Advanced
Mailing List Archive

Mailing List Archive

  1. Home >
  2. Gentoo>
  3. PPC-User
New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition
markknecht at gmail
Aug 31, 2010, 12:07 PM
Post #1 of 13 (13616 views)
Permalink
Hi all,
I have a Mac Mini that I've used for the last couple of years. I
was trying to get it up to date but at some point it failed with a
message about the main root partition not being an ext2 filesystem. I
took the opportunity to rebuild the machine from scratch, at this
point twice, but I continue to get the same message. I'm trying to
determine if something about the machine is completely hosed and the
machine will never work again or if it's just some problem I'm having.

In these rebuiilds I went the direction of completely wiping the
hard drive and starting from scratch. I used mac-fdisk, hit 'i', had
only the Apple partition map, and then created the next 3 partitions
as per the install guide. The installs (both of them) went cleanly and
I didn't seem to have any problems running yabootconfig as far as I
can tell. No complaints from the software except for my typing a path
to the kernel incorrectly a couple of times. Once I got that right it
seemed to finish and created the yaboot.conf file below.

When I attempt to boot the system finds the kernel, does all the
early boot stuff, says it finds /dev/hda and /dev/hda, then it starts
the init stuff with the green '*' and [OK] on the right until it wants
to mount the root partition. At that point it tells me the partition
is wrong, not ext2, and quits.

I don't understand how the partition can be incorrect if it's good
enough to find the kernel to boot.

Can someone set me right on what I might be doing incorrectly here.
If the info below isn't enough let me know what you need.

Thanks,
Mark


livecd ~ # mac-fdisk /dev/hda
/dev/hda
Command (? for help): p
/dev/hda
# type name length base
( size ) system
/dev/hda1 Apple_partition_map Apple 63 @ 1
( 31.5k) Partition map
/dev/hda2 Apple_Bootstrap bootstrap 1600 @ 64
(800.0k) NewWorld bootblock
/dev/hda3 Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap 2097152 @ 1664
( 1.0G) Linux swap
/dev/hda4 Apple_UNIX_SVR2 root 154202672 @
2098816 ( 73.5G) Linux native

Block size=512, Number of Blocks=156301488
DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0

Command (? for help): q
livecd ~ #

livecd ~ # mount /dev/hda4 /mnt/gentoo/
livecd ~ # mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc
livecd ~ # mount -o bind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev
livecd ~ # chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
livecd / # env-update
>>> Regenerating /etc/ld.so.cache...
livecd / # source /etc/profile
livecd / # export PS1="(chroot) $PS1"
(chroot) livecd / # ls -al /boot/
total 5064
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Aug 28 16:51 .
drwxr-xr-x 19 root root 4096 Aug 31 10:17 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 22 03:50 .keep
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1 Aug 28 15:23 boot -> .
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5195929 Aug 31 09:31 kernel-2.6.34-gentoo-r1
(chroot) livecd / #

(chroot) livecd / # cat /etc/yaboot.conf
## yaboot.conf generated by yabootconfig 1.0.8
##
## run: "man yaboot.conf" for details. Do not make changes until you have!!
##
## For a dual-boot menu, add one or more of:
## bsd=/dev/hdaX, macos=/dev/hdaY, macosx=/dev/hdaZ

boot=/dev/hda2
device=/pci@f4000000/ata-6@d/disk@0:
partition=4
root=/dev/hda4
timeout=30
install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot
magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot

