Installation Notes (May 30,'98)

There is the first thing to everything! Your happy MkLinux life begins with smooth installation, I hope.

Hardware Configuration

1. Power Macintosh 8115/110

   CPU: PowerPC 601 (110MHz) x 1

   BUS: NuBus

   RAM: 104 MB

   HDD: Seagate Model ST34ttN 4.5 GB (builtin)

   HDD: Yano J-Compo HD 1 GB: FUJITSU Model M1606S-512 (addon)

   HDD: Logitec Manhattan HD 2 GB: IBM Model DCAS-32160(addon)

2. Macintosh OS Version

   MacOS 8.1

Installation

1. Set up A/UX Partition

   This is probably the most difficult part of the MkLinux installation.

   • Important

     The following assumes that everything on the disk can be discarded. If not, backup what's there.

   • Preparation of a Partition Maker

     Open "Apple HD SC Setup 7.5.3" with ResEdit.

     Open "wfwr"

     Open "ID67"

     Modify bytes "00" to "FF" in the 1st line

     Save the change.

     The modified "Apple HD SC Setup" now recognizes any third party SCSI disks. In my case, they are a 1GB Yano HD connected to SCSI ID=4 and a 2GB Logitec HD connected to SCSI ID=5 in SCSI bus 1. Since these two disks have already DR2.1 stuff installed, I will install DR3 in the internal disk, which means the above modification of Apple HD SC Setup can be skipped. Notice also that "Apple HD SC Setup" cannot be used for IDE disks. When I installed DR3 to my PB5300ce I thus used "pdisk".

   • Start the modified "Apple HD SC Setup 7.5.3"

     Delete previous partitions, if any, by selecting the partitions by mouse clicking and press the "Sakujyo" button.

     Then mouse-grab the empty region, drag it down to set the length of a new partition, and press the "shousai" button.

     Select "A/UX Root" from the menu, adjust the length of the partition and press "OK".

     Repeat this for "A/UX Swap" and "A/UX Usr" partitions.

     In my case the partition looks like

     	
     	+-------------------------------+
     	|  Partition Map and Drivers    | sda1-3
     	|                               |
     	+-------------------------------+
     	|  Patch Partition              | sda4
     	+-------------------------------+
     	|  Apple_HFS                    | sda5 
     	|    later converted to HFS+    |
     	|    and used with MacOS8.1     |
     	|    installed                  |
     	|                       1038 MB |
     	+-------------------------------+ sda6
     	|  Apple_HFS             512 MB |
     	+-------------------------------+
     	|  Apple_HFS (MacOS 8.1) 256 MB | sda7 <-- the boot partition
     	+-------------------------------+
     	|  A/UX Root (Slice 0)          | sda8
     	|                               |
     	|                               |
     	|                       1187 MB |
     	+-------------------------------+
     	|  A/UX Swap (Slice 1)   121 MB | sda9
     	+-------------------------------+
     	|  A/UX Usr  (Slice 2)          | sda10
     	|                               |
     	|                               |
     	|                       1226 MB |
     	+-------------------------------+
     

2. MacOS Reinstallation

   Since HFS+ is still not fully supported by MkLinux, reinstall MacOS into the MacOS partition (sda7) created above. Change the boot disk to this new partition and reboot.

3. Preparation of DR3 Files

   The following files are necessary:

   Mac_Files/Mach_Kernel.hqx

   Mac_Files/MkLinux.hqx

   Mac_Files/MkLinux_Booter.hqx

   mach_servers/bootstrap.conf

   mach_servers/default_pager

   mach_servers/vmlinux+installer

   These files should be retrieved in BINARY mode from the DR3 directory in the Apple FTP site or its mirror.

4. Putting Mac_Files into System Folder

   • De-binhex Mach_Kernel.hqx and rename it to "Mach Kernel" (single blank inbetween) and put it into the "Extensions" folder (in my case the one on sda7).

   • De-binhex MkLinux_Booter.hqx and put it into the "Extensions" folder. Again its name should contain a single blank inbetween: "MkLinux Booter".

   • De-binhex MkLinux.hqx and put it into the "Control Panels" folder of the boot partition (in my case, sda7).

5. Putting "mach_servers" into an HFS Partition

   Place the entire "mach_servers" directory at the top level of an HFS (NOT HFS+) partition (in my case, sda7). Notice that these files are just for installation purpose and can be removed after successful installation.

