On Fri, Jun 29, 2001 at 03:30:24PM -0500, Phil Frost wrote:
> 1) where can I find documentation on the full boot process of this
> computer?

You don't. Unless you're inside Apple or know someone who is. Even
then, you've got to be pretty lucky, since it doesn't seem to so
much exist any more.

There are a lot of people who'd be really thankful if you could
reverse engineer this of course.

Also, depending on how it's licensed and how you choose to interpret
that license, it might be possible to use the Mach or LinuxPPC code
as reference.

> 2) where can I find documentation on open firmware? the only refrence
> i have found it to IEEE, which isn't exactly open from what I have seen.

Hardly matters, considering you haven't got any Open Firmware, now
does it? ;^>

There were a few references to Apple tech notes on OF in the macppc
FAQ the last time I checked.

References on Sun's OpenBoot might also be useful... OF is largely a
less featured, less stable version of OpenBoot.

> 3) where can I find documentation on nubus? This one is tough...

See answer to 1.

> 4) Does netbsd currently have something like UMDOS, so that I can
> install netbsd without trashing mac OS? I have no floppy drive on
> this computer, only a network connection :(

What's UMDOS?

As long as you install the boot blocks by hand rather than
installing them using sysinst, you can keep your Apple partition map
and still boot NetBSD from the same disk.

But this presumes a sysinst that even works (we don't have one of
those for nubus macppc) and a boot process that works (also lacking
for nubus macppc).

> 5) Does anyone know if there is support in the video hardware for a text
> console, or is open freeware required to do that?

That's an interesting typo. ;^>

The mac ROM has no text-based interface so far as I know, and
there's no other controller kind of thing on nubus macs.

> 6) Are there any ports of unix tools to macintosh? Specificly, development
> tools would be helpfull. Also, there is a windows lib called cygwin that
> provides a unix environment in windows, is there such a thing for
> macintosh? A finder replacement that gave me a unix shell would be way
> cool :)

Um... yes, such tools definitely exist, but their names are deep in
the foggy recesses of my brain. A bit of browsing on some mac
enthusiast web pages might get you what you want. Also, it's worth
taking a look in the mac software section at, say, wuarchive.wustl.edu.
All kinds of aging but fun stuff in there.

Cheers, and good luck...

-- 
       ~ g r @ eclipsed.net