Re: Installation, Debian 12, iMac G5, USB thumb driv e => “Your installation media couldn’t be mounted. “

Joe Flowers <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.linux.debian.ports.powerpc
Message-ID <CA+4=ZEP+aQ5tN16vvmCRGZNqW3=K32XPOKHiNqFzNhrdaHh2kQ@mail.gmail.com>
Hi Cedar,

The results of the commands you recommended I run are below. Still looks
like bad hardware to me.

Thanks!

Joe

--------

After iMac was power-cycled and with just the known good Ethernet cable
plugged into the Ethernet port, Ethernet port blown out with compressed
air, NO USB to Ethernet adapter plugged in:


joe@debian1:~$ date
Thu Sep  4 06:40:38 AM EDT 2025
joe@debian1:~$ sudo ifconfig
[sudo] password for joe:
enP1p3s15f0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet6 fe80::20d:93ff:fe4a:42d2  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 4  bytes 5564 (5.4 KiB)
        RX errors 3  dropped 7  overruns 0  frame 2
        TX packets 76  bytes 12707 (12.4 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 27 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 480  bytes 40266 (39.3 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 480  bytes 40266 (39.3 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

joe@debian1:~$ sudo ip link set enP1p3s15f0 up
joe@debian1:~$ sudo dhclient
sudo: dhclient: command not found
joe@debian1:~$ sudo dhcpcd
dhcpcd-10.2.4 starting
dev: loaded udev
DUID 00:01:00:01:30:4c:26:c7:00:0d:93:4a:42:d2
no interfaces have a carrier
joe@debian1:~$ sudo ip link show enP1p3s15f0
2: enP1p3s15f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel
state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enx000d934a42d2
joe@debian1:~$ sudo dmesg | grep -i eth
[    2.743937] pmac64_cpufreq: Frequency method: SCOM, Voltage method: SMU
[    5.812401] gem 0001:03:0f.0 eth0: Sun GEM (PCI) 10/100/1000BaseT
Ethernet 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2
[    8.581065] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: renamed from eth0
[    9.550494] windfarm: SMU failed new fan command falling back to old
method
joe@debian1:~$ sudo dmesg | grep enP1p3s15f0
[    8.581065] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: renamed from eth0
[   49.467366] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Found BCM5221 PHY
[   65.284839] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[   65.284975] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[   66.500717] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[   82.308774] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[   82.308936] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[   90.820762] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  107.844850] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  107.844990] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  120.004718] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  139.460825] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  139.460964] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  141.892777] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  144.324829] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  144.324984] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  145.540737] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  147.972807] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  147.972944] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  150.404784] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  154.052775] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  154.052926] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  177.156744] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  192.964824] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  192.964960] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  212.420756] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  228.228763] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  228.228924] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  239.172755] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  254.980784] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  254.980946] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  267.140748] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  282.948784] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  282.948922] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  297.540760] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  315.780854] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  315.780996] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  316.996742] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  320.644820] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  320.644957] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
[  323.076717] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link down
[  338.884802] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Link is up at 10 Mbps,
full-duplex
[  338.884955] gem 0001:03:0f.0 enP1p3s15f0: Pause is disabled
joe@debian1:~$ sudo ifconfig
enP1p3s15f0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet6 fe80::20d:93ff:fe4a:42d2  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 13  bytes 74952 (73.1 KiB)
        RX errors 3  dropped 12  overruns 0  frame 2
        TX packets 196  bytes 31612 (30.8 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 62 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 941  bytes 78619 (76.7 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 941  bytes 78619 (76.7 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

joe@debian1:~$ sudo ip link show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode
DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enP1p3s15f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel
state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enx000d934a42d2
joe@debian1:~$
joe@debian1:~$ sudo ip addr show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group
default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host noprefixroute
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enP1p3s15f0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel
state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enx000d934a42d2
    inet6 fe80::20d:93ff:fe4a:42d2/64 scope link noprefixroute
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
joe@debian1:~$ sudo nmcli device status
DEVICE       TYPE      STATE                   CONNECTION
lo           loopback  connected (externally)  lo
enP1p3s15f0  ethernet  unavailable             --
joe@debian1:~$ sudo lspci | grep -i ethernet
0001:03:0f.0 Ethernet controller: Apple Inc. Shasta (Sun GEM)
joe@debian1:~$
joe@debian1:~$ date
Thu Sep  4 06:44:50 AM EDT 2025
joe@debian1:~$



