Section I: General Informations

What is Linux?

Linux is an operating system. It features all the things you can expect from a modern OS: modern architecture (kernel, daemons, servers...), preemptive multitasking, multithreading, multiuser ability. The Linux Operating System is distributed under the Gnu General Public License (GPL): that means that this OS is FREE and that you can get the sources and re-compile it as well.

Consequently, all software for linux (except some commercial programs) is free and you can get its source code (except Netscape Navigator which is free but provided whitout the sources and some author that could not provide the source code of their contribution), re-compile it or modify it.

Linux has been created on a 386 PC so it was originally for PC. But some intelligent people ported it to PowerMac (as the author authorized it by the GPL). There is 2 ports of Linux for PowerMac: LinuxPPC and MkLinux. MkLinux is a port realized by Apple and the Open Software Fondation (OSF). LinuxPPC is a port realized by Paul Mackerras.

The difference is that MkLinux does not run on Performa serie and on MacOS clones which has an Internal IDE HardDisk. It requires 604 & 604e machines such as 7500,8500,9500 in order to run. LinuxPPC runs on a lot of PowerPC systems: BeBox, IBM,Prep, PowerMacintosh and on the Performa series. See the section System Requirements for additional informations. LinuxPPC is also faster than MkLinux because it is a native port which means that it would run only on PowerPC™ Systems whereas MkLinux could easily be ported to others systems.

Linux P-Mac refers to LinuxPPC installed on PowerMacintosh. In fact, there are very little differences between LinucPPC and Linux P-Mac. If you get Linux from a LinuxPPC directory, you should also get the files into the PowerMac directory: don't panic, this would be explained in next sections.

What is a distribution?

This is some files put toghether on a CD-ROM or on ftp. There is several distribution in the PC World: RedHat, Suse, etc. We would use a port of the RedHat disitribution.

System Requirements

Although I said that LinuxPPC runs on a lot of PowerPC Systems, you should check if your computer is in the list. This list apply only for PowerMacintosh Systems (Apple and Clones) and is taken from the file STATUS available at ftp://ftp.linuxppc.org/pub/linuxppc/powermac/

NEW! PowerMacintosh G3 are now supported! See in this list.

Updated: 3/06/1998

APS Technologies and PowerTools manufacture Mac clones using the same motherboards as the StarMax machines, so these should work also.

Some users have reported that on the Apple Powermac 9500, it is necessary to move the video board to the second slot from the top in order for it to work.

When booting off SCSI hard disk, the kernel finds the partition it booted from automatically, but it doesn't when booted from an IDE disk. In this case you need to specify the root partition in the Open Firmware boot-file variable or in the /etc/quik.conf file.

On the Performa 6400, it is not possible to boot from a SCSI disk, presumably because of problems in Open Firmware's MESH driver. You can boot from a partition on the internal EIDE hard disk, or from floppy or ethernet.

Various people with machines with ethernet cards based on the DEC 21041 ("tulip") have reported problems with timeouts and inability to transmit.

If your machine isn't listed above, and it's an older model(i.e. introduced in 1995 or earlier), or one that doesn't have a PCI bus, then almost certainly Powermac/Linux won't run on it. Machines in this category include the PowerMac 6100, 7100, 8100, the earlier Performas (e.g. 5200, 6200), and the PowerBook 5300 and 1400. Check out MkLinux to see if it will run on your machine.

If your machine is a new model PowerMac or clone, then probably Powermac/Linux will run on it, although you will not be able to run X unless the video display card you have is supported.

I recommend that you see the web page at http://www.duke.edu/~wj/linux/ for more
information on running Powermac/Linux on StarMax machines.

Section II: Getting the files

Required Files

You will need:

• bootvars.sit.hqx
• installer.coff
• vmlinux.coff and vmlinux
• Files from the RedHat directory (we'll see in next section)

You can already have those files if you have a LinuxPPC CD-Rom: in that case, jump to Section III

If you have not those files you must get them by ftp. There is two main adresses to get linux:

• ftp://ftp.linuxppc.org/pub/
• ftp://samba.anu.edu.au/pub/mirrors/ftp.linuxppc.org/

All the files must be downloaded in BINARY mode.

