PPC: Booting with MiBoot on a PowerMacintosh

Support knowledgebase (olh_ppc_miboot)

MiBoot is a bootloader for older PowerMacs and Mac clones. In fact, it is basically a faked System file meant for Linux-only machines. However, the configuration must be done with ResEdit in MacOS.
Keep the MacOS System CD ready for emergency reasons. MacOS can not be started from MiBoot and the configuration can not be done from the Linux side.

Installation of MiBoot:

Copy the folder "suseboot" from the first CD to the Linux boot partition.
Move the Kernel "vmlinux" out of this folder to the toplevel of the Linux boot partition, not on the Desktop.
The folder must have the icon of a active System folder. If this is not the case, perform the following steps:

If the folder still does not appear to be a system folder, you probably have an older version of MacOS. Use the Finder file in the active System folder replace the faked empty one in the suseboot folder.

Grab the tool "ResEdit" from this URL (627 kb):


http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/ResEdit_2.1.3.sea.bin
Start ResEdit, look for the _correct_ System file (in the new folder "suseboot"). Now it will be possible to see some Ressources. It is necessary to modify the "CMDL" Ressource. This ressource contains 2 entries, "no key" and "shift pressed". The ressource passes two different kernel argument lines to the kernel.

When entering text in the column on the right side, everything in the middle colum will appear as a hexdump. The correct root device must be specified. The "load_ramdisk=1" and the "video=" arguements may be removed, as they are not typically necessary.
If needed, the video settings can be specified as described in the manual page, "man nvvideo". For example:

video=platinumfb:vmode:17,cmode:16
(This example is for a 7200 machine. Look at /proc/fb for your active framebuffer driver.)

Save your changes.
Choose the Linux boot partition in the Startup volume control panel. Now, Linux will be booted directly. The smiling Mac will be replaced with the penguin icon, then the text mode will be active, and finally, the penguin icon of the kernel appears.


Keywords: PPC, POWERPC, APPLE, MACINTOSH, MAC, BOOTX, MIBOOT

Categories: Power PC

SDB-olh_ppc_miboot, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 25. Jun 2000
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 30. Mai 2002 by olh (sdb_gen 1.40.0)