On Wed, Sep 3, 2025 at 10:56 AM Cedar Maxwell <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hey Joe,
>
> If you want to continue troubleshooting your built-in Ethernet, try:
>
> sudo ip link set enP1p3s15f0 up
> sudo dhclient
>
> then:
>
> ip link show enP1p3s15f0
>
> If it still shows NO-CARRIER, this could mean no cable is plugged in or
> driver/firmware issue.
>
> Try: dmesg | grep -i eth
>
> or
>
> dmesg | grep enP1p3s15f0
>
> and see if there's any messages about the kernel complaining about
> firmware.
>
> On Wed, 2025-09-03 at 08:09 -0400, Joe Flowers wrote:
> > Thanks, Cedar!
> >
> > The machine is working great except for the built-in Ethernet
> > adapter, but I can live with the USB to Ethernet dongle.
> >
> > John's response pushed me to the "Guided" setup, and it worked great!
> >
> > Thanks for the GUI recommendations. I have made a note of them.
> >
> >
> > MacOSX is long gone on this machine. ifconfig is not on Debian,
> > apparently.
> >
> > But, below are other enumerations of the Ethernet setup. Would be
> > nice to have the built-in working, but beggars...
> >
> >
> > Thank you, in any case!
> >
> >
> > ----
> >
> > 172.16.99.227         04-69-f8-ec-83-23  <----- This is my USB to
> > Ethernet adapter that is working.
> >
> >
> > joe@debian1:~$ sudo ifconfig
> > [sudo] password for joe:
> > sudo: ifconfig: command not found
> > joe@debian1:~$
> >
> >
> > joe@debian1:~$ ip link show
> > 1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
> > mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
> >     link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
> > 2: enP1p3s15f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc
> > fq_codel state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
> >     link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
> >     altname enx000d934a42d2
> > 3: enx0469f8ec8323: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc
> > fq_codel state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
> >     link/ether 04:69:f8:ec:83:23 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
> >
> >
> > joe@debian1:~$ ip addr show
> > 1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
> > group default qlen 1000
> >     link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
> >     inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
> >        valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
> >     inet6 ::1/128 scope host noprefixroute
> >        valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
> > 2: enP1p3s15f0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc
> > fq_codel state DOWN group default qlen 1000
> >     link/ether 00:0d:93:4a:42:d2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
> >     altname enx000d934a42d2
> > 3: enx0469f8ec8323: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc
> > fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
> >     link/ether 04:69:f8:ec:83:23 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
> >     inet 172.16.99.227/24 brd 172.16.99.255 scope global dynamic
> > noprefixroute enx0469f8ec8323
> >        valid_lft 86253sec preferred_lft 86253sec
> >     inet6 fe80::669:f8ff:feec:8323/64 scope link noprefixroute
> >        valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
> >
> >
> > joe@debian1:~$ nmcli device status
> > DEVICE           TYPE      STATE                   CONNECTION
> > enx0469f8ec8323  ethernet  connected               Wired connection 1
> > lo               loopback  connected (externally)  lo
> > enP1p3s15f0      ethernet  unavailable             --
> > joe@debian1:~$
> >
> >
> > joe@debian1:~$ lspci | grep -i ethernet
> > 0001:03:0f.0 Ethernet controller: Apple Inc. Shasta (Sun GEM)
> > joe@debian1:~$ netstat -ie
> >
> > ---
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 2, 2025 at 2:01 AM Cedar Maxwell <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> > > On 8/28/25 23:41, Joe Flowers wrote:
> > > >
> > > > OK. Thanks to the command-line ideas from Jeroen and Cedar, I was
> > > > able
> > > > to get much further (plus I know how to get into the command-line
> > > > now!
> > > > Yay!), but I'm not exactly sure what caused it to finally see the
> > > > USB
> > > > stick for the Installation media step.
> > > >
> > > > The installation seemed to go OK and finish OK, but on restart,
> > > > the iMac
> > > > will not boot. I get the Mac icon that means bootable media
> > > > cannot be found.
> > > > I'm guessing maybe I made a partitioning mistake or a