Step #3: Get vmlinux.coff and vmlinux

Step #4: Create a folder named "RedHat" (the case is important) at the top level of your hard disk. Create two folders inside the "RedHat" folder named "base" and "RPMS".

Step #5:Download the content of the base folder on the ftp server (full url: ftp://ftp.linuxppc.org/pub/linuxppc/powermac/base/ )into the base folder located on your hard disk.

Step #6:Now look at the file named "comps.pmac" into the base folder with a unix-compatible text editor such as BBEdit. This file lists all the files that must be present in the "RPMS" folder. Don't panic: you don't need all the files.

The files are grouped by section: *beforeskel*, Base, Basic Network, etc. If you want to run a minimal linux version (without X) you need the files listed into the *beforeskel* and Base. If you want additional support such as network, X or development you will need additionally the files in the respective groups.

Step #7: So, download the files needed from the RPMS folder on the ftp server (full url: ftp://ftp.linuxppc.org/pub/RedHat/RPMS/ ) into the RPMS folder located on your hard disk. This would be very long: remember: get the files in binary mode. Don't use files downloaded the last year: you need "fresh" files. You can get the files on several weeks.

If the long download is complete you now need to replace some files which are specifics to the PowerMacintosh Platform.

Step #8: By ftp, go into the powermac alias then open the RedHat folder, then open the RPMS folder (full url: ftp://ftp.linuxppc.org/pub/linuxppc/powermac/RedHat/RPMS/). There are several files in this folder which have the same name as files which are in your own RPMS directory: replace your files with those which came from the server.

You are now ready to install linuxppc on your machine! Congratulations! See the next section to install linux.

Section III: OpenFirmware

What is OpenFirmware?

OpenFirmware (OF) is a piece of software located in ROM which launch the MacOS at powerup and which is able to launch others systems. Unlike MkLinux, LinuxPPC uses OpenFirmware to boot. This is why old PowerMacintosh such as Nubus PowerMacintosh can't boot LinuxPPC: they haven't got OpenFirmware in their ROM.

OpenFirmware Settings

OpenFirmware can be configured by two ways: from the OF Command Line and from the Boot Variables application. The OpenFirmware Settings are stored in the PRAM.

Configuring OF from the Command Line requires to change OF Output-device variable. If you change this variable, linux won't boot for a mysterious reason. However, if you know that linux is booting with such settings, read the official INSTALL file where more about OF can be found.

So, we'll use the Boot Variables application. Launch it. A window appear:

The boot-device is currently set to /AAPL,ROM which means that the mac will boot to Apple Roms at powerup. The variable can be set to different values such as:

• fd:installer.coff Means that the mac will boot with the file named "installer.coff" and located on the floppy disk (fd:)
• fd:vmlinux.coof Means that the mac will boot on the file named "vmlinux.coff" on the floppy disk

Click the "All Variables" check box. The window resizes:

It is important not to modify unknown items. The only one item that we'll use is: input-device. This variable is by default set to "ttya". That means that the command line interface of OF will be issued thru the modem port with current settings: 38400 baud, 1 stop bit, no parity (no specifics flow control or handshake).

Those settings are restored every time the pram (aka the parameter ram) is zapped. If you let input-device set to ttya, and if things goes wrong (or if you want to abort the installation) you won't be able to restart your mac under MacOS so you need to set the input-device variable to kbd which means "keyboard". I highly recommend that you let the ouput-device variable set to ttya because if you set this variable to screen (to dislpay the OF command line on your screen), the RedHat installer will not boot.

