Ubuntu

Fix ubuntu Ver. 6.06 on iMac G3

Asked by CharonCross

My most recent Mac is an iMac G5/1.6 GHz; prior to that I have an iMac G3/500, which I installed ubuntu 6.06 on. Ubuntu is the only operating system on the G3.

I ended up forgetting my password, and have attempted to recover it, but was unable to. When I read posts about recovery of passwords with Ubuntu, I read about things like GRUB and terminal (which I am somewhat familiar with from Mac OS X) but cannot find how to access these processes. When I try to boot from the CD (Welcome to yaboot version 1.3.13 Enter "help" to get some....) I can click on the tab key and get some options (rescue, live-powerpc, check, rescue-powerpc,etc) but when I type 'rescue' or 'rescue-powerpc' I get: cd:2,/install/powerpc/vmlinux: Unknown or corrupt filesystem.

I purchased another ubuntu disk from Amazon (the one I originally installed was free from Canonical) in an attempt to reinstall – at this point I am thrashing about in the dark – but cannot seem to get access to my system. If I cannot get the password, I would like to wipe and reinstall ubuntu, but I cannot do this because, if I start up from a Mac OS X disk, it doesn't 'see' the ubuntu system, so I cannot 'erase' ubuntu, reinstall Mac OS X, and then reinstall ubuntu over it (though I might create a ubuntu partition this time, as opposed to purely installing ubuntu because I want to somehow (other than by making sure that my password isn't lost) ensure that this doesn't happen again.

That being said, I am relatively computer-savvy, especially when dealing with Mac OS X and, to a lesser extent, Windows. That is not the case with ubuntu, and would like some assistance with a wipe and reinstall, if there is no way to get my password back based upon my limited ubuntu experience.

If anyone responds to this, please explain as simply as possibly, and assume that I know virtually nothing about ubuntu; which is not all that far from the truth.

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Answered
For:
Ubuntu Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#1

Why don't you just use the Recovery Mode (should be the second entry on your grub menu)?
Or you managed to wipe that out trying to reinstall?

Revision history for this message
CharonCross (got265) said : 		#2

I have never accessed GRUB, though I have read about it in
these posts often. If you could reply with a step my step
on how to do it, I can try.

----- Original Message Follows -----
From: Cesare Tirabassi <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #10111]: Fix ubuntu Ver. 6.06 on iMac
G3
Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 16:24:59 -0000

> Your question #10111 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/10111
>
> Status: Open => Needs information
>
> Cesare Tirabassi requested for more information:
> Why don't you just use the Recovery Mode (should be the
> second entry on your grub menu)? Or you managed to wipe
> that out trying to reinstall?
>
> --
> To answer this request for more information, you can
> either reply to this email or enter your reply at the
> following page:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/10111
>
> You received this question notification because you are a
> direct subscriber of the question.

Revision history for this message
Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#3

I must say, I have no experience whatsoever on the PPC edition, but I expect that when you boot you will be presented with a menu with a number of options, amongst these something like:

Ubuntu, kernel some-numbers.here
Ubuntu, kernel some-numbers.here (recovery mode)

Is that so?
Is it a native installation, or are you using some kind of virtual machine?

Revision history for this message
CharonCross (got265) said : 		#4

Pretty much what I get is what I have already posted, which
is: First stage Linux boot strap: Then: Welcome to yaboot
version 1.3.13 Enter 'help' to get some basic usage
information
boot: c
no such file or directory

Then I push the enter key, and ubuntu begins to load.

I have not encountered a 'recovery mode' screen.

