Backslash, German iMac Keyboard and OpenFirmware

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I had problems typing the backslash “" and bar “|” on my iMac keyboard when in the OpenFirmware user interface.

A picture of my iMac G3 while in Open Firmware

The “" key on US iMac keyboards seems to produce keycode 57 (in X11). There is no key on the German keyboard that produces keycode 57. There is one with keycode 58, the “#” key.

Using OpenFirmware on Powermacs

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There is always the discussion around if the Powermacs are able to boot from USB or not and I can say: every Powermac G5 is able to boot from USB Thumbdrive. So it is quite easy to dd an ISO of Linux or Leopard to an USB-Drive and boot-up the Powermac G5 with it. But also older Macs. Older Roms. Older Edlers.

Accessing Open Firmware

Method I: At the chime, hold down the Option key. The Boot Picker comes up. Press Control + Z to switch to Open Firmware. Method II: At the chime, hold down Command + Option + O + F until you’ve arrived at the Open Firmware prompt.

Openfirmware on Apfel hammer

Backslash, German iMac Keyboard and OpenFirmware

Using OpenFirmware on Powermacs

Accessing Open Firmware