Re: Cannot boot installer on PowerMac G5

Hey Justin,

I've been struggling to get past the installer.  Using your command
from Open Firmware it'll boot, but the installer is very slow.  It
takes a long time to respond to keystrokes, ranging from a few minutes
to 30 minutes or hours.  Any advice?

Thanks,
Cedar

On Tue, 2025-07-29 at 09:52 -0400, Justin Hibbits wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Jul 2025 21: 48: 32 -0500 Cedar Maxwell <cedar@ tamu. edu>
> wrote: > Hello, > > When attempting to boot the installer I
> downloaded >
> ([https: //urldefense. com/v3/__https: //download. freebsd. org/relea
> ses/powerpc/powerpc64/ISO-IMAGES/14. 3/FreeBSD-14. 3-RELEASE-powerpc-
> powerpc64-
> disc1. iso*5D(https: /*download. freebsd. org/releases/powerpc/powerp
> c64/ISO-IMAGES/14. 3/FreeBSD-14. 3-RELEASE-powerpc-powerpc64-
> disc1. iso)__;JS8!!KwNVnqRv!Bqvwnr6AS-vVJnqujxvs2jXPQmKZ-
> dkPRUfboQtKhWAz4px_pmAD0ygMTJzwWDozHgLf1_9EZhaxWwPA$)
>  
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> On Sat, 26 Jul 2025 21:48:32 -0500
> Cedar Maxwell <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> > Hello,
> > 
> > When attempting to boot the installer I downloaded  
> > ([
> > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://download.freebsd.org/releases/p
> > owerpc/powerpc64/ISO-IMAGES/14.3/FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-powerpc-
> > powerpc64-
> > disc1.iso*5D(https:/*download.freebsd.org/releases/powerpc/powerpc6
> > 4/ISO-IMAGES/14.3/FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-powerpc-powerpc64-
> > disc1.iso)__;JS8!!KwNVnqRv!Bqvwnr6AS-vVJnqujxvs2jXPQmKZ-
> > dkPRUfboQtKhWAz4px_pmAD0ygMTJzwWDozHgLf1_9EZhaxWwPA$)
> > the disc is detected in the Option boot menu, but once selected  
> > graphical issues appear (increased black outlines on the cursor and
> > buttons) and the machine hangs at a white screen until returning to
> > the Option menu.
> > 
> > I tried this ISO  
> > [
> > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://download.freebsd.org/releases/po
> > werpc/powerpc64le/ISO-IMAGES/14.3/FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-powerpc-
> > powerpc64le-
> > bootonly.iso*5D(https:/*download.freebsd.org/releases/powerpc/power
> > pc64le/ISO-IMAGES/14.3/FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-powerpc-powerpc64le-
> > bootonly.iso)__;JS8!!KwNVnqRv!Bqvwnr6AS-vVJnqujxvs2jXPQmKZ-
> > dkPRUfboQtKhWAz4px_pmAD0ygMTJzwWDozHgLf1_9EZimjtW9I$
> > but the same behavior was exhibited.  I also tried making a
> > bootable  
> > USB installer with sudo dd bs=4M if=FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-powerpc-  
> > powerpc64-disc1.iso of=/dev/sdd status=progress , but no change.
> > 
> > Please advise.
> > 
> > Thanks,  
> > Cedar Maxwell
> > 
> > 
> 
> Unfortunately it appears FreeBSD on the G5 has rotted, due to lack of
> resources.  My G5 died 7 years ago, so the only PowerMac hardware I
> have remaining that can run FreeBSD is a bunch of G4s, and last I
> tried
> those, they ran pretty well (13.x, IIRC).  My primary powerpc
> hardware
> are a Talos II (POWER9), and an AmigaOne X5000, and recent FreeBSD
> works
> fine on both of these,  but there are PRs filed of problems with G5s,
> particularly the dual core G5s, that we haven't managed to fix due to
> lack of hardware.
> 
> If you can drop down to Open Firmware, please try:
> 
> boot cd:,\\:tbxi
> 
> and see if there are any errors with that.
> 
> - Justin