OK, Mathieu asked me off-list about whether my USB key was HFS formatted, and I finally clicked!
I had been doing dd ... of=/dev/sda1 whereas I should have been doing it to /dev/sda This of course makes all the difference, OpenFirmware was seeing a DOS-style partition scheme and getting confused. So I have now successfully installed Debian Jessie to my Mac Mini. I must say I'm kicking myself now... I knew this. (OTOH, maybe the docs should remind people? I'm not the only stupid one...) Mathieu says I should report the the OpenFirmware version, which I will do once I reboot... unless I can find it while in Linux somehow? The resolution is low, so everything's huge, but I'm sure I can make that better somehow... thanks again, -arc. > > > > >Thanks to those who responded. > >boot usb1/disk:,\install\yaboot > >gets me a > >Warning: Sector Size Mismatch! can't OPEN boot usb1/disk:,\install\yaboot > >message, which is what has happened before. > >I did get further with the installer from the network boot! It got up to >'detecting hardware please wait' and then stopped at 0%. > >I thought this was because I had put > >append="radeon.agpmode=-1 modprobe.blacklist=ams" > >as suggested here: >https://wiki.debian.org/PowerPC/FAQ#How_do_I_get_graphics_working.3F > >in yaboot.conf, but I tried it a second time and got the old behaviour of >stopping at rtc-generic. > >That's quite mysterious. The only thing I can think of is that OF seemed to >hang when i tried accessing one of the USB devices, and this managed to boot >immediately afterwards. Maybe that reset something? > >I don't have a firewire CD-ROM. > >I do however have a firewire hard-drive enclosure somewhere. What would I >need to do to boot off that? Make an HFS partition or something? > >-arc. > > > > > >If your G4 mini is having trouble with the internal hard-drive, you might try >installing to an external FireWire hard drive. Booting from FireWire is a >supported feature of the NewWorld Mac OpenFirmware. While booting from USB is >possible with some models, it’s not as well supported. > >My G4 minis (I have 3) all have, at one time or another, booted from a >FireWire external. But YMMV, of course. > >Also, if you suspect the problem is with the internal HD itself (i.e. not a >problem with the motherboard), it’s not too difficult to replace it with an >SSD, which would make the G4 mini a bit more responsive. > >Good luck on getting it running. They are great little machines! > >Rick > > >On Apr 26, 2016, at 9:04 AM, Milan Kupcevic <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On 04/26/2016 05:53 AM, [email protected] wrote: >>> Hi folks, >>> >>> I have been trying to resurrect my MacMini. >>> >> >> Is your internal CD/DVD broken? >> >> People had success installing from an external firewire CD/DVD drive >> and/or from a memory stick containing raw debian installer iso as is >> described in this message: >> >> https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2012/08/msg00041.html[https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2012/08/msg00041.html] >> >> You could also try to connect an external USB CD/DVD drive and try to >> boot the machine using the same commands as is instructed for raw iso >> memory stick in the mentioned message. >> >> Let us know if this works for you with current Debian install media. >> >> >> Milan >> >> >
