FAQ Index
Section II - Basic Assumptions
Section III - Installing Linux
Section IV - Enabling Dual-Processor Support
Section VII - Contact Information
Section VIII - Revision History
Section I - Disclaimer
This document, or the author of said document. is understood to be free and clear of any potenial damage that may happen to your computer as a result of these instructions. This document is provided in good faith as a guide, not as a know-all rule book. Errors may be included in this document, even though it has been reviewed for content.
Section II - Basic Assumptions
- You are installing onto a Dual-Processor G4 500 MHz
- You already have the full LinuxPPC 2000 Q4 CD
- You have partitioned your drive for Linux.
You will also note that in this FAQ i may refer to something as if it is common knowledge. Obviously, it may not be. Hopefully one of the links at the bottom can shed some light on the problem, but if not, please feel free to contact me. I may not be able to attend to your emails immediately, but since i do enjoy email, i try to respond quickly.
Also, in this FAQ, I make reference to something that may only be applicable to my particular setup. I will try and document this, but i may fail to do so. If you see something you are not sure of, contact me.
Another point to keep in mind, these instructions worked for me on my computer. Other computers, even other models of dual-processor G4's may be different. This is not to say that you cannot try this on other machines. If you do find that it is or is not succesful, please feel free to email me, and I can put more detailed instructions or clearer warnings.
Section III - Installing Linux
This could be considered the tricky part. Reboot your computer with the LinuxPPC 2000 Q4 CD in the drive. Hold down 'c' to boot from the CD. When the computer reaches the yaboot boot screen, press a key to stop the automatic boot. Select the Install-Ultra Safe Video option.Follow the install instructions from LinuxPPC. I chose to install all of the available packages, thinking that it would save time downloading later on. Once installed, reboot back into Mac OS. On the partition that you boot from for Linux, there will be a file called yaboot.conf, located inside a 'fake' System Folder. Open this text file with your editor of choice, and create an entry like such:
image = vmlinux-pmac-2.2.18-4hBOOT
label = G4-Boot
root = /dev/hdb10
append = "video=atyfb video=ofonly"
Reboot into linux, this time using the hard drive to boot from. Press a key to cancel the automatic boot, then select the entry you just placed there. This should get your linux up and running. From here you need to configure all of your system, especially internet, as it is required for the next section.
Section IV - Enabling Dual-Processor Support
Thanks to the great work of K. Fukoi, most of this is easy. While this FAQ is by no means a substitute for playing around with your kernel settings, or a good guide on compiling a kernel, i will try to walk you through a good start on compiling your SMP kernel. As of this writing, the newest kernel available is 2.4.1-pre10_0b. Your best bet is to monitor linuxppc.org for the newest and best kernels. Download the kernel source and header RPMs and install them. I suggest also downloading Fukoi's SMP.config and using as a base for your own kernel.
Make sure to modify your yaboot.conf file accordingly so that it will recognize your newly-compiled kernel.
Section V - Miscellaneus
As of this writing, my system still has a few problems. These only have to do, in general, with X windows. Many keys are messed up, and I still have to use the Open Firmware framebuffer, so I only have 800x600 8 bit color in X. However, the terminal works fine. If anyone has any useful information on these problems, please feel free to contact me, so I may include them in this FAQ.
Section VI - Useful Links
Section VII - Contact Information
My email address is . Feel free to email me with suggestions and comments for this FAQ, a s well as corrections. Please direct all flames to .
Section VIII - Revision History
Version 1.0.0 (2/9/01) Document created.
(Copyright 2001) Jake Goulding; Shepmaster Industries
This document may be freely distributed as long as it remains unmodified and a reference is provided to the original author.
