Accidental Linux...

[Dronecatcher]

As my 1.25Ghz Powerbook is essentially a spare now, I thought I'd try Linux on it once again. I was quickly reminded that Ubuntu, Lubuntu & Xubuntu were less than satisfactory, Debian 6 was quick but quite outdated and had graphics issues, so i thought I'd try MintPPC. Using a net install disk I was quite surprised to find after reboot I'd somehow installed Debian Wheezy with the Gnome desktop! I later realised I made a small error typing the MintPPC url at setup, so the process defaulted to the standard Debian 7.9 install instead.
Previously I'd always avoided Gnome as it was my understanding that it's too heavy but this combo is by far the best Linux I've tried - it's fast, very usable and looks contemporary.
Out the box, fan control, hot keys, sound and graphics worked perfectly - the other features, wireless, backlit keyboard and CPU scaling were just a few Terminal commands away.
Video playback, usually a Linux failing, is great too with the Totem or SMPlayers and Youtube plays at 360P (after buffering)fine in the Midori browser using HTML5.
I've no intention of switching from OSX at all but it's great to have a Linux Powerbook at last that's fit for purpose.

As ever, I always recommend the PPC Luddite for the install guide:

http://ppcluddite.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/installing-debian-linux-on-ppc-part-i.html

 

[2984839]

What GPU is in that PowerBook?

 

[Dronecatcher]

What GPU is in that PowerBook?

Radeon 9600 64Mb

 

[bse5150]

I like Linux too - but not on Mac hardware. I only have two PPC machines and they run Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X 10.4.

 

[2984839]

Radeon 9600 64Mb

Thanks, I was wondering if they fixed the Mesa bug that prevented acceleration with ATI. That would explain why Gnome runs smoothly.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Thanks, I was wondering if they fixed the Mesa bug that prevented acceleration with ATI. That would explain why Gnome runs smoothly.

I haven't really investigated - I'm sure there's no hardware acceleration going on as in settings it reports Software Rasterizer for graphics. Maybe it runs well because it's an older version plus there's no taxing visuals going on?

 

[comda]

Thats very interesting! My Last generation Emac G4 has the same GPU and running Leopard seems sluggish. Yes i realize it only has 1gb of ram but still. Maybe ill give this a shot. I dont really have a use for it and wish to sell it but i doubt anyone in my area wants it.

 

[swamprock]

I haven't really investigated - I'm sure there's no hardware acceleration going on as in settings it reports Software Rasterizer for graphics. Maybe it runs well because it's an older version plus there's no taxing visuals going on?

If you have firmware-linux-nonfree installed, you'll have good 2d acceleration with the 9600. In order to get 3d acceleration, you'll need to downgrade Mesa. Dan's site (that you linked above) tells you how. It works quite well on the Powerbooks of your vintage (I've got a 15" 1.5ghz DVI here myself), but there are a few quirks, like no sleep, and upon bootup, you have to turn your brightness up on the login screen.

I'm running Mate in Jessie myself, on my TiBook (667mhz VGA), and I really dig it. Wheezy Backports has Mate if you wanted to try it out on your Powerbook; just have to add it to your sources.list. It's a bit more lightweight than Gnome is; somewhere between LXDE and Gnome; and much more customizable than the former

I also outlined how to compile a newer, less-crashtastic version of the Midori browser here: http://www.mintppc.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1525

 

[Dronecatcher]

Wheezy Backports has Mate if you wanted to try it out on your Powerbook; just have to add it to your sources.list.

I might give it a whirl at some point - at moment, though I'm hesitant to mess around too much - I'm just glad it's a working system with no compromises like every other PPC Linux attempt has been in the past!
That's a great looking desktop UI!

 

[swamprock]

I might give it a whirl at some point - at moment, though I'm hesitant to mess around too much - I'm just glad it's a working system with no compromises like every other PPC Linux attempt has been in the past!
That's a great looking desktop UI!

Mate looks very similar to Gnome until you customize it. That desktop UI is the result of many, many hours of tweaking and experimenting, which is the real fun of linux. I'm no zealot, but if you're one to want to learn more about how an OS works, linux is the ticket.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Mate looks very similar to Gnome until you customize it. That desktop UI is the result of many, many hours of tweaking and experimenting, which is the real fun of linux. I'm no zealot, but if you're one to want to learn more about how an OS works, linux is the ticket.

I agree - when you do an absolute minimal install, you appreciate a lot of the 'extras' you normally take for granted. I'm keeping mine pretty light, although I have added a single line Conky at the screen bottom to report CPU. RAM & battery status.

 

[lowendlinux]

Mate looks very similar to Gnome until you customize it. That desktop UI is the result of many, many hours of tweaking and experimenting, which is the real fun of linux. I'm no zealot, but if you're one to want to learn more about how an OS works, linux is the ticket.

Mate Looks very similar to Gnome 2 not Gnome 3 though it's kinda similar to Gnome shell/fallback. Mate should look similar to Gnome to as it's Gnome 2 and I like it to bits.