. .Ss2 Booting the installer . The syntax of the Open Firmware c boot command is:
p .Dl boot device[:partition][,filename] [kernel_location] [-as]
p where the .Fl a flag will ask you for the location of the next item to load (i.e.
a ofwboot.xcf will ask where the kernel is, or the kernel will ask where the root file system is). The .Fl s flag will boot into .Sq single-user mode.
p .Li kernel_location is either a filename if the kernel is on the same partition as the bootloader, or another complete .Sq Li "device:partition,filename" . And, there's no reason (other than Open Firmware bugginess) that you can't specify an entirely different device for the kernel. For instance, you could have a .Tn MacOS drive on your .Em ultra1 (ATA) bus, and a .Nx drive on your .Em ultra0 bus (since
a wd0 No Ns , the first drive recognized by .Nx*M is usually found on the .Em ultra0 bus).
p The exact command you will be using depends on which version of Open Firmware your machine has and which device you will be booting from. Sometimes you may have to guess as we don't know all of the combinations of models, device names, and file names.
p Open Firmware has device aliases which are simple names for the full hardware path to a device. You can find out what device aliases Open Firmware has on your machine by typing:
p .Dl 0 > Ic devalias
p To get a complete listing of what hardware is recognized by Open Firmware, type:
p .Dl 0 > Ic dev / ls
p To determine if a device is bootable, type:
p .Dl 0 > Ic dev /path/to/device words
p If .Sq open is in the list of words, then this device might be bootable.
p .(Note SCSI disks are usually of the form:
p .Dl boot scsi_devalias/sd@i:p
p where .Sq Li scsi_devalias is the Open Firmware .Sq Li devalias for your SCSI interface, .Sq Li i is the SCSI ID, and .Sq Li p is the partition. .Note) . .Ss2 Boot Commands . Here are some examples of the commands you might use to boot your system: .(bullet .Em "Floppy disk" (Open Firmware 1.0.5, Open Firmware 1.1.22, Open Firmware 2.0.x, Open Firmware 2.4)
p The floppy disk has a .Sq "partition zero" bootloader. .(Note This is not a normal .Tn MacOS boot floppy -- you must enter Open Firmware and type a boot command. .Note) All you need to do is:
p .Dl 0 > Ic boot fd:0
p You can eject a floppy by typing:
p .Dl 0 > Ic eject fd t .Em Ethernet (Open Firmware 1.0.5, Open Firmware 1.1.22, Open Firmware 2.0.x, Open Firmware 2.4)
p You can try the simple form (i.e. that you are booting from ethernet):
p .Dl 0 > Ic "boot enet"
p Or you may be more specific, specifying the bootloader filename and the kernel name:
p .Dl 0 > Ic "boot enet:,ofwboot.xcf enet:,netbsd.ram.gz" .(Note Some Open Firmware 1.0.5 machines have their MAC address stored incorrectly. Make sure that your netboot server is using the same MAC address that your \*M client is using. See the section on .Sx Setting up pre-Open Firmware 3 to boot NetBSD to figure out your MAC address. .Note) .(Note Some Open Firmware 1.0.5 machines do not retrieve the BOOTP information correctly. These machines cannot netboot. .Note) t .Em Ethernet (Open Firmware 3)
p You can try the simple form (i.e. that you are booting from ethernet):
p .Dl 0 > Ic "boot enet:0"
p Or you may be more specific, specifying the bootloader filename and the kernel name:
p .Dl 0 > Ic "boot enet:0,ofwboot.xcf enet:0,netbsd.ram.gz" t .Em CD-ROM (All Open Firmware versions)
p Open Firmware doesn't understand long filenames (created with the RockRidge and Joliet extensions), so you may need to figure out what your file is called. For instance, c Toast for .Tn MacOS creates CDs with long filenames, but uses .Tn MS-DOS style short names as well. Instead of referencing
a netbsd-GENERIC you would need to open
a NETBSD-G.ENE
p The c mkisofs and c mkhybrid programs have a similar problem. For them,
a netbsd.ram.gz becomes
a NETBSD_RAM.GZ
p Another thing to note is that you .Em must use the same case when specifying the filename to load that Open Firmware uses. Also, keep in mind what format your CD-R has to be for your version of Open Firmware (pure ISO versus hybrid ISO/HFS) before giving up. The official bootable .Nx \*V CD-ROM image is magically able to boot all Open Firmware versions. Don't ask how.
