Lubuntu 16.04 Remix (updated)

[wicknix]

@saxfun : Odd. Try this. Once you can get to the desktop and see, go to menu -> system tools -> users and groups. Change "password asked at login" to "don't ask for password at login". See if that helps. My powerbook g4 with the 9700 requires the yaboot params of "radeon.agpmode=-1 radeon.modeset=1 video=offbff nosplash". Same for the radeon 9200 in my mac mini g4 and the 9600 in one of my G5's.

@lewis.donofrio : Hmm. I dont think the ubuiqity installer has a cli version (at least not installed anyway). Anyway i just tested installer fully by installing to a usb stick (so i wouldn't kill current install) and it worked fine. Somebody somewhere has to have the magic yaboot params for your card. Worst case scenario at least the live session works for fun, or recovery purposes.

Edit: You could always try the 16.04 server.iso. I believe that just boots to text installer.

Cheers

 

[saxfun]

@saxfun : Odd. Try this. Once you can get to the desktop and see, go to menu -> system tools -> users and groups. Change "password asked at login" to "don't ask for password at login". See if that helps. My powerbook g4 with the 9700 requires the yaboot params of "radeon.agpmode=-1 radeon.modeset=1 video=offbff nosplash". Same for the radeon 9200 in my mac mini g4 and the 9600 in one of my G5's.

@lewis.donofrio : Hmm. I dont think the ubuiqity installer has a cli version (at least not installed anyway). Anyway i just tested installer fully by installing to a usb stick (so i wouldn't kill current install) and it worked fine. Somebody somewhere has to have the magic yaboot params for your card. Worst case scenario at least the live session works for fun, or recovery purposes.

Edit: You could always try the 16.04 server.iso. I believe that just boots to text installer.

Cheers

sorry, that trick didn't work, I could see the login prompt without the need for a password but VERY darkish . . .

 

[Appleuser201]

I've never heard of any problems with those. So presumably, yes.

In a nutshell, the eMac had a special implementation of its CRT that other CRTs did not have, like the iMac G3 and (likely) the studio displays. Thus, it was never quite right in anything but OS X.

Of course, they are stellar OS X boxes.

So... I can get a new and modern OS with modern browsers and cool messaging apps like Pidgin on a iMac G3 from the last century, but I can't on an eMac 1.42ghz from 2005 with several times the processing power of the iMac. The weird world of PPC macs.

 

[sparty411]

So... I can get a new and modern OS with modern browsers and cool messaging apps like Pidgin on a iMac G3 from the last century, but I can't on an eMac 1.42ghz from 2005 with several times the processing power of the iMac. The weird world of PPC macs.

I have an AGP Radeon 7500, 9600 Pro,GeForce 2 MX, GeForce 4 Ti 4200, GeForce 4 MX, GeForce 6200, and GeForce 6600 GT that all work perfectly on x86 Linux with the latest kernel, Xorg, etc... Something on the PowerPC side is borked.

 

[lewis.donofrio]

Well it seems voidlinux-ppc is the only distro to be stable and have most everything working on this TiBookG4 (I mean it has the best keyboard of even current macbooks!) behold

 

[Dronecatcher]

I can get a new and modern OS with modern browsers and cool messaging apps like Pidgin on a iMac G3 from the last century

Am I missing something? If you mean Lubuntu or Debian how about a video showing it performing well on an iMac G3?

 

[z970]

Am I missing something? If you mean Lubuntu or Debian how about a video showing it performing well on an iMac G3?

It was an example. Factually, an iMac G3 can (should) run Lubuntu or Debian and get modern browsers and cool apps. That was the point, speed never being a factor in this scenario.

Speed isn't absolutely everything. If there's a tradeoff for security, ability, and up-to-dateness at the expense of a small amount of speed, most people will usually brand it as a good one and simply optimize it for increased performance.

Does that answer your question?

 

[lewis.donofrio]

This has been the best attempt I've seen in years for this hardware, so lets try to stay positive and add to the discussions - just sayin. (granted I had to yield back to voidlinux-ppc but at least it's working again) and I'll keep trying these lubuntu releases as soon as I can figure out how to get text install cause on my powerbook g4 at least the screen looks fine till you do install then it blinks....thank you one and all for everything you're doing by keeping this project and this hardware going.

 

[sparty411]

Am I missing something? If you mean Lubuntu or Debian how about a video showing it performing well on an iMac G3?

He never made any mention about it’s performance, just that it would run. Why are you so antagonistic toward those who want to run Linux on PowerPC, anyway?

