Re: Patched XOrg to get r128 working?

[aggaz]

Wow, I did not expect that.

I can understand the need to clean up things, but at the same time it is 
sad to see how support is gradually lost for old machines.


I am sincerely grateful for the work people is doing to bring support 
back to those old beautiful machines.


Thank you
Regards
A.



Il 20/04/20 22:36, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz ha scritto:

On 4/20/20 10:26 PM, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz wrote:

On 4/20/20 10:10 PM, Alex McKeever wrote:

Tried everything to get X working (needed working for LXDE), including a new
xorg.conf with modelines. NO SUCCESS AT ALL.

Another developer (who works on VoidPPC) said r128 needs patched to even work….
I don’t even know what he did to get it working over there.


I suggest asking him what he did and then - if it's a patch that's necessary -
we can include it in the xorg package for the r128 driver.


The r128 driver package was removed from Debian unstable [1, 2]. I can try to
build one tomorrow - if it actually still builds - and provide it to you.

Not sure whether the driver is still maintained upstream.

Adrian


[1] https://packages.qa.debian.org/x/xserver-xorg-video-r128.html
[2] https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=955603

Re: Currently testing the latest NETINST image on my iMac G3.....

[aggaz]

As somebody already suggested [1], have you tried using a custom 
xorg.conf iMac-G3-specific, like this one for example [2]?


I never used that xorg.conf, is the first one google gave me, but I know 
that iMac G3 required custom xorg.conf in the past.


[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2020/04/msg00158.html
[2] https://gist.github.com/AdrianKoshka/c6c4a7718de43f6708711c7664e70aa0

Best
A.


Il 20/04/20 18:33, Alex McKeever ha scritto:

As the subject suggests, I’m giving the new image made yesterday a go.

Currently I’m in need of help getting LXDE running like it should. 
According to XOrg, no screens can be found. Likewise startlxde is 
similarly in the same boat.


*Nothing I have tried has worked*.

Thank you.

Re: Repository address for netinst

[aggaz]

In my experience archive.debian.org works well if you are not worried 
about security updates.


Regards
A.



Il 19/04/20 11:42, Gianluca Bonetti ha scritto:

Hi Rick

What about this?
deb http //archive.debian.org/debian/ 
 jessie contrib main non-free


Does it work for you?

Cheers

Il giorno dom 19 apr 2020 alle ore 11:35 Rick Thomas 
mailto:rick.tho...@pobox.com>> ha scritto:


__
Hi Gianluca,

Colton (and I) want to use Jessie (Debian 8) because it is the last
working Debian version that supports powerpc and ppc64. 
Unfortunately, the repo at

http://ftp.ports.debian.org/debian-ports/ only has unreleased,
unstable, and experimental.  Nothing there that looks like it is
usable for jessie.

Adrian's work on getting a "ports" version for Debian 10 is still a
work-in-progress and not yet suitable for a "production" machine. 
There's a bunch of us helping with the effort, and we are hopeful we

can get it going soon.  Big kudos to Adrian for spearheading the effort!

Rick

On Sat, Apr 18, 2020, at 1:22 PM, Gianluca Bonetti wrote:

Hi Colton

Have you tried a newer installer image from here?
https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ports/

Then I think you can use this line in sources.list
deb http://ftp.ports.debian.org/debian-ports/ unstable main

At least I was using that if I remember correctly
Cheers
Gianluca

Il giorno sab 18 apr 2020 alle ore 21:14 Colton Booth
mailto:col...@boothlinux.ca>> ha scritto:

Good day everyone,

I was wondering if someone could please point me in the
direction of a repository to use with Debian 8 PowerPC
netinst? Due to brittle plastics my iBook G4 is going to be
staying with its original CD drive and will not be able to use
DVDs.

I would also like to set up my own repository server in the
near future and make it available to the public. I am
currently gathering the hardware and should be set up sometime
next week.

Thank you,

Colton

Re: iMac G3 support in Sid, Impossible?

[aggaz]

Il 18/04/20 23:22, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz ha scritto:

On 4/18/20 10:58 PM, Jeffrey Walton wrote:

On Sat, Apr 18, 2020 at 4:56 PM Alex McKeever
 wrote:


The problem I have now is X fails to configure and I’m unable to find an up to 
date configuration file for this machine.


After unpacking X, update their confg.guess and config.sub. See
https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/html_node/config_002eguess.html.
You can use the same process for other packages, like X.


I don't think Alex is talking about autoconf here as he doesn't intend to
build X.org from source.

Rather, he has most likely issues getting X running on his iMac G3 and
I assume it's a similar issue as seen on the eMac [1].


I had the chance to play both with an eMac G4 and a iMac G3 in the past.
Both machines have CRT monitors and ATI video cards.
To the best of my knowledge, for both machines "black screen of death" 
issues started with Jessie [1].

I strongly believe the two issues are similar.

The email that Adrian is reporting is the first promising approach to 
find a solution for eMacs that I saw in the last years.


I think it could be worth to create an EDID binary for the iMac G3 too. 
Unfortunately I do not have access to one anymore.



Adrian


[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2020/04/msg1.html




[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2016/06/msg00136.html

Regards
A.

Re: iMac G3 support in Sid, Impossible?

[aggaz]

Given that the iMac G3 has a CRT monitor like the eMac G4, I believe it 
is likely that the issues regarding the video drivers of two machines 
are similar.


I could be wrong, but it could be worthy to take a look at what other 
people is doing to support the eMac G4 again [1] and maybe try it on the 
iMac G3 as well.


Hope you'll find a solution, I love those little old machines.

Best
A.

[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2020/04/msg1.html


Il 16/04/20 19:46, Alex McKeever ha scritto:
I was told that the kernel is why it doesn’t work 100%... that it needs 
User Space Modesetting and thus needs an older kernel like 2.6, 3.13 or 
4.4.0-187 to work properly at all with the Rage128. I’d hate to say it 
but I’ve lost faith in Debian/Ubuntu. I will be giving Adelie Linux a 
shot because nothing else modern enough supports the iMac G3’s in terms 
of Linux. BSD is a nightmare.



Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail for iPhone 

Re: eMac video modes

[aggaz]

This is great!

I would love to see this implemented in the installer.

I am not a developer, but I could make tests on my eMac.

I saw your post on facebook, I can not download the binary because I am 
not registered.


Moreover, I would like to know more about how you made the binary.

Regards
A.


Il 01/04/20 16:23, Ed Robbins ha scritto:

Hello,
Back in December I was able to get sid running on my eMac using a net 
install image and a custom EDID binary. This is necessary due to the 
strange timings of the eMac monitor. Furthermore it is necessary to put 
the EDID binary into the initramfs by creating a hook, otherwise the 
eMac monitor refuses to switch to the new mode when an incorrect mode 
was used during the initial boot. I posted about this on the Linux on 
powerpc macs facebook group and have been supporting it there [1].


