4Elements, Amsterdam, Holland

Installation: Fedora 11 on my xserve1,1 (model 2006)

// This installation is for Xserve1,1 2006 models only, it uses a 32BIT EFI. The Xserve2,1 2008 models uses a 64BIT EFI and requires an other installation approach.
// But If you need help, Xserve1,1 or Xserve2,1, I can help.

Here is my solution how I got Fedora 11 x86_64 on my Xserve1,1.
But first of all I want to thank pxwpxw from ubuntuforums, he helped me a lot.

First some downloads we need:
Download 1: Fedora 11 Live CD Fedora 11 Live CD (X86_64) and burn the CD at 4x speed.
Download 2: Latest refit for mac refit.dmg.
Download 3: Grub settings and files grub.zip.

Pre work:
Step 01: Install refit.
Step 02: After installation you will see a folder named "efi" on your HD.
Step 03: Open your terminal, go into root by su root enter your root password, than type bash /efi/refit/enable-always.sh and press enter, this will show you the grub screen at system boot.
Step 04: While the Xserve1,1 only uses the 32bit efi we need a 32bit grub.efi file.
Step 05: Unpack the downloaded grub.zip file and place 'grub-dumpbios' file and 'grubefi-karmic' folder into your "efi" folder. Efi will automatically detect the grub files and settings.
Step 06: Open grub.cfg with your favorite text editor (I use BBedit)

grub.cfg

# grub.cfg pxw 20090623

timeout=20
default=0

set F1=ctrl-x
set F2=ctrl-c
set color_normal=yellow/blue

menuentry "Fedora-11-x86_64-Live CD boot" {
fakebios
root=cd0
linux /isolinux/vmlinuz0 root=CDLABEL=Fedora-11-x86_64-Live rootfstype=auto ro liveimg rhgb single acpi=force irqpoll video=efifb nomodeset
initrd /isolinux/initrd0.img
}
menuentry "REBOOT" {
reboot
}

If you like you can make an extra partition from your startup HD (100GB will be enough for Mac OS X and the rest can be used for fedora)


The installation:
Step 07: Insert your Fedora live CD.
Step 08: Restart your computer and wait till you see the grub screen.








Step 09: Pick the grub button, that's the icon right from the Apple logo.
Step 10: Pick "Fedora-11-x86_64-Live CD boot" from your list.








Step 11: Let the boot codes roll, there will be some warning messages, not fatal and wait till you get to the #root@localhost:
Step 12:

[root@localhost]#
[root@localhost]# nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "Device"
Identifier "fbdev driver"
Driver "fbdev"
EndSection
(control+o is save and control+x is close)

[root@localhost]# exit

Step 13: Fedora Live CD will now show the graphical interface, all will work.
Step 14: Install fedora on your HD, choose your partition and press install (let me know and I can help you picking the right partition). Be aware: HardDisk 1 will be "sda" HardDisk 2 will be "sdb" You need to remember 2 sections. "/boot" partition (most of the time "sba3") and the OS partition "/" (This depands on your partition).

Step 15: After installation reboot into Mac OS X.
Step 16: Open your grub.cfg and add the following to the current list of menuentry.

menuentry "Fedora 11 x86_64 HD boot to enter fbdev" {
fakebios
root=hd0,3
linux /vmlinuz-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64 root=/dev/sda6 ro rhgb single acpi=force irqpoll video=efifb nomodeset
initrd /initrd-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64.img
}

You notice the "hd0,3", this is the /boot partition and "/dev/sda6" this is the OS partition (sda6 is my os partition, change it to yours) Save grub.cfg

Step 17: Restart your computer and follow step 08 till 11.
Step 18:

[root@localhost]#
[root@localhost]# nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "Device"
Identifier "fbdev driver"
Driver "fbdev"
EndSection
(control+o is save and control+x is close)

[root@localhost]# reboot

Step 19: At the grub menu pick the OSX icon to boot Mac OS X.
Step 20: Open grub.cfg and add the following to the menuentry.
Step 21:

menuentry "Fedora 11 x86_64 HD Final Boot" {
fix_video
fakebios
root=hd0,3
linux /vmlinuz-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64 root=/dev/sda6 nomodeset xdriver=fbdev ro acpi=force irqpoll video=efifb noefi
initrd /initrd-2.6.29.4-167.fc11.x86_64.img
}

Step 22: Restart and boot into Fedora, see step 10. But than pick "Fedora 11 x86_64 HD Final Boot"
Step 23: You're done.