p You may be able to get a directory listing of the files on your CD-ROM disk with the following command (where
a scsi/sd@3:0 is the device alias and path to your CD-ROM drive): .Dl 0 > Ic "dir scsi/sd@3:0,\e\" If you have subdirectories, you can examine them as well: .Dl 0 > Ic "dir scsi/sd@3:0,\e\subdirectory\e\"
p Here are some examples of what you might use to boot from CD-ROM (Apple usually sets their CD-ROM drives to SCSI ID 3):
p .Dl 0 > Ic "boot scsi-int/sd@3:0,OFWBOOT.XCF NETBSD.MACPPC" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot scsi/sd@3:0,OFWBOOT.XCF NETBSD.MACPPC" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot scsi-ext/sd@3:0,OFWBOOT.XCF NETBSD.MACPPC" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot ata/atapi-disk:0,OFWBOOT.XCF NETBSD.MACPPC" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot ide1/disk@0:0,OFWBOOT.XCF NETBSD.MACPPC" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot cd:0,ofwboot.xcf netbsd.macppc" t .Em "IDE or SCSI drive with a" .Sq "partition zero" bootloader (Open Firmware 1.0.5, Open Firmware 1.1.22, Open Firmware 2.0.x, Open Firmware 2.4)
p You do not specify a file to load, since the .Sq "partition zero" booloader knows what to do. You would boot such a system if you have dumped the boot floppy image to your drive, or if you have an already-installed .Nx*M system
p Remember, that SCSI Zip disks are usually ID 5 or 6. Internal hard drives are usually SCSI ID 0.
p Here are some examples of what you might use to boot from such a drive:
p .Dl 0 > Ic "boot scsi-int/sd@0:0" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot scsi/sd@0:0" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot scsi-ext/sd@0:0" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot ata/ata-disk@0:0" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot ata/ATA-Disk@0:0" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot ide0/disk@0:0" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot zip:0" t .Em "IDE or SCSI drive from an HFS or HFS+ partition" (Open Firmware 2.4, Open Firmware 3)
p .Tn MacOS drives have several system-level partitions reserved for .Tn MacOS drivers. You may find that your first HFS or HFS+ partition might be as high as partition 9. You may need to keep trying higher partition numbers until you find the one that has your bootloader. If you're running .Tn MacOS X you can run the following command to print out the partition table on your drive: .Dl % Ic "sudo pdisk /dev/disk0 -dump"
p If you are confused by the various partition numbering schemes, see the explanation in the FAQ .Lk http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/faq.html#partitions
p You may be able to get a directory listing of the files on your hard drive with the following command (where
a hd-devalias is the device alias and path to your hard drive): .Dl 0 > Ic "dir hd-devalias:,\e\" If you have subdirectories, you can examine them as well: .Dl 0 > Ic "dir hd-devalias:,\e\subdirectory\e\"
p If bootloader is on a different partition from the .Nx kernel, you will need to specify where to find the kernel.
p Remember, that SCSI Zip disks are usually ID 5 or 6. Internal hard drives are usually SCSI ID 0.