image=/boot/kernel-2.6.34-gentoo-r1
label=Linux
read-only
(chroot) livecd / #
Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
markknecht at gmail
Aug 31, 2010, 12:13 PM
Post #2 of 13 (13448 views)
Permalink
On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 12:07 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>   I have a Mac Mini that I've used for the last couple of years. I
> was trying to get it up to date but at some point it failed with a
> message about the main root partition not being an ext2 filesystem. I
> took the opportunity to rebuild the machine from scratch, at this
> point twice, but I continue to get the same message. I'm trying to
> determine if something about the machine is completely hosed and the
> machine will never work again or if it's just some problem I'm having.
>
>   In these rebuiilds I went the direction of completely wiping the
> hard drive and starting from scratch. I used mac-fdisk, hit 'i', had
> only the Apple partition map, and then created the next 3 partitions
> as per the install guide. The installs (both of them) went cleanly and
> I didn't seem to have any problems running yabootconfig as far as I
> can tell. No complaints from the software except for my typing a path
> to the kernel incorrectly a couple of times. Once I got that right it
> seemed to finish and created the yaboot.conf file below.
>
>   When I attempt to boot the system finds the kernel, does all the
> early boot stuff, says it finds /dev/hda and /dev/hda, then it starts
> the init stuff with the green '*' and [OK] on the right until it wants
> to mount the root partition. At that point it tells me the partition
> is wrong, not ext2, and quits.
>
>   I don't understand how the partition can be incorrect if it's good
> enough to find the kernel to boot.
>
>   Can someone set me right on what I might be doing incorrectly here.
> If the info below isn't enough let me know what you need.
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
>
>
> livecd ~ # mac-fdisk /dev/hda
> /dev/hda
> Command (? for help): p
> /dev/hda
>        #                    type name                  length   base
>    ( size )  system
> /dev/hda1     Apple_partition_map Apple                     63 @ 1
>    ( 31.5k)  Partition map
> /dev/hda2         Apple_Bootstrap bootstrap               1600 @ 64
>    (800.0k)  NewWorld bootblock
> /dev/hda3         Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap                 2097152 @ 1664
>    (  1.0G)  Linux swap
> /dev/hda4         Apple_UNIX_SVR2 root               154202672 @
> 2098816   ( 73.5G)  Linux native
>
> Block size=512, Number of Blocks=156301488
> DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0
>
> Command (? for help): q
> livecd ~ #
>
> livecd ~ # mount /dev/hda4 /mnt/gentoo/
> livecd ~ # mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc
> livecd ~ # mount -o bind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev
> livecd ~ # chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
> livecd / # env-update
>>>> Regenerating /etc/ld.so.cache...
> livecd / # source /etc/profile
> livecd / # export PS1="(chroot) $PS1"
> (chroot) livecd / # ls -al /boot/
> total 5064
> drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    4096 Aug 28 16:51 .
> drwxr-xr-x 19 root root    4096 Aug 31 10:17 ..
> -rw-r--r--  1 root root       0 Aug 22 03:50 .keep
> lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root       1 Aug 28 15:23 boot -> .
> -rwxr-xr-x  1 root root 5195929 Aug 31 09:31 kernel-2.6.34-gentoo-r1
> (chroot) livecd / #
>
> (chroot) livecd / # cat /etc/yaboot.conf
> ## yaboot.conf generated by yabootconfig 1.0.8
> ##
> ## run: "man yaboot.conf" for details. Do not make changes until you have!!
> ##
> ## For a dual-boot menu, add one or more of:
> ## bsd=/dev/hdaX, macos=/dev/hdaY, macosx=/dev/hdaZ
>
> boot=/dev/hda2
> device=/pci@f4000000/ata-6@d/disk@0:
> partition=4
> root=/dev/hda4
> timeout=30
> install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot
> magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot
>
> image=/boot/kernel-2.6.34-gentoo-r1
>        label=Linux
>        read-only
> (chroot) livecd / #
>

The messages on the screen when trying to boot are:

* Checking root filesystem
ext2fs_check_if_mount: Can't check if filesystem is mounted due to
missing mtab file while determining whether /dev/da4 is mounted.
fsck.ext3: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/hda4
/dev/hda4:
The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem.
<snip>

* Filesystem couldn't be fixed. :(

- Mark
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
jwfoxjr at gmail
Aug 31, 2010, 12:17 PM
Post #3 of 13 (13397 views)
Permalink
Mark,

Can you post your /etc/fstab? I just want to give it a once over.

