[K12OSN] Getting eMacs to boot.

[Jim Kronebusch]

> Is there a way to set up SCREEN_02 so I can alt-f2 or ctrl-alt-f2 to
> a shell window while startx is running in the other one? Or is there a way
> of firing off startx so it tries once and exits?  I'm not sure where
> I would look to see if anything useful is being logged. Further
> suggestions would be appreciated.

In lts.conf set:
SCREEN_01=startx
SCREEN_02=shell

Then you can ctrl-alt-f2 to get a shell while the default screen_01 is starting x.

> On the pre-slot loading front, I made some accidental progress. I
> tried doing a vanilla install of Yellow Dog and it failed on the second
> CD, forcing a reboot. Fortunately I had the iMac on the ltsp portion of
> the network and it automatically found the server and booted up!
> 
> Evidently yaboot was installed on the imac and that is all it needed
> to get on the network and then boot from the server. So my question is,
> how do I go about installing just the basic yaboot software on those
> old iMacs without going through the whole Yellow Dog install CD 1?

If you are describing the first vintage Bondi Blue (looks like an ugly green to me) iMac
G3 then there is nothing needed to boot the LTSP server other than holding down the "N"
key on startup to trigger booting from the server.  Or just pull the hard drive out of
the machines and since they cannot find a local boot device they will automatically poll
the network.  You can also hard code booting off the server via firmware if you like.  

Any changes for the powerpc machines will need to be changed in
/opt/ltsp/ppc/etc/lts.conf file, maybe you have been modifying the
/opt/ltsp/i386/etc/lts.conf for the eMacs to boot?

The eMacs will need a custom X config file to boot X correctly.  The default works for
the original Bondi Blue iMacs and the old Fruity colored iBooks (Tangerine, Blueberry
and Indigo).  There is a custom XF86Config.indigo file that will work with the Indigo
colored iMacs.  I have a file somewhere that also boots the Blueberry iMacs and the
Graphite iMacs.  I think you need to modify some lines in the XF86Config.conf files that
are created with YDL or PPC Ubuntu to point to the server instead of the local host as
well.  Take a look at the included XF86Config.indigo file for reference.  The IP's in
there are most likely incorrect as they point to a 10.6.1.150 (or something close) which
is what the IP of my server was when I created it.  Just change the same references to
what your servers IP is.

Hope this helps.  I won't be back to town and in front of email until Monday morning.

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