Linux PPC64 for Power Mac G5 Quad

[kencu]

I saw your post there… it sounds like it boots then tries to initialize the window manager and desktop and something in your graphics system support is not displaying. you could probably switch to a text-mode console, eg ctl-alt-F2, to get terminal access to work with it.

I have high confidence the mailing list users will help you sort why your graphics is not displaying. That final part, bringing up the GUI, has the most variations of graphics cards, etc, and sometimes takes a bit of tweaking. Not absolutely every graphics card is supported by debian, but a large number are.

 

[mac57mac57]

Excellent, thanks @kencu. Being new to that list, I have no idea if this sort of email is normal, or outside of what is normally dealt with in this manner.

I will try the text mode console (I *thought* it was ALT-F1 to get to in, and ALT-F2 to dismiss it ... saw that on a YouTube about installing Debian 11 on a Quad).

So, thanks again. If I can get in via that, or Recovery mode, I will count that as a great start. If I can get in, the core of Debian is running, and from there, it *should* just be configuration issues, not "get an install running" issues - much easier to deal with!

 

[mac57mac57]

OK, I restarted it again and typed ALT-F1 after the final screen clear and sure enough, I got a text mode login prompt. I tried "startx", but it failed. I captured logs and sent them to the Debian mailing list. I am awaiting a response.

In the meantime, Debian has taken over an entire 2 TB spinner with ext4. @Doq, since you have this installed, do you have a way of accessing ext4, read/write, from Mac OS X (Sorbet) Leopard?

Else, do I have to reinstall Debian 12 PPC64 and select Manual partitioning, and partition a large chunk of the disk as hfsplus?

 

[Doq]

In the meantime, Debian has taken over an entire 2 TB spinner with ext4. @Doq, since you have this installed, do you have a way of accessing ext4, read/write, from Mac OS X (Sorbet) Leopard?

Else, do I have to reinstall Debian 12 PPC64 and select Manual partitioning, and partition a large chunk of the disk as hfsplus?

There is no support. You might be able to get read support with some build of MacFUSE, but writing is unlikely.

I do not see the point of a large HFS+ volume unless you plan on dual-booting on a single disk. If you want a "back-and-forth" volume, you're better off formatting it as FAT32. You do not normally want to mount an HFS-type volume in Linux for write access.

 

[mac57mac57]

Well, I have no idea why, but Debian will no longer install at all on my Quad. It had installed successfully, but was occupying an entire 2TB spinner. So, I reformatted that disk using Mac OS X Leopard Disk Utility, returning it to the state it was in when I first installed Debian, and then tried again. That was several tries ago. No matter what I do now, I cannot get Debian to "take" anymore.

The error messages are of no value at all. All I get is "An installation step has failed ... The failing step is: Select and Install Software. This occurs despite the fact that a mirror has been successfully accessed and used. I have tried two different mirrors with no change in outcome. Since I can never get the system to install and boot, I cannot get at the dmesg logs to see what happened.

Deciding that I could compensate for this after Debian was installed, I proceeded anyway, and the very next step, install GRUB, fails as well, and always fails now in fact, no matter what installer selections I make. I even tried the Expert Mode install, thinking that if I got more granular I might get more useful error messages, but I did not.

I have never used Debian, always hearing that it was incredibly difficult to get going, and I am starting to see why.

Adrian put out a new PPC64 installer yesterday, and I *may* try that, but at this point, I am thinking of giving up on Debian. I don't NEED Linux on my Quad, I just thought it would be technically interesting to have.

Next up, I think I will return to ArchPOWER and try that. The Debian installer seems hell-bent on using an entire disk, and I don't want to give up an entire 2 TB HDD for what will always be a secondary OS on this box - Sorbet Leopard will always be the primary OS. Hopefully ArchPOWER may not be so demanding.

I am rather disappointed. I would love to somehow split that 2 TB disk into two equal partitions and put Debian on one and share the other between Debian and Mac OS X via HFSPLUS. I did take a run at this via the Manual Partitioning approach, but since both software install and GRUB install fail no matter what I do, I can't tell why it didn't work.

Before anyone asks, no I did not inadvertantly fall back to my original installer. I *may* take one more shot at Debian using Adrian's latest installer, but if that fails, it is time to move on.

 

[kencu]

Sorry to hear about your frustrations.

Indeed, I have seen many people who try to do anything other than allow debian to have and control a whole physical drive run into trouble just like you. I always just give it the whole disk.

You did get it installed and running, I think on your first try with a proper install ISO. There is something going on with your Nvidia card that needs sorting out when getting graphics up. The mailing list users with Nvidia cards seemed to have some suggestions.

 

[mac57mac57]

Well almost @kencu, it was my second or third attempt, but the first with that installer.

I understand what you are saying and I tried to at least get back to where I had been by going back to scratch and giving Debian the whole disk again. No joy... "Select Software and Install" failed and then " GRUB Install" failed. I took numerous runs at it today... always the same result. The very thing that worked yesterday failed today. Very frustrating.

The issues with contemporary nVidia cards also confounds me. If this release is stated to support Power Mac G5s, shouldn't it support the graphics cards Apple shipped with Power Mac G5s? But apparently it does not! Also very frustrating.

So far, the only suggestion I have received from the mailing list (received it twice, once each from two different people) re the graphics issue is that I should disable a particular library... but dmesg showed that this library loaded successfully. Nonetheless, if I could EVER get back to the point where Debian was installed and booting, I would try it. I also got some great tips Googling the issue, but again, I can't get Debian installed, a prerequisite for trying them.

More informative error messages would make SUCH a difference too. The installer is failing and I have NO idea why, and it isn't saying.