[Gllug] Installing Linux on a Mac Mini - boot sequence

[Richard Jones]

On Sat, Sep 05, 2009 at 02:04:50PM +0100, Matthew King wrote:
> John Winters <john at sinodun.org.uk> writes:
> 
> > Matthew King wrote:
> > [snip]
> >> It has OS X (hda5) and Debian (hda6/8), with space for OS 9 (hda3)
> >> should I want to experience some extreme pain later. You'll notice
> >> there's an Apple_Bootstrap and Apple_Boot. I've no idea why there are
> >> two and I don't know why hda7 needs to be nearly 250MB (amusingly, it's
> >> exactly 256000512 bytes), but if you want them as images I can send them
> >> to you. The big one doesn't compress much.
> >
> > Thanks, but the boot configuration of the PowerPC Macs seems to be quite
> > different from the Intel Macs.  I've installed Linux on a PowerPC one
> > before, but this is my first attempt on Intel.  I don't think the
> > PowerPC boot partitions would help.
> >
> > My problem is I assumed that as it was Intel it would be just like a PC.
> >  Foolish me.  I'm still hunting for information.
> 
> I think Intel's advertising has made me immune and I simply don't see
> the word 'Intel' anywhere. I read 'Intel Mac Mini' as simply 'Mac Mini'
> in your original post.
> 
> If you find out the difference between a normal PC and an apple PC, do
> let us know.

PPC-based macs use(d) OpenFirmware, written in FORTH (yay!) and
although I've not used it a huge amount, it seems like a good,
well-documented system.

On PPC-based Macs only you can get a boot prompt with a proper command
line interface by holding down a certain pair of shift keys and the O
and F keys.  Which shift keys and when you have to hold them down
isn't very clearly documented (they often refer to things like the
"Option key" and "Apple key", none of which exist in reality on modern
PPC Macs).

On Intel-based Macs, OpenFirmware is *not* used, and the "OF"
combination does *not* work.  Instead it uses EFI, which is some Intel
thing and in my experience quite obscure.  There doesn't seem to be
any command line.  This is also the system used on Itanic.  The best
thing I can say about EFI is it's newer than the BIOS system.

Rich.


-- 
Richard Jones
Red Hat
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