IMAC G3 (700Mhz) 7.2 & 8.0 install fails with "fatal kernel trap:"

[tom armistead]

Hello,

      I recently received a IMAC G3 (700Mhz, circa 2001) and want to run FreeBSD on it.    I tried 8.0, 7.2 and on both, the install fails very early on with a fata kernel trap message.

I break into the OF prompt then type:

boot cd:,\boot\loader cd:0

It looks like it starts the loader ok and it looks like it does it's thing and starts the kernel but then after just a second or two, the kernel fails with the following messages:

fatal kernel trap:
    exception = 0x4 (instruction storage trap)
    virtual address = 0x5121c8
    srr0 = 0x5121c8
  .... and so on.

I found a suggestion about pausing in the loader and shutting off fireware (slot 14) using a set command.   I tried doing that but it made no difference.

I tried with both 8.0, 7.2 (and a quick test with 6.2) but none of them worked.

Should FreeBSD install work on an IMAC G3 700Mhz or am I beating a dead horse? 

I also tried updating the IMAC firmware to the latest (1.4.9) but it made no difference.  

The IMAC does boot OSX just fine.   It also booted a Linux install CD (YellowDog I think...).   So, I'm pretty sure the HW is functioning properly...

I did boot the FreeBSD 8.0 install CD on my eMAC (1.42Ghz) and it started up into the installer without problem.