openSUSE 11 PPC PReP

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

I’m so dismayed. I installed openSUSE 11 on a Powerbook without much hassle, so I thought I go ahead and put it on the NewWorld iMac I have sitting unsed in the corner.
UGH.
Partitioning has been nothing but a headache. I don’t want a dual boot, I just want to wipe everything OSX related and only have openSUSE. I can’t make this happen. No matter what partitioning/formatting options I choose, I can’t get the installation program to accept my partitioning choices.
I can make a HFS partition with no mount point as the first entry and it still tells me that there’s no valid HFS point. It tells me something about making a PReP partition for the boot loader, and yet I can’t find anything about that other than I should make a HFS partition as the first one with no mount point selected. Anything I try to Google for an answer simply talks about dual booting systems and PReP allowing for OSX and Linux, but that doesn’t apply here. Something I read talked about PReP being needed for ‘tricking’ the Mac into booting something other than a Mac OS flavor. OK, fine, but how do I do it?
I know I’m in a small group of a smaller group, but could someone help me out here? The iMac has a 12.6 GB hard drive and I can’t for the life of me figure out how to partition it.
Thanks in advance.

#2

Your Mac OS X install cd should contain a disk utility to partition hard disks.

Alternatively, you can also use the SystemRescueCD for the PowerPC:
Download - SystemRescueCd

I think there are other workarounds:
PPC Partitioning - openSUSE

Just a doubt, is the new world imac a PPC machine ?

#3

I put PPC in the topic heading - yeah, it’s one of those, but openSUSE IDs it as a NewWorld Mac.

I don’t have any OSX discs, the computer was a hand me down to my son. My parents buy nothing but Macs, I personally can’t stand them, so openSUSE at least gets me to touch them.

I read the link from the openSUSE site originally:

Creating partitions with YaST:

  1. Once YaST gets to its main menu, it will make a suggestion (proposal) for a possible partition layout. Often this proposal is correct and usable, but most of the time it has to be changed to something that suits your needs. Click on the link to get into the partitioner screen. In the first screen, select ‘Create Custom Partition Setup’.
  2. Now you have the option to either use the whole hard disk for SuSE Linux, or to do custom partitioning.
  3. In the custom partitioner window, select the partitions you want to delete, create or format with a Linux filesystem. Select the huge partition for Linux and click on ‘Delete’. Then create a small boot partition, size around 32MB, a swap and root partition.

Remember to format the small HFS boot partition with filesystem type ‘MacHFS’, the bootloader can not be written if you leave this partition as is.
Do not assign a mount point to the small HFS boot partition, the bootloader configuration will fail if you do assign a mount point!

but Yast didn’t give me any options since the entire HDD was MacHFS. It just told me that I’d have to change it but offered no suggestions.

I think I’m going to try using the RescueCD to format the entire thing to ext2 and then run it again.

Thanks for the help.

#4

I use to have the same problem and the only way to fix it was installing ubuntu and them install suse and on this way the partitioner don’t give you problems, now I have just suse installed in my iMac G5.

#5

I ended up running the installer as if I wanted the HDD to be one giant ext2 partition, and then when it rebooted after installing the files, I booted to the install DVD again as if I was running it for the first time and it had no problems.

#6

Just for that i created an account :slight_smile:

Start a Rescue System.

Do like you read here PPC Partitioning - openSUSE manually with pdisk
BUT
do NOT let Yast format the Apple_HFS Partition. If Yast does that, it changes the type and you are done. Check EVERY entry within Custom Partition Setup to not let Yast change your Apple_HFS partition. Do with the rest whatever you want, i tried. Change and fumble around, but dont dare to let Yast touch that 32 MB…

Thats all.

#7

Too late. :frowning: It’s working fine though. Is there some reason why I need an Apple_HFS partition?

#8

Anyhow, just for all others. I wrote nonsense. Do like described PPC Partitioning - openSUSE making it manually with pdisk and be fine. Not formating with Yast worked once but no second time on another Mac don’t ask me why. Now i done that more than once and the procedure is fine as is. Including formating. Apologies.

#9

yeah, what a headache. i was able to successfully create the boot partition & install by:

  1. selecting “do not format”
  2. selecting type “Apple HFS” (the last choice, i think)
  3. size ~32MB

choosing “format”–>“macHFS” did NOT work for me.

this was on a powerbookG4, by the way.

#10

I am confused PPC Partitioning - openSUSE actually reads Apple_HFS, doesn’t it?

#11

Hi,
On my iBook G4 works too.

Vincenzo

  1. selecting “do not format”
  2. selecting type “Apple HFS” (the last choice, i think)
  3. size ~32MB