Yaboot Explained

Yaboot (yet another boot loader^[1]) is a bootloader for PowerPC-based hardware running Linux.^{[2] [3]}

History

In 2009, maintenance by Paul Nasrat was handed over to Tony Breeds.^[4]

Hardware support

Support includes the New World ROM Macintosh and IBM RS/6000 systems. It does not support the "OldWorld" PowerMacs.

Booting procedure

It is built to run within the Open Firmware layer common to most such systems instead of working as a Mac OS 9 program like its predecessor BootX.

Yaboot is similar to LILO and GNU GRUB.^[5] Yaboot uses the following steps to boot:

1. Yaboot is invoked by Open Firmware
2. Finds a boot device, boot path and opens boot partition
3. Opens /etc/yaboot.conf or a command shell
4. Loads image or kernel and initrd
5. Executes image

See also

• Comparison of boot loaders

External links

• • Former official website on the Wayback Machine

Notes and References

1. Web site: First Look at an Apple G4 with the Altivec Processor. 2021-03-26. Linux Journal.
2. Web site: 2004-06-16. penguinppc.org - The New Home of PowerPC Linux. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20040616050001/http://penguinppc.org/projects/yaboot/. 2004-06-16. 2021-03-26. penguinppc.org.
3. Book: Rodriguez, Claudia Salzberg. The Linux Kernel primer : a top-down approach for X86 and PowerPC architectures. 2005. Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference. Gordon Fischer, Steven Smolski. 0-13-118163-7. Upper Saddle River, NJ. 8.2.3. PowerPC and Yaboot. 79872126.
4. Web site: Nasrat. Paul. 24 May 2009. Introducing new maintainer. 2021-03-26.
5. Web site: Encrypt Your Root Filesystem. 2021-03-26. Linux Journal.