Thanks.

Joe Fox
Systems/Network Administrator

Mobile# (716) 846-9308
http://twitter.com/JWFoxJr


On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 3:13 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 12:07 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > I have a Mac Mini that I've used for the last couple of years. I
> > was trying to get it up to date but at some point it failed with a
> > message about the main root partition not being an ext2 filesystem. I
> > took the opportunity to rebuild the machine from scratch, at this
> > point twice, but I continue to get the same message. I'm trying to
> > determine if something about the machine is completely hosed and the
> > machine will never work again or if it's just some problem I'm having.
> >
> > In these rebuiilds I went the direction of completely wiping the
> > hard drive and starting from scratch. I used mac-fdisk, hit 'i', had
> > only the Apple partition map, and then created the next 3 partitions
> > as per the install guide. The installs (both of them) went cleanly and
> > I didn't seem to have any problems running yabootconfig as far as I
> > can tell. No complaints from the software except for my typing a path
> > to the kernel incorrectly a couple of times. Once I got that right it
> > seemed to finish and created the yaboot.conf file below.
> >
> > When I attempt to boot the system finds the kernel, does all the
> > early boot stuff, says it finds /dev/hda and /dev/hda, then it starts
> > the init stuff with the green '*' and [OK] on the right until it wants
> > to mount the root partition. At that point it tells me the partition
> > is wrong, not ext2, and quits.
> >
> > I don't understand how the partition can be incorrect if it's good
> > enough to find the kernel to boot.
> >
> > Can someone set me right on what I might be doing incorrectly here.
> > If the info below isn't enough let me know what you need.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Mark
> >
> >
> > livecd ~ # mac-fdisk /dev/hda
> > /dev/hda
> > Command (? for help): p
> > /dev/hda
> > # type name length base
> > ( size ) system
> > /dev/hda1 Apple_partition_map Apple 63 @ 1
> > ( 31.5k) Partition map
> > /dev/hda2 Apple_Bootstrap bootstrap 1600 @ 64
> > (800.0k) NewWorld bootblock
> > /dev/hda3 Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap 2097152 @ 1664
> > ( 1.0G) Linux swap
> > /dev/hda4 Apple_UNIX_SVR2 root 154202672 @
> > 2098816 ( 73.5G) Linux native
> >
> > Block size=512, Number of Blocks=156301488
> > DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0
> >
> > Command (? for help): q
> > livecd ~ #
> >
> > livecd ~ # mount /dev/hda4 /mnt/gentoo/
> > livecd ~ # mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc
> > livecd ~ # mount -o bind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev
> > livecd ~ # chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
> > livecd / # env-update
> >>>> Regenerating /etc/ld.so.cache...
> > livecd / # source /etc/profile
> > livecd / # export PS1="(chroot) $PS1"
> > (chroot) livecd / # ls -al /boot/
> > total 5064
> > drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Aug 28 16:51 .
> > drwxr-xr-x 19 root root 4096 Aug 31 10:17 ..
> > -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 22 03:50 .keep
> > lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1 Aug 28 15:23 boot -> .
> > -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5195929 Aug 31 09:31 kernel-2.6.34-gentoo-r1
> > (chroot) livecd / #
> >
> > (chroot) livecd / # cat /etc/yaboot.conf
> > ## yaboot.conf generated by yabootconfig 1.0.8
> > ##
> > ## run: "man yaboot.conf" for details. Do not make changes until you
> have!!
> > ##
> > ## For a dual-boot menu, add one or more of:
> > ## bsd=/dev/hdaX, macos=/dev/hdaY, macosx=/dev/hdaZ
> >
> > boot=/dev/hda2
> > device=/pci@f4000000/ata-6@d/disk@0:
> > partition=4
> > root=/dev/hda4
> > timeout=30
> > install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot
> > magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot
> >
> > image=/boot/kernel-2.6.34-gentoo-r1
> > label=Linux
> > read-only
> > (chroot) livecd / #
> >
>
> The messages on the screen when trying to boot are:
>
> * Checking root filesystem
> ext2fs_check_if_mount: Can't check if filesystem is mounted due to
> missing mtab file while determining whether /dev/da4 is mounted.
> fsck.ext3: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/hda4
> /dev/hda4:
> The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
> filesystem.
> <snip>
>
> * Filesystem couldn't be fixed. :(
>
> - Mark
>
>
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
markknecht at gmail
Aug 31, 2010, 12:31 PM
Post #4 of 13 (13407 views)
Permalink
On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 12:17 PM, Joe Fox <jwfoxjr@gmail.com> wrote:
> Mark,
>
> Can you post your /etc/fstab?  I just want to give it a once over.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Joe Fox
> Systems/Network Administrator
>
> Mobile# (716) 846-9308
> http://twitter.com/JWFoxJr
>

