[mythtv-users] Mac Mini boot failure

[Fredrik Hallgarde]

Hi all,

Quick summary:
How to set Mythdora 4.0 as default boot with BIOS on Mac mini and avoid 
a kernel panic?

Long story:
I recently bought a Mac Mini C2D 1,83Ghz to use as a FE.
Using Bootcamp 1.4 Beta I have created a "Windows" partition and using 
the Mythdora 4.0 CDs I have installed a semi-working FE (ir is based on 
mceusb, volume control doesn't work and other minor issues that I will 
solve eventually).

I say semi-working as it is fine when it boots but it is anyones guess 
if it will come up or fail to find the Volgroup00 and kernel panic as a 
result. It seems to be able to boot if booted on a cd or into MacOS 
first and then rebooted but it does not seem to be a 100% safe bet.
If I boot the machine to MacOS and then reboot and use the alt key to 
select "Windows" I get the expected behaviour with GRUB loading the 
kernel and booting properly *most of the time*
Rebooting from Linux gets me back in Linux *most of the time*, sometimes 
it kernel panics (its the inconsistency that kills me)
Shutting down Linux and booting (even manually selecting the Windows 
partition via the alt-key) gives me kernel panic.

I have tried googling and reading about the mac boot process and boot 
camps BIOS compatibility but can't seem to find anything definitive.
I suspect the initialization of the storage system and BIOS 
compatibility is the key area of interest as its obvious that the kernel 
panic is due to missing root partition. But how do I set what OS to boot 
and make it stay that way with the correct storage information?

As mentioned above there are other things not fully working, but this 
issue is the showstopper that I cannot grasp, any help would be appreciated.
Anyone else using similar gear?
Would rEFIt help?
Any nvram setting to verify / set?
Is Bootcamp in 10.5 an improvement?
replace GRUB? GRUB settings?
Change kernel/distro/config?
Change Partitioning layout/scheme?

Thanks

Fredrik


Various things of potential interest:

The linux partitions show up in Disk Utility in Mac OS's but in Startup 
disk (System Preferences) it cannot be set as boot disk as its not 
listed. Partition scheme is GUID Partition Table.

/dev/sda3 boot partition (where GRUB is installed)
/dev/sda4 LVM with /, swap and /storage

Mythdora 4.0 standard kernel 2.6.20-1.2944.fc6

Old (flaky) TFT screen and standard usb mouse/keyboard.

messages during failed boot:

Uncompressing Linux...Ok, booting the kernel.
i8042.c: No controller found
Red Hat nash version 5.1.19.0.3 starting
ata_piix 0000:00:1f.2: invalid MAP value 0
usb 1-1: device not accepting address 2, error -71
    Reading all physical volumes. This may take a while...
    No volume groups found
    Volume group "VolGroup00" not found
Unable to access resume device (/dev/Volgroup00/LogVol02)
mount: could not find filesystem '/dev/root'
setuproot: moving /dev failed: No such file or directory
setuproot: error mounting /proc : No such file or directory
setuproot: error mounting /sys : No such file or directory
switchroot: mount failed: No such file or directory
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

Please note that the i8042, ata_piix and usb 1-1 errors are all there 
during a successful boot but the rest is not.