----- Original Message Follows -----
From: Cesare Tirabassi <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #10111]: Fix ubuntu Ver. 6.06 on iMac
G3
Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 20:18:18 -0000

> Your question #10111 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/10111
>
> Status: Open => Needs information
>
> Cesare Tirabassi requested for more information:
> I must say, I have no experience whatsoever on the PPC
> edition, but I expect that when you boot you will be
> presented with a menu with a number of options, amongst
> these something like:
>
> Ubuntu, kernel some-numbers.here
> Ubuntu, kernel some-numbers.here (recovery mode)
>
> Is that so?
> Is it a native installation, or are you using some kind of
> virtual machine?
>
> --
> To answer this request for more information, you can
> either reply to this email or enter your reply at the
> following page:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/10111
>
> You received this question notification because you are a
> direct subscriber of the question.

Revision history for this message
Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#5

OK, thanks, lets forget about Grub then. It is not used on PPC machines.
They indeed use yaboot, of which I know next to nothing.
I post here this link from the Debian documentation, it should be 100% applicable to Ubuntu too:

http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/yaboot-howto/

These ones from Ubuntu covers installation specific topics:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/YabootConfigurationForMacintoshPowerPCsDualBoot
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/PowerPC

Apparently c is your cd-rom and to be able to boot from it you have to hold the c key while booting?
If the cd-rom is in the driver than you should boot from the LiveCD and repair your installation (I expect this is the live-powerpc option).

Revision history for this message
CharonCross (got265) said : 		#6

Thank you for the assist. At this point, I have only ubuntu
installed on the G3. From my reading of yaboot it appears
that it is a way of determining which startup disk your
computer uses. At this point there is only one. But I am
learning from all this trial and error (trust me, despite
appearance to the contrary). I suspect that what I need is
to – from the live CD – to be find the command to reset
the password for a PPC computer.

----- Original Message Follows -----
From: Cesare Tirabassi <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #10111]: Fix ubuntu Ver. 6.06 on iMac
G3
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2007 09:16:05 -0000

> Your question #10111 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/10111
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Cesare Tirabassi proposed the following answer:
> OK, thanks, lets forget about Grub then. It is not used on
> PPC machines. They indeed use yaboot, of which I know next
> to nothing. I post here this link from the Debian
> documentation, it should be 100% applicable to Ubuntu too:
>
> http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/yaboot-howto/
>
> These ones from Ubuntu covers installation specific
> topics:
>
>
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/YabootConfigurationForMacintoshPowerPCsDualBoot
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/PowerPC
>
> Apparently c is your cd-rom and to be able to boot from it
> you have to hold the c key while booting? If the cd-rom is
> in the driver than you should boot from the LiveCD and
> repair your installation (I expect this is the
> live-powerpc option).
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following
> page to let us know that it is solved:
>
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/10111/+confirm?answer_id=4
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go
> to the following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/10111
>
> You received this question notification because you are a
> direct subscriber of the question.

Revision history for this message
Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#7

If you manage to boot from CD, it should be fairly easy to reset your password.
You have to mount your hard disk and chroot it from the LiveCD. Then you can use the passwd command to change your password.
For instance, suppose your hard disk is /dev/hda, once booted from the LiveCD you would open a terminal and type:

mount -t ext3 -o rw /dev/hda /mnt
chroot /mnt
passwd charon

Give your password (twice I think) and restart (I assume charon is your username).

Revision history for this message
CharonCross (got265) said : 		#8

From the 'Welcome to Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake)!' window how do you get to Terminal? I am given options (rescue, live-powerpc, check, rescue-powerpc, live-nosplash, check-powerpc, * live, and live-nosplash-powerpc) but no access to terminal – not directly at any rate.

I recall my username (Charon is just a name that I came up with for this forum. He's the ferryman who ferried souls across the River Styx in Greek/Roman myth for anyone whose curious) but not my password. If I am able to access Terminal I will then be able to try what you ask.

Revision history for this message
Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#9

From the options you have given me, I would try this:

live-powerpc

What is important is to get to the desktop, then you can open a terminal (Accessories->Terminal or alt-ctrl-F2).
Perhaps rescue-powerpc will get you to terminal directly (I assume it is the same as the recovery mode we have on PC).

Can you help with this problem?

Provide an answer of your own, or ask CharonCross for more information if necessary.

To post a message you must log in.