vi problems, linux keycodes and yaboot questions
Roland Wegmann
I have dist-upgraded to woody a second time, because the first time was a
failure (I used "dpkg-reconfigure console-common" to change the keyboard
layout. This way I got an unusable keyboard). This time I re-partitioned the
IDE drive and then reinstalled the base system of potato 2.2r3. Then I added
the following entries to "sources.list":
deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian testing main contrib non-free
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US testing/non-US main non-free
typed
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
Now I can't use vi anymore. But I need it to modify "yaboot.conf" etc. When
I type for example "vi sources.list" I got the message "vi: wrapper couldn't
execute /usr/bin/vi nor /bin/elvis-tiny". What's wrong with vi?
Secondly, I want to change my keyboard layout from US to Swiss german (or at
least German). On this maillist I heard a lot about linux keycodes. After my
difficulties with "console common" I may ask you if linux keycodes are
another way to adapt the keyboard? Are there any howto's or examples on this
topic?
Thirdly, I have a semi installed yaboot. It means I can chose between Linux
or MacOS using the option key on my Apple Pro Keyboard. When I start Linux,
yaboot is called up (Welcome to yaboot 0.9). now i have read the handout
"yaboot/ybin FAQ" of Eric Peden. There I found the hint that an exact yaboot
installation (via ybin) needs a bootstrap partition of the type
"Apple_Bootstrap" and further down he says that the bootstrap partition
have to be the frist one. My partition tool (mac fdisk ??) shows the
following partition table:
/dev/hda1 Apple_partition_map Apple
/dev/hda2 Apple_Driver43 Macintosh
/dev/hda3 Apple_Driver43 Macintosh
/dev/hda4 Apple_Driver_ATA Macintosh
/dev/hda5 Apple_Driver_ATA Macintosh
/dev/hda6 Apple_FWDriver Macintosh
/dev/hda7 Apple_Driver_IOkit Macintosh
/dev/hda8 Apple_Patches Patch Partition
/dev/hda9 Apple_HFS Linuxboot (I think this should be the place for
yaboot, but I'm not sure)
/dev/hda10 Apple_HFS System (the place of MacOS 9.1)
/dev/hda11 Apple_HFS Daten (the place where I save all my stuff under
MacOS)
/dev/hda12 Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap (my Linux swap partition)
/dev/hda13 Apple_UNIX_SVR2 root (all my Debian stuff)
/dev/hda14 Apple_Free Extra
Now my question: Have I to rename partition 9 from Apple_HFS to
Apple_Bootstrap? What about "first partition" ( is 9 "first" enough)?
I would like to thank all those who could give me some advice in advance!
Roland Wegmann
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Michel Dänzer
> Secondly, I want to change my keyboard layout from US to Swiss german (or at
> least German). On this maillist I heard a lot about linux keycodes. After my
> difficulties with "console common" I may ask you if linux keycodes are
> another way to adapt the keyboard? Are there any howto's or examples on this
> topic?
You shouldn't need to bother. Just upgrade to the current console-data, choose
a map from the arch list and follow the advice it gives. You'll be using Linux
keycodes from then on.
--
Earthling Michel Dänzer (MrCooper)/ Debian GNU/Linux (powerpc) developer
XFree86 and DRI project member / CS student, Free Software enthusiast
Derrik Pates
> Now I can't use vi anymore. But I need it to modify "yaboot.conf" etc. When
> I type for example "vi sources.list" I got the message "vi: wrapper couldn't
> execute /usr/bin/vi nor /bin/elvis-tiny". What's wrong with vi?
Do you have nvi installed? If so, try running 'nvi' directly. Or maybe see
if you've got 'ae' or some other editor you could use.
