MacPorts for 10.6 PowerPC with pre-built ports [unofficial]: testing welcomed

[barracuda156]

I installed rawtherapee instead and it is definitely much better. And it actually works lol.

FWIW, I think I have fixed rawstudio build (won’t start PowerMac now just to verify, but I reproduced the failure on Sonoma and then fixed it, so provisionally it will build): https://github.com/macos-powerpc/powerpc-ports/commit/797dd6a03f471d8cc1ee5b50064f2a9906ce03be

But rawtherapee is the best of what works at the moment. (I could fix the build of darktable, but it crashes on launch, LOL.)

 

[barracuda156]

FWIW, I think I have fixed rawstudio build (won’t start PowerMac now just to verify, but I reproduced the failure on Sonoma and then fixed it, so provisionally it will build): https://github.com/macos-powerpc/powerpc-ports/commit/797dd6a03f471d8cc1ee5b50064f2a9906ce03be

Okay, `rawstudio` build is fixed for 10.6 powerpc, and I have updated sources and uploaded pre-built package.
So no need to do anything manually, just run `port sync` and install the port normally.

 

[jktwice]

Okay, `rawstudio` build is fixed for 10.6 powerpc, and I have updated sources and uploaded pre-built package.
So no need to do anything manually, just run `port sync` and install the port normally.

Just a heads up, yes it did install normally.

 

[barracuda156]

Just a heads up, yes it did install normally.

If there is a practical interest in raw processors, I will take another look at fixing darktable/ART (there are less than trivial issues, but still can try) and a couple of KDE apps for that (minimal one should work normally, full-featured one built but did not work correctly last time).

 

[barracuda156]

The latest base – 2.11.1

Recommended is the “external curl” version, which depends on curl-SL-8.13.0-uni.zip

Compatible with 10.6.8 PowerPC (native) and 10.6.8 x86 (with Rosetta installed).

 

[StupidCitrus]

Hi all, trying to get PPCPorts installed on a G5 with Snow Leopard. The git MPKG would fail install in the middle of installing, but bootstrap_curl installed fine. However, I cannot get the PPCPorts MPKG to install, it says "Xcode is not installed, or was installed with UNIX Development (10.5+) or Command Line Support (10.4) deselected."

I was not instructed to install Xcode, what version do I install?

 

[barracuda156]

Hi all, trying to get PPCPorts installed on a G5 with Snow Leopard. The git MPKG would fail install in the middle of installing, but bootstrap_curl installed fine. However, I cannot get the PPCPorts MPKG to install, it says "Xcode is not installed, or was installed with UNIX Development (10.5+) or Command Line Support (10.4) deselected."

I was not instructed to install Xcode, what version do I install?

Well, Xcode is the requirement, as it is for the mainstream MacPorts.

Use standard 3.2.6 and after that install these:

Of these, curl is independent and can be installed before or after. If you used the old version, it will probably still work, but updating is recommended.

bsdtar here is not an installer but an archived binary picked from 10.6.8 release. It should replace the one in /usr/bin. You don’t need “my” binary, you can grab it yourself from standard 10.6.8. (This is a bug in our ppc image, it has a wrong bsdtar.)
Alternatively, this will also work, without replacing tar: https://github.com/barracuda156/powerpc-ports/issues/3#issuecomment-2847516667 (with this old tar can be used).

 

[barracuda156]

Hi all, trying to get PPCPorts installed on a G5 with Snow Leopard. The git MPKG would fail install in the middle of installing, but bootstrap_curl installed fine. However, I cannot get the PPCPorts MPKG to install, it says "Xcode is not installed, or was installed with UNIX Development (10.5+) or Command Line Support (10.4) deselected."

I was not instructed to install Xcode, what version do I install?

I have updated info here: http://macos-powerpc.org
See in particular: http://macos-powerpc.org/installation.html

P. S. MacPorts just released 2.11.2 (perhaps fixing some other bug introduced in 2.11.0), so I will update installers by tomorrow.

 

[barracuda156]

2.11.2

 

[StupidCitrus]

I got it working good. I believe I have muckied up the X11 configuration however. I had not followed the steps to remove the archaic XQuartz/Apple X11 configs after installing PPCPorts and Frozen Bubble 2 for example is not able to figure out the current display mode.

Also, YouTube playback on QMPlay2 seems to not be working for me. I did install yt-dlp in the command line, which works.

 

[barracuda156]

I got it working good. I believe I have muckied up the X11 configuration however. I had not followed the steps to remove the archaic XQuartz/Apple X11 configs after installing PPCPorts and Frozen Bubble 2 for example is not able to figure out the current display mode.

