Here is a bad [limeric] about the iBook:

The iBook is made out of [plastic],
It makes little [children] go spastic,
But when it [turn|turns] on,
It makes a [cute] [bong],
That I think is really [fantastic].

-- Leah Cunningham

And now, for our [feature] [presentation]:

Leah's [adventure|Adventure's] Installing [Linux] on a Graphite iBook

NOTE: Avoid reading this if [random] [tech] [stuff] is [boring] to you. I am mostly writing all of this down for my own reference.

The iBook is Deceptivally [Cuddly]

I decided to do all of my testing on the [new] iBook, since they finally had it in in the labs. Testing would be done with our new 7.0 PPC edition of SuSE. This iBook is neither [tangerine], nor [blueberry]. It is a much more sophisticated shade of [graphite]:

Other shades include [indigo] (lower-end model) and key [lime] (both lower-end and "Special Edition." The Graphite [model] is also a "Special Edition". Specifications include:

366- or 466MHz PowerPC G3 [processor] with 256K on-chip level 2 cache
ATI RAGE Mobility 128 [graphics] controller with 8MB SDRAM for 2D and 3D graphics [acceleration]
64MB of SDRAM, expandable up to 320MB
10-[gigabyte] Ultra ATA hard disk drive
MacOS 9.0.4 ([evil])
[DVD] Rom Drive

Pain

I went through the usual partitioning with [drive] setup/copying of the suseboot [folder] to the linux boot [partition] process. Then, on a [crazy] whim, I decided to try to boot the [installation] from the first CD. Of course, I was completely out of my [mind] to [think] that this could possibally [work], and it didn't. It begins to boot the 2.2.16 [kernel], and freezes at this point:


  CONSOLE: Colour dummy device 80x25

This is, of course bad. Thinking it could have something to do with the need for the video=ofonly [parameter], I tried [booting] off of the CD, hitting tab a [bunch] of times blindly (you can't see the initial yaboot screen) and [typing] in install video=ofonly. No [success] in that [attempt] either.

I was fairly certain that a new kernel was in order, so the first point of [business] was obtaining the aforementioned kernel. I grabbed the vmlinux.benh.gz file from the 1st SuSE 7.0 PPC CD in the suse/images directory. I dragged this to the [desktop], and double clicked on it enthusiastically. MacGzip worked it's [magic] and soon I had a vmlinux-benh sitting on the desktop. I renamed it vmlinux, and replaced the vmlinux in the linuxboot/suseboot folder with the one on the desktop.

Just to [torture] myself (I was fairly certain that this machine's [firmware] was not any more [stupid] than the other new machines out on the [market]), I tried to mark the os-chooser bootable by running the script for this in the linuxboot/suseboot/tools folder. I changed the startup [disk] to linuxboot. I made sure that I added video=ofonly to the [append] line in the linuxboot/suseboot/yaboot.conf file, as I suspected this was [necessary]. (It was, eventually, by the way.) This did not work either, as I suspected. I was, however, able to boot MacOS by holding down the [space] bar, so the script did not completely [fail].

Next I decided to do what I usually have to do to get linux on these new machines: run the [script] to mark Yaboot bootable in the linuxboot/suseboot/tools directory. I changed the startup disk to linuxboot again, and rebooted with [glee]. To my [delight], the kernel booted and the installation ramdisk started, and I could even see the [screen]!

The graphical installer started up in a few [lovely] puke-shades of the colors that it was supposed to have. The framebuffer is really [nasty] looking on this machine. I have heard rumors that it may work [better] with 2.4, but did not get that far in this testing [session]. It was [clear] enough to do the installation, however, and that is what I did. I also discovered that on this machine it is a [very] bad idea to switch out of YaST2 to the [console], and then try to switch back. It could have just been me, but the machine locked up when I did this at one [point].

After the installation, it was [necessary] to install the [correct] kernel, so that the machine would be bootable in the [future], with the right [modules]. I installed the /cdrom/suse/images/k_benh.rpm. This is on the first CD as well. This [RPM] installs a funky /boot/vmlinux-benh-.. file. I replaced the existing /boot/vmlinux with it. Then I grabbed the latest lilo.rpm from our [FTP] server, as the one on the distribution has problems if you are not dual booting the machine (which we can't on this machine). It is at ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/powerpc/lilo/lilo.rpm. [After] installing this, I edited the lilo.conf file to boot linux [only].

Other Stuff That Didn't Work

[Sound] didn't work correctly, although YaST (Yet Another Setup Tool) detected and tried to configure the sound card. It seems there is some sort of [speaker] issue that needs to be [sorted] out.

There is, at the [moment], no way to make XF86 4.0.1 work on this [machine], but I am trying to play around with this still. I may have an [update] after next week.

Additional information obtained after more research:

I love it when after much [frustration] you finally get something to work. After much testing in the Apple Labs and working with this [sweet] gentleman on the phone, I have the installation on the iBook down pat. I thought I would, therefore, add some additional [information] that has changed since the notes I posted [previously]:

It is actually possible to dual boot the iBook with the lilo program. Instead of holding down the [space] bar, hold down the Option/alt key. This will give the choice between MacOS and [Linux]. The "other" section in /etc/lilo.conf must be set with the correct MacOS partition, and /sbin/lilo needs to be run again.
[Video] works with this kernel append: video=aty128fb:vmode:10 This can be typed in or (better) added to the /etc/lilo.conf [file]. (Remember to run lilo again.)

iBook (thing)