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PowerFox Web Browser - A brand new browser for PowerPC (Beta)

Jazzzny

Jazzzny

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 23, 2021
226
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Power Macintosh, meet PowerFox

pfx.jpg


Hello all, I'm very happy to announce the beta release of PowerFox Browser for the PowerPC architecture.

PowerFox is not a derivative of TenFourFox. Rather, it is a brand-new browser for PowerPC, built from the same codebase as the 10.6 Intel variant. To refresh your memory, this brings a modern web engine (UXP) with excellent support for the modern internet, with features such as OpenGL acceleration, coloured emoji, modern HTML/CSS/JavaScript support, container tabs, language packs, video codecs (no need for an "enabler"), and much more.

Right now, PowerFox is offered in a beta state for PowerPC - expect bugs and other issues, and please report any of them that you encounter to this thread or on the GitHub bugtracker.

System Requirements
  • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
  • PowerPC G4 or PowerPC G5 processor
  • 1 GHz processor for proper video playback
Known Issues/Limitations
  • JavaScript JIT (Just-In-Time) compilation is currently unimplemented. This means that JavaScript performance will be slower than that of TenFourFox and its derivatives, please consider installing an Ad Blocker and keeping expectations within reason.
  • Certain SVG images will not render correctly - under investigation.
PowerFox for PowerPC wouldn't have been possible without the developers behind the UXP web engine - namely dbsoft. Thank you!

You can download a build from the PowerFox website or GitHub. Let me know what you think, and happy browsing!

- Jazzzny
 
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Jazzzny said:
Power Macintosh, meet PowerFox

View attachment 2599957

Hello all, I'm very happy to announce the beta release of PowerFox Browser for the PowerPC architecture.

PowerFox is not a derivative of TenFourFox. Rather, it is a brand-new browser for PowerPC, built from the same codebase as the 10.6 Intel variant. To refresh your memory, this brings a modern web engine (UXP) with excellent support for the modern internet, with features such as OpenGL acceleration, coloured emoji, modern HTML/CSS/JavaScript support, container tabs, language packs, video codecs (no need for an "enabler"), and much more.

Right now, PowerFox is offered in a beta state for PowerPC - expect bugs and other issues, and please report any of them that you encounter to this thread or on the GitHub bugtracker.

System Requirements
  • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
  • PowerPC G4 or PowerPC G5 processor
  • 1 GHz processor for proper video playback
Known Issues/Limitations
  • JavaScript JIT (Just-In-Time) compilation is currently unimplemented. This means that JavaScript performance will be slower than that of TenFourFox and its derivatives, please consider installing an Ad Blocker and keeping expectations within reason.
  • Certain SVG images will not render correctly - under investigation.
PowerFox for PowerPC wouldn't have been possible without the developers behind the UXP web engine - namely dbsoft. Thank you!

You can download a build from the PowerFox website or GitHub. Let me know what you think, and happy browsing!

- Jazzzny
Click to expand...
Thank you for doing this! If I wanted to try to build for 10.4, what would I need to do?
 
Building for 10.4 would require significant time investment, much, much, work needs to be done to port the browser to 10.4. if you wish to try, you will need to install GCC 13 and the darwin-xtools linker - then start a build and start writing 10.4 code.
 
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Jazzzny said:
Building for 10.4 would require significant time investment, much, much, work needs to be done to port the browser to 10.4. if you wish to try, you will need to install GCC 13 and the darwin-xtools linker - then start a build and start writing 10.4 code.
Click to expand...
Is gcc 14 also possible? I have that installed on 10.4. I have general fluency with building software through Macports/PowerPC ports on Tiger, I recently ported an email client (claws-mail). However, I can't seem to find build instructions for PowerFox on the website or GitHub ( which would be nice for those on 10.5 or 10.6 who want to build from source if possible)
 
Forest Expertise said:
Is gcc 14 also possible?
Click to expand...
GCC 14 suffers from a bug that produces broken builds that do not run on G4 processors unless AltiVec is disabled (undesirable). Thus, I recommend GCC 13.

