you are on a Power Macintosh, you may ignore any errors about PReP partitions"
14:46 < axelgenus> https://web.archive.org/web/20200511021229/https://wiki.adelielinux.org/wiki/Package:GRUB2
14:46 < axelgenus> still it does not boot or show in multi-boot...
14:54 < axelgenus> Ah-ah got it!
14:54 < axelgenus> nvram --update-config boot-device=hd:2,\\grub\\grub
14:54 < axelgenus> It is needed
14:55 < axelgenus> otherwise it still goes to hd:,\\txbi
  • Michael Teply @MacMaverick855 ·

    If I understand the above entry, I should go to the link above and try to (re) install GRUB2. It appears the autoinstaller, reformatted /dev/sda (on my machine) without an Apple Partition Map (APM). Instead of having the following format: sda1 Apple Partition Map ~35kb sda2 Boot partition Apple_Bootstrap 100M sda3 Adelie Data partition ext4 235GB

    it's format is now: sda1 PPC PReP Boot sda2 Linux 235GB

    I'm assuming the entry from starting with "nvram --update-config" is an Open Firmware command line entry. When I tried it I was met with nvram unknown word, making entering the rest of the boot-device command moot.

    If sda1 is supposed to be a boot partition AND grub is installed there, the file format of PPC PReP Boot isn't recognized as a valid boot partition on my ppc64 Mac G5. sda2 is also the wrong format for a Mac to boot from

    The absence of an APM is concerning, the inability to locate and boot from a partition that is not an Apple Bootstrap partition makes me think the /autoinstaller needs to be modified to preserve the APM and to create a partition with an Apple_Bootstrap files system.

    I think the /autoinstaller DID install Adelie 1.0-rc2 onto my G5, I'm just not sure how to get it to boot. Suggestions? Am I missing something (which good very well be the case)

    MacMaverick855

  • Zach van Rijn @z ·

    The autoinstaller script does need to be updated to accommodate this extra partition for Macs.

    The correct procedure for Macintosh computers is linked in my last reply, which is the manual installation wiki.

  • Michael Teply @MacMaverick855 ·

    I will try this method, thank you! MM855

    Edited by Michael Teply
  • Zach van Rijn @z ·

    Well, you can always do apk --allow-untrusted update or apk --allow-untrusted add ...

    That will at least get you up to the new repositories.

    I will make a note to update this script for Macintosh support.

    Edited by Zach van Rijn
  • Michael Teply @MacMaverick855 ·

    I'll be paying close attention to the steps involving the Package repos. The link you provided will be the third or fourth set of instructions I've tried to use to get Adelie on this G5. It's not important, but I did have Adelie on this machine but there were some issues so I decided to try and start over. I was unsuccessful (re) installing a second time using the set of instructions I used the first time and have been struggling ever since. I have been a frequent visitor to the Adelie IRC, MacRumores and now am on Git.Adelie. Like I said, this set of instructions looks promising. Thanks! MM855

  • Michael Teply @MacMaverick855 ·

    Well, this is embarrassing. The good news is Adelie 1.0-rc2 is loaded onto a ppc64 Mac G5. The bad news is I stumbled over the "useradd" section because I couldn't figure out which commands to use or how. I tried a couple of things but never succeeded in establishing a user. So, when the login screen appeared there were no users (duh). So I ctl-alt-F2 to a tty and logged in as root to establish a user. I haven't been successful in figuring out the correct command that isn't met with some sort of error. I will continue to work on it but a hint or two would be appreciated.

    Otherwise, the installation went very well, the only thing I did differently from the instructions was to NOT use the repository on the Live CD, I targeted //next.adelielinux.org for /system and /user.

    Once I get this user thing figured out I will revisit the installation instructions to see if I can't document what I did.

    Thanks! MM855

  • Michael Teply @MacMaverick855 ·

    ok, it appears I really messed up. Not establishing a user during the install has resulted in not being able to log in to the system other than through the tty. I thought I created a user with a password but it doesn't show up in the login screen. As root, I found a file by entering "less /etc/passwd" that shows one disturbing thing, over and over again, ".../sbin/nologin" I suspect this occurred because I did some post installation steps that probably assumed a user had been established. Would it be easier to wipe the install and start over, or is there some way to establish a user capable of accessing the operating system?

  • Michael Teply @MacMaverick855 ·

    @z, what partition is the grub boot loader supposed to written to? My harddrive must be partitioned as follows: sda1 Apple Partition Map APM sda2 Apple_Bootstrap named "boot" hfs file system formatt sda3 ext2 for grub (per manual install instructions) sda4 ext4 for root (per manual install instructions)

    If I understand the grub install instructions posted above, /boot/grub gets "directed to " the hfs partiton becuase the next step is to mount the HFS partition to /boot/grub. This results in a grub install error stating /boot/grub/grub is a directory, and the installation does not occur.

    after looking at what "macbless-grub" does, it appears the boot loader goes in sda2 as described above. it blesses grub to exist on an hfs partition. so, I'll try to be consistent through out the install process making sure any reference to boot partitions points to the hfs volume.

    Comments? MacMav855

  • Zach van Rijn @z ·

    Thanks for checking in regularly. A bunch of us are busy with day jobs and other priorities within adelie, such as preparing for rc3. It is difficult to carve out time to support rc2 matters. Personally, I was not around when rc2 was released and can't speak for it.

    A little bit more patience will be appreciated. We will not be shy about the availability of new installation media and the readiness for testing.

0% or .
You are about to add 0 people to the discussion. Proceed with caution.
Finish editing this message first!
Please register or to comment