My 9.1 discs arrived today so I could finally understand why mdk is again so hard to install on oldworld macs.
Having used mdk before I know not to trust the install script. It may well work for some but not well here. This script is a little better than the last but still doesn't work properly. No ram disk allocated for starters.
From disc1's BootX folder I found the Mandrake_Linux-install file and unstuffed it to the macs desktop, making the "Mandrake Linux Install" folder. I then ran the mandrake install script as this is very handy for making the kernel command needed to boot the install image. This is saved as the file "BootX Settings" in the macs prefernce folder.
Once thats done I copied the "Linux Kernels" folder into the macs "system folder". This mainly because bootx expects it to be there so it makes life easier.
I then copied both the bootx CP and extension over to their respective folders in the "system folder". This is because this 7300 will not boot into linux from the mac desktop so its the only way I can get bootx up early enough. The bootx app can go anywhere, my reason for putting it into the control panels folder is easy access through the mac menu.
With that done I opened BootX and checked the settings.
The kernel was right but the ramdisk was pointing to a old ydl ramdisk image. With that now pointing at the all.gz and nothing else ticked under the options tab I went back to the main bootx screen, set the ram disk to 40000 and checked the kernel command.
In other versions no kernel command was needed for the install on this machine, this results in a very out of sync display which is not very helpful. For newer macs this shouldnt be a problem.
The install script I ran earlier added this line for a kernel command
root=/dev/ram3 ramdisk_size=40000 gui-old automatic=method:cdrom
of which I probably only need the "gui-old" option to fix the video.
With that done it was time to reboot, Bootx popped up early, press tab so you can check the settings are right again and press Linux.
The one fault during the install was no cd found, press ok and a list of drivers comes up. Thankfully they have moved the mesh.o driver up the list a bit, press return twice and the installer started. :)
Once finished the machine reboots, I forgot to copy the vmlinux and initrd files from cd1's BootX folder into the macs linux kernels folder.
Point bootx at the new files for the kernel and ramdisk, change the kernel command to:
root=/dev/sdb7 for the "/" partition on this machine and save. Reboot. Check bootx options again and boot mdk9.1 :) Best thing is I dont touch bootx again.
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