. .Ss2 Open Firmware System Preparation . Most \*M systems have Open Firmware bugs. Luckily, Open Firmware has a small Non-Volatile RAM variable (NVRAM) which is reserved for FORTH commands which will be run before booting an operating system. Apple has released a freeware .Tn MacOS tool called System Disk, which patches most of these bugs. We .Em strongly recommend that you use this tool to patch your Open Firmware, as several systems cannot boot without these patches.
p Download System Disk from Apple's site: .Lk ftp://ftp.apple.com/developer/macosxserver/utilities/SystemDisk2.3.1.smi.bin
p For a brief tutorial on how to use System Disk, see: .Lk http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/SystemDisk-tutorial/
p Make sure you click the .Dq Save button, or the patches will not be saved to NVRAM. .(Note NVRAM patches will be erased if you .Sq zap your PRAM by holding down .Key COMMAND-OPTION-P-R during the boot chimes .Note)
p . .Ss2 Updating your firmware . Open Firmware 3 systems have a rewritable firmware. Go to the .Sq Apple Software Updates web site at .Lk http://asu.info.apple.com/ and search for .Sq firmware and install the most recent version for your model. . .Ss2 Getting to the Open Firmware Prompt . There are various methods to get to the Open Firmware prompt. They may or may not work, depending on which system model you have . .Ss2 Getting to the Open Firmware Prompt (Easy method using MacOS) . Launch the .Tn MacOS System Disk tool. Click on .Dq "Power User (Open Firmware)" then click on the .Dq "Advanced Options" button. Now, click on the checkbox that says .Dq "Stop Boot at Open Firmware prompt" and select .Dq OK . Click the .Dq Save button and reboot your system.
p You should now see the Open Firmware command prompt:
p .Dl 0 >
p If your screen is black, then your model does not support using the screen in Open Firmware. You will need to connect up a serial console (38400 bps, 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no handshaking). .(Note This setting is persistent until you disable .Dq Stop Boot at Open Firmware prompt or tell Open Firmware
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv auto-boot? true
p your system will always stop at the Open Firmware prompt. .Note) .(Note Unfortunately, there are a few models that are better off without the System Disk patches. If you find that your machine doesn't boot, then try:
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv use-nvramrc? false" .Dl 0 > Ic "reset-all" .Note) . .Ss2 Getting to the Open Firmware Prompt (Harder method using MacOS) . If System Disk doesn't work because your version of .Tn MacOS is too old or because System Disk says that it doesn't support your model, then you may try using the BootVars tool.
p .Lk ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/arch/macppc/macos-utils/bootvars/bootvars.sit.hqx .(Note BootVars does .Em not apply the (possibly critical) NVRAM patches that System Disk does. Expect devices to not work. .Note)
p Look up the proper .Sq output-device for your model on the .Nx*M Model Support webpage. .Lk http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/models.html
p Launch the .Tn MacOS BootVars tool. Click on the .Dq auto-boot? checkbox, then click on the .Dq All Variables checkbox and type c kbd into the .Dq input-device box, and the proper device name into the .Dq output-device box. Click on the .Dq write button, and restart.
p If your .Sq output-device is .Sq Li /chaos/control (i.e. you have a PowerMacintosh 7300 - 8600 system), there is a chance that your monitor will not sync. See .Lk http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/SystemDisk-tutorial/of105patch.html
p You should now see the Open Firmware command prompt:
p .Dl 0 >
p If your model does not have an .Sq output-device listed, or its screen is black when you restart your system, then it has defaulted to using a serial console because the internal video does not work. This is fairly common on these models if you do not use the System Disk tool to set up Open Firmware. You must hook up a serial console (38400 bps, 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no handshaking). . .Ss2 Getting to the Open Firmware Prompt (Without using MacOS) . If you don't have .Tn MacOS , then you need to hold down a special key combination when your system boots. .(Note Your system will .Em not have the (possibly critical) NVRAM patches that System Disk applies. Expect devices to not work. .Note)
p After the chime starts, but before it stops, hold down the .Key COMMAND-OPTION-O-F keys (the .Key COMMAND key looks like a four-leaf clover or an open apple, and the .Key OPTION key may look like a two-way switch with four straight line segments).
p You should now see the Open Firmware command prompt:
p .Dl 0 >
p If your screen is black, then your system has defaulted to using a serial console. This is fairly common on these models if you do not use the System Disk tool to set up Open Firmware. You must hook up a serial console (38400 bps, 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no handshaking). The Apple Network Server uses .Sq Port 2 (the .Sq Li ttya device in Open Firmware) as the console port.
