yaboot problems (still -- suggestions welcome!)

yaboot problems (still -- suggestions welcome!)

[Tom]

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I've been struggling with it for over a week now, but am still unable to

yaboot (though I think I've made some minimal progress).

I have a G4/500 with linux on a dedicated external scsi drive (Adaptec
2906 card).

Per OF, the card corresponds to:
/pci@f2000000/pci-bridge@d/pci9004,7850@2/@2  (It is device 2 on the
scsi chain, or at least that's what the back of the hard drive implies.)

pdisk says the bootstrap partition is #2:
Partition map (with 512 byte blocks) on '/dev/sda'
 #:                type name                   length   base    ( size )

 1:    Apple_UNIX_SVR2 /            7785303 @ 204     (  3.7G)
 2:    Apple_HFS "bootstrap"         65638 @ 7785507 ( 32.0M)
 3:    Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap    1048592 @ 7851145 (512.0M)
 [rest deleted]

Set the relevant line in /boot/ofboot.b (which is cp'd from the
menu_ofboot.b):
" Booting Yaboot ..." cr " boot sd:2,yaboot" eval

My /etc/yaboot.conf is as follows:
--------------
default=Linux-Stable

## change to your bootstrap partition ie /dev/hda2
boot=/dev/sda2
device=sd:
timeout=20
install=/boot/yaboot
magicboot=/boot/ofboot.b

image=/boot/vmlinux
 label=Linux-Stable
 root=/dev/sda1
 read-only
 partition=2

append= "video=aty128fb:vmode:17;cmode:24"
-----------------

Now, in OF, when I try to set sd as a devalias, it tells me the nvramrc
isn't valid.  When I printenv, I don't see it showing up anywhere (but
maybe I don't know what to look for, exactly?).

When in OF and I try to boot directly by providing the OF path manually,

I get this error:
method <open> not found ; ihandle=ff9c4980 phandle=ff8a9708 method
<close> not found ihandle=ff9c4980 phandle=ff8a9708 can't OPEN:
/pci@f2000000/.... {etc}.
I don't know what this means or what to do with this information.
(Anyone have any idea?)

One last thing: I have managed in the past week to get ybin working (my
bootstrap was mounted in the mtab).

But I have no idea how to proceed from here.  I'm about to start my
medical internship, and will have no more time to fiddle with this
starting about two weeks from now.

Sorry to whine!  :-)
Any/all suggestions most welcome!  Thanks!

Tom

Thomas Dilling, MD
tdilling@mac.com




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From: Tom <tdilling@mac.com>
To: linuxppc-dev@lists.linux.com, linuxppc-user@lists.linuxppc.com, ericpeden@homemail.com
Subject: yaboot problmes (still-- suggestions welcome!)
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 17:50:17 -0400
Message-ID: <392C4E98.4542D218@mac.com>

I've been struggling with it for over a week now, but am still unable to
yaboot (though I think I've made some minimal progress).

I have a G4/500 with linux on a dedicated external scsi drive (Adaptec
2906 card).

Per OF, the card corresponds to:
/pci@f2000000/pci-bridge@d/pci9004,7850@2/@2  (It is device 2 on the
scsi chain, or at least that's what the back of the hard drive implies.)

pdisk says the bootstrap partition is #2:
Partition map (with 512 byte blocks) on '/dev/sda'
 #:                type name                   length   base    ( size )

 1:    Apple_UNIX_SVR2 /            7785303 @ 204     (  3.7G)
 2:    Apple_HFS "bootstrap"         65638 @ 7785507 ( 32.0M)
 3:    Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap    1048592 @ 7851145 (512.0M)
 [rest deleted]

Set the relevant line in /boot/ofboot.b (which is cp'd from the
menu_ofboot.b):
" Booting Yaboot ..." cr " boot sd:2,yaboot" eval

My /etc/yaboot.conf is as follows:
--------------
default=Linux-Stable

## change to your bootstrap partition ie /dev/hda2
boot=/dev/sda2
device=sd:
timeout=20
install=/boot/yaboot
magicboot=/boot/ofboot.b

image=/boot/vmlinux
 label=Linux-Stable
 root=/dev/sda1
 read-only
 partition=2

append= "video=aty128fb:vmode:17;cmode:24"
-----------------

Now, in OF, when I try to set sd as a devalias, it tells me the nvramrc
isn't valid.  When I printenv, I don't see it showing up anywhere (but
maybe I don't know what to look for, exactly?).

When in OF and I try to boot directly by providing the OF path manually,
I get this error:
method <open> not found ; ihandle=ff9c4980 phandle=ff8a9708 method
<close> not found ihandle=ff9c4980 phandle=ff8a9708 can't OPEN:
/pci@f2000000/.... {etc}.
I don't know what this means or what to do with this information.
(Anyone have any idea?)

