Power PC system won't run many distros. Most distros are Intel, I think. Besides that, don't think that the Power PC machines can't emulate a BIOS.
If you're running on that old machine, you'll need to search for a distro that is specifically designed for Power PC Macs. Bryan -----Original Message----- From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Scott Howell Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 3:53 PM To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Bootable flash drives [was Re: using fdisk] Bryan, According to what I've read, it is possible to make a bootable Linux disk for the Mac and even get it to load. Now the details I'm not to clear on and my intent was to setup a Debian distro on an old Mac Mini. Of course why would I want to do this? Well because it's an older PowerPC chip and not much I can do beyond Leopard. Of course not saying Leopard is of no value, but instead to say I might be able to put the machine into service as a server without having to upgrade or purchase Leopard Server. :) However, regardless, if I manage to make it happen, I'll let you know how and what it took. On Jan 11, 2010, at 3:44 PM, Bryan Smart wrote: > The Mac can boot a USB device, but I don't think that you'll have luck > booting anything other than the Mac OS without a lot of work. If you want to > boot Linux, then BIOS emulation has to be going before the Linux distro > boots. Maybe some of them can boot with EFI, but I'm not knowledgeable enough > to say. I doubt that a majority of distros would, though. > > A good way to start would be to dig in to how BootCamp modifies the system on > a low level in order to boot Windows. There is probably a flag that is set on > a partition to tell the Mac boot loader to start BIOS emulation before > attempting to boot the OS on that partition. > > You could almost certainly install Linux directly on the hard drive by > setting up for BootCamp, and then installing Linux instead of Windows. > However, if you figured out the flag or other tech detail that flags a > partition as needing BIOS to boot, then you could manually tweak your > flashdisk to appear that way to the boot loader. > > I'd love to hear about what you discover. Besides using flashdisks, it would > be even better if we could use the same trick to install Windows or Linux on > an external USB hard drive. > > Bryan > > -----Original Message----- > From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com > [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Esther > Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 12:52 PM > To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com > Subject: Bootable flash drives [was Re: using fdisk] > > Hi Scott, > > I think if I were trying to set up a bootable Linux distribution on a USB > flash drive I would do this on a Linux machine. However, for your > entertainment, you might want to read Ted Landau's old MacFixIt column (from > April 2008) titled, "Create a Leopard Startup Flash Drive": > > http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20080422095414936 > > Note that I haven't tried this myself, and have no idea whether it's doable > for Snow Leopard. > > Cheers, > > Esther > > > On Jan 11, 2010, at 06:57, Scott Howell wrote: > >> Hi Sandi, >> >> Thanks for the clarification. If I unmount the drive, it no longer >> can be referenced by the device node in /dev, which is interesting. >> It is as though once unmounted, the OS forgets about it, but I >> suspect it has something to do with the disk subsystem and how it >> handles devices. Well I'll keep digging because the info is out >> there somewhere . :) >> >> THanks, >> On Jan 4, 2001, at 3:18 PM, sandi sørensen wrote: >> >>> first of all, have never used fdisk under osx so i can be very wrong. >>> but when i have done it on linux i usually unmount the drive i wanna >>> fdisk and then takes contact with it from the dev folder. >>> Therefore i said as i did. >>> try eventually before you mess with it too see how huge it is with >>> fdisk. >>> /sandi >>> >>> >>> >>> On Jan 11, 2010, at 7:29 AM, Scott Howell wrote: >>> >>>> Sandi, >>>> >>>> Sorry, I'm not clear on what you are saying here. The device, / >>>> dev/disk1 does exist, but unlike a "normal" or static /dev file >>>> system, I assume that perhaps this works more like the DevFS found >>>> in some LInux distros? I have to admit that I am not that familiar >>>> with the newer file systems, which is my fault for letting my >>>> knowledge get rusty. >>>> Can you please clarify what you mean? >>>> >>>> THanks, >>>> On Jan 4, 2001, at 1:41 PM, sandi sørensen wrote: >>>> >>>>> try getting a hold of it from /dev/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Jan 11, 2010, at 6:17 AM, Scott Howell wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> James, I perhaps should be more clear. >>>>>> >>>>>> The issue is I cannot find a way to address the device. To >>>>>> explain further, the flash drive when mounted, shows up as /dev/ disk1s1. >>>>>> However, to properly address the device with fdisk, the device >>>>>> must be umounted, but when attempting to address the device by >>>>>> fdisk /dev/disk1 I receive a "file not found" error. So, my >>>>>> assumption is that the disk subsystem handles unmounted devices >>>>>> differently than I gather most OpenBSD systems perhaps. I of >>>>>> course do not know for sure and any thoughts you have would be >>>>>> appreciated. The man page did not provide any information on how >>>>>> to address the problem. >>>>>> >>>>>> THanks, >>>>>> On Jan 11, 2010, at 6:24 AM, James & Nash wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi Scott, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> You wrote: >>>>>>>> Have any of you used fdisk from the Terminal in order to set >>>>>>>> the boot flag on a file system, which is contained on a USB >>>>>>>> flash drive/Thumb drive? I want to creat a bootable usb stick >>>>>>>> that I can load a small Linux distro on. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I haven't, but I will look into it for you if you like. In >>>>>>> theory, there should be no problem using fdisk as the Terminal >>>>>>> is pretty accessible with Voice Over. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> TC >>>>>>> James >>>>>>> On 11 Jan 2010, at 02:01, Scott Howell wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Folks, >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Have any of you used fdisk from the Terminal in order to set >>>>>>>> the boot flag on a file system, which is contained on a USB >>>>>>>> flash drive/Thumb drive? I want to creat a bootable usb stick >>>>>>>> that I can load a small Linux distro on. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> tnx,-- > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > >
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