Linux on a G5 Quad.

[DearthnVader]

I wanted to start a new thread about linux on PowerPC specific to the G5 Quad because I'm having so much trouble with it and the Quad is the fastest of the PowerPC Macs.

I've installed Mate 16.04 LTS and it works OK and I'm able to use the Quad for most of the things I do( compiling PPC source code, web browsing and watching online video )

However, Mate 16.04 is EOL or will be soon, and I'd rather run the most modern OS I can and have the latest binaries available in my package manager.

I fallowed the instructions for installing Debian Sid in the thread here, however, I was left with a completely unstable system, and I'm not sure the cause of that. Firefox and Konqueror crashing when trying to load just about any web page other than google.com, and my GF6600 doesn't seem to be very well supported, I get odd color shifts with the desktop in both direct rendering and software rendering in Cinnamon and other desktop envs.

I was hoping the updating the kernel to the latest stable release from kernel.org would fix some of my issues with Sid, but I was unable to build the kernel due to white spaces in on of the configuration files generated by make deb-pkg, and editing the file to remove the white spaces was no use, as make just regenerates the file with the white spaces.

Can anyone running Sid on a Quad comment on maybe how to fix issues with graphics on the nVidia 6600, crashing web browsers, or the white space issue with building the kernel?

I also tried to install Fedora 28, and the graphical installer seems to work well with the GF6600, however ppc64 in 28 is missing the yaboot package required by the installer script for a Mac type partition scheme.

I'm not sure why yaboot is necessary, when, as i understand it, Fedora 28 should use GRUB2 as the bootloader?

Older versions of Fedora ( 26 or 27 ) are unable to produce the graphical installer on my GF6600, I just get a corrupted screen, but I am able to run the installers in text mode. However, sadly they too are missing the yaboot package and the install fails.

As far as I can tell, the last version of Fedora with the needed yaboot package for a Powermac is maybe version 20, however, it fails to load the graphical installer for the same reason as v26/27. In text mode the net install iso fails to find any sources for the install, I'm assuming because the mirrors have been taken down or moved.

I was hoping I could install Fedora 20 then try and do in in place upgrade to Fedora 28, but I can't get it to install.

So, is anyone running a modern Linux distro on a Quad that could help me install an up to date OS?

 

[z970]

MATE 16.04 might be EOL, but Server 16.04 + The MATE DE is supported until 2021.

My suggestion would be to go back to 16.04 (Server this time), as it's fully supported / getting regular security updates, and is still a very modern OS, essentially the equivalent to macOS Sierra. Plus, it's still able to install and run most newer packages like SpiderWeb and Arctic Fox .17.

Besides that, when it's actually EOL in 2021, Sid will hopefully be a much more evolved experience to use.

Speaking of... Did you use the ppc64 images or the powerpc images? The ppc64 images (full 64bit environment) are typically much more unstable than the regular powerpc images (64bit kernel only), so the powerpc images are (now) recommended for most use cases. Not only that, there are much more compatible DE options for Sid than Cinnamon, not to mention browser options than Firefox Quantum, all of which is listed in the main thread's Desktop Environments and Software sectors (most all of which has also been tested).

Building a new kernel is an overly complicated experience for most people and is usually unnecessary to begin with. And, I have next to no experience with Fedora, so I won't be able to help you as much as with the Debian-based distributions.

Hope I was helpful.

 

[DearthnVader]

MATE 16.04 might be EOL, but Server 16.04 + The MATE DE is supported until 2021.

My suggestion would be to go back to 16.04 (Server this time), as it's fully supported / getting regular security updates, and is still a very modern OS, essentially the equivalent to macOS Sierra. Plus, it's still able to install and run most newer packages like SpiderWeb and Firefox 52.9.

Besides that, when it's actually EOL in 2021, Sid will hopefully be a much more evolved experience to use.

Speaking of... Did you use the ppc64 images or the powerpc images? The ppc64 images (full 64bit environment) are typically much more unstable than the regular powerpc images (64bit kernel only), so the powerpc images are (now) recommended for most use cases. Not only that, there are much more compatible DE options for Sid than Cinnamon, not to mention browser options than Firefox Quantum, all of which is listed in the main thread's Desktop Environments and Software sectors (most all of which has also been tested).

Building a new kernel is an overly complicated experience for most people and is usually unnecessary to begin with. And, I have next to no experience with Fedora, so I won't be able to help you as much as with the Debian-based distributions.

Hope I was helpful.

Thanks for the reply, I like to build my own kernel as some of the software i build relies on things that don't work, or don't work well with kernels provided by a lot of distros.

I'll try Debian with the 64bit kernel only rather then the full 64bit users space and see if that solves some of my issues.

Sadly most distros have dropped Big Endian PowerPC support due to the lack of beta testers, meaning millions of very capable G5's are hitting the garbage heap or the recyclers.

Leopard runs very well on the Quad, it's just the lack of well coded modern web browsers that is a deal breaker for me. TenFourFox is a pig and WebKit Leopard can't handle the modern web anywhere near what Firefox in Mate 16.04 can.