Bug 813584

Summary: boot fails after install to external drive (OpenFirmware Apple Macintosh PowerPC)
Product: [Fedora] Fedora Reporter: John Reiser <jreiser>
Component: anacondaAssignee: Will Woods <wwoods>
Status: CLOSED WONTFIX QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance <extras-qa>
Severity: unspecified Docs Contact:
Priority: unspecified    
Version: 17CC: anaconda-maint-list, dreptoer, g.kaviyarasu, jonathan, pknirsch, vanmeeuwen+fedora
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Reopened
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: powerpc   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: 2013-08-01 18:12:22 UTC Type: Bug
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Attachments:
Description Flags
/var/log/anaconda/anaconda.log of newly-installed system
none
anaconda.program.log of newly-installed system
none
anaconda.storage.log
none
anaconda.syslog
none
/etc/yaboot.conf as newly installed
none
previous /etc/yaboot.conf [fc12] none

Description John Reiser 2012-04-18 00:00:44 UTC
Description of problem: Booting fails on Apple Macintosh Mini G4 PowerPC, after fresh install from DVD to external USB2.0 drive on box with MacOSX and previous Fedora Linux [fc12] resident on internal harddrive.  The "which folder" screen appears briefly (gray screen with small folder icon and question mark), then the "gray screen of death" with no response.  The boot method dialog to choose linux, macosx, network, cdrom, or openfirmware does not appear.  Power cycling the box is required.

After restoring the boot of previous Fedora system using rescue mode of [fc12] DVD, investigation reveals additional problems.
1. Syntax error in /etc/yaboot.conf:    "image=/bootvmlinuz-3.3.1-5.fc17.ppc" which is missing the slash '/' between "boot" and "vmlinuz".
2. The yaboot.conf file on the special Apple Bootstrap partition has the same missing slash, and also has discarded all previous boot info that was present before install began.  I asked for Custom Layout, which should add the new install and preserve previous booting of other systems.
3. The new booting setup omits boot of existing MacOSX: in yaboot.conf, the line "macosx=/dev/sda4" is missing.



Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
anaconda 17.20
yaboot-1.3.17-2.fc16.ppc

How reproducible: every time


Steps to Reproduce:
1. Fresh install from Fedora 17 ppc DVD to external USB2.0 drive; MacOSX and previous Fedora system are resident on internal harddrive.
2. Custom layout, place root filesystem (/) on existing partition, reformat.
3.
  
Actual results: After install finishes, the booting fails.


Expected results: Booting succeeds.


Additional info:

Comment 1 John Reiser 2012-04-18 00:01:58 UTC
Created attachment 578189 [details]
/var/log/anaconda/anaconda.log of newly-installed system

Comment 2 John Reiser 2012-04-18 00:02:29 UTC
Created attachment 578190 [details]
anaconda.program.log of newly-installed system

Comment 3 John Reiser 2012-04-18 00:03:00 UTC
Created attachment 578191 [details]
anaconda.storage.log

Comment 4 John Reiser 2012-04-18 00:03:36 UTC
Created attachment 578192 [details]
anaconda.syslog

Comment 5 John Reiser 2012-04-18 00:06:48 UTC
Created attachment 578193 [details]
/etc/yaboot.conf as newly installed

Comment 6 John Reiser 2012-04-18 00:08:27 UTC
Created attachment 578194 [details]
previous /etc/yaboot.conf [fc12]

Comment 7 ehwreck 2012-10-06 23:15:13 UTC
This problem also happened to me...im running on an ibook g4 late 2005 model.
this is how i got it to work for me, this may or may not work with your computer. possible workaround/solution.


at the first screen where it says "Welcome to Fedora..." and you can pick 
"l-fedora"
"c-cdrom"
"o-Openfirmware"

i entered "o"

then i typed in

boot hd:2,yaboot

and there you go, it booted, but since i did it with the netinstall i didnt have a any graphics just a black screen with the name of the Fedora version and a "Login"
so i typed root for the login and the root password that was setup during the installation.
example

Login root
password ********

then i had root access so i did as follows

# cd /dev

I checked to see if my partitions were hda1,hda2,hda3...etc
OR if they were sda1,sda2,sda3...etc

mine were hda so i then did this

# cd /etc

then checked if i had yaboot.conf
i did so i then viewed and edit it like so

# vi yaboot.conf

also i noticed the top line on the yaboot.conf said

boot=/dev/sda2

so then I pressed "i" to edit the .conf and changed the "sda2 to hda2" then pressed "esc". after that i held "shift" and pressed "z" twice to save the changes.
then i ran ybin 

# ybin

then i turned off my computer and started it up again, this time it was able to boot and took me to the "Login" it was black again cuz i dont have a Desktop environment. Then i logged in as before with root and tried to install "Gnome Desktop Environment" using "yum groupinstall" but then i ran into another problem the repos are messed up and it wont download anything..but at least now it boots.

for those with the DVD install idk if the same will happen. maybe you will be able to boot and continue your installation...if so and you are able to login and have a desktop environment i suggest you run to the terminal and edit that yaboot.conf and switch sda2 to hda2 or maybe for you its the other way around...let me know you have questions on this or if this worked for anyone.

currently i still cant boot 16 or 17 so im running on 12 but im doing my best to find a solution and get 17 on there or 16 at least.

also this was only tested on the ibook g4 since its the only ppc i have...and i dont know how it will play out on the ibm or g3 or mac mini...

Comment 8 John Reiser 2013-01-20 18:50:13 UTC
Please fix it, or state some reason for "WONT FIX".

Comment 9 Fedora End Of Life 2013-07-04 06:36:56 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 17 is nearing its end of life.
Approximately 4 (four) weeks from now Fedora will stop maintaining
and issuing updates for Fedora 17. It is Fedora's policy to close all
bug reports from releases that are no longer maintained. At that time
this bug will be closed as WONTFIX if it remains open with a Fedora 
'version' of '17'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you
plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' 
to a later Fedora version prior to Fedora 17's end of life.

Bug Reporter:  Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that 
we may not be able to fix it before Fedora 17 is end of life. If you 
would still like  to see this bug fixed and are able to reproduce it 
against a later version  of Fedora, you are encouraged  change the 
'version' to a later Fedora version prior to Fedora 17's end of life.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's 
lifetime, sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events. Often a 
more recent Fedora release includes newer upstream software that fixes 
bugs or makes them obsolete.

Comment 10 Fedora End Of Life 2013-08-01 18:12:28 UTC
Fedora 17 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2013-07-30. Fedora 17 is 
no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further 
security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug.

If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version of 
Fedora please feel free to reopen this bug against that version.

Thank you for reporting this bug and we are sorry it could not be fixed.