Thanks Joe. Here it is.

Mark

livecd ~ # cat /mnt/gentoo/etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# noatime turns off atimes for increased performance (atimes normally
aren't
# needed; notail increases performance of ReiserFS (at the expense of
storage
# efficiency). It's safe to drop the noatime options if you want and
to
# switch between notail / tail freely.
#
# The root filesystem should have a pass number of either 0 or 1.
# All other filesystems should have a pass number of 0 or greater than
1.
#
# See the manpage fstab(5) for more information.
#

# <fs> <mountpoint> <type> <opts>
<dump/pass>

# NOTE: If your BOOT partition is ReiserFS, add the notail option to
opts.
/dev/hda4 / ext3 noatime
0 1
/dev/hda3 none swap sw
0 0
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom auto noauto,user 0 0


# glibc 2.2 and above expects tmpfs to be mounted at /dev/shm for
# POSIX shared memory (shm_open, shm_unlink).
# (tmpfs is a dynamically expandable/shrinkable ramdisk, and will
# use almost no memory if not populated with files)
proc /proc proc defaults
0 0
shm /dev/shm tmpfs
nodev,nosuid,noexec 0 0
livecd ~ #
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
jwfoxjr at gmail
Aug 31, 2010, 1:50 PM
Post #5 of 13 (13388 views)
Permalink
Mark,

Did you compile in your ext2/ext3 support as a module or statically into the
kernel? If you compiled them as modules, then you need to create an inirtrd
that includes the drivers to load on boot.

Just a thought.

Joe


On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:

> /dev/hda4 / ext3 noatime
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
markknecht at gmail
Aug 31, 2010, 2:35 PM
Post #6 of 13 (13404 views)
Permalink
On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 1:50 PM, Joe Fox <jwfoxjr@gmail.com> wrote:
> Mark,
>
> Did you compile in your ext2/ext3 support as a module or statically into the
> kernel?  If you compiled them as modules, then you need to create an inirtrd
> that includes the drivers to load on boot.
>
> Just a thought.
>
> Joe
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> /dev/hda4               /               ext3            noatime
>

I believe they are both built-in:

livecd ~ # cat /mnt/gentoo/usr/src/linux/.config | grep EXT2
CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y
CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR=y
CONFIG_EXT2_FS_POSIX_ACL=y
CONFIG_EXT2_FS_SECURITY=y
# CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XIP is not set
livecd ~ # cat /mnt/gentoo/usr/src/linux/.config | grep EXT3
CONFIG_EXT3_FS=y
# CONFIG_EXT3_DEFAULTS_TO_ORDERED is not set
CONFIG_EXT3_FS_XATTR=y
CONFIG_EXT3_FS_POSIX_ACL=y
CONFIG_EXT3_FS_SECURITY=y
livecd ~ #

