Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Alternative Operating Systems > What type of partitioning scheme should I use?

What type of partitioning scheme should I use?
Thread Tools
Forum Regular
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Brookfield, CT, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 9, 2001, 03:43 PM
 
I've been reading the documentation for LPPC Q42000. It seems that there is conflicting information as to what type of partitioning scheme to use for the disk you intend to install LPPC on. The "basic" documentation says that you'll probably be unable to boot into Linux if you partition the drive as Linux_PPC, whereas the docs for perldisk recommend partitioning as the Linux_PPC type.

Here's what I intend to do:

Install LinuxPPC on its own drive in a G3 upgraded PM 9500. I intend to leave OS 9 installed on another drive so I have dual boot capability. Which partitioning scheme should I use, and I'd like to avoid doing this from xterm if possible. I fooled around with the LPPC disk at work on my iMac (didn't actually install it) and would prefer to use the perldisk utility to prepare my drive.

How should I proceed?

Another question: does the kde environment come with the distribution, or is that a separate download? I didn't see a linuxppc specific version at kde.org...???
     
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Madison, NJ 07940
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2001, 12:06 PM
 
I installed Suse 7.1 using the disk formatter on the OS 9.1 CD. You should
boot from the OS 9.x CD and setup the partitions using its program. You need to keep a small 30 Meg HFS, not HFS+ partition on the drive for the
yaboot files. Once the disk is partitioned, you put the linux CD in, copy the yaboot folder into the small HFS partition, then reboot using the linux
CD. From there, you can install linux. After installation, you need to configure the lilo.conf script to reference your bootable linux root partition.

Originally posted by scip:
I've been reading the documentation for LPPC Q42000. It seems that there is conflicting information as to what type of partitioning scheme to use for the disk you intend to install LPPC on. The "basic" documentation says that you'll probably be unable to boot into Linux if you partition the drive as Linux_PPC, whereas the docs for perldisk recommend partitioning as the Linux_PPC type.

Here's what I intend to do:

Install LinuxPPC on its own drive in a G3 upgraded PM 9500. I intend to leave OS 9 installed on another drive so I have dual boot capability. Which partitioning scheme should I use, and I'd like to avoid doing this from xterm if possible. I fooled around with the LPPC disk at work on my iMac (didn't actually install it) and would prefer to use the perldisk utility to prepare my drive.

How should I proceed?

Another question: does the kde environment come with the distribution, or is that a separate download? I didn't see a linuxppc specific version at kde.org...???
     
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Madison, NJ 07940
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2001, 01:32 PM
 
Actually, since you have an "Old World" Mac, you probably use BootX, not
yaboot, but I think the process is similar. I suggest SuSe 7.1. It is the premier linux for the ppc .

Originally posted by RichardET:
I installed Suse 7.1 using the disk formatter on the OS 9.1 CD. You should
boot from the OS 9.x CD and setup the partitions using its program. You need to keep a small 30 Meg HFS, not HFS+ partition on the drive for the
yaboot files. Once the disk is partitioned, you put the linux CD in, copy the yaboot folder into the small HFS partition, then reboot using the linux
CD. From there, you can install linux. After installation, you need to configure the lilo.conf script to reference your bootable linux root partition.

     
scip  (op)
Forum Regular
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Brookfield, CT, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2001, 01:51 PM
 
Richard,

Thanks for the info. I recently read a review of SuSE 7.0 (not 7.1) for PPC in LinuxFormat magazine, and they concluded that it fell a little short. They went on to say that they hoped v7.1 improved upon its shortcomings.

Furthermore, I thought that LinuxPPC had the most development of all variants of Linux for the PPC platform? How long has SuSE been available for PPC, and would you say that it has the most mature and savvy installation and setup specific to Mac/PPC machines?

Also, how is the documentation that comes with it? I understand that it comes with quite a large manual. True?
     
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Madison, NJ 07940
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2001, 02:11 PM
 
Yes, for 49.95 you get 60 days support, a 500 page manual and 6 CD's but
only 4 are used for the mac; The others are for IBM's and other ppc machines. Their documentation is thorough; much better than what Apple
gives for OSX! I think linuxPPC was the #1 distro, but I would say
Suse is the main player now for the ppc. They are all about the same, but
I know from experience Suse is is good.

Originally posted by scip:
Richard,

Thanks for the info. I recently read a review of SuSE 7.0 (not 7.1) for PPC in LinuxFormat magazine, and they concluded that it fell a little short. They went on to say that they hoped v7.1 improved upon its shortcomings.

Furthermore, I thought that LinuxPPC had the most development of all variants of Linux for the PPC platform? How long has SuSE been available for PPC, and would you say that it has the most mature and savvy installation and setup specific to Mac/PPC machines?

Also, how is the documentation that comes with it? I understand that it comes with quite a large manual. True?
     
Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Walnut Creek, California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 11, 2001, 12:03 PM
 
Thanks Richard, your post did help a lot. I'm trying to do the exact same thing as scrip but on a New World iMac.

I know there is a way to configure yaboot so that one can choose which OS to boot into (sorta like BootX, but though Open Firmware instead), but I tried reading the online documentation and got waaay lost. Any simple instructions on how to do that?

"Sing it again, rookie beyach."
My website
     
Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Walnut Creek, California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 11, 2001, 12:11 PM
 
Thanks Richard, your post did help a lot. I'm trying to do the exact same thing as scrip but on a New World iMac.

I know there is a way to configure yaboot so that one can choose which OS to boot into (sorta like BootX, but though Open Firmware instead), but I tried reading the online documentation and got waaay lost. Any simple instructions on how to do that?

"Sing it again, rookie beyach."
My website
     
   
Thread Tools
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:47 PM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2011 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.7 © 2000-2011, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd., Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.3.2