[Debian-ppc64-devel] IBM pSeries 650 and powerpc versus ppc64

[Andreas Jochens]

Hello,

On 06-Apr-21 18:53, Gavin Hamill wrote:
> What can I do to 'sidegrade' archs without involving a full reinstall
> because I don't think my nerves could take another one of those :D The
> service processor / openfirmware stuff is just too terrifying!
> 
> Would it be feasible to make a new ext3 partition, run debootstrap in
> it for ppc64, manually fish out the vmlinux+initrd files from the
> linux-image-2.6.15, and then point yaboot at the new partition instead
> of the 'powerpc' one?

yes, you can use debootstrap to install the ppc64 distribution on a 
separate partition. To do this, you need to install and run a 64 bit 
kernel first. The standard 'powerpc' distribution has a 64-bit kernel
which can be installed using 

apt-get install linux-image-2.6-powerpc64

You could also use something like

dpkg --force-all -i linux-image-2.6.16-1-ppc64_2.6.16-8_ppc64.deb

to directly install a kernel from the ppc64 distribution on your
powerpc installation. (The -powerpc64 and the -ppc64 kernels are
almost identical - only the distribution indicator is different,
i.e. ppc64 instead of powerpc.)


When a 64-bit kernel is running you can use debootstrap as follows

debootstrap --arch ppc64 sid /newpartition http://debian-ppc64.alioth.debian.org

to install the ppc64 port.

Then you can install a kernel from the ppc64 distribution in 
/newpartition using the 'chroot' command

chroot /newpartition apt-get install linux-image-2.6-ppc64

Booting into the /newpartition should then be possible.

Regards
Andreas Jochens