68kMLA Classic Interface

dart=0 // not needed when DisableIoMapper is true

agdpmod=vit9696 // for not Navi GPUs if screen goes black during boot
agdpmod=pikera // use this only for Navi GPUs so the screen doesn't turn black


ipc_control_port_options=0 // ?
iogdebug=-1 iogt=-1 iogtl=4096 // graphics stuff
debug=0x10e serial=3 serialbaud=115200 // debug serial / firewire stuff
	fwkdp=0x8000 fwkpf=0xf kdp_match_name=firewire logtokprintf=2

igfxmaxwidth=16384 // to allow width > 4096 with Coffee Lake and Kaby Lake


debug=
	DB_HALT                    0x01            Halt at boot-time and wait for debugger attach (gdb).
	DB_PRT                     0x02  obsolete  Send kernel debugging printf output to console.
	DB_NMI                     0x04            Drop into debugger on NMI (Command–Power, Command-Option-Control-Shift-Escape, or interrupt switch).
	DB_KPRT                    0x08            Send kernel debugging kprintf output to serial port.
	DB_KDB                     0x10            Make ddb (kdb) the default debugger (requires a custom kernel).
	DB_SLOG                    0x20            Output certain diagnostic info to the system log.
	DB_ARP                     0x40            Allow debugger to ARP and route (allows debugging across routers and removes the need for a permanent ARP entry, but is a potential security hole) — not available in all kernels.
	DB_KDP_BP_DIS              0x80            Support old versions of gdb on newer systems.
	DB_LOG_PI_SCRN            0x100  obsolete  Disable graphical panic dialog.
	DB_KDP_GETC_ENA           0x200
	DB_KERN_DUMP_ON_PANIC     0x400            Trigger core dump on panic
	DB_KERN_DUMP_ON_NMI       0x800            Trigger core dump on NMI
	DB_DBG_POST_CORE         0x1000            Wait in debugger after NMI core
	DB_PANICLOG_DUMP         0x2000            Send paniclog on panic, not core
	DB_REBOOT_POST_CORE      0x4000            Attempt to reboot after post-panic crashdump/paniclog dump.
	DB_NMI_BTN_ENA           0x8000            Enable button to directly trigger NMI
	DB_PRT_KDEBUG           0x10000  removed   kprintf kdebug events
	DB_DISABLE_LOCAL_CORE   0x20000            ignore local kernel core dump support
	DB_DISABLE_GZIP_CORE    0x40000            don't gzip kernel core dumps
	DB_DISABLE_CROSS_PANIC  0x80000  x86 only  don't trigger cross panics. Only necessary to enable x86 kernel debugging on configs with a dev-fused co-processor running release bridgeOS.
	DB_REBOOT_ALWAYS       0x100000            Don't wait for debugger connection
	DB_DISABLE_STACKSHOT_TO_DISK 0x200000      Disable writing stackshot to local disk

io=     
	// loggage     
	kIOLogAttach            0x00000001      
	kIOLogProbe             0x00000002      
	kIOLogStart             0x00000004      
	kIOLogRegister          0x00000008      
	kIOLogMatch             0x00000010      
	kIOLogConfig            0x00000020 
	kIOLogYield             0x00000040  
	kIOLogPower             0x00000080  
	kIOLogMapping           0x00000100  
	kIOLogCatalogue         0x00000200  
	kIOLogTracePower        0x00000400  Obsolete: Use iotrace=0x00000400ULL to enable now
	kIOLogDebugPower        0x00000800  
	kIOLogServiceTree       0x00001000  
	kIOLogDTree             0x00002000  
	kIOLogMemory            0x00004000  
	kIOLogKextMemory        0x00008000  
	kOSLogRegistryMods      0x00010000  Log attempts to modify registry collections
	kIOLogPMRootDomain      0x00020000  
	kOSRegistryModsMode     0x00040000  Change default registry modification handling - panic vs. log
	kIOTraceIOService       0x00080000  Obsolete: Use iotrace=0x00080000ULL to enable now
	kIOLogHibernate         0x00100000  
	kIOStatistics           0x04000000  
	kIOSleepWakeWdogOff     0x40000000  
	kIOKextSpinDump         0x80000000  