I wondered if it is possible to directly support eMac machines by 
supporting this in the installer and taking the necessary steps during 
installation? Is this something that you would be happy to have 
upstream? I do not know how to go about adding this but I am happy to do 
testing (including committing to release testing) or try to add the 
support myself if you could provide some pointers?


Thanks very much,
Ed Robbins

[1] https://www.facebook.com/groups/ppclinux/permalink/437344776940132/

Re: eMac G4/1.25 GHz support for Debian Sid?

[aggaz]

Il 26/07/19 17:02, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz ha scritto:
> On 7/26/19 4:39 PM, aggaz wrote:
>> 1. Would it be possible to have UMS drivers compatible with modern kernels?
> 
> You can always boot the kernel with "nomodeset" and then try the generic
> VESA driver (if that still exists).

I was hoping to be able to run the old radeon 9200 driver in UMS, but I
don't know if that is possible. I was never really able to orient myself
in this area.


>> 2. If answer to "1" is true, would it be possible to make a debian
>> package for it?
> 
> It might be a wiser idea to fix the particular bug in the radeon driver rather
> than using the UMS driver as a crude workaround.
> 
> Was this bug ever reported to the kernel bugtracker?

I honestly don't know. It does not seem so. I am not familiar with
kernels and bug reports, I did a search on https://bugzilla.kernel.org
and I was not able to find anything relevant.


> Does the KMS driver work on the virtual console? Or does the issue affect
> both the virtual consoles and X?

If I remember correctly, the bug affects the virtual console too.
By using "nomodeset" it is possible to use the console, but X usually
gives issues.
As far as I know, at best, people is able to manage an X window system
without accelleration.


Sooner or later I would like to try to install a recent Debian Sid on
that machine. I will keep you posted.


Regards
A.

Re: eMac G4/1.25 GHz support for Debian Sid?

[aggaz]

As far as I know, the problem with eMacs with a Radeon 9200 is the
migration to KMS video drivers.

Years ago I tried to install Debian on it and discovered that any
version after "Wheezy" has video problems (the so called "Black Screen
of Death) [1].

I read a report of someone using a UMS version of the drivers from
ubuntu [2] but never tried this solution.

I wonder:

1. Would it be possible to have UMS drivers compatible with modern kernels?

2. If answer to "1" is true, would it be possible to make a debian
package for it?

If someone thinks that it could be possible to find a solution, I could
be available for testing purposes, since I still own an old eMac G4.

[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2016/06/msg00136.html
[2] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2016/06/msg00140.html


Regards




Il 26/07/19 15:54, Alex McKeever ha scritto:
> How hard would it be to get it working on this machine? Mine was
> manufactured at around the same time as my PowerMac G5 2.0 DP. I don’t
> understand why the eMac is not supported by Ports anymore... why’d they
> not add support for the Radeon 9200 for KMS? The PowerMac G5 is running
> Fienix Lite, a spin of a community supported distribution based on Sid
> with MATE, but uses LXQT instead.
> 
> 
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone 

Re: Can not run installer with new GRUB image

[aggaz]

I confirm that the image burned on a CD works on a PowerMac6,4 (eMac G4).

I can boot GRUB by using the OF command:

boot cd:,\\:tbxi

or by pressing the "c" key during first boot.

I can also see the installer.

Regards
A.



Il 07/05/19 10:55, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz ha scritto:
>> I also tried to boot the same USB drive on a PowerMac6,4 (eMac G4), but
>> I was not able to list the files contained in the file system.
>>
>> I used the command:
>>
>> dir /pcif200/usb@1b/disk@1:,\
>>
>> which returned me "can't OPEN the DIR device".
>>
>> If someone can see an error in this last OF line, please let me know.
> Does the machine boot with the image burned to a CD?
> 
> Adrian

Can not run installer with new GRUB image

[aggaz]

I tried the new image "debian-10.0-powerpc-grub-NETINST-1.iso" from [1]
on a PowerMac11,2 (Power Mac G5).

I was able to boot the cd with GRUB, but I was not able to run the
installer.

To boot the image, I dd'ed it on a USB drive and booted with
OpenFirmware by using the following commands:

boot ud:,\boot\grub\powepc.elf
boot ud:,\\:tbxi
boot ud:,\System\Library\CoreServices\grub.elf

I see grub and I can select "default install", but after that I end up
with a blank screen from Open Firmware telling me "Invalid memory access".

MD5SUM from my USB stick is the same as the downloaded is, as to say:
433d57104eaca06cd450d87f7f63e368

I also tried to boot the same USB drive on a PowerMac6,4 (eMac G4), but
I was not able to list the files contained in the file system.

I used the command:

dir /pcif200/usb@1b/disk@1:,\

which returned me "can't OPEN the DIR device".

If someone can see an error in this last OF line, please let me know.

Regards
A.

[1] https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ports/grub-test/

Re: Performing installer tests on PowerMac with USB sticks

[aggaz]

Thanks for all the information you are providing.

Despite my efforts I still am not able to boot my eMac G4 (Apple
PowerMac6,4) by USB.

After reading your email I was able to see that with a USB stick
inserted at boot a disk device indeed shows up in the device tree
(visible by using the command "dev / ls"), but I am still not able to
list its files by using the command "dir".

By the way, the USB stick contains a dd'ed debian ISO image and it is
possible to browse its files on a PowerMac G5 (PowerMac11,2).

I think I am using the correct OF path, derived by looking at the device
tree and by comparison with the working path on the G5.

I can confirm it has OpenFirmware 3 as shown by the following command on OF:

0 > dev /openprom
0 > .properties
nameopenprom
device_type BootROM
model   OpenFirmware 3
relative-addressing
supports-bootinfo
boot-syntax 0001


This is not the first time I bang my head against OF and USB boot.
Eventually I ended up using NetBoot for a G3 and this G4 (which was not
easy anyway especially on the G3).

For what is worth, I think that a developer in need to test several CD
images without burning them should consider investing in a FireWire HD.
As far as I know booting from FireWire should be much easier, but I
never tried it.

Regards
A.