Section IV: The RedHat Installer

Booting the RedHat Installer

• Copy the file installer.coff on a fresh floppy disk (1.44 meg, the installer should fits). Fresh means that you must take a recently-bought floppy and that you must format it before copying installer.coff. If the installer don't fit, you have two solutions: download the installer.coff from another location (installer.coff should be around 1.2 Mb) or format the floppy with DiskCharmer with the "Make disks larger" option checked.
• Open the Boot Variables application and fill the boot-device box with fd:installer.coff This will makes the installer booting instead of MacOS at the next restart. Be sure to have the input-device variable set to "kbd".
• Click the "write&reboot" button. The application asks you if you are sure to do that. Click OK.
• Insert the floppy with "installer.coff" into the floppy disk drive before the the reset chord finishes sounding.
• There should have floppy disk access. Wait until the drive finishes running.
• If the screen stays black you have losed: your floppy is not fresh, or there is not installer.coff on it, or you have not set the boot-device variable to "fd:installer.coff". If you have made all the things I said correctly, then try another installer.coff, check if you machine is in the status list or check the linux p-mac discussion list.
• If something appears on the screen, asking you if you have a color monitor then you're right.
• Answer the man's question (oops: I means the installer's question) by using keyboard arrows and the return key.
• A welcome message appears: hit the OK button.
• Keyboard Selection - There are no available options; choose OK.
• PCMCIA Support - (not always asked) This is of interest for notebook computers that use PCMCIA cards; choose "no".
• Installation Method: If you have a linux CD-ROM, choose local CD-ROM and you can skip some steps in this guide. If you have no CD-ROM (like me) and that you have downloaded all the files then choose hard-disk.

The following steps are for those who downloaded the files:

• Choose the disk where you want to install linux in the list and click the edit button if you want to install it on a partition (else click the ok button and skip some steps). This will bring you into fdisk, the linux partition editor.
• Type "p", that would display the current partition map on the screen. It should be like that:

In that case, we have an ide disk and two partitions: 5 holding MacOS and 6 intended for linux. 7 is the free space unused and 1,2,3,4 are apple disk drivers.

Type "d" followed by the partition number intended for linux (in this case: 6) then type "p":

Now create the two partitions for swap and root by typing "n", followed by the respective base and length values (in blocks), followed by a name for the partition. Be careful to create a swap size that is less than 128 Mb - Linux has a problem with bigger sizes.

The final partition map looks like this:

6 holds the "swap" partition which is necessary for running the linux "virtual memory" which is always enabled. 7 holds the "root" partition which is the main linux partition. If your root partition is less than about 250Mb or so, you will need to create a separate "usr" partition of at least 200MB (assuming you want to install X; it's possible to install a minimal system in less than 100MB).

• At this point, nothing has been changed on your disk. If you are not sure of someting with your partition map, type "q", this will exit fdisk without making changes.
• To make changes, type "w": this will write the partition map on your hard disk.
• Type "q" to exit fdisk.
• The Installer will ask you where you want to put the swap partition. /dev/hdax means partition number x of the internal ide disk. /dev/sdax is the same things for a scsi disk. In my case, I will choose /dev/hda6
• The Installer will ask you where are the "RPMS" and "base" directory. Answer by choosing the hard disk partition holding those folders (in my case: /dev/hda5) and typing the path to those directory: / if they are at the first level, /Desktop Folder if they are on the desktop.
• If you get a "comps not version 0 as expected" error, then return to the real life: you have downloaded the base folder in text mode: you must download the files in binary mode!
• You will get "xxxx dne" errors for each file you have not downloaded: be patient and answer ok to those errors. Don't answer too fast: you would skip important dialogs which are just after the errors.
• The Installer asks you where you want to put the "root" partition. (In my case, I will answer /dev/hda7)
• The Installer will asks then what packages you want to install: choose ok if you are installing the base system (minimal system) or choose the package you have downloaded. You will get a dialog which says that the installer will install some packages to satisfy dependencies: don't care and click ok whether if you want to install additionnal packages.
• The Installer will then install the system. If you get errors like "execution of script failed" then you have old files or files which are not from the same release: use files downloaded the same month.
• You will be asked if you want to configure LAN networking: if you don't have Ethernet card, choose "No".
• You will be prompted for the "root" password: enter a password.
• Choose "Yes" to the question "Do you want to configure the quick bootloader?" (or something)
• Leave the kernel options field blank and choose ok.
• You will be congratulated: you have installed Linux!
• With recent versions of the installer, your system should perform an automatic restart (yes it's powermac!)
• Press Command-Option-O-F keys until the mac finishes sounding to prevent the automatic restarting of the installer.
• Type "bye" then press return and MacOS should boot. If not, reboot, repress Command-Option-O-F, "bye"and pay attention to the things you are typing instead of dreaming. This assume that you have set the input-device variable to "kbd" as advised. If you have forgotten (idiot!), then the only way to reboot is to zap the pram. To do this, reboot and press Command-Option-P-R. If the computer refuse to reboot then, you will have to reset the pram with the internal interruptor or by removing the pram battery. Good luck!
• After, having booted under MacOS, open the Boot variables application and set the boot-device to "/AAPL,Rom". Hit the "write" button.