- Mark
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
markknecht at gmail
Sep 2, 2010, 2:55 PM
Post #7 of 13 (13379 views)
Permalink
On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 2:35 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 1:50 PM, Joe Fox <jwfoxjr@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Mark,
>>
>> Did you compile in your ext2/ext3 support as a module or statically into the
>> kernel?  If you compiled them as modules, then you need to create an inirtrd
>> that includes the drivers to load on boot.
>>
>> Just a thought.
>>
>> Joe
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> /dev/hda4               /               ext3            noatime
>>
>
> I believe they are both built-in:
>
> livecd ~ # cat /mnt/gentoo/usr/src/linux/.config | grep EXT2
> CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y
> CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR=y
> CONFIG_EXT2_FS_POSIX_ACL=y
> CONFIG_EXT2_FS_SECURITY=y
> # CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XIP is not set
> livecd ~ # cat /mnt/gentoo/usr/src/linux/.config | grep EXT3
> CONFIG_EXT3_FS=y
> # CONFIG_EXT3_DEFAULTS_TO_ORDERED is not set
> CONFIG_EXT3_FS_XATTR=y
> CONFIG_EXT3_FS_POSIX_ACL=y
> CONFIG_EXT3_FS_SECURITY=y
> livecd ~ #
>
> - Mark
>

Anyone else able to chime in before I give up on PowerPC again? Sure
would like to get this running again.

QUESTION: Is there a way to rebuild partition 1 on these Apple disks?
The one labeled 'Apple_partition_map '? Seems like that's the only
thing I haven't touched yet having rebuilt this machine twice.

Again, this machine has run Gentoo for a few years. I was doing a
major emerge -e @world operation which seemed to finish successfully
but when I rebooted the kernel doesn't see the drive. I've rebuilt the
machine 2 more times from scratch and continue to be stumped by this
problem.

Thanks,
Mark
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
linux at nc
Sep 2, 2010, 4:31 PM
Post #8 of 13 (13379 views)
Permalink
Could the root device now be referred to as /dev/sda4 (SCSI Disk
support) with the kernel now loading?
You should be able to pass the root device to the kernel at boot time
(root=/dev/sda4).
If you are able to get past the root filesystem check (the disk is
referred to as sda instead of hda), then you will need to update your /
etc/fstab to reflect the different device names.

Barry

On Sep 2, 2010, at 5:55 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:

> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 2:35 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 1:50 PM, Joe Fox <jwfoxjr@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Mark,
>>>
>>> Did you compile in your ext2/ext3 support as a module or
>>> statically into the
>>> kernel? If you compiled them as modules, then you need to create
>>> an inirtrd
>>> that includes the drivers to load on boot.
>>>
>>> Just a thought.
>>>
>>> Joe
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Mark Knecht
>>> <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> /dev/hda4 / ext3 noatime
>>>
>>
>> I believe they are both built-in:
>>
>> livecd ~ # cat /mnt/gentoo/usr/src/linux/.config | grep EXT2
>> CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y
>> CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR=y
>> CONFIG_EXT2_FS_POSIX_ACL=y
>> CONFIG_EXT2_FS_SECURITY=y
>> # CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XIP is not set
>> livecd ~ # cat /mnt/gentoo/usr/src/linux/.config | grep EXT3
>> CONFIG_EXT3_FS=y
>> # CONFIG_EXT3_DEFAULTS_TO_ORDERED is not set
>> CONFIG_EXT3_FS_XATTR=y
>> CONFIG_EXT3_FS_POSIX_ACL=y
>> CONFIG_EXT3_FS_SECURITY=y
>> livecd ~ #
>>
>> - Mark
>>
>
> Anyone else able to chime in before I give up on PowerPC again? Sure
> would like to get this running again.
>
> QUESTION: Is there a way to rebuild partition 1 on these Apple disks?
> The one labeled 'Apple_partition_map '? Seems like that's the only
> thing I haven't touched yet having rebuilt this machine twice.
>
> Again, this machine has run Gentoo for a few years. I was doing a
> major emerge -e @world operation which seemed to finish successfully
> but when I rebooted the kernel doesn't see the drive. I've rebuilt the
> machine 2 more times from scratch and continue to be stumped by this
> problem.
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
>
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
jwfoxjr at gmail
Sep 3, 2010, 5:42 AM
Post #9 of 13 (13370 views)
Permalink
Barry,

