iMac G3 will not boot dapper installer

tried burning the CD again using command line cdrecord (still on the ubuntu machine), as suggested here:
http://yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.php?t=511&sid=1124dc817e10b13bb80bfaf919ceb84f

No luck - except that it locked up solidly (couldn't power it down at all) this time.

Burned on Taiyo Yuden media.

As far as I know, "DEFAULT CATCH!" means that Open Firmware had trouble loading a file (thus says http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/faq.html#default-catch, anyway). With some firmware versions this can happen randomly; did you make multiple attempts to boot the CD, or just one?

Unfortunately the debug message you got is only likely to make any sense to whoever wrote the firmware.

It's also possible that the kernel could be missing something in such a way that it bombs out at a very early stage; since we know that the Breezy kernel loads, it could be an incorrect config option in Dapper's kernel. Ben, have you had any other similar reports?

It would also be worth burning an Ubuntu 5.10 CD and trying to boot that (you don't have to install anything, just see if it boots) to try to isolate whether this is a problem booting from CD or specifically a problem booting the Dapper kernel from CD.

I have a 5.10 ppc cd that was shipped to me at work. I'll bring that home and give it a try later tonight.

I should probably mention -

looking around, this [https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/yaboot/+bug/32491] is the closest that I could find to my problem, even though it's the LiveCD and I was on the full install.

I'll do some more troubleshooting on my end later tonight.

I burned it again using a powerbook (to ensure that it wasn't some mac format problem), and it DID give me a different result, so there's potentially a problem in the "write to CD" option under 5.10.

However, I still got the error, just in a different format. It allowed me to boot, but on install (default), it gave me the following error:
Can't allocate initial device-tree chunk.

I noticed that this error LOOKS to be unique to http://svn.opentom.org/opentom/trunk/linux-2.6/arch/ppc64/kernel/prom_init.c :: void __init flatten_device_tree(void), but I am not familiar with open source development, and definitely not familiar with the linux kernel.

typing "help" gives the a DEFAULT CATCH, error = 300 problem, same message as before, but on a very different screen.

Apple iMac OpenFirmware 3.0.f10 is on the machine.

I'm installing 5.10ppc off the CD now, and it's going through without a hitch.

NOTE: Again, I'm new to ubuntu / linux / macs, so putting all three together in one spot is potentially very dangerous and I've tried to include as much info as I could.

I download flight 6 of both ubuntu and kubuntu. ubuntu installed OK. kbuntu had an error like the one listed above. Unfortunately, I can't reproduce the error now as it won't get past the Booting CDROM... message now. This is a iMac model m5521 - G3.

I've tried various releases and a couple nightly builds of kubuntu 6 over the last few weeks and haven't had much luck. I was able to install KDE on the ubuntu install though. :-)

Having similar problem on an imac reva with Dapper beta live cd version of xubuntu daily 26/4/06.
with "Can't allocate initial device-tree chunk." appearing on the open firmware screen

Dapper RC install cdroms (Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu) will not boot on G3 iMac (2 identical tried), both have Ubuntu 5.10 previous already installed.

It gets to point that is loading kernel to ram

Elf32 kernel loaded

then crashs to firmware prompt.

"Can't allocate initial device-tree chunk."

Apple Open Firmware 3.0 f2 built on 04/23/99 at 14.32.03

Beginning with the Hardy Heron 8.04 development cycle, all open Ubuntu kernel bugs need to be reported against the "linux" kernel package. We are automatically migrating this linux-source-2.6.15 kernel bug to the new "linux" package. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make this transition. Also, if you would be interested in testing the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release, it is available at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing . Please let us know your results. Thanks!