	// debug aids - change behaviour        
	kIOLogSynchronous       0x00200000  IOLog completes synchronously  obsolete
	kIOTracking             0x00400000      
	kIOWaitQuietPanics      0x00800000      
	kIOWaitQuietBeforeRoot  0x01000000      
	kIOTrackingBoot         0x02000000      

serial=
	SERIALMODE_OUTPUT    0x01
	SERIALMODE_INPUT     0x02
	SERIALMODE_SYNCDRAIN 0x04
	SERIALMODE_BASE_TTY  0x08 Load Base/Recovery/FVUnlock TTY
	SERIALMODE_NO_IOLOG  0x10 prevent IOLogs writing to serial

fwkpf=
	   0x0      Converted FW Cycle Time Units (c) - Classic time format shown as "Seconds.Microseconds". The Second unit rolls over every 128 seconds. Driven by the FireWire clock.
	   0x1      Absolute Time Units (a) - "Absolute" time units derived directly from the kernel's uptime clock.
	   0x2      FireWire Time Units (w) - Shown as "Seconds:Cycles:Offset". Driven by the FireWire clock. Seconds rollover every 128 seconds. 8000 cycles per second. 3072 offset counts per cycle. Equivalent to FireBug's time format.
	   0x3      Nanoseconds Time Units (n) - The kernel's uptime clock converted to nanoseconds.
	   0x4      Microseconds Time Units (u) - The kernel's uptime clock converted to microseconds.
	   0x5      Milliseconds Time Units (m) - The kernel's uptime clock converted to milliseconds.
	   0x6      Seconds Time Units (s) - Shown as "Seconds:Milliseconds:Microseconds". Converted from kernel's uptime clock.
	   0x7      Day Time Units (d) - "Days:Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Milliseconds:Microseconds". Converted from kernel's uptime clock.
	   0xF      No Time Units (-) - No time units, displayed as "-".
	 Additive Options:
	  0x10      Append output logging to /Library/Logs/FireWireKPrintf.log.
	 0x100      Open log file with Console.app. Only valid with "-o".
	 0x800      Create a new log file, rather than append. Only valid with "-o".
	0x8000      Prefix logger machine's ID to each log.

nv_spanmodepolicy=1	enable 5K on Dell UP2715K

OSX Server 10.4.7 should install and run OK on a MacMini1,1 since it has the same kernel as non-server. But check EFI is up to date.

But why use Server? IMHO, it's a nuisance to configure and you have file services with regular Tiger.

If you absolutely must have Server, a tactic might be to try to install it on the Mini via Target Disk Mode from another machine. Or to install it on a QEMU VM and then dd the image via Target Disk.

What does it think is the root device? If you're booting from an ISO that is burned to a DVD, then the root device should be a partition on the DVD drive.

A root device may work from EFI and be able to load the boot loader (as you are experiencing).

The boot loader then loads the kernel and OS drivers (kexts). The OS drivers must create a node for the root device. In your case, that is not happening. There are boot args that can enable logging of IOServices so you can see which nodes get created. This enables all the flags (might be overkill): io=0xffffffff

boot-args notes:

dart=0 // not needed when DisableIoMapper is true

agdpmod=vit9696 // for not Navi GPUs if screen goes black during boot
agdpmod=pikera // use this only for Navi GPUs so the screen doesn't turn black


ipc_control_port_options=0 // ?
iogdebug=-1 iogt=-1 iogtl=4096 // graphics stuff
debug=0x10e serial=3 serialbaud=115200 // debug serial / firewire stuff
    fwkdp=0x8000 fwkpf=0xf kdp_match_name=firewire logtokprintf=2

igfxmaxwidth=16384 // to allow width > 4096 with Coffee Lake and Kaby Lake


debug=
    DB_HALT                    0x01            Halt at boot-time and wait for debugger attach (gdb).
    DB_PRT                     0x02  obsolete  Send kernel debugging printf output to console.
    DB_NMI                     0x04            Drop into debugger on NMI (Command–Power, Command-Option-Control-Shift-Escape, or interrupt switch).
    DB_KPRT                    0x08            Send kernel debugging kprintf output to serial port.
    DB_KDB                     0x10            Make ddb (kdb) the default debugger (requires a custom kernel).
    DB_SLOG                    0x20            Output certain diagnostic info to the system log.
    DB_ARP                     0x40            Allow debugger to ARP and route (allows debugging across routers and removes the need for a permanent ARP entry, but is a potential security hole) — not available in all kernels.
    DB_KDP_BP_DIS              0x80            Support old versions of gdb on newer systems.
    DB_LOG_PI_SCRN            0x100  obsolete  Disable graphical panic dialog.
    DB_KDP_GETC_ENA           0x200
    DB_KERN_DUMP_ON_PANIC     0x400            Trigger core dump on panic
    DB_KERN_DUMP_ON_NMI       0x800            Trigger core dump on NMI
    DB_DBG_POST_CORE         0x1000            Wait in debugger after NMI core
    DB_PANICLOG_DUMP         0x2000            Send paniclog on panic, not core
    DB_REBOOT_POST_CORE      0x4000            Attempt to reboot after post-panic crashdump/paniclog dump.
    DB_NMI_BTN_ENA           0x8000            Enable button to directly trigger NMI
    DB_PRT_KDEBUG           0x10000  removed   kprintf kdebug events
    DB_DISABLE_LOCAL_CORE   0x20000            ignore local kernel core dump support
    DB_DISABLE_GZIP_CORE    0x40000            don't gzip kernel core dumps
    DB_DISABLE_CROSS_PANIC  0x80000  x86 only  don't trigger cross panics. Only necessary to enable x86 kernel debugging on configs with a dev-fused co-processor running release bridgeOS.
    DB_REBOOT_ALWAYS       0x100000            Don't wait for debugger connection
    DB_DISABLE_STACKSHOT_TO_DISK 0x200000      Disable writing stackshot to local disk

