Apple Xserve G5 Installation

[spyderdyne]

I am a system administrator of a company that has several Apple XServe G5 servers. I am pushing to move from OSX Server to Linux and am trying to use old current equipment to do so. I have downloaded the YDL 6.1 DVD installer, and although the model number of this server indicates that it should have a DVD Drive, it is not recognizing DVD installation media. I downloaded the YDL 5 installation cd's and the installer runs, but the video mode is incompatible with my adapter and the installation is un-doable. I have searched for a YDL 6 CD installer set, but it does not exist. I have searched for a method of installing in text mode (because everything is fine until Anaconda starts) but there doesn't seem to be one.

Unless this is resolved soon I will be forced to find something else and my company will have to go somewhere else. Any thoughts?

[billb]

I have no experience with that hardware -- just the PS3 and an old iMac back on YDL 5 ... I see it in the list of supported hardware for YDL 6, though:

http://us.fixstars.com/support/hardware ... erve.shtml

Unfortunately we don't have many Mac users posting here ... I'd suggest posting the same question on the YDL General mailing list here:

http://lists.fixstars.com/pipermail/yellowdog-general/

Or try contacting Fixstars / YDL for official support if no one else jumps in with suggestions for you.

[ppietro]

I am a system administrator of a company that has several Apple XServe G5 servers. I am pushing to move from OSX Server to Linux and am trying to use old current equipment to do so. I have downloaded the YDL 6.1 DVD installer, and although the model number of this server indicates that it should have a DVD Drive, it is not recognizing DVD installation media. I downloaded the YDL 5 installation cd's and the installer runs, but the video mode is incompatible with my adapter and the installation is un-doable. I have searched for a YDL 6 CD installer set, but it does not exist. I have searched for a method of installing in text mode (because everything is fine until Anaconda starts) but there doesn't seem to be one.

The way to install YDL 5.0 in text mode is listed here:
http://us.fixstars.com/support/installa ... _guide.pdf

Specifically:

INSTALLATION

1. Insert the Yellow Dog Linux Install DVD and restart your computer.
2. Hold the "C" key until you have booted from the Install DVD.
3. At the white text on a black background boot prompt, press TAB for a full
   selection of install options, a few of which are detailed as follows:
   
   G3, G4, G5 -- Press [ENTER] to use the graphical installer.
   
   Text Installer -- Type 'install text [ENTER]' to use the non-graphical
   installer which uses the TAB, ARROW, and RETURN keys instead of a
   mouse. This is used with systems whose graphics cards or monitors are
   not readily supported or systems with less than 200MB RAM.
   
   
4. Follow the on-screen instructions and this Guide for particular sections.

Unless this is resolved soon I will be forced to find something else and my company will have to go somewhere else. Any thoughts?

Please bear in mind that this is a YDL community board staffed by volunteers and not directly affiliated with YDL or Fixstars. For official, paid support, you should go here:

http://us.fixstars.com/services/support.shtml

Cheers,
Paul

[spyderdyne]

Please bear in mind that this is a YDL community board staffed by volunteers and not directly affiliated with YDL or Fixstars. For official, paid support, you should go here:

http://us.fixstars.com/services/support.shtml

Cheers,
Paul

I understand completely. In my experience with Linux projects however, it is usually the community that drives a project such as this to first of all exist, and secondly to become full featured. Open source projects are the driving force behind many of the best systems and applications, and open source users and developers are free to experiment and change things that would not be allowed in a licensed system. Because of this I know that a strong community project has a longer shelf life than a professional project and therefore is more desirable for deployment. I have to say that this group is doing a great job of adding value to this system. Keep up the great work and thank you very much for the assistance. Companies like Fixstars are lucky to have you do what you do, as am I.

[spyderdyne]

So after all of that I have completed the installation and it doesn't boot. I tried installing a second time with just default partition settings and it still does not boot. Why would anyone go to all this trouble to put out a dev that won't boot? This has been a week long waste of time I am afraid. Back to Ubuntu PPC...

[ppietro]

So after all of that I have completed the installation and it doesn't boot. I tried installing a second time with just default partition settings and it still does not boot. Why would anyone go to all this trouble to put out a dev that won't boot?

The Xserve G5 may not be supported with YDL 5.1. IIRC, you couldn't install 6.1 because you didn't have a DVD drive - it would have been interesting to see if that worked.

Since I don't have any Xserve G5 hardware - that's just pure speculation on my part, though.

Cheers,
Paul

[spyderdyne]

Issue solved. New issue at hand. I don't usually compare my downloads to the checksums, but I decided to this time. It turns out I ended up with a bad YDL 6.1 download. After burning an install DVD with the new .iso the installation completed without error without even having to be performed in text mode. Victory is sweet. Unfortunately X wont start on reboot. I find this to be a curious problem, as the video card in my xServe is the one and only card that apple lists as compatible (ATI Rage 128.) I have tried locating an Nvidia card that is compatible but have had no luck thus far. This has become my new pet project when I don't have anything more urgent to do at work. I hope I get this thing running soon.

[davidbchen]

Issue solved. New issue at hand. I don't usually compare my downloads to the checksums, but I decided to this time. It turns out I ended up with a bad YDL 6.1 download. After burning an install DVD with the new .iso the installation completed without error without even having to be performed in text mode. Victory is sweet. Unfortunately X wont start on reboot. I find this to be a curious problem, as the video card in my xServe is the one and only card that apple lists as compatible (ATI Rage 128.) I have tried locating an Nvidia card that is compatible but have had no luck thus far. This has become my new pet project when I don't have anything more urgent to do at work. I hope I get this thing running soon.

Just for reference, I checked my Xserve G5 that came stock with a video card and I'm showing the chipset as ATY, RV100 which comes up as the ATI Radeon 7000. Unfortunately I don't have a spare Xserve G5 to try an installation on so I can't advise on your problem. I do have it setup on a Xserve G4 which also came with a Radeon 7000 and so far I haven't had any problems with X.