Il 30/04/19 21:56, Linux User #330250 ha scritto:
> Am 30.04.19 um 12:54 schrieb John Paul Adrian Glaubitz:
>> Hello! I have dug out one of my iBook G4s now so I can perform
>> installer tests on the PowerMac target. While the machine has a
>> built-in optical drive, I would avoid having to burn CDs for every
>> installation test run (even when using CD-RWs), so I was wondering how
>> well booting from USB sticks works on these machines. Does anyone have
>> experience creating bootable USB media for PowerMacs to install
>> Debian? Adrian
> 
> Despite what others said, it should really work with every Macintosh
> that has the NewWorld bootrom and thus at least Open Firmware 3.0, i.e.
> starting with the iMac "Bondi" 1998 and the PowerBook G3 "Lombard" 1999.
> 
> And, it's all already written down in a nice way.[1] Don't read on when
> you are happy with this official guide.
> 
> Or read this:
> * http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060301112336384
> * https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2012/08/msg00042.html
> *
> https://sites.google.com/site/shawnhcorey/howto-boot-apple-powerpcs-from-a-usb-drive-in-open-firmware
> 
> 
> The long read: I wanted to share my own experience as well...
> 
> Apple did not provide an easy way, like holding a key for this kind of
> boot selection. The possible keys are, a selection[2]:
> * c – boot from CD-ROM (or any other /internal/ optical drive)
> * d – forces boot from first hard disk drive (like it normally would anyway)
> * n – network boot, looks for suitable BOOTP or TFTP network boot source
> * r – (PowerBooks) resets stored screen size to internal default
> * t – target disk mode
> * mouse button held down – forces eject for media in internal optical drive
> * option – shows Open Firmware boot selection
> 
> Sadly, Apple decided to include FireWire in the automatic search for
> bootable volumes but to leave out USB. The capability is there
> nonetheless, only that there is no key for it to press and hold, like in
> easy, quick and comfortable...
> 
> The solution is to enter the Open Firmware (OF) command prompt by
> holding Option + Command + O + F until you can read the Open Firmware
> greeter on your monitor. Then you need to find the device and load the
> boot file from there. In essence it is the manual way of what the other
> options do for you automatically.
> 
> 
> The syntax is like this:
>> boot :,
> 
> 
> Examples for :
> 1) /pci@f400/ata-6@d/disk@0
> 2) /pci@f200/mac-io@17/ata-3@2/disk@0
> 3) bridge/ACARD,6280M@4/@2
> 
> Only, on most Macs there are aliases for this long and complicated
> device paths. So, for example, all of those above could be just:
> 1) hd (is set to the faster first HDD, should be the same as ultra0)
> 2) cd (set to internal optical drive, e.g. ide0)
> 3) ide0, ide1 (ATA bus)
> 4) ultra0, ultra1 (UltraATA bus)
> 5) usb0, usb1
> 6) ud0, ud1 – only on later PowerPC-Macs (like the Power Mac G5 or the
> iMac G5, starting around 2003)
> 
> So, to replicate the boot from CD-ROM (holding the "c" key on system
> start-up) from the default partition (automatic), you can use the
> following from the Open Firmware prompt:
>> boot cd:
> 
> To choose a specific partition, with a specific file as the initial
> bootloader:
>> boot cd:2,yaboot
> 
> To use the blessed bootloader on a specific parition, in this example
> partition 3 from the hard disk drive:
>> boot hd:3,\\:tbxi
> The  "\\:tbxi" is not a real file, instead OF will look for the
> one file that is blessed on this partition, that is the one file that
> has specific attributes to it. For Mac OS X this will be bootx, for
> Linux normally yaboot or grub2. To my knowled

Re: Performing installer tests on PowerMac with USB sticks

[aggaz]

As far as I know, only newer machines are able to boot from USB.

I was able to boot from USB on a PowerMac G5 (PowerMac11,2), but I was
not able to boot on an iMac G3 and on a eMac G4.

In the case of the G5, if the machine is booted with a USB stick in it,
it should be possible to see the "ud" alias in the "devalias" output.

If this is the case, it should be possible to boot the USB stick like a
CD-ROM, but of course specifying the proper alias/path. For example:

boot ud:,\install\yaboot

Here, the alias "ud" is followed by the path to the yaboot executable.
In case of GRUB I would try to look for the path of it by using the command:

dir ud:,\

In my experience, the command:

ud:,\\:tbxi

sometimes works, sometime does not. I suppose it depends on how the ISO
file was created.

I find the documentation from NetBSD be the best companion to exploit
OpenFirmware, in case of problems I suggest to take a look at it [1,2].

[1] https://www.netbsd.org/ports/macppc/faq.html
[2] https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-8.0/macppc/INSTALL.html

P.S: Are ISO images capable to boot with GRUB instead of yaboot already
available for the masses? If so I would like to try to boot one.

Regards
A.

Il 30/04/19 12:54, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz ha scritto:
> Hello!
> 
> I have dug out one of my iBook G4s now so I can perform installer tests
> on the PowerMac target. While the machine has a built-in optical drive,
> I would avoid having to burn CDs for every installation test run (even
> when using CD-RWs), so I was wondering how well booting from USB sticks
> works on these machines.
> 
> Does anyone have experience creating bootable USB media for PowerMacs
> to install Debian?
> 
> Adrian
> 

Re: Could use an explanation why Debian after Wheezy doesn’t work on eMac G4 out of the box. Tried running Debian ports Sid, but boots to a black screen.

[aggaz]

I have an eMac G4 too and it saddens me not to be able to install an up
to date operating system on it.

As far as I understand, the problem is related to video drivers.

More specifically to the fact that at some point there was a shift
towards KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) video drivers that is not compatible
with that particular machine. I suppose it is something related both to
the old radeon chipset and to the CRT monitor. But I am not sure.

If you do not need X, you can still use it in console mode. If you need
X, maybe you can use radeon drivers, but without accelleration.

I mentioned this problem to this list several years ago, but at the time
I was not able to find a real solution [1].

Up to this date, I still use Wheezy on that machine.

If someone has an idea to make it work again with sid, I am willing to
make tests. I would also like to test the new grub on that eMac, but I
did not had the will/heart to format the hard drive with the working
wheezy on it. But I will format it if it can be useful.

Regards

[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2016/06/msg00136.html



Il 22/04/19 04:41, Alex McKeever ha scritto:
> Subject says it all. Don’t have this problem with FreeBSD, but then again I 
> wouldn’t have the packages issue that FreeBSD has with Fienix’s repository.
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 

Trying 2019-04-12 image

[aggaz]

The 2019-04-12 image was testes against a PowerMac G5 11,2.

The image was dd'ed on a USB stick and booted by Open Firmware.

A normal install was performed by keeping everything not otherwise
mentioned as default.

Proprietary firmwares were not manually added.

Module to slow spinning fans was manually loaded.

Partitioning of the hard drive was guided and not manual.
All files were stored in one partition only (/).

The usual debian-ports mirror was manually entered.

Base system and SSH server only were installed (default software selection).

Installation of GRUB wa automatic and I was not asked anything.

System booted correctly and /etc/fstab contained UUIDs for /boot/grub
and other partitions.

Everything seems to work correctly.

Congratulations to everyone involved.

Regards.
A.

