Using mol on a migrated powerbook

[Joost Kremers]

phogg@patmedia.net wrote:
> I have been cloning my drive out to a usb disk, which I have
> verified I can boot from, and was wondering whether I need
> to actually install OS X after I migrate, or if I can just
> clone the disk back in again to a partition I set aside for
> mol.
> 
> My desired configuration would be:
> 
> /dev/hda1 - linux root (etc.)
> /dev/hda2 - linux swap
> /dev/hda3 - linux home directory
> /dev/hda4 - os x partition

i should say that my understanding of Apple hardware is limited, even 
more so than of x86 hardware, but i'm not sure if it works that way. i 
used Apple's partitioner to divide my /dev/hda (ibook) into two 
partitions. before the operation, mac-fdisk reported (i think) four 
partitions on the drive, three of which were very small (and of unknown 
type). the fourth had the OS X install. after splitting the disk, 
mac-fdisk actually reported something like eight partitions, so it seems 
that each partition requires three smaller ones to go with it. i don't 
know if it's OS X that requires this or the Open Firmware or whatever, 
but in short, i'm not so sure you can create a simple x86-like 
partitioning scheme like this one on Apple hardware. (someone correct me 
if i'm wrong.) at the very least you'll need one partition for the boot 
block.

> If I could just clone the existing install back into hda4
> and then access it from mol, I would not have to mess around
> with re-installing all the apps and data I've been accumulating.

i would suggest a slightly different strategy. use Apple's disk 
partitioner to create two partitions on the hard disk. (in OS X they 
will show up as two partitions, but like i said, mac-fdisk will reveal 
more). then reinstall OS X on the first one from the usb disk, which i 
assume you have the tools for. then proceed to install linux. first blow 
away the second partition (which will be hfs+) and create as many linux 
partitions as you want.

-- 
Joost Kremers
Life has its moments