Introduction
If you used the 'Startup Disk' Control Panel in OSX, you reset the PRAM (programmable RAM) settings at a hardware level in your Mac. This prevents the yaboot boot loader (which offers the 'L', 'X', and 'C' options when you boot your New World ROM Macintosh).
If the HFS boot partition is before OSX
If during the installation of YDL you placed the 1 MB boot partition before the OSX partition the solution is simple --just "zap your PRAM":
- Restart your computer.
- Immediately hold the OPTION-APPLE-P-R keys
- Wait for your computer to chime 5 times
- Release the keys
- And your 'L', 'X', and 'C' yaboot menu will return
If the HFS boot partition is after OSX
You have 3 options:
- Re-run ybin; or
- Reset firmware; or
- Use the OPTION key to select the OS at power-on.
1) Re-run ybin.
Boot from the Install CD. Immediately hold the "c" key. Once you get to boot options, type the following:
cd-linux root=/dev/<linux root partition> [ENTER]
... where <linux root partition> may be, for example, hda7 or sda6, but without the < and >, then:
/usr/sbin/ybin [ENTER]
2) Reset firmware.
If during the installation of YDL you placed the HFS boot partition after OSX partitions: Reboot your computer. Immediately after the chime, hold the OPTION-APPLE-O-F keys and your screen should go to a gray or white background with black text. At the command prompt:
printenv [ENTER]Do NOT change any other settings as you can really mess things up. If you could not help yourself, 'zapping the PRAM' sets your Mac back to factory settings. This is done by holding the OPTION-APPLE-P-R keys immediately after the boot chime. Continue to hold them until your Mac chimes 5 times. Then let go and it will boot to the first bootable partition available. This may change your mouse speed and memory preferences.
(this will scroll a number of settings on your screen)
setenv boot-device hd:x,\\:tbxi [ENTER]
(where 'hd' is an IDE drive and 'x' is the partition number where yaboot is located. If you are booting from a SCSI drive, you may try running through portions of the YDL Installer, as described below in the next option, further down this page).
printenv [ENTER]
(to make certain your settings took)
boot [ENTER]
(this should momentarily blank the screen to black and then to the boot screen for 'Linux, OSX, or CD")
3) Use the firmware GUI
A little known function of later versions of NewWorld ROM is a GUI interface offered when you hold the OPTION key immediately upon powering-on. This screen will provide a GUI (mouse and all) for selecting the OS that you wish to boot with. Keep in mind that this only works for OSs that are on unique partitions.
This HOWTO was written by Kai Staats, Terra Soft Solutions