Re: Tests on new 2019-04-09 image on PPC64

[aggaz]

Il 10/04/19 18:02, Dennis Clarke ha scritto:
> On 4/10/19 7:45 AM, aggaz wrote:
>> Following the attempts previously done [1], an expert install was
>> performed using the new 2019-04-09 images on a PowerMac11,2.
>>
>> This time everything was kept as default except that:
>> 1. the network-console component was manually added to be able to
>> install by SSH;
>> 2. the windfarm module was manually loaded by "modprobe -v
>> windfarm_core";
> 
> The fans all roar. However given that this is during installation should
> anyone care?

Honestly silent fans help me, especially in this moment of
experimentation where several attempts are required.

Regards
A.

Re: Tests on new 2019-04-09 image on PPC64

[aggaz]

Il 10/04/19 14:23, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz ha scritto:
>> Installation was correctly finished and after reboot I had grub showing up.
>> Newly installed system was booted but not correctly.
>> Systemd waited a while for "a start job is running for /dev/sdc2" (the
>> partition where GRUB was installed).
>> Then I saw:
>> [DEPEND] Dependency failed for File System Check on /dev/sdc2.
>> [DEPEND] Dependency failed for /boot/grub.
>> [DEPEND] Dependency failed for Local File Syestem.
> 
> Could you share the /etc/fstab and /boot/grub/grub.cfg of the installed
> system?
> 
> We should use UUIDs for the partition names as device names are unreliable
> and might change after a reboot.

You are right! My fstab was:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' 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).
#
#
# / was on /dev/sdc3 during installation
UUID=8d05def0-133c-44a2-adf2-8d2e7b2be4a7 /   ext4
errors=remount-ro 0   1
# swap was on /dev/sdc4 during installation
UUID=aa1708a4-1d44-4f3f-bf67-49314d3bbba1 noneswapsw
  0   0
/dev/sr0/media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0   0

/dev/sdc2 /boot/grub hfs defaults 0 1

The problem is that I have 2 hard drives and I installed Debian by using
a USB stick. The installer counted 3 hard drives and used sdc as name
for the drive I installed debian on. Now that the USB stick is not used
anymore it count 2 hard drives only. So, changing the last line for
"sdb2" solved the issue and now the system starts and everything seems
to work!

Thank you all for porting GRUB, it is nice to see it on PPC!

As requested, here follows my grub.cfg:

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
   set default="${next_entry}"
   set next_entry=
   save_env next_entry
   set boot_once=true
else
   set default="0"
fi

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
  menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
  menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
  fi
}
function load_video {
  if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
  else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
  fi
}

if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
   font=unicode
else
insmod part_apple
insmod ext2
set root='hd2,apple3'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root
--hint-ieee1275='ieee1275//ht@0\,f200/pci@9/k2-sata-root@c/disk@0,apple3'
--hint-bios=hd2,apple3 --hint-efi=hd2,apple3
--hint-baremetal=ahci2,apple3  8d05def0-133c-44a2-adf2-8d2e7b2be4a7
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root
8d05def0-133c-44a2-adf2-8d2e7b2be4a7
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi

if loadfont $font ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
  set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
  set lang=en_US
  insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ] ; then
  set timeout=30
else
  if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
set timeout_style=menu
set timeout=5
  # Fallback normal timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is
  # unavailable.
  else
set timeout=5
  fi
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
set menu_color_highlight=white/blue
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
function gfxmode {
set gfxpayload="${1}"
}
set linux_gfx_mode=
export linux_gfx_mode
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class
gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option
'gnulinux-simple-8d05def0-133c-44a2-adf2-8d2e7b2be4a7' {
load_video
insmod gzio
if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
insmod part_apple
insmod ext2
set root='hd2,apple3'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root
--hint-ieee1275='ieee1275//ht@0\,f200/pci@9/k2-sata-root@c/disk@0,apple3'
--hint-bios=hd2,apple3 --hint-efi=hd2,apple3
--hint-baremetal=ahci2,apple3  8d05def0-133c-44a2-adf2-8d2e7b2be4a7
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root
8d05def0-133c-44a2-adf2-8d2e7b2be4a7
fi
echo'Loading Linux 4.19.0-4-powerp

Tests on new 2019-04-09 image on PPC64

[aggaz]

Following the attempts previously done [1], an expert install was
performed using the new 2019-04-09 images on a PowerMac11,2.

This time everything was kept as default except that:
1. the network-console component was manually added to be able to
install by SSH;
2. the windfarm module was manually loaded by "modprobe -v windfarm_core";
3. permissions for mkhfs-bootstrap.sh were changed to be able to run the
script (chmod 755 /usr/lib/grub-installer/mkhfs-bootstrap.sh)
4. the usual debian-ports mirrors were manually added as already
described in [1].

Guided partitioning for the whole disk was used which gave the following
partition table:

SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sdc) - 163.9 GB ATA Maxtor 6L160M0
#1 32.3 kBApple
#2 20.0 MB  B  K  bootuntitled
#3160.4 GB f  ext4untitled  /
#4  3.6 GB f  swapswap  swap
   512.0 BFREE SPACE

After changing the permissions of mkhfs-bootstrap.sh GRUB was properly
installed. During GRUB's installation I was asked by the installer:
"Force GRUB installation to the EFI removable media path?"
I was unsure about what to reply and I kept the default "NO".

Installation was correctly finished and after reboot I had grub showing up.
Newly installed system was booted but not correctly.
Systemd waited a while for "a start job is running for /dev/sdc2" (the
partition where GRUB was installed).
Then I saw:
[DEPEND] Dependency failed for File System Check on /dev/sdc2.
[DEPEND] Dependency failed for /boot/grub.
[DEPEND] Dependency failed for Local File Syestem.

After that I find myself in an "emergency mode" with a "Give root
password for maintenance" message.

I wanted to see my partitions, but it seems that the "mac-fdisk" command
is not installed.
I installed it by apt and saw that the partition table was as expected.
Then I installed "hfsutils" package and rebooted.

After reboot I had the same issues.

In conclusion, it seems that it is possible to install GRUB with the new
scripts, but something is still missing for actually using it.

Regards
A.

[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2019/04/msg00094.html

Re: Updated installation images for Debian Ports 2019-04-09

[aggaz]

Test of updated installation images for Debian Ports 2019-04-09 on a
PowerMac G5 11,2.

CD image booted from USB stick as before [1].
Expert install started from yaboot.

Fan were spinning loudly but loading the proper module stopped them as
previosly described [1].

The "network-console" installer component was loaded. Doing so I noticed
that there was no "hfs" component in the list anymore.

The "partition disk" step at first did not work, then, when called a
second time, the partitioning interface started.