> > > > partitioning quirk
> > > > or grub?
> > > >
> > > > Here is my partitioning setup:
> > > >
> > > > LVM VG vg1, LV lv1 - 398.5 MB Linux device-mapper (linear)
> > > >       #1    398.5 MB    f    ext2    /boot
> > > > LVM VG vg1, LV lv2 - 398.5 MB Linux device-mapper (linear)
> > > >       #1    398.5 MB    f    HFS    /boot/grub
> > > > LVM VG vg1, LV lv3 - 75.2 GB Linux device-mapper (linear)
> > > >       #1    75.2 GB    f    ext4    /
> > > > LVM VG vg1, LV lv4 - 4.0 GB Linux device-mapper (linear)
> > > >       #1    4.0 GB    f    swap    swap
> > > > SCSI2 (0,0,0) (sda) - 80.0 GB ATA WDC WD800J-40GB
> > > >       #1    32.3 kB        Apple
> > > > <---------------------------------------- bet this is the
> > > > problem? I
> > > > should have deleted this first?
> > > >       #2    80.0 GB       K    lvm    untitled
> > > >               25.1 kB        FREE SPACE
> > > > SCSI6 (0,0,0) (sdb) - 4.0 GB General UDisk  <-------- my
> > > > thumb drive
> > >
> > > I'd recommend starting the installation over and choosing "Guided -
> > > Use
> > > Entire Disk" once you get to partitioning.  I don't know if you
> > > meant to
> > > create an LVM, but I'd recommend against that for your first
> > > installation for simplicity's sake.
> > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > If the USB doesn't work this time, I need to dig through a
> > > > filled-up
> > > > cave for blank CD-R, DVD-R, or DVD+R discs (Thanks, Ken!).
> > > > Hopefully,
> > > > the CD/(DVD?) drive will work.
> > > >
> > > > The Built-in Ethernet hardware is apparently bad, and MacOSX
> > > > still would
> > > > not recognize either, but the Debian Installation did recognize
> > > > the
> > > > Apple USB-to-Ethernet dongle.
> > >
> > > I doubt your built-in Ethernet went bad on it's own.  I've had
> > > similar
> > > issues before with both Mac OS X and Linux.  If you type "ifconfig"
> > > in
> > > Terminal in OS X, what does it output?
> > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Anyway, please offer any advice on where I may have messed up, so
> > > > I can
> > > > get this thing booting.
> > > >
> > > > BTW, any recommendations for a lightweight GUI to install?  I
> > > > need this
> > > > machine mostly for gcc (some g++) and TCP/IP and thread
> > > > programming,
> > > > gdb, SSH/SCP.
> > > >
> > >
> > > XFCE or LXQT are generally considered to be the top choices.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Thank you!
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 7:53 AM Joe Flowers
> > > > <[email protected]
> > > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >      On the “Detect and mount installation media” step, I get,
> > > > “Your
> > > >      installation media couldn’t be mounted. “
> > > >
> > > >      I burned debian-12.0.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso on a 4GB USB
> > > > drive with
> > > >      rufus-4.9p.exe. Rufus said it had to use the dd method.
> > > >
> > > >      When the iMac G5 is booted up with Mac OS X Version 10.5.8,
> > > > I can
> > > >      see and browse the USB drive and read text files on it.
> > > >
> > > >      I can boot to the USB drive with Federico Vaga’s excellent
> > > > post
> > > >      (https://lists.debian.org/debian-
> > > > powerpc/2024/02/msg00007.html
> > > >      <https://lists.debian.org/debian-
> > > > powerpc/2024/02/msg00007.html> =>
> > > >      boot usb0/disk@1:,\boot\grub\powerpc.elf), and the Debian
> > > >      installation seems to proceed fine until I get to this
> > > > error.
> > > >
> > > >      “Your installation media couldn’t be mounted... “ “Retry
> > > > mounting
> > > >      installation media?”
> > > >
> > > >      I have not been able to get the Built-in Ethernet port nor a
> > > > USB to
> > > >      Ethernet dongle to work when booted in Mac OS X, but I was
> > > > hoping
> > > >      the Debian installation media could work with either of
> > > > those two
> > > >      Ethernet hardware options. I do not have a WiFi card in this
> > > > iMac
> > > >      G5, apparently.
> > > >
> > > >      Any ideas, please?
> > > >
> > > >      ---
> > > >
> > > >      debian-12.0.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso
> > > >      SHA256:
> > > > 1483ae25b215e69cbd2268b4aa58b23bc7f5522f6fc5697213af39cee6704c50
> > > >
> > > >      rufus-4.9p.exe
> > > >      SHA256:
> > > > 497f796e6d076d4855d697965c04626e6d3624658fce3eca82ab14f7414eede2
> > > >
> > > >      ---
> > > >
> > >
>
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