io=    
    // loggage    
    kIOLogAttach            0x00000001     
    kIOLogProbe             0x00000002     
    kIOLogStart             0x00000004     
    kIOLogRegister          0x00000008     
    kIOLogMatch             0x00000010     
    kIOLogConfig            0x00000020
    kIOLogYield             0x00000040 
    kIOLogPower             0x00000080 
    kIOLogMapping           0x00000100 
    kIOLogCatalogue         0x00000200 
    kIOLogTracePower        0x00000400  Obsolete: Use iotrace=0x00000400ULL to enable now
    kIOLogDebugPower        0x00000800 
    kIOLogServiceTree       0x00001000 
    kIOLogDTree             0x00002000 
    kIOLogMemory            0x00004000 
    kIOLogKextMemory        0x00008000 
    kOSLogRegistryMods      0x00010000  Log attempts to modify registry collections
    kIOLogPMRootDomain      0x00020000 
    kOSRegistryModsMode     0x00040000  Change default registry modification handling - panic vs. log
    kIOTraceIOService       0x00080000  Obsolete: Use iotrace=0x00080000ULL to enable now
    kIOLogHibernate         0x00100000 
    kIOStatistics           0x04000000 
    kIOSleepWakeWdogOff     0x40000000 
    kIOKextSpinDump         0x80000000 

    // debug aids - change behaviour       
    kIOLogSynchronous       0x00200000  IOLog completes synchronously  obsolete
    kIOTracking             0x00400000     
    kIOWaitQuietPanics      0x00800000     
    kIOWaitQuietBeforeRoot  0x01000000     
    kIOTrackingBoot         0x02000000     

serial=
    SERIALMODE_OUTPUT    0x01
    SERIALMODE_INPUT     0x02
    SERIALMODE_SYNCDRAIN 0x04
    SERIALMODE_BASE_TTY  0x08 Load Base/Recovery/FVUnlock TTY
    SERIALMODE_NO_IOLOG  0x10 prevent IOLogs writing to serial

fwkpf=
       0x0      Converted FW Cycle Time Units (c) - Classic time format shown as "Seconds.Microseconds". The Second unit rolls over every 128 seconds. Driven by the FireWire clock.
       0x1      Absolute Time Units (a) - "Absolute" time units derived directly from the kernel's uptime clock.
       0x2      FireWire Time Units (w) - Shown as "Seconds:Cycles:Offset". Driven by the FireWire clock. Seconds rollover every 128 seconds. 8000 cycles per second. 3072 offset counts per cycle. Equivalent to FireBug's time format.
       0x3      Nanoseconds Time Units (n) - The kernel's uptime clock converted to nanoseconds.
       0x4      Microseconds Time Units (u) - The kernel's uptime clock converted to microseconds.
       0x5      Milliseconds Time Units (m) - The kernel's uptime clock converted to milliseconds.
       0x6      Seconds Time Units (s) - Shown as "Seconds:Milliseconds:Microseconds". Converted from kernel's uptime clock.
       0x7      Day Time Units (d) - "Days:Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Milliseconds:Microseconds". Converted from kernel's uptime clock.
       0xF      No Time Units (-) - No time units, displayed as "-".
     Additive Options:
      0x10      Append output logging to /Library/Logs/FireWireKPrintf.log.
     0x100      Open log file with Console.app. Only valid with "-o".
     0x800      Create a new log file, rather than append. Only valid with "-o".
    0x8000      Prefix logger machine's ID to each log.

nv_spanmodepolicy=1    enable 5K on Dell UP2715K

Thank you! I enabled the flag and I saw a bunch of errors like "IOUSBInterface: family specific matching fails" and at the end it loops "Still waiting for root device" and "IOResources: family specific matching fails".

So it seems like it won't event find the Kexts for my device which makes no sense since the Early 2006 Mac mini shipped with 10.4.5 and this is 10.4.7.

I´ll attach a few pictures from the output.