Created a new mac partition table. This time the "newworld" partition
type was an option. I ended up creating manually the following partition
table:

SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sdc) - 163.9 GB ATA Maxtor 6L160M0
> #1 32.3 kBApple
> #2 20.0 MB  B  K  bootbootstrap
> #3512.0 MB f  ext2boot  /boot
> #4  1.0 GB f  swapswap  swap
> #5162.4 GB f  ext4root  /
>512.0 BFREE SPACE

Base system installed fine.
Debian ports mirrors [2] manually added.

A minimal software selection was installed comprising "standard system
utilities" and "SSH server" only.
This time I switched "popularity contest" on.

Grub installation failed again with:
"An installation step failed. You can try to run the failing item again
from the menu, or skip it and choose something else. The failing step
is: Install the GRUB boot loader on a hard disk"

On the log window I can see:
Apr 10 09:56:15 main-menu[5707]: (process:20056): dpkg-divert: warning:
diverting file '/sbin/start-stop-daemon' from an Essential package with
rename is dangerous, use --no-rename
Apr 10 09:56:15 main-menu[5707]: (process:20056): dpkg-divert: warning:
diverting file '/sbin/start-stop-daemon' from an Essential package with
rename is dangerous, use --no-rename
Apr 10 09:56:15 main-menu[5707]: (process:20056): /usr/bin/grub-installer:
Apr 10 09:56:15 main-menu[5707]: (process:20056): line 252:
Apr 10 09:56:15 main-menu[5707]: (process:20056):
/usr/lib/grub-installer/mkhfs-bootstrap.sh: Permission denied
Apr 10 09:56:15 main-menu[5707]: (process:20056):
Apr 10 09:56:15 main-menu[5707]: WARNING **: Configuring
'grub-installer' failed with error code 1
Apr 10 09:56:15 main-menu[5707]: WARNING **: Menu item 'grub-installer'
failed.

Opened a shell and saw:
~ # ls -l /usr/lib/grub-installer
-rwxr-xr-x1 root root 68032 Apr  7 21:31 ensure-active
-rw-r--r--1 root root  2610 Apr  5 21:03 mkhfs-bootstrap.sh
-rwxr-xr-x1 root root 67888 Apr  7 21:31 prep-bootdev

So, as suggested [3] I changed permissions of mkhfs-bootstrap.sh to 755.

But it failed again with the same error shown on the installer. On the
log I see:
Apr 10 10:09:05 main-menu[5707]: INFO: Falling back to the package
description for brltty-udeb
Apr 10 10:09:06 main-menu[5707]: INFO: Falling back to the package
description for brltty-udeb
Apr 10 10:09:06 main-menu[5707]: INFO: Menu item 'grub-installer' selected
Apr 10 10:09:06 grub-installer: info: architecture: ppc64/powermac_newworld
Apr 10 10:09:07 in-target: Reading package lists...
Apr 10 10:09:07 in-target:
Apr 10 10:09:07 in-target: Building dependency tree...
Apr 10 10:09:07 in-target:
Apr 10 10:09:07 in-target: Reading state information...
Apr 10 10:09:07 in-target:
Apr 10 10:09:09 in-target: grub-common is already the newest version
(2.02+dfsg1-16).
Apr 10 10:09:09 in-target: 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove
and 0 not upgraded.
Apr 10 10:09:10 in-target: Reading package lists...
Apr 10 10:09:10 in-target:
Apr 10 10:09:10 in-target: Building dependency tree...
Apr 10 10:09:11 in-target:
Apr 10 10:09:11 in-target: Reading state information...
Apr 10 10:09:11 in-target:
Apr 10 10:09:12 in-target: grub-common is already the newest version
(2.02+dfsg1-16).
Apr 10 10:09:12 in-target: 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove
and 0 not upgraded.
Apr 10 10:09:12 mkhfs-bootstrap: The HFS bootstrap partition couldn't be
found. Cannot continue! Exiting.
Apr 10 10:09:12 main-menu[5707]: (process:20538): dpkg-divert: warning:
diverting file '/sbin/start-stop-daemon' from an Essential package with
rename is dangerous, use --no-rename
Apr 10 10:09:12 main-menu[5707]: (process:20538): dpkg-divert: warning:
diverting file '/sbin/start-stop-daemon' from an Essential package with
rename is dangerous, use --no-rename
Apr 10 10:09:12 main-menu[5707]: (process:20538): cat: can't open
'/var/lib/partman/devices/=dev=sdb/32768-1033215/method': No such file
or directory
Apr 10 10:09:12 main-menu[5707]: WARNING **: Configuring
'grub-installer' failed with error code 1
Apr 10 10:09:12 main-menu[5707]: WARNING **: Menu item 'grub-installer'
failed.

At this time, I stopped the installation.
Did I partitioned my drive in the wrong way?
That was the same layout I always use with yaboot.
I am thinking that it could be worth to try the same install but with
the default partitioning scheme.

Re: baffled .. the 2019-01-27 debian-10.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso not bootable

[aggaz]

Il 08/04/19 21:38, David VANTYGHEM ha scritto:
> Can I use Debian for PowerPC on my grey iMac G3 ?

I successfully installed Debian Wheezy on an iMac Mac G3 (Bondy Blue) a
month ago.

Re: Trying 2019-04-06 image

[aggaz]

Il 08/04/19 00:02, Frank Scheiner ha scritto:
> On 4/7/19 13:47, aggaz wrote:
>> Il 07/04/19 13:24, Frank Scheiner ha scritto:
>>> And could you please also provide the output of
>>> `devalias` from OpenFirmware for reference, as I'm unsure if the "ud"
>>> alias is always predefined?

In my PowerMac11,2 the device "ud" shows up in OpenFirmware only when
booting it with a USB device inserted. Without a USB stick in a port I
can not see any "ud" device with the "devalias" command.

Here follows a transcription of the corresponding line as shown by devalias:

ud  /ht@0,f200/pci@8/usb@b,1/disk@1

Regards
A.

Re: Trying 2019-04-06 image

[aggaz]

Il 07/04/19 13:24, Frank Scheiner ha scritto:
> Nice, that the boot from USB stick worked for you. What type of G5 are
> you using "7,2", "7,3", "9,1" or "11,2"? See [1] for details about the
> different models.

Considering that I have 2 ethernet ports, I suppose I have a PowerMac11,2.

> And could you please also provide the output of
> `devalias` from OpenFirmware for reference, as I'm unsure if the "ud"
> alias is always predefined?

Is there a way to save the standard output from OpenFirmware to a text
file? If so, I would paste here the output.
If there is not a way I can send a picture. Is sending a picture to the
mailing list appropriate/permitted?

>> I created a new "mac" partition on the hard drive. I tried manual
>> partitioning but was not able to find a way to create a new "bootstrap"
>> partition.
>> I remember there was an option for it in the past, now I can not find
>> this option for a new partition anymore.
> 
> Interesting, I can't remember if I explicitly tested manual
> partitioning. I'll have a look into this. It could be that maybe the
> naming has changed sometime in the past. For the NewWorld/HFS bootstrap
> partition you need to use the newworld method or type (provided by
> partman-newworld).