> Thirdly, I have a semi installed yaboot. It means I can chose between Linux
> or MacOS using the option key on my Apple Pro Keyboard. When I start Linux,
> yaboot is called up (Welcome to yaboot 0.9). now i have read the handout
> "yaboot/ybin FAQ" of Eric Peden. There I found the hint that an exact yaboot
> installation (via ybin) needs a bootstrap partition of the type
> "Apple_Bootstrap" and further down he says that the bootstrap partition
> have to be the frist one. My partition tool (mac fdisk ??) shows the
> following partition table:
The partition's location doesn't matter. Remember, you don't have to deal
with the broken BIOS that x86's have, and all the ass-backwards
limitations of real mode, so it can be at the beginning or the end (on an
iBook I've been using, the Apple_Bootstrap partition is the last one on
the disk).
> Now my question: Have I to rename partition 9 from Apple_HFS to
> Apple_Bootstrap? What about "first partition" ( is 9 "first" enough)?
You don't. Just delete the partition, then create another one in its place
with the same geometry, but the proper type ID (Apple_Bootstrap) instead.
This won't cause any data loss, as mac-fdisk doesn't modify anything other
than the partition table. The name doesn't matter really (I usually just
use 'bootstrap' or 'linux_boot' as the name).
Derrik Pates | Sysadmin, Douglas School | #linuxOS on EFnet
dpa...@dsdk12.net | District (dsdk12.net) | #linuxOS on OPN
Michael Schmitz
> with the broken BIOS that x86's have, and all the ass-backwards
> limitations of real mode, so it can be at the beginning or the end (on an
> iBook I've been using, the Apple_Bootstrap partition is the last one on
> the disk).
That'll bring you back to default booting MacOS if a) you keep it
installed and b) your boot-device variable ever gets reset (a hard kernel
crash often does that for me). OF seems to default to the first 'blessed'
filesystem it can find, that's why having the bootstrap partition first is
nicer.
Side note: you can move partitions around in the partition map at will.
The psrtition order on disk doesn't matter.
Michael
Derrik Pates
> That'll bring you back to default booting MacOS if a) you keep it
> installed and b) your boot-device variable ever gets reset (a hard kernel
> crash often does that for me). OF seems to default to the first 'blessed'
> filesystem it can find, that's why having the bootstrap partition first is
> nicer.
Um. You still have Command-Option-O-F, which will get you to an OF prompt,
at which point you can do 'boot hd:13,\\:tbxi' (change 13 to whatever the
partition number of your Apple_Bootstrap partition is) to tell OF where
specifically to boot from. Yes, if the XPRAM is wiped, OF will just start
at the first partition and look for the "magic" creator ID ('tbxi') and
boot the first one it finds, but that doesn't stop you from telling it to
do something else.
> Side note: you can move partitions around in the partition map at will.
> The psrtition order on disk doesn't matter.
Move partitions? What do you mean by that? If you mean having them
anyplace you want on disk, that's what I just said, isn't it? :)
Derrik Pates | Sysadmin, Douglas School | #linuxOS on EFnet
dpa...@dsdk12.net | District (dsdk12.net) | #linuxOS on OPN
Ethan Benson
> /dev/hda1 Apple_partition_map Apple
> /dev/hda2 Apple_Driver43 Macintosh
> /dev/hda3 Apple_Driver43 Macintosh
> /dev/hda4 Apple_Driver_ATA Macintosh
> /dev/hda5 Apple_Driver_ATA Macintosh
> /dev/hda6 Apple_FWDriver Macintosh
> /dev/hda7 Apple_Driver_IOkit Macintosh
> /dev/hda8 Apple_Patches Patch Partition
> /dev/hda9 Apple_HFS Linuxboot (I think this should be the place for
> yaboot, but I'm not sure)
install the mac-fdisk from woody (apt-get install mac-fdisk should do)
then run it: mac-fdisk /dev/hda
then delete this partition:
(mac-fdisk) d
Partition number: 9
then recreate this partition with the b command.
(mac-fdisk) b
Start Block: 9p
(mac-fdisk) w
write partition table? y
(mac-fdisk) q
--
Ethan Benson
http://www.alaska.net/~erbenson/
Ethan Benson
> On Sat, 15 Sep 2001, Michael Schmitz wrote:
>
> > installed and b) your boot-device variable ever gets reset (a hard kernel
> > crash often does that for me). OF seems to default to the first 'blessed'
> > filesystem it can find, that's why having the bootstrap partition first is
> > nicer.
