Hi all, Today I reinstalled my powerbook g4 with archlinuxppc since I broke /var/lib/pacman last week and can't reinstall any packages ... Find here a quick summary of steps I follow : 1) Download and burn the iso : ftp://ftp.archlinuxppc.org/iso/snapshots/2005-07-02_archppc.iso.bz2 2) At boot go in the open firmware shell (command + option + O + F) and type the folowing : boot cd:,\\yaboot This command allow your powerbook to boot on archlinuxppc cd. 3) Set up the network : I use a powerbook with airport extreme (powerbook 5,6) so I have to use ethernet to install archlinux. So I load sungem module : modprobe sungem. For owner of titanium powerbook or ibook, you just have to load airport module : modprobe airport Dhcp ddidn't work actually on archlinuxppc install, you have to manually set up network : ifconfig eth0 <IP> route add default gw <GATEWAY> Edit /etc/resolv.conf with vim and add your nameservers, ie enter line like it : nameserver IP.OF.NAMESERVER1 nameserver IP.OF.NAMESERVER2 3) Create your partitions and format then : mac-fdisk /dev/discs/disc0/disc - Erase default partitions : I only install linux on the powerbook, so I erased all partition : type i - Create apple boot partion : type b - Add your partitions : I actually use a simple partition shema : / -> 15G swap -> 1,5G /home -> 55 G Result of partitionning : --------------------------------------------------------------------------- # type name length base ( size ) system /dev/hda1 Apple_partition_map Apple 63 @ 1 ( 31.5k) Partition map /dev/hda2 Apple_Bootstrap bootstrap 1600 @ 64 (800.0k) NewWorld bootblock /dev/hda3 Apple_UNIX_SVR2 root 31457280 @ 1664 ( 15.0G) Linux native /dev/hda4 Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap 3072000 @ 31458944 ( 1.5G) Linux swap /dev/hda5 Apple_UNIX_SVR2 home 121770544 @ 34530944 ( 58.1G) Linux native Block size=512, Number of Blocks=156301488 DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Format partitions with ext3 filesystem: mke2fs -j /dev/discs/disc0/part3 mke2fs -j /dev/discs/disc0/part5 - Format swap partition : mkswap /dev/discs/disc0/part4 4) Create a chrooted archlinuxppc - Mount your partitions : mount -t ext3 /dev/discs/disc0/part3 /mnt mkdir /mnt/home mount -t ext3 /dev/discs/disc0/part5 /mnt/home - Dl quickinst. Actually quickinst isn't on cd and you need a modified script from i686 version. Type the following : cd /tmp wget ftp://ftp.archlinuxppc.org/other/quickinst - Install the base : cd /tmp ./quickinst ftp /mnt ftp://ftp.archlinuxppc.org/current/os/ppc - Mount chroot mount -t proc none /mnt/proc mount -t sysfs none /mnt/sys mount /mnt /bin/bash source /etc/profile udevstart Nb: udevstart create right devices in /dev 5) Edit configuration files file /etc/fstab; /etc/rc.conf, /etc/yaboot.conf, /etc/hosts *) Example of /etc/fstab with previous patition shema: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0 none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0 tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0 #/dev/cdrom /mnt/cd iso9660 ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0 #/dev/cdrom /mnt/dvd udf ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0 /dev/hda3 / ext3 defaults 0 0 /dev/hda4 swap swap defaults 0 0 /dev/hda5 /home ext3 defaults 1 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *) Example of /etc/yaboot.conf --------------------------------------------------------------------------- boot=/dev/hda2 device=/pci@f4000000/ata-6@d/disk@0: partition=3 delay=10 timeout=40 install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot image=/boot/vmlinux26 label=Linux root=/dev/hda3 initrd=/boot/initrd26.img read-only --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: to obtain device line, type the following on the shell: ofpath /dev/hda Example of /etc/rc.conf --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOCALE=en_US.utf8 HARDWARECLOCK="localtime" TIMEZONE=Europe/Paris KEYMAP=mac-fr-ext_new CONSOLEFONT=lat9w-16 CONSOLEMAP= USECOLOR="yes" MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes" MOD_BLACKLIST=() MODULES=(sungem !usbserial) USELVM="no" HOSTNAME="enlil.metavers.net" lo="lo 127.0.0.1" eth0="eth0 192.168.0.4 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255" INTERFACES=(lo eth0) gateway="default gw 192.168.0.254" ROUTES=(gateway) DAEMONS=(syslog-ng !hotplug !pcmcia network netfs crond sshd) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note : If u use airport device add airport to your module list and add eth1 to your ethernet devices. To have airport as eth1 devices add these line to /etc/modprobe.conf alias sungem eth0 alias airport eth1 6) Install kernel & openssh pacman -Sy kernel26-pmac openssh 7) Install yaboot in the boot (be sure to have edited yaboot.conf) mkofboot ybin -v 8) Add a password to the root : passwd root 9) add a user useradd <USERNAME> 10) Reboot That it and now you can use your powerbook with archlinux ppc, install X and so on... with pacman :) - Benoît