p Here are some examples of what you might use to boot the boot floppy image located on an HFS or HFS+ partition (note, you must use the path to the floppy image):
p .Dl 0 > Ic "boot scsi/sd@0:9,ofwboot.xcf scsi/sd@0:9,boot.fs" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot ide0/disk@0:10,ofwboot.xcf ide0/disk@0:9,boot.fs" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot hd:9,ofwboot.xcf hd:9,boot.fs"
p Here are some examples of what you might use to boot a kernel located on the same HFS or HFS+ partition as the bootloader (note, you do not specify a path to the kernel name):
p .Dl 0 > Ic "boot ultra1:9,ofwboot.xcf netbsd.ram.gz" .Dl 0 > Ic "boot hd:10,ofwboot.xcf netbsd.GENERIC.gz" .bullet) . .Ss2 Example of a normal boot . Of course, a lot of the information in this example depends on your model and what your boot method is, but we'll include this anyways just so you get an idea of what to expect (user-typed commands are in c bold No Ns ). .(disp Apple PowerBook3,1 2.1f1 BootROM built on 01/29/00 at 22:38:07 Copyright 1994-2000 Apple Computer, Inc. All Rights Reserved Welcome to Open Firmware. To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return. To shut down, type "shut-down" and press return. ok .No 0 > Ic "boot hd:ofwboot.xcf hd:boot.fs" loading XCOFF tsize=C280 dsize=14AC bsize=2620 entry=600000 SECTIONS: .text 00600000 00600000 0000C280 000000E0 .data 0060D000 0060D000 000014AC 0000C360 .bss 0060E4B0 0060E4B0 00002620 00000000 loading .text, done.. loading .data, done.. clearing .bss, done.. >> NetBSD/macppc OpenFirmware Boot, Revision 1.3 >> (tsubai (at] mint.iri.co.jp, Sun Nov 26 01:41:27 JST 2000) 1701508+177748 [100+68176+55886]=0x1e9468 start=0x100000 Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. NetBSD 1.5.2 (INSTALL) #0: Thu Mar 15 00:52:56 PST 2001 mw@al:/usr/src/sys/arch/macppc/compile/INSTALL total memory = 192 MB avail memory = 172 MB using 2483 buffers containing 9932 KB of memory [...] erase ^H, werase ^W, kill ^U, intr ^C, status ^T Terminal type? [vt100] Erase is backspace. (I)nstall, (S)hell or (H)alt ? .disp) . .Ss2 Common Problems and Error Messages . This is a brief list of some of the Open Firmware problems you may run into. See the .Nx*M FAQ for a thorough list. .Lk http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/faq.html#boot-trouble .(Note You may find it necessary to remove all non-Apple devices in your machine. Some users have found this necessary. .Note)
p .(bullet Black screen
p If your system is a PowerBook, .Nx may have turned down the brightness of the backlight. Use the buttons to turn your brightness back up.
p Otherwise, you need a serial console. See the section entitled .Sx Getting to the Open Firmware Prompt on Older Models t Grey screen with flashing question mark
p You mistyped the path to a device or you didn't enter Open Firmware correctly, and your system defaulted to booting into .Tn MacOS . The flashing question mark means that the .Tn MacOS ROM has loaded and is looking for a bootable .Tn MacOS file system.
p Remember, the boot floppy image must be booted from Open Firmware, it is not a normal .Tn MacOS boot floppy. .(Note Don't forget to check your Open Firmware environment variables, as they may have been changed by your brief excursion into .Tn MacOS No Ns . .Note) t Information on your screen seems garbled or out of sync
p If you have a PowerMacintosh 7300 through 8600, then you need to read the section on System Disk and the patches it applies. See the section entitled .Sx Getting to the Open Firmware Prompt on Older Models
p If you have a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, Open Firmware does not work with the internal display, you will need to set up a serial console.
p t .Dq Li "DEFAULT CATCH!"
p If your machine is Open Firmware version 1.0.5 or 2.X, this error does sometimes appear randomly. You might try the boot command a second time (this is known to work on some models). It's also an indication that either your floppy disk is bad, or the floppy drive is bad.
p Otherwise, if you are not using a serial console, there might be a conflict between the screen driver and Open Firmware which prevents Open Firmware from loading
a ofwboot.xcf There are several models that cannot be booted while using the screen and keyboard. The only known workaround is to use a serial console (i.e. set your input and output devices to ttya or ttyb).
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv output-device ttya" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv input-device ttya" .Dl 0 > Ic "reset-all" t .Dq Li "CLAIM failed"
p This is a general message from Open Firmware to the effect that it failed to allocate some memory. There are several known causes for this to happen.
p This often means that the memory is messed up. If you tried something and it failed, then you tried another and got a .Dq Li "CLAIM failed" message, then this is an indication that you should reboot between attempts
p If your machine is Open Firmware version 1.0.5 or 2.X, this error does sometimes appear randomly. You might try the boot command a second time (this is known to work on some models). Otherwise, if you are not using a serial console, there might be a conflict between the screen driver and Open Firmware which prevents Open Firmware from loading
a ofwboot.xcf There are several models that cannot be booted while using the screen and keyboard. The only known workaround is to use a serial console (i.e. set your input and output devices to ttya or ttyb).
