gdanko
2007-02-20, 03:43 PM CST
I went through a number of trials trying to get this installed. Now that I have gotten it working nicely I'd like to share my experiences. Administrators please feel free to edit this as you see fit.
Note: This is not a dual-boot scenario. I don't mess with that jive so if you want a HOWTO for dual-booting, search the internet.
* Hardware
PowerMac G5 dual 2.0
1.5 GB RAM
WD 120 GB SATA disk
Seagate 160 GB SATA disk
DVD-RW
ATI Radeon 9600
* Prepare the disks
I've found that you cannot install FC6 on a G5 until you clear all partitions with the OS X boot DVD. Otherwise you will see an error along the lines of, "No partition map entry found for partition map". The FC6 disk partitioner creates an "Unknown" 31.5k partition at the beginning of each disk on my G5. That may be the partition map it was looking for. Anyhow, boot your G5 from the OS X installer and as soon as you can get to the Utilities menu, click it and select Disk Utility. Select your disk and click partition. From the "Volume Scheme" pulldown select "1 partition". Then select "Free space" from the "Format" pulldown. Now click the "Partition" button towards the bottom right corner. The Disk Utility will complain but that's okay. Do this for all disks.
* Boot the FC6 DVD
With the disks wiped you can now boot the FC6 DVD. Just hit enter at the boot menu and you will go into the text portion of the install. You can scan your media or not, I always skip that since I have the ISO on a network share. Go through and configure the language and keyboard options. This should bring you to the disk configuration.
* Configure the Partitions
I've found that if I try to use both disks during the installation the OS will not boot after the install and I get thrown to OpenFirmware with a locked keyboard. Note: a user at fedoraforum.org posted a hint that I have not tried since I got everything running. I used one disk and configured my partitions like so:
/dev/sda2 - 1 MB Apple Bootstrap
/dev/sda3 - 256 MB ext3 /boot
/dev/sda4 - 1024 MB swap
/dev/sda5 - remaining ext3 /
Remember, /dev/sda1 is that little 31.5K partition the FC6 disk partitioner created!
Once thae partitions are set to your liking, exit the disk partitioner to continue with the install.
* Network configuration
I left this as DHCP and changed the configuration when I had the system up.
* Root Password
Duh
* Package selection
I left this at the default and configured it after the installation had completed. Believe it or not, I had the system drop me to the OpenFirmware junk even with only one disk when I tried to manually configure my packages! Don't ask me why.. but when I do it this way, it works!
* Install
Let 'er rip. It will take awhile. Go get a cup of coffee or a sandwich. When you're finished it should be ready to reboot into your Fedora installation.
* Setting up the second hard disk
Since 120 GB is plenty for my installation, I wanted to set up my 160 GB drive as /data. Here I could put all my MP3s and whatnot. This isn't meant to be an fdisk tutorial so I will not be explaining all of this. Please read any pertinent man pages for explanations.
My second disk is /dev/sdb so I will use fdisk powers to create the partition.
[root@localhost root]# fdisk /dev/sdb
The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 19457.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
Command (m for help):
You can type p to view the partition table. Mine was empty so there was nothing to see. So I will move on to adding the partition.
Command (m for help): n
Command action
e extended
p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-19457, default 1):
Using default value 1
Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1-19457, default 19457):
Using default value 19457
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 19457 156288321 83 Linux
Command (m for help):
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
[root@localhost root]#
Now we need to format the partition as ext3. I am going to call it /data and mount it as /data. So create a directory called /data with the command: mkdir /data
Use mkfs.ext3 to format the partition.
[root@localhost root]# mkfs.ext3 -L /data /dev/sdb1
mke2fs 1.34 (25-Jul-2003)
Filesystem label=/data
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
19546112 inodes, 39072080 blocks
1953604 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
1193 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
16384 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (8192 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
This filesystem will be automatically checked every 23 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
[root@localhost root]#
Last of all, add this partition to /etc/fstab. Backup /etc/fstab and insert the following line.
LABEL=/data /data ext3 defaults 1 2
Now save the file. If all went well you should be able to type mount -a from the command line and see your new partition/
* Dual head configuration. My Radeon 9600 is a dual headed DVI card but configuring the dual-head option in System > Administration > Displays ended up in a locked X. I manually tweaked my xorg.conf to enable dual head. Backup your existing /etc/X11/xorg.conf and put this in its place. This should work with most any Radeon dual headed video card.
# Xorg configuration created by system-config-display
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Multihead layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" LeftOf "Screen1"
Screen 1 "Screen1" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
Option "Xinerama" "on"
Option "Clone" "off"
EndSection
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/share/X11/rgb"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
FontPath "built-ins"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "record"
Load "dri"
Load "xtrap"
Load "dbe"
Load "glx"
Load "extmod"
Load "vnc"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "LCD Panel 1280x1024"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "LCD Panel 1280x1024"
### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
HorizSync 31.5 - 67.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 75.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "ATI Technologies Inc RV350 AP [Radeon 9600]"
BusID "PCI:240:16:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card1"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "ATI Technologies Inc RV350 AP [Radeon 9600]"
BusID "PCI:240:16:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Card1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Log out then log back in. You should now have a working Fedora Core 6 installation on your PowerMac G5.
* Caveats
One thing I have noticed and I am still trying to get to the bottom of it is this. A couple of the launchers from the GNOME menu would not execute their apps. Most notably, GAIM and Firefox. After doing a littler research I found that the installer placed both 32 and 64 bit versions of these applications on my system. I removed the 64 bit versions and the launchers worked as they were supposed to. They may rear their ugly heads again after a system update so you will have to remove them if that happens again.
