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[SID - Unstable] installing sid ppc64 on a powemac G5

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azazel
Posts: 6
Joined: 2023-02-04 10:01

[SID - Unstable] installing sid ppc64 on a powemac G5

#1 Post by azazel »

Hi all, i post again here, since it seems to be the place for sid related issues

I'm trying to install debian sid on a powermac G5. Some days an installation try went straight forward, letting me installing the base system and then proceed with the rest from command line

now i have to reinstall it and i'm not able to get it anymore
i downloaded the ppc64 installer from here (the ppc flavor failed to boot) from here

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ports/current/

it boots correctly

i proceeded with following steps:
  • installed OSX Leopard and partitioned sda with sda1, sda2, sda3 (Leopard partitions) and an unused sda4 partition
  • booted the debian installer and deleted the sda4 partition
  • rebooted the debian installer and proceeded with guided partition on empty space of sda
  • the partitions created by guided partitioning are sdb4 (Hfs, /boot/grub) sda5 (ext4, /) sd5 (swap)
  • i proceeded with a minimal installation since i cannot connect to a mirror
  • the installation went straight till the bootloader installation wich fails
at this point i made different tries to find a workaround, even going on CTRL+ALT+F2 console, remounting the boot partition and retry installing grub, both via the installer and from terminal with no success

Code: Select all

$ chroot /target
$ mount -t hfs /dev/sda4 /boot/grub
$ mount -t sysfs none sys
$ grub-install /dev/sda4
from terminal grub reports the error

Code: Select all

sda4 is not a PReP partition
wich is quite strange since as far as i recall the G5 does not require a prep partition

if some of you can help i'll be grateful

if some of you can suggest a correct url for a mirror to use i'll be grateful also

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wizard10000
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Re: [SID - Unstable] installing sid ppc64 on a powemac G5

#2 Post by wizard10000 »

No experience here but Debian has a old, old wiki article on your Mac - might be worth a look.

https://wiki.debian.org/iMacG5

This isn't an official article but appears to be a lot more recent - also worth a look: https://rsaxvc.net/blog/2020/7/3/Instal ... ac_G5.html

Hope this helps -
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oswaldkelso
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Re: [SID - Unstable] installing sid ppc64 on a powemac G5

#3 Post by oswaldkelso »

Last time I tried to install install on my PPC G5 Imac it was a pita. So much so I used the Debian installer to do the partitioning and then installed void PPC :shock: Some machine like yaboot and all that "Blessing the system with holy penguin pee stuff" Most now use grub and some... Draw a straw, like open firmware.

But without a doubt the best place to ask is the #debianppc irc channel on OFTC Currently 35 users in there if you ask and hang around they'll get you installed.

Likewise the mailing list: https://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/
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azazel
Posts: 6
Joined: 2023-02-04 10:01

Re: [SID - Unstable] installing sid ppc64 on a powemac G5

#4 Post by azazel »

wizard10000 wrote: 2023-02-06 15:02 No experience here but Debian has a old, old wiki article on your Mac - might be worth a look.

https://wiki.debian.org/iMacG5

This isn't an official article but appears to be a lot more recent - also worth a look: https://rsaxvc.net/blog/2020/7/3/Instal ... ac_G5.html

Hope this helps -
tanks for pointing me, i'll look throught the articles and let you know

azazel
Posts: 6
Joined: 2023-02-04 10:01

Re: [SID - Unstable] installing sid ppc64 on a powemac G5

#5 Post by azazel »

oswaldkelso wrote: 2023-02-06 18:16 Last time I tried to install install on my PPC G5 Imac it was a pita. So much so I used the Debian installer to do the partitioning and then installed void PPC :shock: Some machine like yaboot and all that "Blessing the system with holy penguin pee stuff" Most now use grub and some... Draw a straw, like open firmware.

But without a doubt the best place to ask is the #debianppc irc channel on OFTC Currently 35 users in there if you ask and hang around they'll get you installed.

Likewise the mailing list: https://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/
yaboot worked fine, sadly i still haven't found a way to install it for 11 sid, installed it with debian 8 powepc goes straight and do it's work w/o problem, even if jessie has it's problem with noveau drivers for G5 powermacs.

thanks for pointing me to channels and mailing list. I'll let you know

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