After re-reading what I wrote, I noticed that here I meant "I created a
new "mac" partition *table*" and not "a new "mac" partition". Sorry.
Anyway, I remember manually partitioning my hard drive in the past and I
always found a way to create a newworld "bootstrap" partition. Now I
could not find any.

>> So I used automatic partitioning of the whole drive, which gave me this
>> layout:
>>
>> SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sdc) - 163.9 GB ATA Maxtor 6L160M0
>> #1 32.3 kB    Apple
>> #2 20.0 MB  B  K  untitled
>> #3    160.4 GB f  ext4    untitled  /
>> #4  3.6 GB f  swap    swap  swap
>>     512.0 B    FREE SPACE
>>
>> I felt like something was missing but I continued the installation
>> anyway.
> 
> No, actually that's fine this way. The first partition contains the
> partitioning layout - IIC - the second is the NewWorld/HFS bootstrap
> partition (which will only later be mounted at `/boot/grub`, because
> "d-i/partman-newworld" can't format or mount that, it just makes sure a
> partition is created), a separate partition for `/boot` is not needed,
> so everything can reside on the root FS.

Glad to know that the partition layout was fine. Still it seems strange
to me that the second (20M) partition does not appear to be formatted in
any way. It should appear formatted as HFS, right?

>> Grub installation failed with the following message:
>> "An installation step failed. You can try to run the failing item again
>> from the menu, or skip it and choose something else. The failing step
>> is: Install the GRUB boot loader on a hard disk"
>>
>> On the log screen I see:
>> Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067): dpkg-divert: warning:
>> diverting file '/sbin/start-stop-daemon' from an Essential package with
>> rename is dangerous, use --no-rename
>> Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067): dpkg-divert: warning:
>> diverting file '/sbin/start-stop-daemon' from an Essential package with
>> rename is dangerous, use --no-rename
>> Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067):
>> /usr/bin/grub-installer:
>> Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067): line 252:
>> Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067):
>> /usr/lib/grub-installer/mkhfs-bootstrap.sh: not found
>> Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067):
>> Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: WARNING **: Configuring
>> 'grub-installer' failed with error code 1
>> Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: WARNING **: Menu item 'grub-installer'
>> failed.
> 
> See he lower part of [2] for an explanation. Unfortunately I forgot to
> add the newly created script (`mkhfs-bootstrap.sh`) to the list of files
> to be installed. So it was missing in the d-i/grub-installer udeb and
> not installed.
> 
> [2]: https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2019/04/msg00067.html

Good to know that this issue is already taken care of. If I find time I
will try to manually add the script. Or I will try the next corrected
image when it comes.

>> Hope this report helps.
> 
> Absolutely, this was a fine report.

Glad to be part of this collective effort.

Regards
A.

Trying 2019-04-06 image

[aggaz]

I tried an installation of the new image
"debian-10.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso" from [1] on a PowerMac G5.
The image was copied with "dd" on a usb stick and then loaded with on
Open Firmware by using:

boot ud:,\install\yaboot

I did an "expert mode" installation and loaded the following modules:
hfs, network-console, fdisk, parted.

Fan were spinning loudly but I can confirm that the following command
stops them:
# modprobe -v windfarm_core

The partitioning step was not working so I edited file
"/lib/partman/init.d/26zfs-devices" changing line 19 from "local
zfs_load_timeout" to "zfs_load_timeout".
At this point the partitioning step started.

I created a new "mac" partition on the hard drive. I tried manual
partitioning but was not able to find a way to create a new "bootstrap"
partition.
I remember there was an option for it in the past, now I can not find
this option for a new partition anymore.

So I used automatic partitioning of the whole drive, which gave me this
layout:

SCSI4 (0,0,0) (sdc) - 163.9 GB ATA Maxtor 6L160M0
#1 32.3 kBApple
#2 20.0 MB  B  K  untitled
#3160.4 GB f  ext4untitled  /
#4  3.6 GB f  swapswap  swap
   512.0 BFREE SPACE

I felt like something was missing but I continued the installation anyway.

Base system was installed fine.
As repository I used the usual [2].
Used a minimal software selection (default only).

Grub installation failed with the following message:
"An installation step failed. You can try to run the failing item again
from the menu, or skip it and choose something else. The failing step
is: Install the GRUB boot loader on a hard disk"

On the log screen I see:
Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067): dpkg-divert: warning:
diverting file '/sbin/start-stop-daemon' from an Essential package with
rename is dangerous, use --no-rename
Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067): dpkg-divert: warning:
diverting file '/sbin/start-stop-daemon' from an Essential package with
rename is dangerous, use --no-rename
Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067): /usr/bin/grub-installer:
Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067): line 252:
Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067):
/usr/lib/grub-installer/mkhfs-bootstrap.sh: not found
Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: (process:25067):
Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: WARNING **: Configuring
'grub-installer' failed with error code 1
Apr  7 08:05:14 main-menu[4663]: WARNING **: Menu item 'grub-installer'
failed.

At this point I stopped the installation.

Hope this report helps.
Regards.

[1] https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ports/2019-04-06/
[2] ftp.ports.debian.org/debian-ports/

Re: Best way too install Debian Jessie on powerpc/powerpc64 ?

[aggaz]

If you want to install Jessie, you can use the old installation CD.

Repositories from Debian Archive can be used to install / keep Jessie
and other old versions.

https://www.debian.org/distrib/archive

Even if outdated I still use Wheezy on some machines because of video
driver's problems.



For PPCs, the only actively maintained Debian version at the moment is
Sid, available as a Debian Port.

https://www.ports.debian.org/
https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2018/07/msg4.html



You can use the sources.list lines shown in the above links to make you
own. As far as I know you are free to keep Jessie or to upgrade to Sid
if you so wish.


Regards



Il 05/04/19 03:10, Rick Thomas ha scritto:
> Is there a new install CD/DVD for PowerPC Jessie now that it’s repo has been 
> moved to archives?
> 
> And in a similar vein, what changes do I need to make to sources.list for a 
> Mac powerpc and/or powerpc64 that already has Jessie installed (*not* Sid)
> 
> Thanks!
> Rick
> 

Is netboot possible nowadays?

[aggaz]

Hello,

Is installation of the powerpc port by netboot possible nowadays?

I am trying to install Debian Sid powerpc on an eMac G4 by netboot.

I am using old netboot files (yaboot, etc.) from wheezy [1].

I know it's old, but my aim is to use the files as a "boot-base" and
then to use the debian-ports mirrors [2].

I can netboot the installer just fine and I can set the debian-ports
mirror but then I can not download the installer components.

