YDL FAQ for Old world Macs

[Geert Janssens]

Well, I know it can be done too... I have personally installed and used YDL 
4.0 on my OW mac before it died. The major issue was, that the kernel that 
shipped with YDL 4.0 couldn't boot OW macs. There is a newer kernel (2.6.10) 
in the yum repository now, that does boot (seeing the reports on this list). 
With this kernel, I would imagine installing (not upgrading!) boils down to:

- Put the kernel in the Linux kernels folder in Mac OS
- Put the install image on Mac OS
- Configure BootX to use the above kernel and install image
- Reboot and install.
- Upon next reboot, tell BootX not to use the install image.
- Possibly after boot into YDL, you may need to add
alias eth0 bmac
into /etc/modprobe.conf to get the builtin network controller to work (G3)
- Additional tweaks are needed to get some sound, but they are not OW 
specific, but YDL4.0 specific.

Of course, the above is theoretical, I can't verify it anymore. It also deals 
with a fresh install. Upgrading is much more difficult, because of deeply 
nested dependency issues. (As a sidenote, Suse Linux on x86 has really 
figured out how to make this kind of version upgrades childsplay, hats off).

Likely, a YDL 4.01 CD will be much easier to work with, as it comes with the 
new kernel already. Maybe if you have some spare time, you could try the 
above procedure and see if it's still as complicated as with the original YDL 
4.0 ?

Cheers,

Geert Jan

On Wednesday 2 March 2005 14:49, Norberto Quintanar wrote:
> As an owner of OW macs - 6500/250, G3/266 and one of the contributing
> editors of the YDL FAQ - I've attempted a YDL 4.0 install on them to
> write an FAQ.  IMO, too much work to get up and running.  Admittedly,
> I only gave it an afternoon.  I know it's been done by some people
> and the procedure is out there on the 'net.  There are a lot of
> variables that can go wrong.  I believe the difficulty is the reason
> terrasoft pulled support for OW macs.
> Here is a link to an archived email that was posted on the
> difficulties on installing 4.0.  Again, I know it can be done.  IMO
> YDL 3.0 installs a lot easier and doesn't take a whole day to
> accomplish.
>
> <http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/pipermail/yellowdog-general/2004-Decem
>ber/016789.html>
>
> --- Geert Janssens <geert.janssens3 at pandora.be> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > Here's a suggestion for the YDL Faq at sharplabs:
> > YDL doesn't officially support Old World macs anymore. This does't
> > mean YDL
> > can't be installed, but if you try it, you're on your own.
> >
> > I could imagine, someone at the point of trying it, would like as
> > much
> > information on the topic as possible. So maybe, such a topic could
> > be added
> > to the YDL faq, quite visible on the front page. This could be a
> > central
> > place to cover all points where installing on OW differs from
> > installing on
> > NW, like for example the inability to boot from CD's, the use of
> > BootX,...
> >
> > There are already some issues with OW Macs that are dealt with in
> > the FAQ, so
> > maybe they could be referenced from this general topic page.
> >
> > Another issue to add, would be that of bmac being a module with the
> > latest
> > kernel.
> > Solution: add
> > alias eth0 bmac
> > to the /etc/modprobe.conf file.
> > This problem has popped up twice already in the last three days on
> > this
> > mailing list.
> >
> > What do you think ?
> >
> > On a sidenote, my own OW mac died some two weeks ago. I temporarily
> >
> > transplanted my linux identity including all data stored so far
> > into a PC
> > running Mandrake 10.1. Quite a strong point for Linux as a multi
> > platform,
> > hardware independent OS, IMHO.
> >
> > There's no way to revive the poor old G3. Tried everything from
> > changing RAM,
> > starting form MacOS BootDisk, even replacing the boot ROM, zapping
> > the PRAM
> > and any combination of these. I always get a bus error before the
> > OS fully
> > loads. I believe 8 years of service (and that means heavy duty in
> > this camp),
> > has put it over the top. But I consider dying of age to be a
> > wonderful end
> > for a computer. Much better than being dumped :-)
> > I ordered a Mac Mini as a replacement the very same day. So as soon
> > as it
> > arrives, I'll be a happy YDL'er again (at least, if YDL installs
> > already on
> > it).
> >
> > All this also means though, I'm no longer able to test YDL on OW
> > macs, as I
> > don't own one anymore. I'll leave that part to other experienced OW
> > mac users
> > in the future.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Geert Jan
> > _______________________________________________
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>
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