You can do it now, it does not have to be done at some specific moment. Clean the thing, reboot, and hopefully it starts working then.

Make sure to install either xquartz port or xorg-server-legacy.

Also, YouTube playback on QMPlay2 seems to not be working for me. I did install yt-dlp in the command line, which works.

Does the search work and only playback fails or both fail?

If the former, then did you make a symlink according to port notes?

 

[StupidCitrus]

You can do it now, it does not have to be done at some specific moment. Clean the thing, reboot, and hopefully it starts working then.

Make sure to install either xquartz port or xorg-server-legacy.



Does the search work and only playback fails or both fail?

If the former, then did you make a symlink according to port notes?

So odd thing is, I actually have done that symlink creation. At least, I did this.
ln -s /opt/local/bin/yt-dlp ~/.qmplay2/
Opening it in Finder, the symlink to the yt-dlp binary is indeed there.
I even got a little obtuse and tried
ln -s /opt/local/bin/yt-dlp ~/.qmplay2/youtube-dl
I still don't seem to be getting anything. Let me just restate that yt-dlp indeed works. I will attach a log of a successful download produced by PPCPorts yt-dlp. Trying "which yt-dlp" indeed returns the /opt/local/bin/yt-dlp directory.

 

[barracuda156]

So odd thing is, I actually have done that symlink creation. At least, I did this.
ln -s /opt/local/bin/yt-dlp ~/.qmplay2/
Opening it in Finder, the symlink to the yt-dlp binary is indeed there.
I even got a little obtuse and tried
ln -s /opt/local/bin/yt-dlp ~/.qmplay2/youtube-dl
I still don't seem to be getting anything. Let me just restate that yt-dlp indeed works. I will attach a log of a successful download produced by PPCPorts yt-dlp. Trying "which yt-dlp" indeed returns the /opt/local/bin/yt-dlp directory.

What I want to know first is whether YT search works or not.
And then, exact error for whatever fails.

 

[StupidCitrus]

What I want to know first is whether YT search works or not.
And then, exact error for whatever fails.

Search works. I can even copy the links it finds in search. I don't get very explanatory error messages though.

[20 Jul 2025 19:03:47] Cannot open: YouTube://{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKlSpgeDNCI}

 

[barracuda156]

Search works. I can even copy the links it finds in search. I don't get very explanatory error messages though.

[20 Jul 2025 19:03:47] Cannot open: YouTube://{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKlSpgeDNCI}

This absolutely looks like the symlink does not work or yt-dlp is inactive. (Notice, it is removed from runtime dependencies in qmplay2-devel, because the build does not work correctly if ffmpeg is active. So you need to activate yt-dlp manually.)

Can you verify that it is in ~/.qmplay2 and yt-dlp port is active?
Does `~/.qmplay2/yt-dlp` actually run yt-dlp?

 

[StupidCitrus]

This absolutely looks like the symlink does not work or yt-dlp is inactive. (Notice, it is removed from runtime dependencies in qmplay2-devel, because the build does not work correctly if ffmpeg is active. So you need to activate yt-dlp manually.)

Can you verify that it is in ~/.qmplay2 and yt-dlp port is active?
Does `~/.qmplay2/yt-dlp` actually run yt-dlp?

I can indeed confirm that ~/.qmplay2/yt-dlp works.
I also found yt-dlp in "port installed" marked active as "yt-dlp @2025.06.30_0+ffmpeg+python313 (active)"
I'm using the stock qmplay2, not the devel package.
For what its worth, I tried to install yt-dlp with python313 and without ffmpeg. No dice.

 

[barracuda156]

I can indeed confirm that ~/.qmplay2/yt-dlp works.
I also found yt-dlp in "port installed" marked active as "yt-dlp @2025.06.30_0+ffmpeg+python313 (active)"
I'm using the stock qmplay2, not the devel package.
For what its worth, I tried to install yt-dlp with python313 and without ffmpeg. No dice.

I will check non-devel QMPlay2. It certainly worked before, but maybe something has broken.

 

[StupidCitrus]

I tried qmplay2-devel and it works with YouTube search and playback. I do not get video though, only an audio stream.

I have noticed qmplay2-devel performs far worse playing local MP4 files (even worse than quicktime). For what it is worth, I am on a 2GHz dual processor model, not a dual-core or quad.

 

[barracuda156]

I tried qmplay2-devel and it works with YouTube search and playback. I do not get video though, only an audio stream.

