THe issue is getting the installer to speak using the Debian distribution. Apparently the PPC distro does not include Speakup. The idea is to rebuildl the initrd in order to get Speakup working on that distro. It is good to know On Jan 11, 2010, at 6:50 PM, bmustillrose wrote:
> I'm not sure what the problem is here scot? Why are you wanting to > install onto a usb drive when you can just use the internal harddrive > of the mini? I fixed the mini that I was asking how to take apart back > in early december and its currently running ubuntu for ppc perfectly > fine untill I can find someone that wants to buy it. Admitidly, orca > does have issues, but in your situation, it shouldn't matter since > you'd be doing a fair bit of ssh? > > I'm probably missing something really obvious here, but I really don't > get why when your not using the drive on the mini you can't install it > to the internal as apposed to a usb? > > On 11/01/2010, Bryan Smart <bryansm...@bryansmart.com> wrote: >> Power PC system won't run many distros. Most distros are Intel, I think. >> Besides that, don't think that the Power PC machines can't emulate a BIOS. >> >> If you're running on that old machine, you'll need to search for a distro >> that is specifically designed for Power PC Macs. >> >> Bryan >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >> [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Scott Howell >> Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 3:53 PM >> To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >> Subject: Re: Bootable flash drives [was Re: using fdisk] >> >> Bryan, >> >> According to what I've read, it is possible to make a bootable Linux >> disk >> for the Mac and even get it to load. Now the details I'm not to clear on >> and my intent was to setup a Debian distro on an old Mac Mini. Of course >> why would I want to do this? Well because it's an older PowerPC chip and not >> much I can do beyond Leopard. Of course not saying Leopard is of no value, >> but instead to say I might be able to put the machine into service as a >> server without having to upgrade or purchase Leopard Server. :) However, >> regardless, if I manage to make it happen, I'll let you know how and what it >> took. >> On Jan 11, 2010, at 3:44 PM, Bryan Smart wrote: >> >>> The Mac can boot a USB device, but I don't think that you'll have luck >>> booting anything other than the Mac OS without a lot of work. If you want >>> to boot Linux, then BIOS emulation has to be going before the Linux distro >>> boots. Maybe some of them can boot with EFI, but I'm not knowledgeable >>> enough to say. I doubt that a majority of distros would, though. >>> >>> A good way to start would be to dig in to how BootCamp modifies the system >>> on a low level in order to boot Windows. There is probably a flag that is >>> set on a partition to tell the Mac boot loader to start BIOS emulation >>> before attempting to boot the OS on that partition. >>> >>> You could almost certainly install Linux directly on the hard drive by >>> setting up for BootCamp, and then installing Linux instead of Windows. >>> However, if you figured out the flag or other tech detail that flags a >>> partition as needing BIOS to boot, then you could manually tweak your >>> flashdisk to appear that way to the boot loader. >>> >>> I'd love to hear about what you discover. Besides using flashdisks, it >>> would be even better if we could use the same trick to install Windows or >>> Linux on an external USB hard drive. >>> >>> Bryan >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>> [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Esther >>> Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 12:52 PM >>> To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>> Subject: Bootable flash drives [was Re: using fdisk] >>> >>> Hi Scott, >>> >>> I think if I were trying to set up a bootable Linux distribution on a USB >>> flash drive I would do this on a Linux machine. However, for your >>> entertainment, you might want to read Ted Landau's old MacFixIt column >>> (from April 2008) titled, "Create a Leopard Startup Flash Drive": >>> >>> http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20080422095414936 >>> >>> Note that I haven't tried this myself, and have no idea whether it's >>> doable for Snow Leopard. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> >>> Esther >>> >>> >>> On Jan 11, 2010, at 06:57, Scott Howell wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Sandi, >>>> >>>> Thanks for the clarification. If I unmount the drive, it no longer >>>> can be referenced by the device node in /dev, which is interesting. >>>> It is as though once unmounted, the OS forgets about it, but I >>>> suspect it has something to do with the disk subsystem and how it >>>> handles devices. Well I'll keep digging because the info is out >>>> there somewhere . :) >>>> >>>> THanks, >>>> On Jan 4, 2001, at 3:18 PM, sandi sørensen wrote: >>>> >>>>> first of all, have never used fdisk under osx so i can be very wrong. >>>>> but when i have done it on linux i usually unmount the drive i wanna >>>>> fdisk and then takes contact with it from the dev folder. >>>>> Therefore i said as i did. >>>>> try eventually before you mess with it too see how huge it is with >>>>> fdisk. >>>>> /sandi >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Jan 11, 2010, at 7:29 AM, Scott Howell wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Sandi, >>>>>> >>>>>> Sorry, I'm not clear on what you are saying here. The device, / >>>>>> dev/disk1 does exist, but unlike a "normal" or static /dev file >>>>>> system, I assume that perhaps this works more like the DevFS found >>>>>> in some LInux distros? I have to admit that I am not that familiar >>>>>> with the newer file systems, which is my fault for letting my >>>>>> knowledge get rusty. >>>>>> Can you please clarify what you mean? >>>>>> >>>>>> THanks, >>>>>> On Jan 4, 2001, at 1:41 PM, sandi sørensen wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> try getting a hold of it from /dev/ >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Jan 11, 2010, at 6:17 AM, Scott Howell wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> James, I perhaps should be more clear. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> The issue is I cannot find a way to address the device. To >>>>>>>> explain further, the flash drive when mounted, shows up as /dev/ >>>>>>>> disk1s1. >>>>>>>> However, to properly address the device with fdisk, the device >>>>>>>> must be umounted, but when attempting to address the device by >>>>>>>> fdisk /dev/disk1 I receive a "file not found" error. So, my >>>>>>>> assumption is that the disk subsystem handles unmounted devices >>>>>>>> differently than I gather most OpenBSD systems perhaps. I of >>>>>>>> course do not know for sure and any thoughts you have would be >>>>>>>> appreciated. The man page did not provide any information on how >>>>>>>> to address the problem. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> THanks, >>>>>>>> On Jan 11, 2010, at 6:24 AM, James & Nash wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Hi Scott, >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> You wrote: >>>>>>>>>> Have any of you used fdisk from the Terminal in order to set >>>>>>>>>> the boot flag on a file system, which is contained on a USB >>>>>>>>>> flash drive/Thumb drive? I want to creat a bootable usb stick >>>>>>>>>> that I can load a small Linux distro on. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I haven't, but I will look into it for you if you like. In >>>>>>>>> theory, there should be no problem using fdisk as the Terminal >>>>>>>>> is pretty accessible with Voice Over. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> TC >>>>>>>>> James >>>>>>>>> On 11 Jan 2010, at 02:01, Scott Howell wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Folks, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Have any of you used fdisk from the Terminal in order to set >>>>>>>>>> the boot flag on a file system, which is contained on a USB >>>>>>>>>> flash drive/Thumb drive? I want to creat a bootable usb stick >>>>>>>>>> that I can load a small Linux distro on. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> tnx,-- >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >>> >> >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > >
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