That's a good idea. I forgot about that. I was was going to suggest that
Mark verify that he's compiling the right drive controller driver, but if
that was the case, he wouldn't have gotten as far as he did.

Joe Fox
Systems/Network Administrator

Mobile# (716) 846-9308
http://twitter.com/JWFoxJr


On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 7:31 PM, Enlightened User <linux@nc.rr.com> wrote:

> Could the root device now be referred to as /dev/sda4 (SCSI Disk support)
> with the kernel now loading?
> You should be able to pass the root device to the kernel at boot time
> (root=/dev/sda4).
> If you are able to get past the root filesystem check (the disk is referred
> to as sda instead of hda), then you will need to update your /etc/fstab to
> reflect the different device names.
>
> Barry
>
>
> On Sep 2, 2010, at 5:55 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
>
> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 2:35 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 1:50 PM, Joe Fox <jwfoxjr@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Mark,
>>>>
>>>> Did you compile in your ext2/ext3 support as a module or statically into
>>>> the
>>>> kernel? If you compiled them as modules, then you need to create an
>>>> inirtrd
>>>> that includes the drivers to load on boot.
>>>>
>>>> Just a thought.
>>>>
>>>> Joe
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> /dev/hda4 / ext3 noatime
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> I believe they are both built-in:
>>>
>>> livecd ~ # cat /mnt/gentoo/usr/src/linux/.config | grep EXT2
>>> CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y
>>> CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR=y
>>> CONFIG_EXT2_FS_POSIX_ACL=y
>>> CONFIG_EXT2_FS_SECURITY=y
>>> # CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XIP is not set
>>> livecd ~ # cat /mnt/gentoo/usr/src/linux/.config | grep EXT3
>>> CONFIG_EXT3_FS=y
>>> # CONFIG_EXT3_DEFAULTS_TO_ORDERED is not set
>>> CONFIG_EXT3_FS_XATTR=y
>>> CONFIG_EXT3_FS_POSIX_ACL=y
>>> CONFIG_EXT3_FS_SECURITY=y
>>> livecd ~ #
>>>
>>> - Mark
>>>
>>>
>> Anyone else able to chime in before I give up on PowerPC again? Sure
>> would like to get this running again.
>>
>> QUESTION: Is there a way to rebuild partition 1 on these Apple disks?
>> The one labeled 'Apple_partition_map '? Seems like that's the only
>> thing I haven't touched yet having rebuilt this machine twice.
>>
>> Again, this machine has run Gentoo for a few years. I was doing a
>> major emerge -e @world operation which seemed to finish successfully
>> but when I rebooted the kernel doesn't see the drive. I've rebuilt the
>> machine 2 more times from scratch and continue to be stumped by this
>> problem.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Mark
>>
>>
>
>
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
markknecht at gmail
Sep 3, 2010, 6:38 AM
Post #10 of 13 (13371 views)
Permalink
On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 4:31 PM, Enlightened User <linux@nc.rr.com> wrote:
> Could the root device now be referred to as /dev/sda4 (SCSI Disk support)
> with the kernel now loading?
> You should be able to pass the root device to the kernel at boot time
> (root=/dev/sda4).
> If you are able to get past the root filesystem check (the disk is referred
> to as sda instead of hda), then you will need to update your /etc/fstab to
> reflect the different device names.
>
> Barry
>

Hi Barry,
Interesting idea. I hadn't considered that possibility as the early
part of the boot, where I have the printk times for each step, clearly
shows it as hda. However then in the init stages the system starts
udev. Maybe that changes the name.

