Standing ovation was "Problem with yaboot on 333MHz iMac"

[Norberto Quintanar]

I applaud you - standing - you not only asked the newbie group, you
went out and found the cause and solution.  So many times people come
here and expect it to be the "end all" to their problems, then get
mad when no one answers their question.  Like it's impossible that no
one knows the answer?  Well guess what you should expect for free? 
Nothing.  There are two types of computer people: 1) Users and 2)
Abusers.  Abuser subcategories include hackers, crackers, developers,
and programers.   Linux falls into the second category, we roll our
own kernels, we write our own drivers, and yes, we sometimes even
reprogram our hardware.  And if you read this and have to ask why? 
You fall into category #1, Go get yourself a G4/ G5 or a new Dell
with the "basic" software already installed.  Michael, keep on
trucking, never quit, and while I'm still standing.  Thank you for
posting what you found to the group.  I'm sure in two days someone
else will ask the SAME question you asked and we'll just point her/
him to your post.  Have a great weekend!!


--- Michael Jaffe <jmichaeljaffe@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I found the source of my problem and have solved it.
> 
> The Open Firmware of early iMacs and Power Macs cannot "see" beyond
> the
> first 8 gigabytes of physical storage memory address space.  Any
> code
> to be accessed from open firmware, including yaboot, has to
> *physically* (not just "logically") reside within the first 8 GB of
> addressible memory.  I've found that the /root partition of Linux
> needs
> to be located within the first 8GB of physical address space as
> well
> (your mileage may vary).
> 
> Developers of LinuxPPC installers should take this limitation into
> account, especially as the early iMacs were very popular.
> 
> My partition table is now set up as follows:
> 
>  #:                type name               length  base      ( size
> )
> 1: Apple_partition_map Apple                  63 @ 1 
> 2:    Apple_Driver_ATA*Macintosh              54 @ 64
> 3:    Apple_Driver_ATA*Macintosh              74 @ 118      
> 4:       Apple_Patches Patch Partition       512 @ 192      
> 5:     Apple_Bootstrap bootstrap            1600 @ 704      
> 6:     Apple_UNIX_SVR2 root              4585472 @ 2304      ( 
> 2.2G)
> 7:     Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap               737728 @ 4587776  
> (360.2M)
> 8:           Apple_HFS untitled 2       98304000 @ 5325504   (
> 46.9G)
> 9:     Apple_UNIX_SVR2 home             12582912 @ 103629504 ( 
> 6.0G)
> 10:     Apple_UNIX_SVR2 usr             29360128 @ 116212416 (
> 14.0G)
> 11:     Apple_UNIX_SVR2 tmp              2097152 @ 145572544 ( 
> 1.0G)
> 12:     Apple_UNIX_SVR2 var              8631792 @ 147669696 ( 
> 4.1G)
> 
> Interested parties should read the Apple Developer document at
> http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106235
> 
> I spent about a week hunting down this little tidbit.  If you know
> of
> anyone having booting problems with any of the following computers,
> please let them know about the 8 GB boot limitation.
> 
> PowerBook G3 Series, excluding PowerBook G3 Series (Bronze
> Keyboard).
> See Related documents below.
> Power Macintosh G3 Desktop
> Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower
> Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One
> Macintosh Server G3
> iMac 233 MHz
> iMac 233 MHz/B
> iMac 266 MHz
> iMac 333 MHz
> 
> Michael Jaffe
> 
> --- Michael Jaffe <jmichaeljaffe@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > 
> > I have been trying to boot linux on my 333MHz (Rev. D, I think)
> iMac
> > for about 2.5 weeks now.  No problems installing.  I've tried
> Debian,
> > SuSE, and YDL.  Each time, after installing, I can't boot.  I've
> > booted
> > into Open Firmware and zapped the PRAM so often I can find the
> keys
> > blindfolded.
> 
> 
> =====
> -------------------------------------------
> J. Michael Jaffe, Ph.D.
> jmjaffe@research.haifa.ac.il
> phone: +972 4 6398160
> fax: +972 153 4 6398160
> 
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=====
--Norberto Quintanar 

"You belong to something bigger. From birth. And your life is spent rediscovering the underlying principles, through various players -- coaches, mentors, teachers, spouses, kids. It's in your genes. Your responsibility. Destiny. Is all on you.  Lead, follow, or get out of the way."  
--Norberto Quintanar

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