Can't find an analog clock widget for Lubuntu 12.04 so far, so instead I have edited the conky config file /etc/conky/conky.conf by inserting the following code at the top of the TEXT block :
interestingly enough, conky auto updates this above as soon as I CTRL+S (save) the config file, very convenient to quickly check various parameters like font type/size/color/...
Starting to look like a personal journal or something around here... 🙃
Next step achieved : force reboot to Lubuntu-remix while logged in... Lubuntu-remix. Found info on how to do it mostly from this page (Open Firmware centered) and this one (Applescript, osascript), most notably the nvsetenv command. And I just had to click "Reboot" from Lubuntu to get back there, no Option key to press at reboot, no boot picker, no nothing - just reboot and that's it. YAY !!
For info, this is what I did from Lubuntu terminal : sudo nvsetenv boot-device hd:,\yaboot (not sure if it makes sense or not, but I might want to be more specific about the exact location of yaboot so that OF doesn't waste time searching for it)
IOW I now have the possibility to select the boot device/partition from a script in Lubuntu (I'll eventually add a simple GUI to facilitate the selection), it works for booting back into Lubuntu, should also work to boot into either Tiger or Sorbet Leopard instead of Linux.
Now I need to find a way to perform a similar task from within OS X, looks feasible if I can judge from the links above, but we shall see.
Directly booting to Tiger, Sorbet Leopard or Lubuntu-remix from either Tiger, Sorbet Leopard or Lubuntu-remix without having to go thru the boot picker :
- to list NVRAM contents in Linux : sudo nvsetenv (| grep boot-device to only display its value)
- to list NVRAM contents in OS X : sudo nvram -p (| grep boot-device to only display its value)
- to reboot to Linux from Linux : sudo nvsetenv boot-device hd:2,\\yaboot
- to reboot to Tiger from Linux : sudo nvsetenv boot-device "hd:3,\\\:tbxi"
- to reboot to Sorbet Leopard from Linux : sudo nvsetenv boot-device "hd:5,\\\:tbxi"
- to reboot to Linux from OS X : sudo nvram boot-device="hd:2,\\yaboot"
- to reboot to Tiger from OS X : sudo nvram boot-device="hd:3,\\\:tbxi"
- to reboot to Sorbet Leopard from OS X : sudo nvram boot-device="hd:5,\\\:tbxi"
YMMV (especially in terms of volume/partition #), and there might be shorter syntax to perform the same task (and this is not definitive I'll probably update it), but this is what works with my configuration (and I've seen very similar stuff on various models).
EDIT : updated the syntax with the ":tbxi" shortcut i/o the (long) full path.
Next step : code an alias/scripts/GUI to make all this as easy to the (lazy) user as possible.
Directly booting to Tiger, Sorbet Leopard or Lubuntu-remix from either Tiger, Sorbet Leopard or Lubuntu-remix without having to go thru the boot picker :
YMMV (especially in terms of volume/partition #), and there might be shorter syntax to perform the same task (and this is not definitive I'll probably update it), but this is what works with my configuration (and I've seen very similar stuff on various models).
Next step : code an alias/scripts/GUI to make all this as easy to the (lazy) user as possible.
Nope sorry, although it could be fun and even more nostalgic I don't plan to install MacOS 9 on my machine (not even sure it's possible btw...), so haven't done any research on this.
All "Titanium" PowerBook G4 models are capable of booting MacOS 9, whereas "Aluminum" models can only run MacOS 9 applications in the "Classic" environment when booting MacOS X 10.4.11 "Tiger" and lower (MacOS X 10.5 "Leopard" and higher do not support MacOS 9 at all).
So I've tried to shorten the syntax above like using e.g. hd:3,\\:tbxi to boot to Tiger, but nope, doesn't work, it reboots to the 1st bootable partition and that leads to yaboot, not Tiger.
(which reminds me I want to find a more direct path to Lubuntu-remix, without going to yaboot (and waste 10+s for it to auto boot to Lubuntu)
@repairedCheese, like I said I've got zero experience with MacOS 9, however I would think that you may be able to do the same with a similar command line/syntax. I suppose the "hd" devalias is also effective on your machines, then you need to find on each machine where you'd want to replicate this "direct boot" thing the partition number of the macOS 9 root volume, and replace the number after hd: in my post above with that one, and try it out.