p Look up the proper .Sq output-device for your model on the .Nx*M webpage .Lk http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/models.html Run the following commands to set this variable to use your screen instead of a serial console (replace .Sq Li screen with the correct .Sq output-device for your model):
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv output-device screen" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv input-device kbd" .Dl 0 > Ic "reset-all"
p Now you should see the Open Firmware prompt on your screen.
p If your .Sq output-device is .Sq Li /chaos/control (i.e. you have a PowerMacintosh 7300 - 8600 system), there is a chance that your monitor will not sync. See .Lk http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/SystemDisk-tutorial/of105patch.html
p .(Note You must install the patches from System Disk before the beige G3 will boot .Nx .Note) . .Ss2 Setting Open Firmware up to boot NetBSD . Check your Open Firmware version; you will need to know this in order to make decisions further on:
p .Dl 0 > Ic "dev /openprom" .Dl 0 > Ic ".properties"
p If your version of Open Firmware is prior to version 3, then you must set some Open Firmware variables before .Nx can boot.
p .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv load-base 600000" .Dl 0 > Ic "setenv real-base F00000" .Dl 0 > Ic "reset-all"
p The last command reboots your machine so that the .Li real-base setting takes effect.
p If you will be netbooting your system, you can look up your MAC address. .Dl 0 > Ic "dev enet .properties" .Dl "[...]" .Dl "local-mac-address CCCCCCCC CCCC" .Dl "[...]" .(Note Some early Open Firmware 1.0.5 machines had their MAC address stored incorrectly on the motherboard (little- vs. big-endian problems). The patches the System Disk installs will correct this. Without the patch, the machine will still work, but its MAC address may conflict with another ethernet device on your network. .Note) .(Note Some Open Firmware 3 machines have their MAC address stored incorrectly (little- vs. big-endian problem). If you look up your MAC address in .Tn MacOS , it will be different than what Open Firmware 3 uses to contact your netboot server. Your machine will still work, but its MAC address may conflict with another ethernet device on your network. .Note)
p For future reference, when you want to boot into .Tn MacOS , type: .(bullet -offset indent Open Firmware 1, Open Firmware 2
p .Dl 0 > Ic bye t Open Firmware 3
p .Dl 0 > Ic mac-boot .bullet) .(Note Open Firmware 1.0.5 settings will be erased if you boot into .Tn MacOS . You will need to re-enter them before booting .Nx again. Open Firmware 2.0.x does not appear to suffer from this problem. .Note) . .Ss2 Available Boot Media . In order to boot and run .Nx , you need a method to load and run the .Nx kernel.
p Whilst Open Firmware 3 can load the kernel directly, older versions need a .Sq bootloader which can then bootstrap the kernel. Unfortunately, some kernels do not .Dq just work , and you will need to load the bootloader to load the kernel. Feel free to experiment and load the kernel with the command you use to load the bootloader, bypassing this step.
p The following bootable media are available for loading the bootloader
q Pa ofwboot No or Pa ofwboot.xcf : .(bullet -offset indent . .Em "Partition zero"
p This method loads a primary bootloader called
a bootxx which then loads the secondary bootloader
a ofwboot (functionally identical to
a ofwboot.xcf (q.v.)) which then loads the kernel. This is the method used by the boot floppies, and when you're installing .Nx on the entire disk. Unfortunately, it appears that the floppy disk driver on Open Firmware 2.4 machines is broken. . t .Em "Whole partition" (Open Firmware 3)
p Unfortunately, .Nx*M does not yet support the .Sq whole partition method yet.
p t .Em "HFS(+) file system" (Open Firmware 2.4, Open Firmware 3)
p Whilst you can load
a ofwboot.xcf from an HFS(+) partition, you will not be able to load the kernel from it. . t .Em "MS-DOS file system"
p This cannot be used, as neither the
a ofwboot.xcf bootloader nor the kernel can read files directly from a .Tn MS-DOS file system. This should be resolved in a future release. . t .Em "Ethernet (network boot)"
p You can run your entire system diskless or netboot only the files necessary to boot (i.e. the bootloader and the installation kernel), but you must have root access on another l machine on your subnet.