Note: This is not a dual-boot scenario. I don't mess with that jive so if you want a HOWTO for dual-booting, search the internet.
* Hardware
PowerMac G5 dual 2.0
1.5 GB RAM
WD 120 GB SATA disk
Seagate 160 GB SATA disk
DVD-RW
ATI Radeon 9600
* Prepare the disks
I've found that you cannot install FC6 on a G5 until you clear all partitions with the OS X boot DVD. Otherwise you will see an error along the lines of, "No partition map entry found for partition map". The FC6 disk partitioner creates an "Unknown" 31.5k partition at the beginning of each disk on my G5. That may be the partition map it was looking for. Anyhow, boot your G5 from the OS X installer and as soon as you can get to the Utilities menu, click it and select Disk Utility. Select your disk and click partition. From the "Volume Scheme" pulldown select "1 partition". Then select "Free space" from the "Format" pulldown. Now click the "Partition" button towards the bottom right corner. The Disk Utility will complain but that's okay. Do this for all disks.
* Boot the FC6 DVD
With the disks wiped you can now boot the FC6 DVD. Just hit enter at the boot menu and you will go into the text portion of the install. You can scan your media or not, I always skip that since I have the ISO on a network share. Go through and configure the language and keyboard options. This should bring you to the disk configuration.
* Configure the Partitions
I've found that if I try to use both disks during the installation the OS will not boot after the install and I get thrown to OpenFirmware with a locked keyboard. Note: a user at fedoraforum.org posted a hint that I have not tried since I got everything running. I used one disk and configured my partitions like so:
/dev/sda2 - 1 MB Apple Bootstrap
/dev/sda3 - 256 MB ext3 /boot
/dev/sda4 - 1024 MB swap
/dev/sda5 - remaining ext3 /
Remember, /dev/sda1 is that little 31.5K partition the FC6 disk partitioner created!
Once thae partitions are set to your liking, exit the disk partitioner to continue with the install.
* Network configuration
I left this as DHCP and changed the configuration when I had the system up.
* Root Password
Duh
* Package selection
I left this at the default and configured it after the installation had completed. Believe it or not, I had the system drop me to the OpenFirmware junk even with only one disk when I tried to manually configure my packages! Don't ask me why.. but when I do it this way, it works!
* Install
Let 'er rip. It will take awhile. Go get a cup of coffee or a sandwich. When you're finished it should be ready to reboot into your Fedora installation.
* Setting up the second hard disk
Since 120 GB is plenty for my installation, I wanted to set up my 160 GB drive as /data. Here I could put all my MP3s and whatnot. This isn't meant to be an fdisk tutorial so I will not be explaining all of this. Please read any pertinent man pages for explanations.
My second disk is /dev/sdb so I will use fdisk powers to create the partition.
[root@localhost root]# fdisk /dev/sdb
The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 19457.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
Command (m for help):
You can type p to view the partition table. Mine was empty so there was nothing to see. So I will move on to adding the partition.
Command (m for help): n
Command action
e extended
p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-19457, default 1):
Using default value 1
Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1-19457, default 19457):
Using default value 19457
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 19457 156288321 83 Linux
Command (m for help):
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
[root@localhost root]#
Now we need to format the partition as ext3. I am going to call it /data and mount it as /data. So create a directory called /data with the command: mkdir /data
Use mkfs.ext3 to format the partition.
[root@localhost root]# mkfs.ext3 -L /data /dev/sdb1
mke2fs 1.34 (25-Jul-2003)
Filesystem label=/data
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
19546112 inodes, 39072080 blocks
1953604 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
1193 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
16384 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (8192 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
This filesystem will be automatically checked every 23 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
[root@localhost root]#
Last of all, add this partition to /etc/fstab. Backup /etc/fstab and insert the following line.
LABEL=/data /data ext3 defaults 1 2
Now save the file. If all went well you should be able to type mount -a from the command line and see your new partition/
* Dual head configuration. My Radeon 9600 is a dual headed DVI card but configuring the dual-head option in System > Administration > Displays ended up in a locked X. I manually tweaked my xorg.conf to enable dual head. Backup your existing /etc/X11/xorg.conf and put this in its place. This should work with most any Radeon dual headed video card.
# Xorg configuration created by system-config-display
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Multihead layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" LeftOf "Screen1"
Screen 1 "Screen1" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
Option "Xinerama" "on"
Option "Clone" "off"
EndSection
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/share/X11/rgb"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
FontPath "built-ins"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "record"
Load "dri"
Load "xtrap"
Load "dbe"
Load "glx"
Load "extmod"
Load "vnc"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "LCD Panel 1280x1024"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "LCD Panel 1280x1024"
### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
HorizSync 31.5 - 67.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 75.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "ATI Technologies Inc RV350 AP [Radeon 9600]"
BusID "PCI:240:16:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card1"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "ATI Technologies Inc RV350 AP [Radeon 9600]"
BusID "PCI:240:16:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Card1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Log out then log back in. You should now have a working Fedora Core 6 installation on your PowerMac G5.
* Caveats
One thing I have noticed and I am still trying to get to the bottom of it is this. A couple of the launchers from the GNOME menu would not execute their apps. Most notably, GAIM and Firefox. After doing a littler research I found that the installer placed both 32 and 64 bit versions of these applications on my system. I removed the 64 bit versions and the launchers worked as they were supposed to. They may rear their ugly heads again after a system update so you will have to remove them if that happens again.