Enable multiple OSX boot option and intellegent labels?

[Jim Harris]

Success!

 

Jack,  I followed your advice and edited the ofboot.b file directly and re-saved it in the bootstrap partition.  Then, with fear and trepidation, I changed the ‘boot-dev’ Open Firmware variable to point directly to the ofboot.b file.  (Did I type in enough zeros?  Did I forget some weird punctuation somewhere?  Will this even work or did I just bork my machine??)

 

p.s.  I saved a copy of both the original ofboot.b and the new ofboot.b on my desktop – and I’m going to write them to a thumb-drive too.

 

After correcting a couple of typos in the boot file, I am now getting a menu with both OSX partitions represented, with sane labels.  Though, as I am sure you agree, I hate ugly hacks like this.

 

Next question:  Does anyone know how to make that boot menu in a larger typeface?  These ol eyes have not been 20 years old for a LOOONG time, and the text in that menu is pretty darn small. . . .  ( :grin: )

 

p.s.  Don’t forget – I’m always here for all of your computer or networking needs.

 

Jim "JR" Harris 
Principal Engineer / Owner

Arrowhead Computer Consulting, LLC
Authorized Avira Security Solutions Reseller

“I don’t just sell it, I use it!”

508-595-9382 (Desk)
508-864-8404 (Cell) 

 

From: Jackoverfull [mailto:jackoverfull at gmail.com] 
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 11:03 AM
To: Jim Harris
Cc: yaboot-users at lists.ozlabs.org
Subject: Re: Enable multiple OSX boot option and intellegent labels?

 

 

Il giorno 03/feb/2012, alle ore 16.33, Jim Harris ha scritto:

 

The current yaboot will do that on its own.  It has no problem booting Linux, OSX,  OS9 and the CD-ROM.  The issue is when you try to boot more than one instance of the *SAME* OS, such as Linux, OSX #1, and OSX #2.  (or OS9 #1 and OS9 #2, or Linux #1 and Linux #2, etc.)

Right. I originally wrote that while i was trying to install Linux on an HFS+ partition while OS 9 was installed on the same partition (worked well, there are a couple of articles on my website. Only in italian, tough…). Anyway, editing that file should let you boot as many different OSes you want.

 

>>Jim

That’s what *I* thought!  And I could give them whatever names I wanted, so long as the menu and the boot-stanzas have the same name. Right?

<<Jim

 

Right.
 



 Seriously now, there has to be a better way to do this than mucking around in the boot code. . . .  That’s about as awful a hack as hand-editing the MS-DOS partition table on a PC’s hard drive.  (And yes, I have done that, and yes, it is an awful hack.) 

No doubt about it: it's an "hack" and doesn't cope well with yaboot automations, however I can't see other ways to reach the same result right now.

 

>>Jim

In the current instant, you are correct.  What I would like to do is see if I can actually ‘improve’ the code itself to avoid such an awful hack.

<<Jim

 

If you can, I'm sure your improvements will be appreciated.





Especially as anytime there’s an update to yaboot, your carefully crafted script goes down the toilet, so you have to go and re-hack it again.

Do backups…

 

>>Jim

Doh!  Still, when I say ‘re-hack’ I also meant that I’d have to go digging around in the boot partition again.

<<Jim

 

Should be a thing of an instant.

At that point, anyway, you might find easier not to update yaboot at all, at least until you really need to.





(and somehow re-bless that darn partition/file/etc.)  Oh, and another thing.  How did you keep your edit of that file from de-blessing *your* boot partition?

 

Never happened.

However, you can boot a file from Open Firmware even if the partition is not blessed. I believe my mac was set up to boot directly the boot script, regardless of the status of the partition. On one of my machines I didn't even use a dedicated boot partition, had OS X on one and Linux and OS 9 on the other, with the boot script on one of them.

 

>>Jim

Which file do you point the boot at?  The script itself?  I thought the boot had to point to some kind of ‘thx’ (or whatever) file.

<<Jim

 

Yes, the script itself. Wich was originally called ofboot.b (thanks Nello, could not remember the name…) but can have actually any name.





 

>>Jim

I could, but I am real suspicious of that kind of thing.  Invariably there is something left out, or something not set the way it should be, and if something goes wrong I will always be second-guessing the installation itself, even if it is perfect.  This way there is no mistake.

 

Well, if it's less an hassle to just format everything that's probably the best way to do it, right?





Thanks for all the tips!  They *ARE* appreciated

 

Jim (JR)

You're welcome…And thanks for any future contribution to the code…

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