One last thing: I have managed in the past week to get ybin working (my
bootstrap was mounted in the mtab).

But I have no idea how to proceed from here.  I'm about to start my
medical internship, and will have no more time to fiddle with this
starting about two weeks from now.

Sorry to whine!  :-)
Any/all suggestions most welcome!  Thanks!
Tom

Thomas Dilling, MD
tdilling@mac.com

Re: yaboot problems (still -- suggestions welcome!)

[David A. Gatwood]

On Wed, 24 May 2000, Tom wrote:

> When in OF and I try to boot directly by providing the OF path manually,
>
> I get this error:
> method <open> not found ; ihandle=ff9c4980 phandle=ff8a9708 method
> <close> not found ihandle=ff9c4980 phandle=ff8a9708 can't OPEN:
> /pci@f2000000/.... {etc}.
> I don't know what this means or what to do with this information.
> (Anyone have any idea?)

No clue.  I've had similar problems running yaboot on my G4.  Does BootX
not work for you?


David

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Re: yaboot problems (still -- suggestions welcome!)

[Ethan Benson]

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On Wed, May 24, 2000 at 05:52:23PM -0400, Tom wrote:
> I've been struggling with it for over a week now, but am still unable to
> 
> yaboot (though I think I've made some minimal progress).
> 
> I have a G4/500 with linux on a dedicated external scsi drive (Adaptec
> 2906 card).
> 
> Per OF, the card corresponds to:
> /pci@f2000000/pci-bridge@d/pci9004,7850@2/@2  (It is device 2 on the
> scsi chain, or at least that's what the back of the hard drive implies.)
> 
> pdisk says the bootstrap partition is #2:
> Partition map (with 512 byte blocks) on '/dev/sda'
>  #:                type name                   length   base    ( size )
> 
>  1:    Apple_UNIX_SVR2 /            7785303 @ 204     (  3.7G)
>  2:    Apple_HFS "bootstrap"         65638 @ 7785507 ( 32.0M)

this is a waste of space, since your swap partition is right below
perhaps you would want to delete them both and create the bootstrap
partition as 800K and the swap partition as 544.  

you should at the very least delete it and recreate it with the
correct Apple_Bootstrap partition type, otherwise macos will screw it
up. 

>  3:    Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap    1048592 @ 7851145 (512.0M)
>  [rest deleted]
> 
> Set the relevant line in /boot/ofboot.b (which is cp'd from the
> menu_ofboot.b):
> " Booting Yaboot ..." cr " boot sd:2,yaboot" eval
> 
> My /etc/yaboot.conf is as follows:
> --------------
> default=Linux-Stable
> 
> ## change to your bootstrap partition ie /dev/hda2
> boot=/dev/sda2
> device=sd:
> timeout=20
> install=/boot/yaboot
> magicboot=/boot/ofboot.b
> 
> image=/boot/vmlinux
>  label=Linux-Stable
>  root=/dev/sda1
>  read-only
>  partition=2
> 
> append= "video=aty128fb:vmode:17;cmode:24"
> -----------------
> 
> Now, in OF, when I try to set sd as a devalias, it tells me the nvramrc
> isn't valid.  When I printenv, I don't see it showing up anywhere (but
> maybe I don't know what to look for, exactly?).

nvalias is the proper command to create an alias, though i find it
simpler to just enter the full path in yaboot.conf and ofboot.b.  that
way you 1) don't have to fsck with OF.  and 2) don't have to fsck with
OF if your nvram gets erased.

> When in OF and I try to boot directly by providing the OF path manually,
> 
> I get this error:
> method <open> not found ; ihandle=ff9c4980 phandle=ff8a9708 method
> <close> not found ihandle=ff9c4980 phandle=ff8a9708 can't OPEN:
> /pci@f2000000/.... {etc}.
> I don't know what this means or what to do with this information.
> (Anyone have any idea?)

exactly what boot command did you use? it should be as follows:

boot /pci@f2000000/pci-bridge@d/pci9004,7850@2/@2:2,yaboot

you can put that in ofboot.b.

if that is what you used then it looks to me like the scsi card is not
really OF supported, can you boot macos off of it?  (if you have macos)

> One last thing: I have managed in the past week to get ybin working (my
> bootstrap was mounted in the mtab).

yes you bootstrap partition should never be mounted anywhere, not in
linux, not in macos.  treat it like a bootblock that is all it is.
your kernels belong in your ext2 root filesystem.

-- 
Ethan Benson
http://www.alaska.net/~erbenson/

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ybin and kernel level

[Michael A. Peters]

I saw it noted in the preliminary yBin/yaBoot documentation that a
newer kernel was recommended, suggesting a 2.2.15pre3 or later.

Is there anything specific about the 2.2.14 that won't allow it to work?

I'm using a 2.2.14 kernel built from standard source (ftp.kernel.org)
with the 2.3.50 usb backport.