This is strange. You could try changing default format in settings to something like 1080p, h.264 and not 60 FPS and see if it makes a difference. Not all videos plays for me in high-def quality (maybe just not available, I did not investigate that yet). When I tried a few days back, 1080p was working normally with no failures.

But in any case, -devel is not to be considered a stable version yet. I will try running it on some other system.

I have noticed qmplay2-devel performs far worse playing local MP4 files (even worse than quicktime). For what it is worth, I am on a 2GHz dual processor model, not a dual-core or quad.

I did not notice any performance issues with it with local files, but I will take a look. I can try on 2.3 DC to make it somewhat comparable.

Could you say which exactly version of qmplay2 you use and which ffmpeg5?

post -v installed ffmpeg5 | grep active
post -v installed qmplay2-devel | grep active

Besides, you will likely get a better performance with G5-optimized version.

sudo port -v upgrade --enforce-variants ffmpeg5 +G5
sudo port -v upgrade --enforce-variants qmplay2-devel +G5

I use these myself on my PowerMacs.

 

[barracuda156]

I tried qmplay2-devel and it works with YouTube search and playback. I do not get video though, only an audio stream.

@StupidCitrus This issue I am not able to reproduce so far. On every system I have tried (10.5 ppc64, 10.6 ppc, 10.15 x86_64) playback works for both QMplay2 ports.

There are two issues with YT which I currently do not understand, since they seem to affect some installations but not the other:
1. Non-devel QMplay2 plays 360p on some systems (I actually thought HD playback is broken in it, until I suddenly got it working on another installation, with no changes to the code).
2. QMplay2-devel may not open some HD videos from YT. This seems to affect specific HD formats, but I am not sure what exactly causes it. Apparently does not happen with 1080p and lower resolution.

I have noticed qmplay2-devel performs far worse playing local MP4 files (even worse than quicktime). For what it is worth, I am on a 2GHz dual processor model, not a dual-core or quad.

I need more specifics on this. Could you please a) say how much RAM you got in that machine, b) does QMPlay2 (non-devel) perform better or both more or less equally fail and c) give an idea what kind of files are affected?

I seem to observe this problem on my 2.3DC, judging by a few files I tried (not easy files to play, but I expected them to work nevertheless). I don’t have the Quad at hand (machines are physically in different locations), but the Quad played comparable vids with minor to none performance issues.
It seems that MPlayer (from my port) works better on 2.3DC too, at least it kinda plays these files, while QMPlay2 was just stuck.
At the moment I suspect it may be RAM issue – my 2.3DC is RAM-poor, currently just 4 GB.

I will update on this from my side, this is important to investigate. If it is indeed RAM thing, I should stop advising it for resource-constrained systems.

 

[barracuda156]

I have noticed qmplay2-devel performs far worse playing local MP4 files (even worse than quicktime). For what it is worth, I am on a 2GHz dual processor model, not a dual-core or quad.

@StupidCitrus I back off on the earlier statement. QMplay2 actually performs better than either MPlayer or mpv, however by default it tries to sync video with audio, and 2.3DC (or your 2.0) – and at least on my side with an average GPU and insufficient RAM – simply cannot handle it.
MPlayer and mpv by default appear to play files which QMplay2 could not – however they do that by dumping audio or slowing down the playback. At least for music videos it is unacceptable.
You can go to Playback settings in QMPlay2-devel and disable video to audio syncing. At least on my end it fixes all issues – everything starts playing, and audio is at correct speed and uninterrupted. Even MV which did not play in MPlayer and mpv at all – 4 GB, prores – plays more or less normally. Presumably it compromises on syncing, but it is actually usable, unlike with the other two players.

Could you please try that? If the issue is not resolved, and you still see that QMPlay2(-devel) underperforms as compared to w/e other player on the same system – it would be helpful to have sample video files, so that I can try reproducing the issue locally.

 

[barracuda156]

@StupidCitrus I have tried today the same MVs in QMplay2-devel on the Quad. Well, no surprise I never thought there is any issue at all LOL. The Quad handles all 1920x1080 easily, no frames dropped, no settings tweaks needed. With 3840x2160 it starts having difficulties, but still plays it in a way it is watchable – sound is unaffected, some frames are dropped and the MV is not smooth, but no freezes, slowing down etc.
YouTube worked fine by the way (this is a new installation in 10.5.8, no QMplay2 present earlier).

So I think Dual G5s are hitting hardware constraints here, and we can’t do too much about that. Try disabling video to audio syncing – the difference in perceived performance on 2.3DC was huge.

But if you give a specific case where QMPlay2 performs worse than something else after that setting being adjusted, I will look into this again. On my systems it appears to perform better, at least with files I tried.