Section V: Linux

Booting Linux

There is several ways to booting linux but wed'll talk only of the most common ways. You need the vmlinux and vmlinux.coff files downloaded in binary mode (see the beginning if you have skipped those steps).

• Put vmlinux at the first level of your hard disk
• Put vmlinux.coff no a fresh floppy disk
• Open the Boot Variables application and set boot-device to "fd:vmlinux.coff" and boot-file to " root=/dev/hdax" where x is the number of your IDE Hard Disk partition (/dev/hda7 in my example). For those who have a scsi disk, just follow the linux style convention: /dev/sdax where x is the number of your partition. Note the leading blank before root=/dev/hda7.
• Hit the "Write & Reboot" button and insert the floppy disk before the chord finished sounding.
• A virtual memory version of the kernel boots from the disk and then boot on your hard disk.
• You should get a login prompt. If, you have "hda1 hda2 hda3 ...." on your screen and that vmlinux stops at this point, then you have not correctly set the boot-file variable. If your linux system refuse to boot or report error on the screen, then try to understand the error. Last chance: you have used files from the last year as unadvised!
• At the login point, type "root". (at this point, linux expert should skip this guide and return to their work! ;-) )
• Then type your passwork and you are under the linux command line.

In futur, to avoid booting from the floppy disk, you will need to copy vmlinux to your root partition.

Installing XWindows - Important

The RedHat Installer theorically installs XWindows when you choose "XWindows System" in the packages needed to be installed. But the version provided does not work properly on PowerMacintosh. You have to download another file called "Xpmac.gz" located only on ftp.linuxppc.org (samba does not provide an up-to-date mirror). The full URL is:

ftp://ftp.linuxppc.org/users/atong/Xpmac.gz

This file contains a fonctionnal version of XWindows for PowerMacintosh but it needs that you have previously installed XWindows with the RedHat installer. Here is an example of procedure to follow to install Xpmac.gz:

• Download Xpmac.gz in Binary mode and put it at the first level of your hard disk (in the folder that holds all the others files and folders)
• The type of this file should be different than "TEXT" because you will get in troubles otherwise with the hfs utilities under Linux. Change the file type to "????" with Snitch or ResEdit (this assume that you knows those programs). The Creator needn't to be changed.
• Boot Linux and get the shell (just after the login & password)
• Type "hmount /dev/hdax" where x is the number of the partition holding MacOS ("hmount /dev/sdax" if you have a scsi disk". This will mount the MacOS partition under linux.
• Type "cd /"
• "hcopy Xpmac.gz ." This will copy Xpmac.gz at the first level of your root partition.
  
• "gunzip Xpmac.gz" This will unpack Xpmac.
• Move Xpmac in /usr/X11R6.1/bin with "mv /usr/X11R6.1/bin"
• "chmod 4755 /usr/X11R6.1/bin/Xpmac"
• "rm /usr/X11R6.1/bin/X"
• "cd /usr/X11R6.1/bin"
• "ln -s Xpmac X"

You can now enter XWindows with "startx".

XWindows can refuse to launch with some errors reported. This is probably due to your kernel. With recent Xpmac you should boot with the very latest kernel available on ftp.linuxppc.org.

That's all folks!

Just e-mail if you have a problem!

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