Problems installing Yellow Dog Linux onto Old World Mac

[Jeffrey Rolland]

Derick,

Thanks for the info.

I long since deleted the .iso files from which I burned the CDs, so  
that's out, but I can at least test the CDs.

Since I get varying degrees of success with different kernels and  
ramdisks, I'm fairly convinced that if this will work at all with my  
Mac, it will work with the correct ramdisk/kernel combo, but I'll try  
anything at this point.

Ordering the CDs from TerraSoft will (assumedly) solve the "CDs are  
bad" problem. :)

Thanks again.

Sincerely,
--
Jeffrey Rolland
<jrolland at softhome.net>

Freedom + Security = 0 and I prefer freedom (even post-911).


On Aug 21, 2006, at 9:34 AM, Derick Centeno wrote:

> Hi Jeffrey!
>
> Regarding testing the CDs themselves:
>
> There are two different procedures which may be useful:
>
> 1.  Test and compare the md5sum values of the .iso files which were
> downloaded, before they are burned onto a CD.
> The md5sum values of the downloaded .iso files are compared against  
> the
> official or standard values published by TSS and available at each
> public mirror for each version of YDL.  Expressed differently, each
> version of YDL has different official/standard md5sum values for each
> .iso; if the md5sum value of the downloaded .iso does not match  
> with the
> official/standard version which TSS has published as the correct value
> -- then that .iso file is useless and you know at that point,  
> before you 
> burn the CD, that something is wrong with that file.
>
> If you have OS X, then you can run the md5sum check test from  
> within the
> Terminal application.  You can do:
>
> $md5sum -b *.iso
>
> And each .iso file will be listed together with the resulting md5sum
> values generated by the test.  Compare the results against what TSS
> published and that should identify a working file.  Although I do
> believe that there are ways to use the md5sum test in the classic (Mac
> OS 9 and earlier) environment, I don't recall what those are.
>
> 2.  Test the CDs themselves by using mediacheck.  Mediacheck is
> available from within the 1st YDL Install CD and can be run from  
> there.
> Here's a brief detail regarding it's use:
>
> http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/resources/ftp_mirrors.shtml
>
> A different bit of information which could be useful as you currently
> use dial-up.  Another participant here (John McGill) using yum
> discovered yum reporting the following Error numbers 4 and 256.  They
> appear as follows, note that here the ... refers to a directory name:
>
> ...gz:[Errno 4] Socket Error: timed out
> ...gz from base: [Errno 256] No more mirrors to try.
>
> He discovered that these errors are essentially problems related to  
> the
> fact that within yum.conf there is a variable called timeout which is
> defined as 30sec.  His solution (which he demonstrated as working) was
> to change the definition to 300sec, as follows:
>
> timeout=300
>
> If you discover that you need more time just put whatever number you
> choose to use as a replacement in terms of seconds.
>
> May you have success in your endeavors...
> =======
>
> Jeffrey Rolland wrote:
>> Derick,
>>
>> On Aug 20, 2006, at 6:29 PM, Derick Centeno wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Hi Jeffrey!
>>>
>>> I noted your earlier posting and thought the following link might
>>> interest you:
>>>
>>> http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.php?t=381
>>>
>>> It provides instructions on how to prepare BootX settings (and other
>>> details) so that you will be able to use YDL 4.x as long as you
>>> need to
>>> use that Old World Mac.
>>>
>>
>> This is essentially the same information as http://www.yellowdog-
>> board.com/viewtopic.php?t=249> ("how to install YDL 4.0 on old world
>> mac?"), but thanks for the pointer anyway.
>>
>>
>>> Regarding using earlier versions of YDL or any other Linux the
>>> important
>>> thing to consider is not so much the software as it is the reason  
>>> why
>>> such a thing is necessary for you.  As you are probably aware, each
>>> increasing version number usually addresses flaws, errors and other
>>> problems not initially addressed in a prior version.  I tried to
>>> consider the possibility of some Linux software which did not  
>>> rely or
>>> interact with or need support from the Linux kernel at some level  
>>> (for
>>> processing, recompilation or something else) and frankly I found
>>> myself
>>> stuck.
>>>
>>> I'm not an engineer, nor does my knowledge base apply to the whole
>>> world
>>> of Linux -- and so I can only state that my own opinion is that  
>>> it is
>>> best to move forward or in this case utilize YDL 4.0 at least.
>>> When you
>>> become more familiar with these instructions then perhaps you could
>>> attempt to develop a similar strategy presented in those  
>>> instructions
>>> and adapt them yourself to fit YDL 4.1.
>>>
>>
>> I agree; I will try to use 4.x if I can.
>>
>> <snip discussion of dial-up vs. DSL/cable>
>>
>>
>>> There is one good thing behind all this though, according to this
>>> webpage:
>>>
>>> http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/hardware/others.shtml
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>> Your Mac should be able to run the current version of YDL as long
>>> as you
>>> use BootX.  Keep in mind that BootX is not provided with any
>>> version of
>>> YDL beyond YDL 3.0.  This means that the only guide to use the  
>>> modern
>>> version of YDL (while using BootX) is to use that above link.
>>>
>>
>> Yes, thanks for the heads up. Now we know that it *should* work; I
>> just haven't been able to get it to work yet.
>>
>>
>>> Just a different view, but did you bother to test the CD drive  
>>> itself?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>> You could use the hardware diagnostic test which is on the original
>>> Apple OS Install CD which came with that machine.  If you need to
>>> replace the drive make sure to have that replaced drive be as  
>>> close to
>>> original Apple standard for that computer as possible.
>>>
>>
>>
>> I believe the drive is fine; it works for everything else with no
>> problems. Of course, since I'm not getting YDL to install, everything
>> is theoretically suspect; having said that, I *really* don't believe
>> the problem is the drive.
>>
>> On the other hand, I haven't tested the CDs themselves, although I
>> will eventually get around to that part of the debugging process. One
>> way to do that is to test them on, say, a New World Mac (where we can
>> avoid all the BootX nonsense).
>>
>>
>>> Good Luck....
>>>
>>
>> Thanks, I'll need it! :)
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> --
>> Jeffrey Rolland
>> <jrolland at softhome.net>
>>
>
>
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