Strange behavior of my PowerMac G5 - it doesn't boot anymore
Anyone who reads my blog from time to time is familiar with my PowerMac setup. I have two SSDs connected to the internal SATA ports: a 512 GB SATA SSD for Mac OS X 10.5 and a 128 GB SSD for Linux. I also have an NVMe SSD connected to the internal PCI Express x4 port.
The 128 GB SSD for Linux runs Debian 12 SID, and its primary function is to boot the actual Linux distribution from the NVMe SSD. The PowerMac, specifically the Open Firmware, doesn't have drivers for NVMe, and neither does Mac OS X. Therefore, it boots Grub from the internal SSD to load the correct kernel and partition from the NVMe SSD.
I had set the default boot drive in Mac OS X to the Linux SSD because I almost always boot into ArchPower Linux and only very rarely into Mac OS X 10.5. However, I recently changed this because I wanted to fill my iPod Classic with new MP3s using iTunes under 10.5, its natural habitat.
Now I've finished all that and wanted to change it back, and lo and behold: without any changes whatsoever, it no longer boots from the Linux SSD. No luck. Completely crazy.
So what I do now is to reformat the Linux SSD with a fresh Install of Debian SID in the Hope it is recognized again and that I can boot. The Linuces are all on the NVMe so I can use them. I can jumpstart und chroot via USB-Boot but thats not what I want.
Here is a Shortplan of my Setup :-)
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PowerMac |
| |
| +------------------------+ |
| | SATA SSD (512 GB) | --> Mac OS X 10.5 |
| | (internal SATA-Port) | |
| +------------------------+ |
| |
| +------------------------+ |
| | SATA SSD (128 GB) | --> Debian 12 SID (Bootloader) |
| | (internal SATA-Port) | (Grub starts NVMe) |
| +------------+-----------+ |
| | |
| | (Grub loads Kernel/Rootfs) |
| v |
| +------------------------+ |
| | NVMe SSD (PCIe x4) | --> Linux-Distributions |
| | (internal PCIe-Port) | (ArchPower, Debian, …) |
| +------------------------+ |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
The problem is now, that I am unable to install Debian from USB or another Device. It always has problems to install grub or to load APT while installing to load the software it instqlls. The last time I tried that it worked everthing like charme.
[Update] I now tried to change the SSDs, I own another old 128 GB Sata II SSD because the Powermac is known for being choosy when it comes to SSDs on the internal ports. But the other SSD runs for nearly 2 years without any problems in this setup. Argh.
Earlier I suddenly had a problem where Debian wouldn't install anymore. It suddenly couldn't retrieve APT sources and therefore couldn't install the system properly. When I skipped that step, Grub wouldn't install, so it's all pointless because I need a working GRUB on this SSD to boot the NVMe drive.
However, this now seems to be "fixed," as it installs the graphical interface and downloads the packages from the network via Apt. I'm installing Debian 13 SID; I got the netinstall ISO from here.