error - need bootstrap partition to boot system

[Barry Hertzberg]

Help me please.

I have a Rev A iMac (the first model). I don't want the MAC OS on this one and I started by booting off my OS 9 CD and formatting the drive. Then I booted the Mandrake 8.2 CD and I more or less kept hitting return until I saw the set up routine for yaboot. I think that it auto detected my video. (I hope so anyway.)

What is becoming a problem is when I get to the Setup File System part of the install. I get a message that states, "An error occurred. Need bootstrap partition to boot system." I okay that and I tried to fix it by reallocating space. This was futile. So was the wizard. Eventually I got a message that:
No free space for 1MB bootstrap! Install will continue, but to boot your system you'll need to create a bootstrap partition in DiskDrake. (I okayed this but it did not go on.)

I tried to clear the partition and reallocate again and I want /usr directory too. It keeps defaulting me back to the bootstrap error message.

I did try the web site and I read the docs. I'm more confused then i was a few days ago. I can't figure out how to add the bootstrap partition and I'm not sure if I must have OS9 installed to make all this work. I wanted a pure linux machine because I only have 4 gigs to play with. Do I need OS9? I thought that a New world box did not need it. Why is it asking for the boot strap? Do i need the frmware update? I'm really confused! I also have no way to tell what video card is in this machine now that i removed OS9. Will that be a problem?

Any help would be much appreciated. I'm not great on Linux. All I have done so far is to put Mandrake on a PC and i run that off a GUI. I'm not a genius setup and navigating the CLI yet. Go easy on me please.

Thanks.
--
Barry M. Hertzberg, TTL

Wm. Loesche School
Information Technology Lab
595 Tomlinson Road
Philadelphia, PA 19116

(215) 961-2519 (voice)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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