[openbeos] Re: USB and PPC port.... I'm here to help... when I can...
- From: "Nathan Whitehorn" <nathan.whitehorn@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2002 12:39:05 -0600
> Another thing. Some months ago, Nathan Whitehorn and I were
> attempting to boot
> BeOS R5 on PPC machines through OpenFirmware. Unless Nathan has
> worked some
> miracles since the last time we talked on BeShare, it just isn't
> going to work
> with the knowledge we have of the BeOS Launcher for MacOS.
No miracles :)
> So... what's the big deal here? I've worked in some detail with
> Fourth
> (FCode). I'm more than willing to push myself and expand what I can
> do in
> FCode for the sake of loading/booting a NewOS/OBOS kernel on a PPC
> Mac
> machine. I have at my disposal a 7600 with a G3-400 (Hey Nathan, I
> got the
> upgrade!!!), as well as a Beige G3-266 and possibly a G4 laptop. So
> here are
> my questions on this topic. Who is in charge of PPC porting? Have
> they worked
> out a loading/booting scheme? Does it involve a 'host' OS? Have they
> throughly
> investigated the advantages of using OF (OpenFirmware) to boot the OS
> - what
> about the disadvantages (they do exist)?
You should simply be able to use the OF 3 (maybe 2 as well?) elf-loader
fcode routine to boot the NewOS kernel, if it is on a recognized
filesystem. (Which would, interestingly, allow net booting using bootp
as well, at least with OF 3). BootX should also work. What I would
suggest is a dual-stage boot process using a bootstrap partition (HFS
format, partition code Apple_bootstrap (I think)), containing the BeOS
splash screen executable, which in turn loads the kernel.
Also, I'm impressed you know Forth. Do you know the other 5 people? :P
Advantages of OF boot:
- No boot time for MacOS (big plus)
- Can be used on any modern mac (including OS 9 and X machines)
- Using a bootstrap partition, it *should* be possible simply to insert
a OBOS CD and boot off that
- No MacOS partition necessary
Disadvantages
- Apple's OF implementation is bastardized, which can cause some
problems
- If we *can't* have just sticking in a CD, then you have to muck with
OF. (Except that BootX mimics OF from MacOS, and we could provide an
install tool)
- MacOS loads extra fcode drivers at boot that the BeOS now takes
advantage of. This is why the BeOS kernel has no SCSI module on ppc: it
uses the SCSI manager. (Note: I am not sure of this statement, but
given experiences, this seems likely)
In all, I am very much in favor of OF booting, especially since it
gives us in-OS booting as well, courtesy of BootX.
-Nathan
--
Fortune Cookie Says:
May your Tongue stick to the Roof of your Mouth with the Force of a
Thousand Caramels.
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