opensuse 11.0 ppc will not install boot loader?

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

hi, im trying to install opensuse on my 500mhz ibook g3, i am installing from an external opticle drive because the internal one broke.

i deleted all current partitions on the harddrive, heres what i created:
create boot partition /dev/hda2 (54.9mb) with hfs
create swap partition /dev/hda3 (219.6mb)
create root partition /dev/hda4 (27.6gb) with ext3

it would not automatically partition the drive,
this is what it says under booting:
configure a valid boot loader location before continuing.
in case that no selection can be made it may be necessary
to create a PReP boot partition.

like it says, no boot loader location is selectable. what is a PReP boot partition?

what am i doing wrong? (i know yaboot always has issues trying to install to an external HDD, but im installing from an external dvd drive to an internal HDD.)

#2

Pardon my ignorance, but why are you insisting on hfs for your boot partition? Maybe that’s why Grub won’t install. Try changing that to, say, ext3, and pointing Grub to install thereon. Or, if that’s not viable, point Grub to install to your Root partition.
Just a curiosity: where’s your hda1? Your partitions sure don’t add up to 500 MB …:wink:
P.S. Sorry for my ignorance again … I’ve never touched a Mac in my life.

#3

You can’t treat an apple like an X86 machine - they need special apple and boot partitions as well as the usual root and swap. On my G5, there is lilo bootloader and not grub. It’s a whole different world. :slight_smile: So for a typical default install without a separate /home, you’ll end up with 4 partitions - two special ones for Apple, and then your usual ones.

If you are unfamiliar with it, your best best would be to let the installer use the entire disk, or let it install to the free-space you may have created and let it do it’s thing automatically.