 

[Appleuser201]

I have a an AGP Radeon 7500, 9600 Pro,GeForce 2 MX, GeForce 4 Ti 4200, GeForce 4 MX, GeForce 6200, and GeForce 6600 GT that all work perfectly on x86 Linux with the latest kernel, Xorg, etc... Something on the PowerPC side is borked.

Is this the reason many G5 systems are a pain to install any form of linux?

 

[Dronecatcher]

Speed isn't absolutely everything. If there's a tradeoff for security, ability, and up-to-dateness at the expense of a small amount of speed, most people will usually brand it as a good one and simply optimize it for increased performance.

This is bordering on delusional now. I've seen many people on here advising not to run OSX on a G3 iMac because it's too slow and yet contemporary Linux is now being touted as viable "at the expense of a small amount of speed."
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He never made any mention about it’s performance, just that it would run. Why are you so antagonistic toward those who want to run Linux on PowerPC, anyway?

What's the point of it running if it's not usable? I'm not antagonistic towards Linux on PPC - I fully support it but I don't enjoy reading misleading information.

 

[sparty411]

Is this the reason many G5 systems are a pain to install any form of linux?

Short answer, yes. It appears to be exclusive to AGP based machines, as the PCIE based G5’s don’t show the same symptoms. To my knowledge, the last Linux kernel that worked flawlessly with PowerPC hardware was 3.16. While that kernel is ancient, it’s nowhere near as ancient as Darwin with Tiger and Leopard. I tried compiling a custom 3.16 kernel a week back, and failed miserably. Someone with a bit more Linux aptitude (no pun intended) than I, could probably cobble together a modern distro will based on wheezy era Xorg, and kernel 3.16, and get things working quite nicely. Quite a few binaries from the Sid repos will run just fine on Wheezy, so I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. Someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong ?

 

[z970]

This is bordering on delusional now. I've seen many people on here advising not to run OSX on a G3 iMac because it's too slow and yet contemporary Linux is now being touted as viable "at the expense of a small amount of speed."

I don't have a G3 iMac. I don't know how it performs, even on OS X. Which is irrelevant, because the principle I was pointing out is not exclusive to the iMac G3.

The base object was always possibility, not viability. Nothing was ever being touted as a replacement or regular alternative to OS X / OS 9 / what have you.

I believe you ought to reevaluate your opening assertion.

What's the point of it running if it's not usable? I'm not anatagonistic towards Linux on PPC - I fully support it but I don't enjoy reading misleading information.

Server duties? CLI interfacing and usage? There's a lot of points, mainly being that it doesn't need to be running an intensive GUI to be usable. And what constitutes 'usable' here, and who defines it in the first place?

70% of your posts regarding PPC Linux have been negative or antagonistic. How do you support it?

You read information that was wrongly interpreted. Nothing more.

 

[q66_]

To my knowledge, the last Linux kernel that worked flawlessly with PowerPC hardware was 3.16.

I've had no issues running kernels 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 on both G4 and G5s. Most of the issues are elsewhere

 

[sparty411]

I've had no issues running kernels 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 on both G4 and G5s. Most of the issues are elsewhere

Are they? You’re the Void PPC developer correct? I’ve had a good experience with Void on G4 machines, but 2D / 3D acceleration is broken on both of my Powermac G5’s with AGP graphics cards, along with all iBooks with ATI Rage GPU’s, and Radeon 7500 GPU’s. What could be at fault?

 

[q66_]

Are they? I u detest and you’re the Void PPC developer correct? I’ve had a good experience with avoid on G4 machines, but 2D / 3D acceleration is broken on both of my Powermac G5’s with AGP graphics cards, along with all iBooks with ATI Rage GPU’s, and Radeon 7500 GPU’s. What could be at fault?

Yes, I am. A bit hard to say about the graphics stuff. I don't have any AGP ppc macs with very old GPUs like this (closest is my Powerbook G4 with a Mobility Radeon 9700). What I'd try first is using the matching Xorg DDX driver (xf86-video-ati) instead of the generic modesetting xorg driver. The modesetting driver won't give you any 2D acceleration, since it's generic and uses OpenGL (GLAMOR) to accelerate 2D, and it could perhaps fix 3D as well, since the modern KMS paths may not be well tested on old hardware like that.

