BTW, another speed tip I found was to use the xfs filesystem. I use it as my /boot and /. It seems to make the computer faster. Every filesystem has its advantages and disadvantages so please read this entry from wikipedia for more details. The part about system failure policies being improved I am not sure about since the filesystem is journaling.
Preparing for Installation:
Before doing anything to your computer Mac OS 8 or 9.1 must be present to update the firmware on your iMac. Although Linux will probably run fine without the firmware update, its always a good idea to have the latest version. iMac G3 computers with tray-loading disk drives have their firmware update located here. Computers with slot-loading drives have theirs located here. If you can't update, don't worry.
Also, MAKE SURE you set your system clock to the proper time before installing. You can find instructions on setting the clock in open firmware here.
Please note that screen orientation and contrast/brightness/color settings must be the way you like if your are going to get rid of Mac OS or Mac OSX completely as there is no way to adjust it from Linux. Actually linux changes screen orientation anyway, so that first part may not matter.
Step 2: Burn an iso image of Debian for PowerPC. Be sure to burn it slowly as older disk drives can have a hard time with home made cds.
If you are planning on reinstalling Mac OS or Mac OS X please install it first. iMac G3 tray loaders must have all their startup partitions within the first 8 gb (this doesn't apply to slot loaders which don't have this limitation), so be sure to leave 51 mb for linux in the first 8 GB if you have a tray-loader.
Also, you should leave unpartitioned however much space you want your root partition to be and at least 500 mb for swap. (I have a 2 gb swap) This space doesn't have to be within the first 8 gb of the drive.
Step 4: Insert the cd into the drive of the iMac and restart it. While it is starting up hold down the c key to start from the cd. Once you reach the prompt hit enter. If you run into a blank screen start again and this time in the prompt type in:
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video=ofonly
Step 1: Run through the on screen instructions until you get to the disk partitioner. Instead of choosing automatic go down to manual. Here you'll want to partition your Linux install. BE SURE NOT TO MODIFY/MOVE PARTITION #1 ITS THE PARTITION MAP AND IF YOU DO ANYTHING TO IT, YOUR DRIVE WILL BE UNREADABLE AND YOU'LL HAVE TO REFORMAT EVERYTHING! I learned the hard way!
Step 2: Create a new world boot partition, preferably within the free space near the top, but it must be somewhere within the first 8 gb if on a tray-loader. This is where the boot loader will live. To do that select a chunk of free space and hit enter. It will ask you what size to make it and you'll say 1 mb. Now go into partition type and choose new world boot partition. Then, as a name, name it Apple_Bootstrap.
Step 3: Next, create a 50 mb /boot partition. This needs to be within the first 8 GB of your drive if on a tray-loader. I normally set this as an xfs partition.
Step 4: Create a swap partition of at least 500 mb. (Mine is set as 2 gb)
Step 4: Finally add your root partition. This is where all your stuff will live.
Step 5: Run through the installer again until you get to the spot where you select your software to install. I unchecked all the boxes as I found that I didn't even need a "standard system". If anything needs something not installed, it will install it. If you want gnome go ahead and install a desktop environment. However, gnome runs pretty slow for me, so I installed base system and installed another desktop environment later.
Step 6: Boot into your new install and login with the username root and your root password.
Optional Step: If you are low on disk space you can install localepurge and perforate to help conserve it by typing:
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apt-get install localepurge perforate
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apt-get install xfce4 xdm
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nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
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Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Default Monitor"
DefaultDepth 16
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Default Monitor"
HorizSync 58-62
VertRefresh 75-117
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Video Card"
EndSection
Step 9: (if you don't have a 1 button mouse you can skip this step) type
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nano /etc/sysctl.conf
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#Mouse emulation (button3 is the right mouse button and button2 is the middle mouse button)
dev.mac_hid.mouse_button_emulation=1
dev.mac_hid.mouse_button3_keycode=0x7d
dev.mac_hid.mouse_button2_keycode=0x7e
Optional: If you want to make mac os x (or mac os by taking the x out of this example) the default to boot type in:
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nano /etc/yaboot.conf
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defaultos=macosx
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ybin