On Thu, 5 Aug 2004, Matthew T. Atkinson wrote: > > I'm aware that the PowerBook G4 has ``Open Firmware'' -- is this part of > the BIOS or some kind of in-ROM bootloader? I have searched on the > Apple web site and can't find any definitive answer, nor a list of the > numerous keyboard shortcuts there are for it. To me, it seems a bit > like GRUB, but I am not sure exactly what it is. The only thing I've > learnt so far, from the Apple site, is that it is separate from the > POST. > OF is primarily the equivalent of the bios, and like any bios it knows how to boot (but not how to _select_ an OS to boot). So far, I haven't found any comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts.
> Regarding partitioning and bootloaders like GRUB: If I re-install OSX, > creating a suitable Linux partition and then install Sarge, will its > installation routine be able to set up GRUB to allow me to boot OSX or > Linux? > Last I heard, grub (v2) wasn't ready for ppc. I expect it's come on since then, but at the moment you'll be using yaboot. I don't run OSX so I don't know the exact specifics of disk-partitioning for it, but it's documented on the yaboot site (look for it at www.penguinppc.org, I think). Ken -- das eine Mal als Tragödie, das andere Mal als Farce