 

[sparty411]

Yes, I am. A bit hard to say about the graphics stuff. I don't have any AGP ppc macs with very old GPUs like this (closest is my Powerbook G4 with a Mobility Radeon 9700). What I'd try first is using the matching Xorg DDX driver (xf86-video-ati) instead of the generic modesetting xorg driver. The modesetting driver won't give you any 2D acceleration, since it's generic and uses OpenGL (GLAMOR) to accelerate 2D, and it could perhaps fix 3D as well, since the modern KMS paths may not be well tested on old hardware like that.

Wouldn’t that require disabling modesetting? I was under the impression that no Kernel beyond 4.4 allowed UMS.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I don't have a G3 iMac. I don't know how it performs, even on OS X. Which is irrelevant, because the principle I was pointing out is not exclusive to the iMac G3.

The base object was always possibility, not viability. Nothing was ever being touted as a replacement or regular alternative to OS X / OS 9 / what have you.

I believe you ought to reevaluate your opening assertion.



Server duties? CLI interfacing and usage? There's a lot of points, mainly being that it doesn't need to be running an intensive GUI to be usable. And what constitutes 'usable' here, and who defines it in the first place?

70% of your posts regarding PPC Linux have been negative or antagonistic. How do you support it?

You read information that was wrongly interpreted. Nothing more.

How on Earth can I have wrongly interpreted "I can get a new and modern OS with modern browsers and cool messaging apps like Pidgin on a iMac G3 from the last century?"

He didn't say, would be great for "Server duties? CLI interfacing and usage?" I wouldn't have argued with that.

Again, I actually support Linux and have done so for a long time, when it's application is appropriate.

 

[q66_]

Wouldn’t that require disabling modesetting? I was under the impression that no Kernel beyond 4.4 allowed UMS.

sure, but you can still use the DDX driver for xorg-specific 2D accel paths and stuff even with the KMS kernel driver.

Anyways, I plan to spin some 3.16/3.18/4.4 kernels for the repository as well, at least for 32-bit and maybe BE 64-bit (LE 64-bit doesn't need them, and my space is limited as it is...). So in case the current kernels won't cut it (it should always at least boot though), one will always be able to fall back onto the older stuff (at least as long as it doesn't go EOL). And maybe in the meantime those other issues will get ironed out.

 

[Appleuser201]

Am I missing something? If you mean Lubuntu or Debian how about a video showing it performing well on an iMac G3?

As other users have already pointed out, I never said anything about the OS actually being usable... although Lubuntu 16.04 doesn't perform too terribly on the 366mhz iBook G3 (8mb vram model, but firefox 47 is slow as hell) as seen in this video:

The point is, as long as the iMac G3 runs the OS no matter how poor it performs, at least it could theoretically run it, unlike the newer and much faster eMac which is limited to OS X.

 

[z970]

How on Earth can I have wrongly interpreted "I can get a new and modern OS with modern browsers and cool messaging apps like Pidgin on a iMac G3 from the last century?"

You took it as a performance / viability subject. It was actually a possibility subject, completely unrelated to the points you made.

 

[Dronecatcher]

You took it as a performance / viability subject. It was actually a possibility subject, completely unrelated to the points you made.

The intitial statement was a performance related inference as the G3 iMac was being compared to the eMac in terms of relative processing power - which at no point is the distinction for the eMac's unsuitability for Linux which is a driver issue.

 

[AphoticD]

I had some notes from my Ubuntu Mate 16.04 LTS installation. Here’s what I used to keep the live mode / graphical installer from freezing up on my PowerBook5,6

live radeon.modeset=1 video=radeonfb:off video=offb:off radeon.agpmode=-1

Very similar to what you guys had, but it might help @saxfun

 

[z970]

The intitial statement was a performance related inference as the G3 iMac was being compared to the eMac in terms of relative processing power - which at no point is the disticintion for the eMac's unsuitablility for Linux which is a driver issue.

It was there to serve as a stark, unexpected contrast. Not to compare sheer processing power.

Honestly at this point, perhaps we're all misinterpreting something...

 

[sparty411]

sure, but you can still use the DDX driver for xorg-specific 2D accel paths and stuff even with the KMS kernel driver.

Anyways, I plan to spin some 3.16/3.18/4.4 kernels for the repository as well, at least for 32-bit and maybe BE 64-bit (LE 64-bit doesn't need them, and my space is limited as it is...). So in case the current kernels won't cut it (it should always at least boot though), one will always be able to fall back onto the older stuff (at least as long as it doesn't go EOL). And maybe in the meantime those other issues will get ironed out.

You’re doing the lords work.