James Buchanan wrote:

> I have an Apple iBook, which has an ATI Radeon Mobility video card. I'm not sure if that
> helps identify what model it is. (Is there some way to tell?) I don't know how to get into
> the OF prompt with it.

To identify the model, have a look at Apple's article "How to Identify iBook Models"[1]. If
that doesn't help, there's more detailed specifications[2] available to sort things out.

To enter the Open Firmware prompt, you need to hold down a special four-key combination.
Snipped from the macppc INSTALL[3] document, section 'Getting to Open Firmware 3';

"After the chime starts, but before it stops, hold down the four COMMAND-OPTION-O-F keys (the
COMMAND key looks like a four-leaf clover or an open apple, and the OPTION key may look like a
two-way switch with four straight line segments or say ALT) until you see the Open Firmware
command prompt on your screen:"

> I find the instructions for installing NetBSD confusing. Do I need to run the MacOS X install
> CD to partition the disk? I only want NetBSD installed on it.

No, you don't have to use the Mac OS X install CD to partition the disk.

See the INSTALL[3] document and the partitioning HOWTO[4] for further explanation. If some
sections are still unclear, point 'em out - be specific.

[...]

> It seems I have to keep an Apple bootstrap partition which is always ~36K, then some other
> Apple partition (would this be the HFS partition the install guides talk about?), then a
> partition named NetBSD or something. (Is that the "name" field or the "type" field?)

The bootstrap partition you're talking about is probably the special 'partition' reserved for a
primary bootloader. While the second Apple partition is the Mac OS boot partition (yes, HFS or
HFS+) where ofwboot.xcf may reside. 

To get a better grip of partitioning, see 'Partitioning your hard drive for NetBSD' in the
INSTALL[3] document. Also make sure you've read the entire document before installing, check
out the 'Prepare yourself' section for some good pre-install advices. 

"Howto install NetBSD 1.6.1 stable on an iBook"[5] might be a good reference, too.


[1]: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=n88039
[2]: http://www.info.apple.com/support/applespec.html#ibook
[3]: ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-2.0.2/macppc/INSTALL.html
[4]: http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/partitioning.html
[5]: http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-macppc/2004/01/19/0000.html

-- 
ceh