I tried that backport with a 2.2.15 kernel, and it boots (BootX), but
when booting the typical USB info doesn't scroll by the screen and no
usb devices are available (for example, upon starting X, error 19,
can't open usb mouse device)

Part of me thinks that may be BootX related, I had to upgrade BootX
when switching to my current kernel due to usb weirdness, but I don't
know for sure.

I know the FAQ is up, but its not quite finished yet- (but what is
done is very good so far)

The way I made a boostrap partition was to first create apple hfs
partition. I then wrote down the start block and length in blocks,
and (using pdisk) deleted the partition, using a C {create by
specified type), entering Apple_Bootstrap when it asked for file
system type.

Is that correct?

***

The drive my bootstrap partition will be located on is internal scsi,
attached to an adaptec 2930u controller.

I'm fairly sure I can find the full path to the device in the open
firmware, but interestingly enough- Apple System Profiler does NOT
see the scsi card or give any info on it.

It does not appear in the pci devices, although volumes attached to
the card ARE seen by System Profiler, and seen on bus 1 (opposed to
the built in bus 0)

Weird.



Thanks,
Michael A. Peters


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				http://www.linuxzombies.com/
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Re: ybin and kernel level

[Ethan Benson]

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On Sat, May 27, 2000 at 10:33:04AM -0700, Michael A. Peters wrote:
> I saw it noted in the preliminary yBin/yaBoot documentation that a 
> newer kernel was recommended, suggesting a 2.2.15pre3 or later.
> 
> Is there anything specific about the 2.2.14 that won't allow it to work?

well it will work if you apply patches by BenH, there are changed to
prom.c and such to make it compatible with yaboot.  

> I'm using a 2.2.14 kernel built from standard source (ftp.kernel.org) 
> with the 2.3.50 usb backport.

you would need BenH patches (no longer avaiable AFAIK)

> I tried that backport with a 2.2.15 kernel, and it boots (BootX), but 
> when booting the typical USB info doesn't scroll by the screen and no 
> usb devices are available (for example, upon starting X, error 19, 
> can't open usb mouse device)

2.2.15 Linus is pretty close, but there is still alot of PPC stuff
that needs patching, i still reccommend the Paul tree for newworlds.
i have a final (no pre) 2.2.15 with paul's patches, in case he has
already thrown away 2.2.15 in favor of unstable 2.2.16pres, if that
happens (like it has for the last 4 kernels i have kept track of) i
will make a unified diff to the linus tree avialable.

> Part of me thinks that may be BootX related, I had to upgrade BootX 
> when switching to my current kernel due to usb weirdness, but I don't 
> know for sure.

Bootx does all kinds of strange things on newworlds anymore.
especially on OS9. (it gets worse the newwer the hardware it would
appear) 

> I know the FAQ is up, but its not quite finished yet- (but what is 
> done is very good so far)

compliments to Eric for the great work on the FAQ.  i think he is
working on partitioning help now.  

> The way I made a boostrap partition was to first create apple hfs 
> partition. I then wrote down the start block and length in blocks, 
> and (using pdisk) deleted the partition, using a C {create by 
> specified type), entering Apple_Bootstrap when it asked for file 
> system type.
> 
> Is that correct?

yup that should work fine, i typically just create a single HFS
partition that spans all the space i will need for all the linux
partitions and delete it in pdisk/mac-fdisk creating all the linux
partitions i need.  the main problem i see with using apples fdisk for
only the bootstrap partition is i don't think it lets your create it
800K, anything larger then that is just a huge waste of space (even
with 800K partition 740 of it is wasted)

> ***
> 
> The drive my bootstrap partition will be located on is internal scsi, 
> attached to an adaptec 2930u controller.

do you have macos on an internal IDE? or is there even an internal IDE
at all?  if not default OF settings will probably work but it might
be slow.  if that is the case you will have to set the boot-device
yourself unfortunatly.  (is anyone still working on reenabling
/dev/nvram on newworld?)

> I'm fairly sure I can find the full path to the device in the open 
> firmware, but interestingly enough- Apple System Profiler does NOT 
> see the scsi card or give any info on it.

interesting, yes you can find it in OF, just do:

dev / ls
and walk the tree like so:

dev /pci@XXXXXXXX ls

until you find it, it sucks but thats the price you pay for scsi i
suppose (after the dent in the wallet scsi makes ;-))

> It does not appear in the pci devices, although volumes attached to 
> the card ARE seen by System Profiler, and seen on bus 1 (opposed to 
> the built in bus 0)

are you sure it has an OF ROM?  for it to be bootable it must have an
OF bootrom on the card, otherwise it probably just uses a MacOS
extension to make it visable to macos.  linux could do the same but it
would be impossible to boot from it.  (from either OS since OF must be
able to read it)

-- 
Ethan Benson
http://www.alaska.net/~erbenson/

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