With yaboot is there a way to edit the command line at boot time
like there is with grub? I'm having a hard time because the Mac Mini
seems to be dimming my monitor and I cannot read what's happening
right before boot!

I suppose I can edit the yaboot config file if necessary.

Thanks,
Mark
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
linux at nc
Sep 3, 2010, 2:42 PM
Post #11 of 13 (13370 views)
Permalink
http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/yaboot-howto/ch9.en.html

Sections 9.2 and 9.3 show how to boot to the yaboot 'boot:' prompt and
start the kernel with parameters.
Hope that helps you get started.
If you do change the yaboot.conf file don't forget to run ybin to
update the boot partition. I would suggest increasing delay and
timeout values (section 6.6 of the previous web document) so the
default image is not automatically loaded so quickly. You should then
be able to enter something like:
hd:4,/vmlinux root=/dev/sda4 ro
at the boot: prompt.

Another thought would be to remove SCSI support from your kernel
build, unless you have a mac mini with an SCSI interface, you should
not need SCSI support. That should not require any changes to the
yaboot configuration you are currently using.

Barry

On Sep 3, 2010, at 9:38 AM, Mark Knecht wrote:

> On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 4:31 PM, Enlightened User <linux@nc.rr.com>
> wrote:
>> Could the root device now be referred to as /dev/sda4 (SCSI Disk
>> support)
>> with the kernel now loading?
>> You should be able to pass the root device to the kernel at boot time
>> (root=/dev/sda4).
>> If you are able to get past the root filesystem check (the disk is
>> referred
>> to as sda instead of hda), then you will need to update your /etc/
>> fstab to
>> reflect the different device names.
>>
>> Barry
>>
>
> Hi Barry,
> Interesting idea. I hadn't considered that possibility as the early
> part of the boot, where I have the printk times for each step, clearly
> shows it as hda. However then in the init stages the system starts
> udev. Maybe that changes the name.
>
> With yaboot is there a way to edit the command line at boot time
> like there is with grub? I'm having a hard time because the Mac Mini
> seems to be dimming my monitor and I cannot read what's happening
> right before boot!
>
> I suppose I can edit the yaboot config file if necessary.
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
>
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
markknecht at gmail
Sep 3, 2010, 3:48 PM
Post #12 of 13 (13374 views)
Permalink
On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 2:42 PM, Enlightened User <linux@nc.rr.com> wrote:
> http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/yaboot-howto/ch9.en.html
> Sections 9.2 and 9.3 show how to boot to the yaboot 'boot:' prompt and start
> the kernel with parameters.
> Hope that helps you get started.
> If you do change the yaboot.conf file don't forget to run ybin to update the
> boot partition. I would suggest increasing delay and timeout values (section
> 6.6 of the previous web document) so the default image is not automatically
> loaded so quickly. You should then be able to enter something like:
> hd:4,/vmlinux root=/dev/sda4 ro
> at the boot: prompt.
> Another thought would be to remove SCSI support from your kernel build,
> unless you have a mac mini with an SCSI interface, you should not need SCSI
> support. That should not require any changes to the yaboot configuration you
> are currently using.
> Barry
>

Thanks for the info.

OK - as a test I'm going a very different direction. As there is a
prebuilt Ubuntu PowerPC version I've just written a CD and it boots
fine. I'm right now in the process of letting it blow away my
non-functional Gentoo install and install Ubuntu. If that boots then I
can see what they did and redo Gentoo later with that knowledge.

As for using Gentoo on this box I'm not sure it's really worth it any
more. My main machines now are all x86_64 - as is probably true for
most people - but fast ones - an i5-661, i7-920 and an i7-980x where I
run 5 copies of Windows 7 at the same time in different VMWare jails.
I found I wasn't updating this old Mac Mini because it was too slow
and took too much of what I call 'Gentoo effort'. If I can find a
prepackaged version of MythTV for this machine then likely I'd be
better off just to run Ubuntu. I don't really need performance for a
MythTV backend server.

