Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 11:44:05 -0400 From: Paul Mather <paul@gromit.dlib.vt.edu> To: freebsd-ppc@freebsd.org Subject: Booting FreeBSD/powerpc from external FireWire drive? Message-ID: <40D5CC15-8828-4CFD-AE13-2211B9742AE2@gromit.dlib.vt.edu>
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I'm trying to install FreeBSD/powerpc{,64} on an external FireWire =
drive. I've been successful in installing a 9-CURRENT snapshot. The =
problem is that I don't know how to boot from this drive from =
OpenFirmware, given I also have Mac OS X installed on a separate hard =
drive---the internal hard drive that is the default boot drive.
Using a PowerBook G4, I was able to boot the external FW drive =
containing FreeBSD by holding down the Option key during startup and =
then choosing the FreeBSD drive from the list of bootable drives that is =
displayed. Unfortunately, I want to use this external FW drive to boot =
into FreeBSD on an headless Xserve G5 via a serial console. Lacking the =
graphical boot drive chooser, I need to use the OpenFirmware "boot" =
command or set the boot-device in NVRAM to designate the external FW =
drive as the boot drive.
Can anyone help me figure out the appropriate OpenFirmware command to =
boot FreeBSD from the external FW drive? The "devalias" command reports =
I have "fw" and "fwx" aliases, which I presume refer to FireWire. Alas, =
I can't fathom what the boot command arguments would be. I followed the =
gpart partitioning scheme listed in the FreeBSD/powerpc install =
instructions at http://people.freebsd.org/~nwhitehorn/ppcinstall.txt =
with an 800K apple-boot partition as the first one in the APM.
If it would make it easier, the external FW drive I have can also be =
used as a USB drive. So, if it is easier to boot from an external USB, =
I could do that, if someone can tell me the appropriate boot arguments.
Cheers,
Paul.=
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