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Hey everyone,
I've recently become the owner of a PowerBook G3, and decided to put gentoo linux on it. I'm forced to use BootX to boot to the installer. I can boot to the kernal, and BootX recognizes the ramdisk. However, partway through booting, the process sticks with the message: "Copying read-write image contents to tmpfs". I'm using the gentoo 2008.0 universal cd. My BootX arguments are exactly as the kernel arguments read in the gentoo install docs and in yaboot.conf. I'm using the ppc32 kernel and ramdisk.

Hardware specs:
G3 @ 266 MHz, 1MB cache
64 MB ram
6GB HD
Manufactured in 1998
This machine is unmodified from the factory, except for a hard drive replacement. Is is a second generation 'wallstreet', also sometimes called a 'mainstreet'. It runs Open Firmware 2.0.something, but isnt new enough for liveCDs to work.

Any help is much appreciated,
C0sis

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Dani AI

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Short summary for (and noting 's helpful links): the installer is hanging while the initrd copies the live-image into a RAM-backed filesystem (tmpfs). tmpfs is a memory-backed filesystem that will consume RAM (and swap if available) while the live image is unpacked, so a machine with only 64 MB of RAM will almost certainly stall at that point. tmpfs manual (description). (man7.org)

Practical, high‑priority options (in order of simplicity and reliability):

  • Add RAM. Gentoo's PPC handbook documents a minimum of about 160 MB for PPC installs; upgrading the PowerBook to at least that much (256 MB is a comfortable target if the machine supports it) will very likely allow the installer to complete. [Gentoo Handbook: PPC hardware requirements]. (wiki.gentoo.org)

  • If RAM cannot be added, avoid the liveCD ramdisk approach. BootX can still be used to boot a kernel/initrd, but the handbook shows the usual BootX settings and kernel arguments used for the official image (make sure “Use Specified RAM Disk” is set and the ramdisk size is set as recommended): 

cdroot root=/dev/ram0 init=linuxrc loop=image.squashfs looptype=squashfs console=tty0

Refer to the PPC BootX instructions in the Gentoo handbook. (wiki.gentoo.org)

  • Install from another machine (recommended if adding RAM is impractical). Remove or attach the laptop disk via an IDE/CF/USB adapter and from a working Linux box: partition the disk (create swap), untar a PPC stage3 tarball onto the new root, create a minimal /etc/fstab, install a PPC kernel and necessary modules, and install/configure the appropriate bootloader/BootX files. After that, return the disk to the PowerBook and boot with the installed kernel. The handbook describes the stage/chroot approach in the PPC procedure. (wiki.gentoo.org)

Quick checklist (what to verify now): BootX is actually pointing at the ppc32.igz ramdisk and the ramdisk-size setting is present; the ISO used has a correct checksum (already checked); if the machine must use the live image, increase physical RAM or use a different install method (stage3 extraction). The symptoms and the initramfs behavior make low memory the most likely root cause. (man7.org)

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Member Avatar for c0sis

linux,
Thanks for your response. I had run accross all of those in my own google research. Unfortunately, none of them cites a solution other than 'try different media' - which wasn't the problem in that case. I know in my case I copied these over a network from an iso with a good MD5 signature - there shouldn't be any media problems whatsoever.

Thanks for your help,
c0sis

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