[K12OSN] Getting eMacs to boot.

[Jon Harder]

Jim Kronebusch wrote:
> My guess is that X is failing to start.  You might need a custom
> XF86Config.  The easiest way to do this is to boot from a PPC Live
> CD (Such as Ubuntu PPC) that correctly detects your video card.
> Then steel the /etc/X11/XF86Config file and move it to your
> servers /opt/ltsp/ppc/etc folder and name the file XF86Config.emac.
>  Open the XF86Config.emac file and if you see any references to
> 127.0.0.1 change that to the IP address of your server. Then in
> the /opt/ltsp/ppc/etc/lts.conf file add the following lines:
>
> [MA:CA:DD:RE:SS:XX]
>         XSERVER            = r128
>         XF86CONFIG_FILE    = XF86Config.emac
> 
> Be sure to substitute MA:CA:DD:RE:SS:XX with the actual Mac Address of 
> the the emac you are trying to boot.  After that, boot your emac again
> with the "N" key and it should work.  Let us know what happens.

This suggestion got me a little farther on a slot-loading iMac, but I'm
still stuck. I tried several distributions until I found one where I
could get far enough into a session to grab the config. None of the LiveCDs
worked for me, but some installers did (I didn't have to install, but went
far enough into it to get an X session up).  The Yellow Dog Linux install
cd did it for the slot loading iMacs (and older) and Fedora install
works for the newer eMacs.

I have an XF86Config that I think the iMac likes. The problem now is that
it fails to bring up the ltsp login screen. I can see the mouse with
circling blue wheel and the banner flash up, but it goes away and then
repeats the whole process indefinitely. What now?

I noticed that there is a lot of information logged when a PC client is
booting up, up nothing other than the DHCP exchange when the ppcs boot.
Maybe there would be something helpful for me if more information
was logged. Is there a log level setting that I can't find?

My next project is to get older, pre-slot loading iMacs working. I know
they don't netboot. Is there a howto for installing ltsp so it boots from
the HD?

--
Jon Harder
Mountain Lake Public School