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv output-device ttya" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv input-device ttya" .Dl 0 > Ic "reset-all" t .Dq Li "can't OPEN"
p Open Firmware either can't open the device you specified (because it is not present or the device path is mistyped) or the file you specified. Check your typing and check to make sure that the media has the files you think it has. t .Dq Li "unrecognized Client Program formatstate not valid"
p This is a general Open Firmware error message indicating that the filename you tried to open either doesn't exist or is in the wrong format. For Open Firmware 1 and 2 machines, it must be an XCOFF file (such as
a ofwboot.xcf ) and for Open Firmware 3 machines, it must be either XCOFF or ELF (such as a kernel). Make sure that you have use binary mode to FTP the files, and that they are properly uncompressed. t .Dq Li "bad partition number, using 0no bootable HFS partition"
p If you're trying to boot an Open Firmware 1.0.5, 1.1.22, or 2.0.x system, this probably means that your media (i.e. hard drive or CD-ROM) has an HFS filesystem on it (such as a hybrid CD-R or a hard drive with MacOS partitions). t .Dq Li "TFTP timeout"
p If you're trying to netboot an older system (such as a PowerMacintosh 7500), Open Firmware seems to have a netboot bug, we have found no workarounds yet. If you're netbooting a newer system, then you may not have TFTP set up properly on your tftpd server. t
a ofwboot.xcf hangs before the copyright notice and the kernel configuration
p You forgot to set .Dq Li real-base in Open Firmware or it got erased by your booting into .Tn MacOS .
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv load-base 600000" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv real-base F00000" .Dl 0 > Ic "reset-all" t After the kernel loads, the first key you press repeats forever
p Press the .Key SHIFT key first. t Hang after configuring devices, but before doing anything else
p Actually, this can have many causes. The most likely is a keyboard problem. First, try plugging the USB keyboard directly into the computer (i.e. not through a hub).
p This is also a known problem on some PowerMacintosh G3 (Blue and White) and iMac (Bondi Blue) machines. If you have a PowerMacintosh G3 (Blue and White) with this problem, then you can try the following procedure: .(enum Unplug the USB keyboard and plug in an ADB keyboard t Boot .Nx with the ADB keyboard t Enter root, swap and filesystem responses on the ADB keyboard t When the system gets to the shell prompt (or login if you went multi-user), unplug the ADB and plug in the USB keyboard .enum)
p The USB will be usable at this point and you can use the system. You'll notice that the ADB is dead even before you unplugged it. Also you MUST boot without the USB installed or this won't work.
p Alternatively, much as it pains us to say this, .Nx 1.4.3 works fine on both the iMac (Bondi Blue) and the PowerMacintosh G3 (Blue and White) models and does not have this USB keyboard problem. .bullet) . .Ss2 Milestone . If you've reached this point, then you must've gotten the .Nx installer to boot. Congratulations! That was the hard part. From now through the rest of this document, there should be no more Open Firmware specific problems, so read everything because it applies to all models. . .so ../common/sysinst . Now, you can reboot to get to the Open Firmware prompt. Once there, you can set Open Firmware to always boot into .Nx from the media of your choice. First, make sure you know what command you need to boot (see above). If you are using a .Sq "partition zero" style boot scheme, you would type something like the following:
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv auto-boot? true" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv boot-device scsi/sd@0:0" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv boot-file netbsd" .Dl 0 > Ic "reset-all"
p The last command resets the system so that these settings are stored. Replace c scsi/sd@0:0 with the actual device you will be booting from. If you find that your system tries booting before your hard drive has spun up, you may need to also enter something like:
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv boot-command begin ['] boot catch 1000 ms cr again"
p If you are not using a .Sq "partition zero" style boot scheme, then you can still plug in all the information you need:
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv auto-boot? true" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv boot-device ide0/disk@0:8,ofwboot.xcf" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv boot-file ide0/disk@0:13,/netbsd" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv boot-command boot" .Dl 0 > Ic "reset-all"
p
Indexes created Mon Oct 20 20:10:13 GMT 2025