Hi, I would like to know what is the status of the boot problem with the new Ubuntu on Pegasos ?

At the moment, one must use a czp patch or Gunne's GRUB2 script to install Dapper which is a bit uneasy for some users (I guess), or an update from Breezy 5.10.

So I would like to know if mkvmlinuz is now repaired on Ubuntu Dapper (or going to be repaired) ?
Sven Luther was saying on Ubuntu Dapper thread here on PPCZone that the firmware 1.3 would handle yaboot and we wouldn't need mkvmlinuz anymore. When will this firmware be released ?

Thanks for any new info on this (it's for the Peg book Ubuntu section).

Another question : is this problem linked to the new 2.6.16 kernel which only handles yaboot or is it something else ?
thx.

Ubuntu is using 2.6.15 AFAIK. I use 2.6.16 on Gentoo and have
no problems with booting. It's not "Yaboot only".

They use a wild mixture of 2.6.15 and 2.6.16. It reports as 2.6.15, but actually lots of 2.6.16 parts are backported.
But Gentoo has a very different approach, as it's a source based distribution. Ubuntu and the rest of the 'binary' distributions ship a small kernel and have initrd. To be loadable by OpenFirmware these must be combined into one big file by mkvmlinuz (or mkzimage on SUSE), or one needs to use a bootloader like yaboot or GRUB2 to load these files. On Gentoo you compile all drivers necessary for booting in the kernel, and use the vmlinuz.chrp kernel, which is OF bootable. 'mkvmlinuz' was broken until recently, at least for 2.6.16 and later kernels, so the Ubuntu guys could not put a Pegasos bootable kernel on their CDs.

CzP

OK...
So I guess it's still broken.
Why is the kernel a mixture between 2 versions ?
That's sounds very strange.

What about firmware v1.3 ?

Hi geoffrey,

I know what you mean. As i was developing pegXmac i found these issues aswell, BUT i wasn´t going to be put of.

To resolv this issue.

Get the source package from http://packages.ubuntu.com

Search for mkvmlinuz in edgy section. Download the source package.

Then in dapper

Do a apt-get -build-dep mkvmlinuz

Recompile the mkvmlinuz, then install that version.

Then all future kernels from dapper will convert the vmlinux to vmlinuz.

The dapper version still doesnt have this fix, so using edgy version will work.

Hope this helps

PegXlin DEV

What boot problem?
Now is as good a time as any for this;

Go into Synaptic and add a custom repo.
Install mkvmlinuz from there, and mark your kernel images for reinstall.

You'll be able to boot from /boot/vmlinuz from now on, and when kernels update, they will simply work.

Quite how you install Ubuntu in the first place, is up to you. We are working on a pre-made image for Ubuntu now, along with other Linux installs. It will trash a disk (since it is meant to standardize an ODW out of the factory and give people predictable systems), but it's good for new users and those who want to refresh their system (or have backups
When all outstanding bugs are fixed. In the meantime you can use the above, but even when 1.3 is released, I would NOT recommend that users use yaboot. It's a terrible little boot loader.
Please don't list the package repository URL in the Peg Book yet.
No. Sven fixed mkvmlinuz to handle both. Ubuntu uses 2.6.15 anyway which was never broken.

_________________
Matt Sealey

@Neko : thanks for your answers.

No problem. We hope to have an installer soon that will obselete the Peg Book chapters :]

_________________
Matt Sealey

@neko : -)

@pegxlindev : Sorry I had missed your previous answer. Thanks for the hint. Anyway, your PegXMac 2.0 LiveCD seems to be the only alternative to install Dapper with no pain at the moment

but with more pain to update the kernel.
i'll stick with gunne's grub2 thingie.

I'm going to throw "official" Genesi mkvmlinuz converted kernels onto PPCZone in the next few days. Since I need to download every kind of Ubuntu CD to do it, copy the kernels off, make the files, and upload, and I am fairly busy as it is, it's just taking some time.

Peter Czanik already did this in a forum with the SuSE tool, but I will be using the "official" mkvmlinuz fixed for later kernels (from Sven and our package repository mentioned above) so it will be more like what is installed, with a little article on the PPCZone articles bar on how to install it to your system and boot the CD (kernel arguments etc.)

_________________
Matt Sealey

Neko
Thats excellent. Thanks. I was using his SUSE zimage for booting, because I couldnt put the GRUB loader on my FFS partition.

magnetic

arg !
I had just finished the Pegasos book article about this !
Cool anyway

Maybe a slight annoyance, BUT the kernel i have compiled in pegxmac works much better than the ubuntu kernel.

I'll see if i can include the grub2 loader onto pegxmac?

geoffrey

Do not dismay. Documentation is ALWAYS good. Especially with esoteric hardware like the pegasos. I'm a little confused how to make a bootable image myself. I'm using the Old SuSe one since I can't use the grub loader.

magnetic