Btw I found a macOS 9 treasure trove here, have a look seems worth it to me, maybe you already know of this web site.
One quick note : in Lubuntu I've had the message "can't find the host pierrez-laptop" each time I was using sudo, I found out that what happened is when I changed the /etc/hosts file to be the one kindly provided by @wicknix (to improve the browsing XP) then one line had disappeared from it : 127.0.0.1 pierrez-laptop, which I therefore re-inserted right below 127.0.0.1 localhost and that fixed it, no more error message. Maybe this will help someone here.
So I've tried to shorten the syntax above like using e.g. hd:3,\\:tbxi to boot to Tiger, but nope, doesn't work, it reboots to the 1st bootable partition and that leads to yaboot, not Tiger.
(which reminds me I want to find a more direct path to Lubuntu-remix, without going to yaboot (and waste 10+s for it to auto boot to Lubuntu)
Hey @joevt, thanxx for replying, in fact your last line with triple backslash triggered a light bulb lol, as for many programming languages the first \ char is for escaping what follows, and since "\\:tbxi" does require 2 \ chars while in OF, I added a third one in the command line, eg : sudo nvram boot-device="hd:3,\\\:tbxi", and it worked just fine.
So I'll do the same for all OS X boot command lines, both in Tiger/Leopard and Linux (for which I've added " " around the device/partition name to make sure the escape sequence is well executed).
I've edited the post above to replace the syntax with these shortcuts. Just FYI I have O.F. 4.8.3f1 on my latop. The dir hd:3,\ printed what I expected (the root folder contents), but was interesting checking dir hd:3,\\, printed a long list of files (mostly .app, like Finder.app) with file creation/modif date and time on the left side, can't tell what all this is (it's not the Applications folder contents), I also did a dir hd:3,\\\ which yielded an error, not surprisingly.
Hey @joevt, thanxx for replying, in fact your last line with triple backslash triggered a light bulb lol, as for many programming languages the first \ char is for escaping what follows, and since "\\:tbxi" does require 2 \ chars while in OF, I added a third one in the command line, eg : sudo nvram boot-device="hd:3,\\\:tbxi", and it worked just fine.
So I'll do the same for all OS X boot command lines, both in Tiger/Leopard and Linux (for which I've added " " around the device/partition name to make sure the escape sequence is well executed).
The dir hd:3,\ printed what I expected (the root folder contents), but was interesting checking dir hd:3,\\, printed a long list of files (mostly .app, like Finder.app) with file creation/modif date and time on the left side, can't tell what all this is (it's not the Applications folder contents), I also did a dir hd:3,\\\ which yielded an error, not surprisingly.
\ is for the root directory. \\ is for the blessed directory (System Folder). \\\ (only for HFS+ volumes) is for blessed OS X directory if it exists, otherwise blessed OS 9 directory. I'm not sure why it doesn't work with the dir command. I haven't tried it myself though.
The blessed OS X folder is usually /System/Library/CoreServices
The dir command in Open Firmware should have a * next to the blessed directory. For HFS+, the * may be preceded by a 9 or by a X to indicate the OS 9 blessed directory or the OS X blessed directory.
Incompatible characters in Open Firmware file paths can be specified using % followed by a two digit hex ASCII code. For example, %20 is a space character.
Outside of Open Firmware, you may need \ to escape a \, such as in a script.
In Open Firmware, : is for searching for type (e.g. :tbxi and creator instead of file name (creator is optional and follows type with a ,)
The dir command should show the type and creator for each file.
Wow, thanxx for all the details, that's one heck of a lecture, I've browsed a couple of pages about O.F. but didn't get this type of information though it seems pretty important to me, quite frustrating...
not what it looked like, but I'll check again next time I boot in OSX, you're most probably right.