Anyway, I'll report back more when I know more.

Thanks!

Cheers,
Mark
Re: Re: New install - Unable to get my ppc Mac Mini to boot the root partition [ In reply to ]
markknecht at gmail
Sep 3, 2010, 4:43 PM
Post #13 of 13 (13375 views)
Permalink
On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 3:48 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 2:42 PM, Enlightened User <linux@nc.rr.com> wrote:
>> http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/yaboot-howto/ch9.en.html
>> Sections 9.2 and 9.3 show how to boot to the yaboot 'boot:' prompt and start
>> the kernel with parameters.
>> Hope that helps you get started.
>> If you do change the yaboot.conf file don't forget to run ybin to update the
>> boot partition. I would suggest increasing delay and timeout values (section
>> 6.6 of the previous web document) so the default image is not automatically
>> loaded so quickly. You should then be able to enter something like:
>> hd:4,/vmlinux root=/dev/sda4 ro
>> at the boot: prompt.
>> Another thought would be to remove SCSI support from your kernel build,
>> unless you have a mac mini with an SCSI interface, you should not need SCSI
>> support. That should not require any changes to the yaboot configuration you
>> are currently using.
>> Barry
>>
>
> Thanks for the info.
>
> OK - as a test I'm going a very different direction. As there is a
> prebuilt Ubuntu PowerPC version I've just written a CD and it boots
> fine. I'm right now in the process of letting it blow away my
> non-functional Gentoo install and install Ubuntu. If that boots then I
> can see what they did and redo Gentoo later with that knowledge.
>
> As for using Gentoo on this box I'm not sure it's really worth it any
> more. My main machines now are all x86_64 - as is probably true for
> most people - but fast ones - an i5-661, i7-920 and an i7-980x where I
> run 5 copies of Windows 7 at the same time in different VMWare jails.
> I found I wasn't updating this old Mac Mini because it was too slow
> and took too much of what I call 'Gentoo effort'. If I can find a
> prepackaged version of MythTV for this machine then likely I'd be
> better off just to run Ubuntu. I don't really need performance for a
> MythTV backend server.
>
> Anyway, I'll report back more when I know more.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
>

So the Ubuntu install came up running. Boots fine, logs in OK. Dosn't
look like they ackage the MythTV backend for PowerPC so I need to
figure out how they did it and then get Gentoo working again.

HEre is yaboot.conf and fstab.

mark@MacMini:~$ cat /etc/yaboot.conf
## yaboot.conf generated by the Ubuntu installer
##
## run: "man yaboot.conf" for details. Do not make changes until you have!!
## see also: /usr/share/doc/yaboot/examples for example configurations.
##
## For a dual-boot menu, add one or more of:
## bsd=/dev/hdaX, macos=/dev/hdaY, macosx=/dev/hdaZ

boot=/dev/hda2
device=/pci@f4000000/ata-6@d/disk@0:
partition=3
root=/dev/hda3
timeout=50
install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot
magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot
enablecdboot

image=/boot/vmlinux
label=Linux
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="quiet splash"

image=/boot/vmlinux.old
label=old
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img.old
append="quiet splash"
mark@MacMini:~$

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
/dev/hda3 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hda4 none swap sw 0 0
mark@MacMini:~$


So, whatever was wrong with my Gentoo install it wasn't apparently hda vs sda...

Ubuntu sure seems weird. No root password? Everything done through
sudo? Strange... I'm sure I just don't understand after so many years
running Gentoo.

- Mark

©2024 GT.net. A Gossamer Threads company.
5th Floor, 455 Granville St., Vancouver, BC V6C 1T1, Canada | Legal