Probs With Partition on PowerMac with FC4

[Joshua Curtiss]

I read and enjoyed your Installing Fedora Core on the Mac mini article. I can't see
how this article's instructions would differ when attempting to install FC4 on my
QuickSilver PowerMac. So I attempted to do so, with some frustrating inconsistencies.
 
During installation, before I even get to the partition setup portion of the installer, I
receive an error saying, "The partition's data region doesn't occupy the
entire partition." I try clicking ignore a few times, and then I receive the error,
"Attempt to read sectors 16-18 outside of partition on /dev/hda". Clicking
ignore just repeats the error. Finally, I click cancel, and the process continues,
although before I can start setting up the partition table, I receive an error that says,
"The partition table on device hda was unreadable. To create new partitions it must
be initialized, causing the loss of ALL DATA on this drive. This operation will override
any previous installation choices about which drives to ignore. Would you like to
initialize this drive, erasing ALL DATA?"
 
The partition was in good working order from OSX's point of view. Further, after a
complete reformat and reinstall of Mac OSX, where everything is supposedly fresh, I still
get these same error messages. So, effectively, I cannot set up the dual-boot. What's
going on?
 
And while I'm providing feedback, I have one more beef. I have installed FC3 for x86
well over a dozen times; I am familiar with the installer. And when it asks questions
about erasing all data, it DOES NOT take any action until the installer setup is complete
and actual installation is ready to begin. Inconsistent with that previous behavior, this
last-mentioned error/warning box wiped out my hard drive's partition table
IMMEDIATELY, as soon as I clicked "Yes". I was going through a dry run and
planned on aborting the installation before it was done asking all of its questions.
Because of this inconsistent behavior, I unintentionally lost A LOT of data on my Mac
volumes. Needless to say, I'm livid about this, and if anyone has a recommendation on
how to retrieve my data from this volume (I have since then not reinitialized my drive or
done anything to it, so the data is theoretically intact on a drive with a wiped-out
partition table), I would IMMENSELY appreciate it..
 
Joshua Curtiss