Trying to install FreeBSD 8.2-RC1 on a PowerMac G5

[Torfinn Ingolfsen]

Update:

On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:04:50 +0100
Torfinn Ingolfsen <torfinn.ingolfsen at broadpark.no> wrote:

> I am trying to install FreeBSD 8.2-RC1 on a PowerMac G5[1].
> The machine boots from the CD (disc1 image) when I press "C" on the keyboard, but after booting,
> when it shows the "Country Selection" dialog, the keyboard no longer works.
> How do I fix / workaround this problem?
> 
> FWIW, i also tried with FreeBSD 8.1-release (both on CD and from a usb memory stick), the CD hung,
> the memory stick has the same problem as 8.2-RC1; the keyboard is not working when the "Country Selection"
> dialog shows up. Full details on the FreeBSD page[2] for this machine.
> 
> References:
> 1) http://sites.google.com/site/tingox/powermac_g5
> 2) http://sites.google.com/site/tingox/powermac_g5_freebsd

After testing the machine with ASD, swapping memory etc, the staus is
that the mcahine isn't totally ok, but I can get about two hours of
working time on it (from "cold") before problems start to show up.

A few things I have figured out:
1) whenever I try to boot a FreeBSD install CD ("disc1") on this
machine, it hangs with acd0 errors, and will not go on from there. This
goes for both the FreeBSD 8.2-RC1 image and the FreeBSD
9.0-20101118-SNAP image.

2) If I put the same image on a usb memory stick, I can successfully
boot it, provided that there isn't a CD in the cd drive. If there is a
cd in the drive, the hang problem shows up again. Again, this holds
true for both the 8.2-RC1 and the 9.0-20101118-SNAP image.

3) When I get to the main screen, I select Fixit, then "live filesystem
from usb", but the installer says "no usb devices found".

4) Since there isn't a "scroll lock" key on a Mac keyboard, I do not
know how to display the boot messages, so I can't give more info about
what might be wrong. 

5) I could have used "dmesg" but it isn't on the install image. I could
have mounted the live fs manually, but the install image doesn't have a
"mount" command.

Info about this machine[II] and about FreeBSD on this machine[I].

Questions:
a) is there a way to perform the "scroll lock" keypress on a Mac
    keyboard?
b) how can I get the livefs mounted?

References:
I) http://sites.google.com/site/tingox/powermac_g5_freebsd
II) http://sites.google.com/site/tingox/powermac_g5
-- 
Torfinn