Subject: Re: YDL install w/ multiple drives
From: Juan Manuel Palacios (jmpalacios@mac.com)
Date: Sun Jan 06 2002 - 08:22:02 MST
Well CL, all those are very interesting questions, but let me try
to organize things a bit to give you straight answers. Any book on Linux
or any other type of Unix will give you a handful of unix commands,
their meanings, usage and syntax (there's your merge between dictionary
and thesaurus). But you really need to narrow down your goals if you're
going to look for books about this subject because otherwise you'll
drown in an endless sea for sure! First I suggest looking merely into
Linux and not into Unix in general. Any good Linux book can teach you
enough to defend yourself successfully in front of any other unix clone.
Take a look at http://www.oreilly.com/ , http://www.amazon.com/ or at
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ and just type the word Linux and you'll
see what I mean about the endless sea (imagine if instead you type
unix!). You'll find thousands of titles that help you divide the scope
of each book: networking, security, hacking, development, many others,
many others, many others and the most general "usage". The later is
rather good, if you go for nothing less than intermediate level because
the ones entitled "beginners" wont get you far, trust me. You can skip
distro differences when looking into books since they are not really
that big, but what you do have to bear in mind is that practically all
of them are geared towards Linux on Intel platform. Therefore you'll
find information on things like LILO and GRUB (Intel equivalents to
yaboot) that will be completely useless to you. If you're looking for
Linux on PPC specific books then I don't know if I can help you. The few
I've bought were just guesses at the Barnes & Noble web site and
unfortunately are completely geared towards Peeceee users (single track
minded, as if there weren't any other computers in the world!!). Again I
say, any intermediate to advanced "General Usage" Linux book could turn
invaluable, regardless of the platform or distro you're interested in.
However, I do suggest looking into a special section of O' Reilly's web
site that is completely geared towards the Mac platform,
http://mac.oreilly.com. Probably you'll find Linux specific stuff there,
but I don't know for sure. What you'll surely find is very interesting
books on the Mac OS, Mac OS X and on the Mac computer. Maybe there you
can find something that could teach you about Open Firmware (please let
me know if you do!). Looking into "Mac" at any of the other web sites
will also give you a handful of books on the Mac platform, but again I
don't know if you'll find something about Linux on the Mac apart from
the YellowDog getting started guide. Then you came to ask me about a web
site that could serve you as a dictionary, and I'll never finish
answering that one if I don't limit myself. There are millions of tons
of Linux documentation in the web, and that's maybe why things get
confusing sometimes. For starters I would suggest you to look into
http://www.linuxdoc.org and work your way from there. I think that
anything you or anyone might ever need is AT LEAST referenced there. So
that kind of raps it up.
On a side note, you have to note that there is no thing as Linux
OF. I think you got things a bit confused here so let me try to clear
them up. Sorry if I sound patronizing but I'm not sure of the knowledge
you have on this, so I'll try to be detailed. Linux is an operating
system derived from the standard Unix, just as Solaris, BSD, Irix, Mac
OS X and many others are. It was ported to the PowerPC platform and
that's why you can install it in your computer. That porting job was
handled by individuals and organizations like LinuxPPC and YellowDog.
OF, which stands for Open Firmware, has got nothing to do with any OS or
any other software for that matter. OF commands are some sort of
"Internal Controls" of your computer. They control the hardware: how the
screen is presented, how the drives are recognized by the motherboard,
how the computer boots and from where and many many other things. They
do not follow any other syntax apart from the one specified by Apple and
Sun Systems (if I'm not mistaking they have a lot to do in the Open
Firmware design). You could have gotten confused because you heard talk
about OF and Linux at the same time, but that is becaause Linux and any
other OS you have installed need to interact with OF to do basic things:
designating a start up drive, as you are trying to do with yaboot,
initializing ethernet upon boot up and for many other things. Are you
following me so far? The interaction you were required to have with it
was because yaboot was failing to tell OF which one would be the new
start up drive. Avinash told you to find the OF path to the drive
manually because yaboot failed to do so, so he made himself clear that
the Linux path has nothing to do with the OF path. The Linux path is due
to a Filesystem layout, the OF one is some sort of ensemble code that
tells the motherboard where that drive is. Well, I think that's it for
my explanation. I could just keep on and on giving examples that clarify
the differences between OF and any OS, but I think you got the point. IF
you didn't need the explanation in the first place then please forgive
me for having patronized you.
Lastly, going back to the OF path subject, my answer is YES. You
can use the real OF path in your /etc/yaboot.conf file to get yaboot
working properly. But be a bit careful here: when you issue a "printenv"
command at OF and read the "boot-device" section you are actually
looking at two paths. Or rather, two ways of expressing the same one.
You'll see and amazing long line just after "boot-device" that has
colons, comas, hexadecimal numbers and some other codes; it ends with
"tbxi". Just after that there is a tiny space and then another, shorter,
text that reads as follows:
"hd:n,\\:tbxi"
Where the "n" stands for the boot up partition number. However,
that piece is not always specified: sometimes you'll just see
"hd:,\\:tbxi". That line of text is an alias to the long OF path just
before it, and that's the one you should be using, it's much simpler.
That's the one you could paste into yaboot.conf. Was I clear enough? Let
me know if you're still a bit lost and I'll try to help you. As you said
at the beginning, a good book would be a great start.
I hope I was helpful up till now. I think I should leave you now to
read this rather long message. Enjoy!
Sincerely,...
Juan.
P.S.: Sorry Christopher, it got long just by quoting a single message!
On Saturday, January 5, 2002, at 12:05 AM, C.L. Simco wrote:
> Juan,
>
> This is a little "off topic" of the thread here, but I'm hoping that by
> asking
> you this question, I'll be able to resume the thread and resolve the
> situation
> at a later date after doing some work as I stated in my last message to
> you
> and Avinash.
>
> As I stated, I realized that I need a much firmer grasp of the language
> of
> the command line if I am to ask intelligent questions and do things once
> I receive suggestions or answers. Also, the language that Open Firmware
> speaks, seems more than invaluable.
>
> So, am I looking for a book on Unix, or Linux? And will a comprehensive
> volume include what I would call a "dictionary, or thesaurus" so to
> speak,
> of the terms, files, filenames, commands etc.? Or would I be looking for
> something of that nature, separately? As well, a similar volume or
> tutorial
> re: Mac and or Linux OF. I realize that YDL is based on Red Hat, but
> development on the two diverged at some point in the version history.
> Which version of a Red Hat book would be most relevant and useful to
> YDL? Are there books on Mac and Linux OF? Or is there a site on the
> web that does the above, "dictionary" function?
>
> Yes I did indeed, find OF interesting and possibly something of a lead
> but I don't understand the language well enough to be certain. I intend
> to start by disconnecting all but the two drives that are important,
> this
> weekend,
> and see if that will simplify things a bit. Then later, I can add
> things back
>
> if it is possible.
>
> I will, and part of the reason for my questions to you above.
>
> It is not possible to "literally" use that line as the path Linux is
> asking
> for, is it?
> Linux speaks "French" while Mac speaks "English", (as an analogy)
> therefor
> needing to find a way to translate what each are saying and
> understanding?
>>
>
> Thanks again,
>
> CL
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