>
> at which point you can do 'boot hd:13,\\:tbxi' (change 13 to whatever the
ordinary people should never be fscking around in OF. period.
Michael Schmitz
> > filesystem it can find, that's why having the bootstrap partition first is
> > nicer.
>
> Um. You still have Command-Option-O-F, which will get you to an OF prompt,
> at which point you can do 'boot hd:13,\\:tbxi' (change 13 to whatever the
> partition number of your Apple_Bootstrap partition is) to tell OF where
Tell me :-) The problem is, at that point I usually don't remember the
precise voodoo (where do all these : and , go) and I'm misspelling tbxi
half of the time. Not to mention the number of my bootstrap partition. It
just doesn't happen often enough unless I'm making mistakes with kernel
driver code.
Regardless of what Ethan thinks, I'm a far cry from a clueless newbie.
Now imagine the newbie, having partitioned and set up his system the Wrong
Way (tm), then forgotten about the details such as the number of the
bootstrap partition. If I understand right, no Debian user ever needs to
type in all that OF stuff anymore, it's done by the installer, right? So
how do I get into OF, how do I list the current boot device setting, and
what are all these cryptic ,:\? (Don't tell _me_, rather write a section
for the install guide that covers this in depth. I can't imagine it's
already explained there, the potato OF install section doesn't cut it.)
> specifically to boot from. Yes, if the XPRAM is wiped, OF will just start
> at the first partition and look for the "magic" creator ID ('tbxi') and
> boot the first one it finds, but that doesn't stop you from telling it to
> do something else.
If you know how to do it. Now my understanding is Debian should be useful
to more than just the hardcore technical people, and something like a boot
setup that's self healing in a way (like having a valid yaboot bootstrap
partition _first_ in the map) will help a lot. It's been pointed out on
this list incessantly :-) It's even in the FM I think.
> > Side note: you can move partitions around in the partition map at will.
> > The psrtition order on disk doesn't matter.
>
> Move partitions? What do you mean by that? If you mean having them
> anyplace you want on disk, that's what I just said, isn't it? :)
You can have the bootstrap partition anywhere you like, physically. Like:
I created my bootstrap partition by resizing one of my existing swap
partitions, so I wasn't free in chosing the location. Now the ordering of
partitions in the partition map does _not_ need to correspond to the
physical ordering of these partitions on disk. Moving my bootstrap
partition before the first MockOS partition would be easy to achieve with
the 'r' command - say the current location is 16, and my MockOS partition
is 6, r 16 6 should move it before the MacOS partiton, incrementing all
following partition numbers by one. The PITA is hunting down all of the
spots where you used device names in config files and adapting them :-)
Right after a fresh install, the newbie would just have to change fstab
and yaboot.conf, and never have to worry about OF again.
What you said is it doesn't matter where the bootstrap partition resides,
because Real Men (tm) will know its number by heart, as well as the
necessary OF voodoo to reset the boot variable. That's a bit different in
my book.
HTH,
Michael
Michael Schmitz
> > installed and b) your boot-device variable ever gets reset (a hard
> > first 'blessed' filesystem it can find, that's why having the
> > bootstrap partition first is nicer.
>
> hardware issue?
No idea really. Something seems to corrupt PRAM but I don't even know
where PRAM resides in the address space (or what weird Mac hardware it's
hung off).
Ethan Benson
> > > That'll bring you back to default booting MacOS if a) you keep it
> > > installed and b) your boot-device variable ever gets reset (a hard
> > > kernel crash often does that for me). OF seems to default to the
> > > first 'blessed' filesystem it can find, that's why having the
> > > bootstrap partition first is nicer.
> >
> > Speaking of this...Do you know what the cause of this is? Is this a
> > hardware issue?
>
> No idea really. Something seems to corrupt PRAM but I don't even know
> where PRAM resides in the address space (or what weird Mac hardware it's
> hung off).
likly all it would take is just enough corruption to invaldate the
checksum, once that happens OF will reset everything on its own.