It appears to me that it could be related to a missing
"installer-powerpc" directory in [3].

Does it mean that netboot is not supported by debian-ports or is there a
mirror I am not aware of?

Regards
F.


[1]
http://ftp.it.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/main/installer-powerpc/current/images/powerpc/netboot/

[2] http://ftp.ports.debian.org/debian-ports/

[3] http://ftp.ports.debian.org/debian-ports/dists/sid/main/

Re: Testing GRUB from other distros.

[aggaz]

Il 07/03/19 20:54, Frank Scheiner ha scritto:
> On 3/7/19 10:09, aggaz wrote:
>> [...]
>> I can try Fedora with the CD image burned on an actual CD, but I
>> honestly do not expect any change.
> 
> Ok then, but if you have the extra time for it, it'd be good to know if
> it would make a difference.

You were right.

I burned Fedora-Everything-netinst-ppc64-27-1.6.iso on a CD and I was
able to start an installation, but not to finish it.

There were problems with the graphical install (the system froze with a
black and white chessboard pattern) so I had to enable the textual
install by adding "inst.text" on the kernel line in GRUB.

I used the repository [1] and a default "classic" partition table
(classic as opposed to LVM).

Once I started the installation of the system I noticed the creation of
an "appleboot" partition (as the installer called it).

Then the installation was interrupted by the following error:

"The package 'yaboot' is required for this installation. This package
does not exists. This is a fatal error and installation will be aborted".

So, I suppose that in theory Fedora 27 does support apples, but by using
yaboot and for this reason I think that further testing is not required.

Hope these failed installations helped.

Regards
F.


[1]
http://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/fedora-secondary/releases/27/Everything/ppc64/os/

Re: Testing GRUB from other distros.

[aggaz]

I managed to re-install openSUSE, still without success.

This time I used the NET install image of Tumbleweed instead of the DVD.

While trying this image I discovered by chance that the hang at boot was
due to a failed attempt to mount a partition where OpenSUSE was
previously installed.

After creating a new MS-DOS partition table I was able to boot the
installer again.

This NET image was also more comfortable to work with, because this time
fans were spinning slowly. Last time I installed OpenSUSE fans were
spinning very loudly at maximum.

I have to say that since the first installation I also upgraded RAM
memory, so I am not sure if the fan spinning is related to the NET image
or something else... sorry for the multiple variables in these tests...

Anyway, this time I performed manual partitioning.
The installer give the possibility to format an hard drive by using
either GPT or MS-DOS formatting tables.

Given that the first (unsuccessful) install was done by GPT, this time I
used MS-DOS.

I mimicked the layout suggested by the automatic (GPT) partition scheme
and ended up with the following configuration:

/dev/sdb1   PReP-Boot   (unmounted/unformatted)
/dev/sdb2   EXT2/boot
/dev/sdb3   Swapswap
/dev/sdb4   BtrFS   /

This is how it looks like on fdisk:

Device Boot   Start   End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1  *   2048 18431 16384 8M 41 PPC PReP Boot
/dev/sdb2 18432542719524288   256M 83 Linux
/dev/sdb3542720   1591295   1048576   512M 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb4   1591296 320173055 318581760 151,9G 83 Linux

After install I was unable to boot OpenSUSE. Openfirmware is unable to
open the partitions.


In conclusion, OpenSUSE's installer does not give the possibility to set
up an apple partition table.
It also does not give the possibility to create a bootstrap partition.
I think that this port is not conceived for apple-macs.

All this made me think about some time ago when I installed OpenBSD in
this same machine.
OpenBSD can be run by formatting the hard drive either with HFS
partitioning or MBR partitioning [1].

Maybe I should try to install the contents of /boot in a FAT/MS-DOS
partition?
Would it even make sense?

Regards
F.


[1] https://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/6.4/macppc/INSTALL.macppc
(search for the word "MBR" in this text file to read about the booting
setups)



Il 07/03/19 10:09, aggaz ha scritto:
> To be clearer, Fedora's GRUB did work too. I was able to boot the
> CD-image and I saw GRUB starting kernel/initrd, but this boot step failed.
> So, as a matter of fact, GRUB as a loader for the kernels from the
> CD-images always worked.
> I can try Fedora with the CD image burned on an actual CD, but I
> honestly do not expect any change.
> 
> Regarding OpenSUSE, the problem is at the step regarding drivers
> initialization. The boot process always hangs when trying to load the
> driver "ssb", that in my understanding has something to do with the
> Broadcom WiFi interface. I do not understand why the installer was able
> to start this driver at first and now it does not.
> I also tried to exclude this driver by appending the line
> "brokenmoddules=ssb" to GRUB's kernel line as suggested by the installer
> itself, without improvements.
> 
> Errata corrige: the line to boot ISOs from OpenFirmware was:
> "boot ud:,\\:tbxi"
> and not:
> "boot hd:,\\:tbxi".
> 
> 
> Regards.
> A.

Re: Testing GRUB from other distros.

[aggaz]

I installed openSUSE tunbleweed because it supports the PPC64 port.
As far as I understand openSUSE Leap does not.

I am not sure I understand... Are you asking me to install openSUSE on a
x86_64 machine?

Regards
A.


Il 07/03/19 10:40, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz ha scritto:
> On 3/7/19 4:56 PM, aggaz wrote:
>> OpenSUSE:
>> I was able to install OpenSUSE tumbleweed. I used dd and usb boot as in
>> Fedora. I was not very comfortable with the installation procedure and I
>> just followed the default choices.
> 
> Can you test openSUSE Leap 42.3 or Leap 15? Testing Tumbleweed isn't probably
> the greatest idea as Tumbleweed is a rolling release distribution and the 
> ppc64
> port doesn't see as much testing as the x86_64 port.
> 
> Adrian
> 

Re: Testing GRUB from other distros.

[aggaz]

To be clearer, Fedora's GRUB did work too. I was able to boot the
CD-image and I saw GRUB starting kernel/initrd, but this boot step failed.
So, as a matter of fact, GRUB as a loader for the kernels from the
CD-images always worked.
I can try Fedora with the CD image burned on an actual CD, but I
honestly do not expect any change.

Regarding OpenSUSE, the problem is at the step regarding drivers
initialization. The boot process always hangs when trying to load the
driver "ssb", that in my understanding has something to do with the
Broadcom WiFi interface. I do not understand why the installer was able
to start this driver at first and now it does not.
I also tried to exclude this driver by appending the line
"brokenmoddules=ssb" to GRUB's kernel line as suggested by the installer
itself, without improvements.

Errata corrige: the line to boot ISOs from OpenFirmware was:
"boot ud:,\\:tbxi"
and not:
"boot hd:,\\:tbxi".


Regards.
A.