p Some Open Firmware 1.0.5 machines do not retrieve the BOOTP information correctly. These machines cannot netboot. . t .Em "ISO9660 CD-ROM file system"
p Load the
a ofwboot.xcf from an ISO 9660 CD-ROM.
p Open Firmware 1.0.5 and 2.0.x machines will .Em not boot from the ISO 9660 file system if you create a hybrid HFS/ISO format CD-R. Make sure that it the CD .Em only has ISO 9660 data and does not have an Apple Partition Map. .bullet)
p Once
a ofwboot or
a ofwboot.xcf is loaded, it can open the kernel from one of the following sources: .(bullet -offset indent . .Em "Ethernet (NFS)" . t .Em "NetBSD FFS file system"
p This is not available the first time you install .Nx on your system. . t .Em "ISO 9660 CD-ROM file system" .bullet)
p The boot floppy image provided with the distribution sets has a .Sq partition zero bootloader and a .Nx file system with an installation kernel. . .Ss2 Installation techniques . If you will be running your system diskless (i.e. entirely over NFS, not using any local hard drives), then you do not need to run the installer although you may still do so.
p Run the installer to place .Nx on a hard drive on your \*M system.
p The common installation techniques:
p .(bullet . .Em "Create a boot floppy"
p Use some tool to write the boot floppy image to a floppy disk, and boot from that. The primary bootloader (in .Sq "partition zero" ) will load
a ofwboot which will load the installation kernel. . t .Em "Create an ISO 9660 CD-ROM"
p Place
a ofwboot.xcf and the installation kernel at the top level of the CD. You may also place the .Nx \*V distribution sets on the disk. Have Open Firmware load
a ofwboot.xcf from the disk, and it will then load the installation kernel. . t .Em "Create a hybrid HFS/ISO 9660 CD-ROM" (Open Firmware 3)
p Place
a ofwboot.xcf and the installation kernel at the top level of the CD. Make sure that the bootloader is present on the HFS partition, and the kernel is on the ISO partition. You may also place the .Nx \*V distribution sets on the ISO partition. Have Open Firmware load
a ofwboot.xcf from the HFS partition, and it will load the installation kernel from the ISO partition. . t .Em "Boot off an HFS(+) partition" (Open Firmware 3)
p Download the install kernel and place it at the top level of any partition. Get to the Open Firmware prompt. Boot the kernel and use it to install .Nx on your hard drive. t .Em "Boot over the ethernet"
p Set up the DHCP daemon in BOOTP compatable mode, the TFTP daemon, and the NFS daemons on your netboot server. Tell Open Firmware to boot over ethernet, and it will send a BOOTP request, which will tell Open Firmware what your system's IP address is, and where its bootloader can be downloaded via TFTP. Once Open FIrmware has downloaded the bootloader via TFTP, it will then load the installation kernel via an NFS connection. . t .Em "Boot the floppy image off a bootable hard drive"
p Find a spare bootable drive (i.e. SCSI or IDE), and use some tool to write the floppy disk image to your spare drive, and boot from that drive. The floppy image has a .Sq partition zero bootloader which ultimately loads the installation kernel. .bullet) . .Ss2 Partitioning the drive NetBSD will be installed on . You have two options. You may use the .Nx installer to partition your drive and make it bootable (with a .Sq partition zero bootloader), in which case you cannot share this drive with .Tn MacOS (i.e. cannot have any HFS partitions on it). Alternatively, you may share this drive with .Tn MacOS , in which case the drive will not be bootable. You will need to load
a ofwboot.xcf from some other media (such as over the network, from a floppy, or from a CD-ROM).
p Unfortunately, the partitioning tools for .Nx are not advanced enough to create an HFS(+) file system. Therefore, if you wish to share this drive with .Tn MacOS , you will need to use the MacOS Drive Setup tool (versions 1.9.1 and later are known to work) to divide the hard drive you will be using for .Nx into the following partitions: .(tag "A/UX_Rootxxx" -offset indent t Em HFS(+) Must be large enough to hold the bootloader, over 100 KB. t Em A/UX Root Must be at least 20 MB. Alternatively, you may decide to use one partition for your entire .Nx installation, in which case it should be at least 200 MB. t Em A/UX Swap Any size. The recommenation is 1.5 times your RAM, although this is not strictly necessary for machines with a lot of RAM. t Em A/UX User, A/UX Free1, A/UX Free2, A/UX Free3 Use these for any additional partitions you may want to use under .Nx .
Indexes created Wed Oct 29 12:09:47 GMT 2025