I've downloaded your dumpvols.sh script, I'll give it a shot, amazed (flabbergasted rather ^^) by the length, complexity and crypticity (neologism, I'm no native english thus I'm allowed) of the code for such an apparently basic task...
OTOH tried to d/l the get-new-world-rom.command script but none of the two dropbox d/l's work for me.
Got tired of the CMD+Option+O+F at reboot to get into OF, so I'm adding a "reboot to OF" item to the future "direct reboot" script via auto-boot? false (which then means I need to add a auto-boot? true instruction for each of the other items).
Speaking of which, I'm still wondering what will be best/easiest in terms of U/I for this direct reboot functionality : alias for each reboot choice, a script with 4-item menu, a simple GUI would be nice but what I've read about coding a GUI in OSX 10.4 or 10.5 is pretty discouraging, I might opt for a small web/JS app with Python to help exec'ing bash scripts (I've looked into Applescript but from what I understand it doesn't apply here). Any opinion on the matter ?
Wow, thanxx for all the details, that's one heck of a lecture, I've browsed a couple of pages about O.F. but didn't get this type of information though it seems pretty important to me, quite frustrating...
The best source for Open Firmware info is the Open Firmware code from the ROM. I have a script to decompress the Open Firmware part of the ROM and convert it to assembly and Forth.
Speaking of which, I'm still wondering what will be best/easiest in terms of U/I for this direct reboot functionality : alias for each reboot choice, a script with 4-item menu, a simple GUI would be nice but what I've read about coding a GUI in OSX 10.4 or 10.5 is pretty discouraging, I might opt for a small web/JS app with Python to help exec'ing system commands (I've looked into Applescript but from what I understand it doesn't apply here). Any opinion on the matter ?
What version of macOS are you running the script in?
You can try running it in zsh instead of bash or vice versa depending on the default shell command.
You can run bless -info manually.
Code:
~ % bless -info /Volumes/Classic
finderinfo[0]: 0 => No Blessed System Folder
finderinfo[1]: 0 => No Blessed System File
finderinfo[2]: 0 => Open-folder linked list empty
finderinfo[3]: 18324 => Alternate OS blessed file/folder is /Volumes/Classic/MacOS9old/System Folder 4
finderinfo[4]: 0 => Unused field unset
finderinfo[5]: 0 => No OS 9 + X blessed X folder
~ % bless -info /Volumes/Tiger
finderinfo[0]: 3513 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/Tiger/System/Library/CoreServices
finderinfo[1]: 586147 => Blessed System File is /Volumes/Tiger/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
finderinfo[2]: 0 => Open-folder linked list empty
finderinfo[3]: 0 => No alternate OS blessed file/folder
finderinfo[4]: 0 => Unused field unset
finderinfo[5]: 3513 => OS X blessed folder is /Volumes/Tiger/System/Library/CoreServices
Like I said, I'm not so much into OF stuff now that I know how to to what I wanted to.
However since you've kindly provided detailed info and scripts, I have run both scripts and since I can't paste text in here I've put the results in a file attached below.
But again, I don't plan to investigate/discuss this any further, moved on to scripting, in fact I've seen that Applescript does allow to run bash scripts and to generate simple GUIs so might be the one (I think I'll first write a complete bash script to use as a basis for a GUI type thingy).
However since you've kindly provided detailed info and scripts, I have run both scripts and since I can't paste text in here I've put the results in a file attached below.
Oh sh*t ! I've fu*ked up Sorbet Leopard reboot (Tiger and Lubuntu still Ok).
What I did was to modify the /etc/yaboot.conf config file to reduce the yaboot timeout from 100 to 10 (i.e. from 10s to 1s) to save reboot time to Lubuntu (still don't know if and how to more directly boot to Lubuntu w/o going first thru the yaboot prompt, if anyone can help here, TIA), then did the required sudo ybin -v for the change to be effective, and that's all.
And now when I boot to Sorbet, directly or even via the boot picker, I get the grey apple on white background and the spinning thingy, however it spins forever...