Il 07/03/19 09:39, Frank Scheiner ha scritto:
> On 3/7/19 08:56, aggaz wrote:
>> As previously requested [1, 2], I did some tests regarding GRUB on PPC64
>> as provided by other distributions.
>> I did my tests on a PowerMac G5 late 2005.
>>
>> My attempts failed miserably.
> 
> Sad to hear that, but now we at least know the status.
> 
>> Fedora:
>> I was unable to boot Fedora 27. The image was dd'ed in a usb stick and
>> booted by openfirmware (boot hd:,\\:tbxi).
>> The installer never started and I ended up in a recovery shell.
>> I noticed that they used GRUB to boot the CD.
> 
> For this case it could be interesting to check if results will differ
> when using a disc instead of a USB stick.
> 
>> OpenSUSE:
>> I was able to install OpenSUSE tumbleweed. I used dd and usb boot as in
>> Fedora. I was not very comfortable with the installation procedure and I
>> just followed the default choices.
>> [...]
>> I noticed that they used GRUB to boot the CD too.
>>
>> Gentoo:
>> Some time ago I tried gentoo on this same machine, and noticed that they
>> use GRUB to boot their live-cd, but the installation to HD needs yaboot.
>>
>> I am not sure how useful this report might be... anyway I did what I
>> could.
>> I am still available for other tests if needed.
> 
> Thanks for testing these other distributions. Even if it didn't work out
> as expected it's still valuable information. I think especially the fact
> that the other distributions all use GRUB to boot from an ISO for ppc64
> and that it worked for at least two of three is interesting. The same
> configuration could then be used for Debian ISOs in the future.
> 
> Cheers,
> Frank
> 

Testing GRUB from other distros.

[aggaz]

As previously requested [1, 2], I did some tests regarding GRUB on PPC64
as provided by other distributions.
I did my tests on a PowerMac G5 late 2005.

My attempts failed miserably.

Fedora:
I was unable to boot Fedora 27. The image was dd'ed in a usb stick and
booted by openfirmware (boot hd:,\\:tbxi).
The installer never started and I ended up in a recovery shell.
I noticed that they used GRUB to boot the CD.

OpenSUSE:
I was able to install OpenSUSE tumbleweed. I used dd and usb boot as in
Fedora. I was not very comfortable with the installation procedure and I
just followed the default choices.
This was not a good idea because I ended up partitioning the hard drive
with a GPT partition scheme. Now openfirmware can not see the contents
of this drive and I can not boot openSUSE.
I can not tell for sure, but I do not remember any other choice more
than GPT. I would like to try the installation again to check, but for
some reason the boot of the image hangs and I can not access the
installer anymore... I tried several times without any success.
I noticed that the installer was not able to read partition tables
created by using mac-fdisk / debian installer. So I suppose they do not
support Apples after all...
I noticed that they used GRUB to boot the CD too.

Gentoo:
Some time ago I tried gentoo on this same machine, and noticed that they
use GRUB to boot their live-cd, but the installation to HD needs yaboot.

I am not sure how useful this report might be... anyway I did what I could.
I am still available for other tests if needed.

Regards
A.


[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2018/12/msg00010.html
[2] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2019/03/msg00021.html

Re: PPC64 Illegal Instruction

[aggaz]

I do not have a contact, but I think they are the same people behind the
PowerPC Notebook project [1].
Maybe you can contact them here [2].

[1] https://www.powerpc-notebook.org/about/
[2] https://www.powerpc-notebook.org/contacts/

F.


Il 06/03/19 18:55, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz ha scritto:
> On 3/5/19 3:57 PM, aggaz wrote:
>> I understand your frustration, but I want you to know that I found a way
>> to use my PowerMac G5 in these last two days.
>>
>> Basically I am using Debian Sid PPC64 with this extra repository:
>>
>> http://repo.powerprogress.org/
> It would be much better if the maintainers of this repository would
> upstream their PowerPC-specific patches, either to Debian or directly
> towards upstream.
> 
> Most upstream bugs can be reported using Bugzilla (in case for Firefox)
> or github issues. If someone has a patch, they just attach it to the
> bug report.
> 
> Do you have contact to the maintainers of the repository above?
> 
> Adrian
> 

Re: News about Firefox for PowerPC

[aggaz]

Hello, browsing the mailing list archive I read that on December 2018
people with a Macintosh G5 was kindly asked to try Fedora and OpenSUSE
to see if their GRUB works [1].

I was not member of the list at the time, but now I am. I have a
PowerMac G5 late 2005 and if this kind of help/test is still needed I
will give it a try.

[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2018/12/msg00010.html

Regards
F.

Re: PPC64 Illegal Instruction

[aggaz]

I understand your frustration, but I want you to know that I found a way
to use my PowerMac G5 in these last two days.

Basically I am using Debian Sid PPC64 with this extra repository:

http://repo.powerprogress.org/

Both Firefox and mpv are working.

I was even able to use wifi after manually compiling the package for
b43-fwcutter.

Regards


> I already wiped my ppc64 installation a few days ago in favor of the
> powerpc variant. On top of the applications not opening, I had a
> problem with Arctic Fox where no matter what I did, or what version I
> tried, it would crash every time it encountered a slightly heavy
> website (most websites) or tried to install an addon. So considering AF
> is one of the only fully functioning browsers to use at the moment
> (Epiphany has problems, and so does Midori, Firefox ESR won't even
> launch), I didn't have much of a choice.

Debian "Jessie" on Apple eMac 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 (7447A) with ATI Radeon 9200 gives "Black Screen of Death"

[aggaz]

Dear list,

I have an Apple eMac 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 (7447A) with ATI Radeon 9200.

For several years I used Debian "Wheezy" on it without issues.

Some day ago I upgraded to "Jessie" and graphics stopped working.

I also tried to make a fresh install of Jessie that later I upgraded to
"testing", but I always have the same problem.

The problem is that after boot I have the so called "Black Screen of
Death", which means that the monitor goes black and this is not related
to Xorg, in fact I can not even see a shell prompt.

I read everithing I could to fix it.

I my understanding the problem is that new radeon drivers require KMS
but KMS is for some reason not compatible with my machine.

The only way to have an almost working screen is to disable radeon-kms
either by adding to yaboot.conf the line:

append="nomodeset"

or in /etc/modprobe.d/radeon-kms.conf the line:

options radeon modeset=0

In both cases, I get a working console, but a messed up X.

I see weird colors and X is ot usable.

Now I read that I could fix it as described here by disabling
open-firmware frame-buffer and using the driver fbdev, which is slow.

So, my solution is to go back to wheezy.

My questions:

1. Am I missing something? Is there a way to use Jessie with radeon drivers?

2. Where can I find a downloadable iso for Debian Wheezy PPC? It seems I
can download only "Jessie" and testing.

Thank you for your help, best regards.

Francesco