6. Restart MacOS

   Restart your Macintosh and select MacOS in the MkLinux "splash screen". Invoke MkLinux Control Panel and select "custom" and modify "lilo.conf" to reflect the installer location:

   rootdev=/dev/sda7

   in my case.

   Make sure that you are using a 256-color scheme, by opening the "Monitors and Sound" control panel. The RedHat installer will be almost illegible, otherwise.

7. Reboot to Run MkLinux Installer

   Restart your Macintosh. This time, click on the "MkLinux" button and boot into the MkLinux installer, which is a mini-MkLinux system residing in your RAM disk.

   • "Welcome to MkLinux" Screen

     Now you should see a "Welcome to MkLinux Screen" with a blue back-ground and a white text window with black characters. Simply press Return to go ahead.

   • "Keyboard Type" Screen

     I selected "us".

   • "Installation Method" Screen

     I selected "FTP" since the network was fast enough in my case.

   • "Installation Path" Screen

     Choose "Install", since, according to the README_DR3 file coming with the DR3 package, the other option is not supported yet.

   • "Partition Disks" Screen

     Press "Done", since the partitioning has already been done above. You can check the partition map though.

   • "Select Root Partition" Screen

     I selected "/dev/sda8" as "/".

   • "Partition Disk" Screen

     I highlighted "/dev/sda10" and hit Return. Then set its mount point to "/usr".

   • "Active Swap Space" Screen

     I selected "/dev/sda9" as "swap", using the Space bar.

   • "Network Configuration" Screen

     Since I chose FTP as my installation method, I had to configure the network: my IP address, Net Mask, Default Gate Way, and DNS. If you selected a non-network install method, this screen would not show up.

   • "Find installation files" Screen

     As the FTP server, I chose

     ftp.cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp

     /pub1/Mac-UNIX/MkLinux/MkLinux_DR2.1/DR3

     where you may have to supply the TPC/IP address for the server instead of its host name. Note also that the directory that contains the "RedHat" directory above might change in near future.
     Again, if you selected a non-network install method, there is nothing for you to do here.

   • "Format Partitions" Screen

     Using the arrow keys ans space bar, check partitions to format. In my case, I checked

     		 [*] /dev/sda8	  /
     		 [*] /dev/sda10	  /usr
     		

   • "Components to Install" Screen

     Select whatever packages you want and press "OK" to start installation. It's going to take sometime to finish. Be patient.

   • "Configure Mouse" Screen

     Choose ADB Mouse. The "emulate three buttons" option is not supported yet.

   • "Network Configuration" Screen

     I have done this above. If you have chosen a non-net work installation method, you may have to do it here.

   • "Configure Timezones" Screen

     I selected "Japan", of course. You should always check the "Hardware clock set to GMT" box if you want MkLinux to read your Mac OS clock correctly.

   • "Services" Screen

     I swiched off "gpm".

   • "Configure Printer" Screen

     I chose "Yes" and set up network postscript printers. You cannot set up an AppleTalk printer using this mechanism.

   • "Root Password" Screen

     You know what you should do here.

   • "Info" Screen

     Remember the "rootdev" value that the installer tells you on this screen. It should be the "root" partition: /dev/hda8 in my case.

   • "Done" Screen

     Press "OK" to finish the installation and get into MacOS again to change the "rootdev" setting.

8. Modify lilo.conf in MacOS

   Invoke MkLinux Control Panel and select "custom" and modify "lilo.conf" to reflect the location of the root partition:

   rootdev=/dev/sda8

   in my case.

Getting Started with MkLinux

1. In MacOS

   • MkLinux Control Panel

     Run the "MkLinux Control Panel" and select "MkLinux" and restart.

2. In MkLinux

   After a great deal of information scrolls down, you get

   login:

   which means now you are in MkLinux!

3. Add Users

   Logging in as root and

   # adduser fujiik

   ....

   # passwd fujiik

   ....

Starting X Window System

1. Starting X Locally

   $ startx

2. Using MkLinux as an X Terminal

   In order to use it as an X terminal, do

   $ X -query <host name> -fp tcp/<font server>:<port no>

   where the font path setting to use a font server is optional. It is probably mandatory if you want to use CDE, which requires a special font set.
   (e.g.)
   

   $ X -query jlcux1 -fp tcp/jlcux1:7000

   To exit from X, press the OPTION and POWER keys at one time.

Back to Keisuke Fujii's MkLinux Page