Ah ! well, I let it spin for a while this time around, and it ended up auto rebooting, then had the chime then the apple and then... yes ! Sorbet Leopard booted. Looks like the thing fixed itself or something... good ! 🥹
After dealing with some intricacies regarding Applescript escape chars vs shell (noteworthy : while OS X Term uses bash script, Applescript sends code to sh script, not bash...), I've put together a crude, brute force script with minimalist UI that allows me to select the next reboot destination with a couple mouse clicks :
Easily beats having to press (Option then boot picker wait and select) or CMD+Option+O+F at reboot, if you ask me.
I'd've just set the env variable boot-command to multi-boot. Doing this will present the boot picker without needing to hold <Option> on power on. Bonus: while in the boot picker, you can press <Control>Z to drop into the Open Firmware prompt, also subverting the need for <Command><Option>OF.
"cute" generally is a compliment when applied to babies or kitten, as for scripts like this one I certainly don't think it is one ^^, esp. considering the lack of switch / case statement in Applescript which leads to this little horror (but I know of other, nicer ways to get the job done, just didn't have the time/motivation to bother, just wanted the thing to actually *work*).
As for me, I just don't want to think about what to do at reboot, press this or that key (and careful not to do it too late !), then have to wait until things happen - no, while logged in OS X or Linux I just want to select where I need to boot next, then Ok it and go grab a cup of coffee while the whole thing gets done without any further intervention (also because of my current setup, not at all convenient). This is esp. true for booting e.g. to usb.
But as usual : to each his/her own.
Now on to coding similar stuff on Lubuntu-remix, probably using dialog for a basic UI (provided it was available in 12.04).
Unfortunately dialog is not available in Lubuntu-remix 12.04, tried to install it but got this :
Package dialog is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
Since this is a slimmed down/custom version of Lubuntu I will avoid screwing around looking for solutions that might break it. So will look for something else at this point, worst case I'll code a simple textual bash script, after all there are only so many options to look for, a simple 1)... 2)... 3)... etc... menu will do (though I'd much prefer a basic GUI like I've done in OS X).
@Doq, nope, never heard of it - but I just tried a bunch of whiptail code examples in the terminal and it seems to be doing pretty much what dialog does (except maybe for using the mouse to select an item in a menu), so that's better than the bash script I've started to code and I'll probably use it for my "direct reboot app" - thanxx a lot !
Moving along playing with Lubuntu-remix, this is getting fun with coding some scripts and aliases, setting programs to auto start at boot-up, and beefing up the "direct_reboot" script (will show on next post).
Also finding some quirks and limitations, for instance the gnome-screenshot GUI is annoying in that it closes at each snapshot taken, so I've created aliases to run the app from terminal and take care of capturing a window, all screen or part of it depending on what I need.
Btw doing this generate an error message below - however screenshots are actually produced (in the pictures folder, either by default or maybe because I had set it up when using it via the GUI).
Also, I miss the possibility to keep some apps in the "dock" (menu bar), so instead I'm launching those apps at boot-up, but it's not quite the same, esp. because I can't start them *minimized*, resulting in a bit of a mess on the screen...
Besides, I tried to connect to my mini-PC via Wifi to exchange info/files, didn't work in Filezilla so I scripted an ftp transfer thing and it works fine from terminal. Not ideal, but can live with it, I'll get back to it later.
Just to spoil the next post, a screenshot of the beefed-up direct reboot menu, script now works 100% on Lubuntu-remix (lots of fun coding this in bash and with whiptail ! ^^), need to do the same update on the OS X script, anyway I'll elaborate a bit around it later to show how it goes.
P.S. Hey @wicknix, is there any chance that you could re-post the Bootable 16.04 remix persistent USB ISO ? I would love to give it a shot, also because some limitations in 12.04 may not be present in 16.04, unfortunately it's not available or at least I can't d/l it from here. Maybe the Garden would be a good place to store it ? TIA !
Cool stuff. You can skip gnome-screenshot if it’s bothersome. I believe i included ‘scrot’, a nifty command line screen shot program. As for the persistent USB image… looks like MS/OneDrive deleted it on me. Didn’t realize stuff you upload there could “expire”. I’ll dig around some old disks and see if i still have a copy. I wouldn’t hold my breath though.