Forest Expertise said:
build instructions for PowerFox
Click to expand...
I will write some and put them on GitHub when I get some time. However, it does not require much - clone the source, initialize the submodule (git submodule init, git submodule update), install the required toolchain (GCC, darwin-xtools, Python 2.7), enter the directory, write a .mozconfig file (sample below), and run
Code: 
./mach build

Code: 
export CC="/opt/local/bin/gcc-mp-13 -mcpu=G4"
export CXX="/opt/local/bin/g++-mp-13 -mcpu=G4"
export STRIP=/opt/local/bin/strip7
ac_add_options --host=powerpc-apple-darwin
ac_add_options --target=powerpc-apple-darwin
ac_add_options --enable-macos-target=10.5
ac_add_options --enable-application=basilisk
ac_add_options --with-macos-sdk=/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.5.sdk
ac_add_options --disable-strip
ac_add_options --disable-jemalloc
ac_add_options --enable-devtools
ac_add_options --disable-webrtc
ac_add_options --disable-gamepad
ac_add_options --disable-tests
ac_add_options --disable-necko-wifi
ac_add_options --disable-updater
ac_add_options --disable-apple-media
 
Last edited:
Jazzzny said:
GCC 14 suffers from a bug that produces broken builds that do not run on G4 processors unless AltiVec is disabled (undesirable). Thus, I recommend GCC 13.


I will write some and put them on GitHub when I get some time. However, it does not require much - clone the source, install the required toolchain (GCC, darwin-xtools, Python 2.7), enter the directory, write a .mozconfig file (sample below), and run
Code: 
./mach build

Code: 
export CC="/opt/local/bin/gcc-mp-13 -mcpu=G4"
export CXX="/opt/local/bin/g++-mp-13 -mcpu=G4"
export STRIP=/opt/local/bin/strip7
ac_add_options --host=powerpc-apple-darwin
ac_add_options --target=powerpc-apple-darwin
ac_add_options --enable-macos-target=10.5
ac_add_options --enable-application=basilisk
ac_add_options --with-macos-sdk=/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.5.sdk
ac_add_options --disable-strip
ac_add_options --disable-jemalloc
ac_add_options --enable-devtools
ac_add_options --disable-webrtc
ac_add_options --disable-gamepad
ac_add_options --disable-tests
ac_add_options --disable-necko-wifi
ac_add_options --disable-updater
ac_add_options --disable-apple-media
Click to expand...
Thank you for providing! I will adjust the target down to 10.4 and see what I can do after getting gcc13 set up.
 
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I tried it on my PBG4 DLSD 17" and admittedly it's very slow (especially without the JIT) even in the internal browser pages like preferences or extensions but it does load more websites and I managed to play a YouTube video without tweaking anything so that's great! :D I haven't seen polyfills working on PPC so that's already a huge milestone in my book :)!

Thanks for building PowerFox for PPC!
 
Jazzzny said:
Power Macintosh, meet PowerFox

View attachment 2599957

Hello all, I'm very happy to announce the beta release of PowerFox Browser for the PowerPC architecture.

PowerFox is not a derivative of TenFourFox. Rather, it is a brand-new browser for PowerPC, built from the same codebase as the 10.6 Intel variant. To refresh your memory, this brings a modern web engine (UXP) with excellent support for the modern internet, with features such as OpenGL acceleration, coloured emoji, modern HTML/CSS/JavaScript support, container tabs, language packs, video codecs (no need for an "enabler"), and much more.

Right now, PowerFox is offered in a beta state for PowerPC - expect bugs and other issues, and please report any of them that you encounter to this thread or on the GitHub bugtracker.

System Requirements
  • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
  • PowerPC G4 or PowerPC G5 processor
  • 1 GHz processor for proper video playback
Known Issues/Limitations
  • JavaScript JIT (Just-In-Time) compilation is currently unimplemented. This means that JavaScript performance will be slower than that of TenFourFox and its derivatives, please consider installing an Ad Blocker and keeping expectations within reason.
  • Certain SVG images will not render correctly - under investigation.
PowerFox for PowerPC wouldn't have been possible without the developers behind the UXP web engine - namely dbsoft. Thank you!