• Processor: PowerPC G3, G4, or G5, or Intel Core processor.
• RAM: 256 MB minimum (512 MB or 1 GB highly recommended).
• Hard Disk Space: 3 GB available (4 GB if installing Xcode 2 Developer Tools).
• Media: DVD drive required for installation.
• Hardware: Built-in FireWire required.

• Intel Support: The 10.4.7 update was the first to include Universal binaries for both PowerPC and Intel (builds 8J135 and 8J2135).
• Compatibility: While it works on early Intel Macs, it may not run on later Intel models (e.g., Santa Rosa MacBook Pro) without specialized upgrade sequences.
• Server Features: Included 64-bit optimization, Access Control Lists (ACLs), and enhanced directory services.

I installed Server 10.4.7 on a 2007 C2D Mini by creating an 8GB partition on the internal HD and restoring a CD image to it via target disk mode.

So, you burned the ISO contents (not the ISO itself) to a Dual Layer DVD and you're inserting it into the Mac Super Drive. The Mac has an existing OS to boot from and your DVD mounted on the desktop. Inside the DVD is the Install Mac OS X Server, run it and install to another volume. If your Macs Super Drive is not working and you are using a different DVD drive to install from perhaps a USB or FireWire one, then issues could arise. Make sure you can mount the DVD with the drive your installing from before hand because Dual Layer DVD medium and Drives are not all the same performance and quality. If you restart the Mac and Insert the DVD then hold the C key it should boot from the DVD and then you can run the installer that way as well. Hold in Option instead of C and get a list of boot volumes, see if the DVD is in the list. If so then boot from it and run the installer that way.
Some of the issues you are having indicate that there is already and EFI partition on the device you are installing to. If you can, use a clean Hard Disk Drive and allow Disk Utility to format it first then the installer can put a new EFI partition on it and the installer will finish as expected. You may also want to include drivers for Mac OS 9 as well.

I installed Server 10.4.7 on a 2007 C2D Mini by creating an 8GB partition on the internal HD and restoring a CD image to it via target disk mode.

I have a modern server that I need to mount on this retro server in order to forward it to my Mac OS 9 devices. I’m no expert in OS X Server, but I’ve read that only the Server version has that specific functionality.

I still don't understand what you want to do that only Server supports. Tiger will happily file share (to and fro) with MacOS 7/8/9 and with modern Macs.

Fair question.

One thing I specifically wanted to experiment with was automatically mounting network volumes and then resharing them to Mac OS 9 machines. From what I had read, OS X Server offered more flexibility there. On my Tiger Server setup so far, I’ve only found NFS auto mount options instead of AFP though, so I think you’re right that there isn’t really any advantage for sharing in this case.

Even if that approach doesn’t work out, I’m also trying to replicate a setup I use on my modern server called „TempShare“. It’s essentially a shared folder that’s mounted on all my Macs and placed in the Dock. This allows me to quickly drop files into that folder and have them instantly available on my other machines, either via the Dock or a web interface. The web interface also works on older systems, but it’s not nearly as convenient as having a Dock or desktop shortcut, which is something I’d like to achieve for my legacy Macs as well with a second „TempShare“ folder on my Tiger Server. And the client edition of Tiger can’t share single volumes or folders but will always share every Volume without any option to exclude or include specific ones.

That said, there are also Server only features I actually plan to use. One example is QuickTime Streaming Server. I’ve built an iOS app that streams all radio stations from the GTA games from my home server to my modern iPhone, behaving like a real world radio with proper, time accurate playback (and even static noise effects!). My goal is to extend that idea to legacy Macs as well, which makes QTSS very appealing. I still have to figure out whether it’s 100% suitable for this project.

Additionally, Apple’s Time Server hasn’t been reliable for me on some Mac OS 9 machines, so running my own local services is another motivation.

And beyond all of that, I’ve simply always wanted to properly try the OS X Server editions.

The main difference between Server and Client is the configuration pane that locally or remotely manages all the settings; most of the actual software is fully present on Client, it just doesn't have a front end UI to manage it. WebObjects is the obvious exception to that -- it comes as a separate install and isn't bundled into the core OS.

That said, I run Server so I can manage with the UI. Although on my post-PPC server, I eventually found I'd replaced all the components with MacPorts equivalents, at which point the Server components weren't actually providing any benefit. I do like the network sharing monitor pane that lets me track all connections and dynamically set quotas and manage share visibility; it's better than all the alternatives I've tried.

This time, I also formatted the drive using GUID Partition Table instead of Apple Partition Map
so I’m not 100% sure which change ultimately fixed it, but I’m pretty confident it was the unchecked Erase destination option.

It was the GUID Partition Table option. Intel Macs require GPT and cannot understand the traditional APM format. The option is still in there because Power Macs require APM and cannot understand GPT.