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View Full Version : FC10 installed on old G4 but failed to boot



potang
7th June 2009, 10:25 PM
I've just got an ancient G4 (350MHz) machine from work. I am trying to install FC10 on it.
After a day of trying, I can install FC10 on it till the end. However, the machine won't boot
after installation. Not even MacOS9 will boot afterward (show up a floppy icon with question mark).

Here is what I tried so far:
1. Single harddisk no MacOS
FC10 will boot to the initial boot screen (text mode) but stuck there without any
keyboard/mouse response. But it seems to timeout after 15mins and entered the
installation process. Installation went fine but failed to reboot properly.
2. Two harddisk setup: primary with MacOS9, second harddisk use for Linux
FC10 boot and keyboard response this time. Can start installation right away.
However, still fail to reboot after installation.

I tried YellowDog 6.1 but failed the same way.

Machine spec:
PowerMac3.1 (NewWorld) 350MHz G4, 512M memory, ATI AGP display

I installed Linux on such a machine years ago. I remember I may have to do something with the
open firmware setup/yaboot stuff but I forget the details.

Any help is appreciated.
Note: I am not a Mac user, I may miss some standard step to install yaboot. (e.g. it took me a while
to figure out how to boot into open firmware).

potang
1st July 2009, 07:13 AM
I guess there isn't enough interest to get this old machine to work with Fedora.
I ended up find my own solution ...
It's a decent machine and I don't want to waste it.

I finally get it to work with Fedora 11. I believe I can get FC10 to work the same way ...
The whole problem is related to the partition table creation. The modern Fedora always
creates 'msdos' type partition table which the older powermac doesn't understand.
The tricks is to use the OS9 disk utility to initialize the disk before installating Fedora.

In case someone with the same situation interested, here is what I did to get it to work:
Scenario: 350MHz/G4 512M main memory, use entire disk for Fedora Linux, no dual boot
Step1: Boot OS9 from CD and initialize harddisk with 3 partition:
MacOS standard, MacOS Extended, A/UX
(I don't think the partitions to be created is important but that's just what I entered)
Step2: Boot up FC11 installation DVD
Step3: Choose use entire disk for installation
(it ended up with error in zeroing out the second partition /dev/hda2)
Step4: Reboot with FC11 installation DVD again.
This time, choose replace existing Linux
Step5: Finish installation as normal
Step6: Reboot and things should work

The default setting for X11 only show 800x600 setting. I think it's because xorg cannot detect
the display type. I created /etc/X11/xorg.conf with 'Screen' and 'Monitor' sections with proper resolution
setup. Wala! I get a fully functional Linux box on that old junk :)

Note: Need to disable 'kerneloops-applet' in auto-startup program list otherwise it will chew up all
the CPU power.

potang
5th July 2009, 07:32 PM
Note: There is a typo in the last message. It should be listed as 350MHz/G4 (instead of G3).