I've been trying Yellow Dog Linux 3.0.1 on my iBook, and it's been great. I've put it on my secondary hardisk on my PowerMac. But now my iBook wants to get back to Panther, so I'll restore the image I made of her HD. What I discovered:
Precheck Structures This test checks the readability of the various volume structures. Precheck StructuresThe only thing that worked -- the only method that allowed me to boot into my backup image -- was using Disk Utility's "Zero all data" and "8-way random write format". Then I used Carbon Copy Cloner to copy from the mounted backup image to my super clean ibook. Now Lynn (the iBook) is now enjoying Aqua goodness!
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20040219135258819