You can download a build from the PowerFox website or GitHub. Let me know what you think, and happy browsing!

- Jazzzny
Click to expand...
awesome! thank you!
 
Dronecatcher said:
Great news! But no luck on my 12" Powerbook - screen attached and Console log if it's of any use?
Click to expand...
I think this is because the GPU supports enough of OpenGL for the browser to enable OpenGL acceleration, but not enough for it to actually work. I'll add the GeForce 5 series to our GPU blocklist. If you have another machine, you can set layers.acceleration.enabled to false and copy over the profile.
 
Jazzzny said:
I think this is because the GPU supports enough of OpenGL for the browser to enable OpenGL acceleration, but not enough for it to actually work. I'll add the GeForce 5 series to our GPU blocklist. If you have another machine, you can set layers.acceleration.enabled to false and copy over the profile.
Click to expand...
Ahh...makes sense. I'll be trying it on my G5 later which should have that covered.
 
Thank you @Jazzzny ! Working on Snow Leopard 10.6.8 PPC Alpha 5. Also I noticed that Github now renders properly too. I took a screenshot of it compared to Aquafox 3.1 (latest as of this writing). I will also test on a PowerBook G4 w/ ATI Radeon 9700 graphics and Leopard.
 

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Jazzzny said:
I've developed a test build that should fix the black screen issue, though codecs are temporarily disabled in this build:

https://www.filemail.com/d/ftjnpibfxvhhkpf
Click to expand...
Thanks - that cured the black screen!

I think on the whole my 1.5Ghz Powerbook is too underpowered to take the weight of a modern browser - particularly without any GPU help.

I noticed trying to use differnent user agents in about:config isn't working.

I'll probably have an easier ride when I try on the Dual G5.
 
Dronecatcher said:
too underpowered to take the weight of a modern browser
Click to expand...

Browser performance will improve dramatically if a JIT can be implemented.

Dronecatcher said:
particularly without any GPU help.
Click to expand...
Painting web pages is not a very demanding task, while OpenGL acceleration does speed it up, it is not horrifically worse to not have accelerated painting.
 
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I don't have any old PPC Macs anymore, but it's fantastic that there are folks who still try to make these machines usable, albeit the hardware is certainly a limitation.

My oldest is a 2010 Intel Mini. Also have 2012 and 2018 Mini's that i'm using to run SDR radio streams.

I should ask my older brother if he still has the 12" PB G4 that I sold to him in 2006 when the Intel's came out.

Would be cool to play with it again.
 
Jazzzny said:
I've developed a test build that should fix the black screen issue, though codecs are temporarily disabled in this build:

https://www.filemail.com/d/ftjnpibfxvhhkpf
Click to expand...
This is an issue on GeForce FX Macs, they do not support OpenGL well enough for us to use OpenGL acceleration, thus it needs to be disabled. I only support official Leopard and 10.6.8 by EduCovas, however other modified builds should work as long as they do not fundamentally cripple the system libraries.
 
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Jazzzny said:
This is an issue on GeForce FX Macs, they do not support OpenGL well enough for us to use OpenGL acceleration, thus it needs to be disabled. I only support official Leopard and 10.6.8 by EduCovas, however other modified builds should work as long as they do not fundamentally cripple the system libraries.
Click to expand...
I was able to fix it fairly quickly by switching to safe mode and going to about:config, disabling various webgl settings + hardware acceleration. I'll fiddle with them piecemeal at some point and see where the real crux is.

That aside, however, I am floored at the quality of this browser. I'm able to stream from Apple Music and access OAuth2 services. This is genuinely a game changer for PowerPC OSX! You deserve some serious applause.
 

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By the way, the new build fixes the problem by blocklisting all FX5200-derived cards. The setting to fix it otherwise is layers.acceleration.enabled, set it to false
 
Something fun to try if you have a beefier machine is YouTube playback. On faster G5 machines, it should even be possible to play 1080p video decently in H264 on the desktop YouTube.com.
 
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