Re: [cobalt-users] iBook or PowerBook for OS restore?

[Samuel Yeats <yeatsie@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes I have achieved this using my PowerBook G4 800mhz and the latest copy of
virtual pc. It took some time, it did not like the speed that Virtual PC
communicates between the cdrom and itself to overcome this issue I converted
the latest restore cd with all my security patches manually installed to a
VPC image. That eliminated the cdrom speed issues.

It now works really well. I did however try it on my older powerbook g3
400mhz and it did not work, don¹t use it any more so it does not bother me
:)

Takes slightly longer than a normal restore, about 15-20 mins rather than 10
or so. 


Regards,
Samuel

> I could try it on a PowerBook. I have Virtual PC, and people have
> installed Linux on Powerbooks using Virtual PC. Though, if you think
> about it, the one question that immediately comes to mind is, "why?"
> 
> I would need help to tell if I got far enough. I can try things but I
> have no desire to actually restore my server. I tend to keep the
> Powerbook on a different network altogether and since I have never
> actually done it, I've no idea what I would need to do to establish
> that it won't work.
> 
> I suspect it won't work as a Powerbook won't "easily" boot from a CD
> without an apple file system. If it can be started from within Virutal
> PC or simply made accessible on the network, that would be easy. The
> people supporting the NetBSD distros mess with the open firmware and
> get very odd booting behavior. On the other hand, accessing the open
> firmware is the easiest way to fry a powerbook. [ Technically you
> wouldn't fry it. It is actually very similar to the Forth used by Sun
> SparcStations. However, you can easily enter commands that would
> render the machines firmward inaccessible and unbootable requiring
> Apples expensive assistance in resetting it. ]
> 
> On Wed, May 29, 2002 at 05:25:23PM -0700, Bruce Timberlake wrote:
>> Tim Dunn wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Has anyone successfully used an Apple iBook or PowerBook to
>>>> perform an OS restore on a RaQ?
>>> 
>>> Shooting off the cuff, I would doubt it.  The restore CD is redhat,
>>> and designed to book x86.  Perhaps you can boot it off a virtual
>>> PC, but I'd not wager it'll be able to support the network interface.
>> 
>> The distro that the OSRCD boots from is Debian for x86.  The CD won't
>> even boot on a non-x86 laptop...
>> 
>> --
>> Bruce Timberlake
>> Sun Cobalt Technology Engineer
>> Sun Microsystems, Inc.
>> 
>> E: bruce.timberlake@xxxxxxx
>> 
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