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PowerPC Linux in 2020

timidpimpin

timidpimpin

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Original poster
Nov 10, 2018
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Cascadia
As some of you know... I've been out of the Linux on PowerPC game for several years, and I wanted to make a feeler post to ask you all which current PowerPC Linux you prefer (and why) in 2020. My foundation is typically Debian with Linux, and I'm wondering what (if any) negatives have come from losing official support for 9 and on.

I'm getting back into it, and would just like to know what current users think is worth a look, and what isn't, and if there is any type of consensus in these opinions.

Thanks in advance!
 
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I'd say it depends on the machine, and what your main focus is. For G3 and under 1ghz G4's I'd chose Adelie, a GUI-less Void or Ubuntu 12.04 remix.

For more powerful machines, MintPPC, Ubuntu 16, Debian Sid, Void-PPC, or Fienix. There's also gentoo, but nobody has time for that to build everything from source.

For a decent browsing experience 1.33ghz or higher with 1gb ram minimum. Same for youtube/twitch streams. Same for video encoding, etc and heavy software like blender.

If you want bleeding edge chose Adelie, Void, or anything based on Debian Sid.

If you just want something light, somewhat up to date, and mostly preconfigured use Ubuntu Remix 12 or 16.

There really is no good answer to this. Everyone's needs are different.

Cheers
 
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Ubuntu 16 remix is all I need on my 1.42 GHz iBook G4. No PPC machine (at least, none that I have, that are currently in working condition) could really fill a daily driver role for me these days, but the iBook w/wicknix's remix comes close. Frankly, if I'd just max out the RAM and throw an SSD in there, it might fill the bill. It's snappy enough, my software still gets updated and my browsing options are fairly modern and secure, which leaves me little to complain about.

Admittedly though, I haven't played around with another PPC Linux variety in years. I used Debian Squeeze and Wheezy back in their day, and also gave the old Wheezy-based MintPPC a spin, but we're talking, what, 2012 or so? Back then, OS X Leopard was still a viable platform for all my needs, and no Linux distro really compared, so Leopard got my regular use and PPC Linux just kinda faded away for me.

I remain interested in Linux though. I do intend to give Adelie and new Mint PPC a spin, when I have another (working) G4 that doesn't have a Radeon 9000. Void and Fienix are on my list for when I get around to fixing one of my G5's. I've dabbled with newer versions of Ubuntu on my Intel Macs, and Mint and Elementary on my AMD PC's. I've intended for years now to go exclusively Linux, but work and school needs keep dragging me back to MacOS & Windows. Sadly, at this point I don't know when I will be able to escape their clutches.
 
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wicknix said:
I'd say it depends on the machine, and what your main focus is. For G3 and under 1ghz G4's I'd chose Adelie, a GUI-less Void or Ubuntu 12.04 remix.

For more powerful machines, MintPPC, Ubuntu 16, Debian Sid, Void-PPC, or Fienix. There's also gentoo, but nobody has time for that to build everything from source.

For a decent browsing experience 1.33ghz or higher with 1gb ram minimum. Same for youtube/twitch streams. Same for video encoding, etc and heavy software like blender.

If you want bleeding edge chose Adelie, Void, or anything based on Debian Sid.

If you just want something light, somewhat up to date, and mostly preconfigured use Ubuntu Remix 12 or 16.

There really is no good answer to this. Everyone's needs are different.

Cheers
Click to expand...
I have an iBook g4 with that kind of CPU clock speed but I have only 512 MB of RAM !! what should i do
 
I guess my question is this - Will Linux, and your versions of course allow me to do almost everything on my Intel Mac, and then some ? Also, I tried out your Linux and it does work great even on a 1Ghz G4 titanium, of course no sound.
 
Sound is muted by default. Instructions are posted by the download link.
wicknix said:
Sound is enabled, but muted by default. Open terminal, type alsamixer, right arrow key until you highlight "pcm", up arrow key to set desired volume level, esc key to exit.
Click to expand...
Depends what you want to do. It's an old 1ghz machine, but most basic things can be done. Web browsing, streaming music, youtube, office stuff, image editing, music creation, basic games and emulators, etc aren't really a problem.
 
wicknix said:
Sound is muted by default. Instructions are posted by the download link.

Depends what you want to do. It's an old 1ghz machine, but most basic things can be done. Web browsing, streaming music, youtube, office stuff, image editing, music creation, basic games and emulators, etc aren't really a problem.
Click to expand...
Instant message like Facebook messenger, can’t stand Facebook, but have friends I want to chat with - it maybe old, but it does run nicely and with SSD in it, it does great. Even Leopard runs good on it. Just need to get a bigger M2 SATA SSD now I know the 1Ghz DVI supports more than 128GB.. 128GB for OS 9.
 
I deleted both my twitter and facebook accounts at the beginning of this year, but when i still had them the link i posted above (messenger.com) and the pidgin facebook plugin both worked fine for FB chat on Remix.
 
You can run but you can not hide!!! OK, here is the current status on my Linux Project. Currently running MacBuntu 12.04 on a G5 with 4 Gb Ram, Radeon 9600 GPU. It's beautiful and does everything I want (although I have yet to figure out how to activate/get working the Apple Extreme wireless card to work. Currently hard wired. I have a G4 Quicksilver with 2 Gb Ram running Lubuntu 16.04 and it too does everything I ask it to. I also loaded Debian Remix on another HD but I'm not as happy with it's abilities or perfomance. More Testing is needed. Finally I have an 867Mhz G4 1 Gb RAM where I'm trying to install 12.04 Remix onto it. The biggest issue is the NVidia GeForce4 MX 420 GPU. It's like working with Windows(dig) getting a desktop to appear whether it be Debian or Lubuntu 12.04, MacBuntu or Lubuntu 16.04 Remix. I actually had 16.04 Remix on the machine but it was too much for it at the time so I thought, just reload 12.04 Remix or Macbuntu and be done with it, uh....no. This thing has been kicking my but for days. As I enter this (from the G5), I am attempting to install Macbuntu 12.04 but it's been a bumpy ride, and error message just popped up saying some documents I requested while migrating data failed to load, the install is continuing. The install has just completed and it's time to reboot.

Here we go!!!

MacMav

UPDATE: Nope, not today. Shifting to CD install of Macbuntu, more later
 
Last edited:
These are the steps I need to perform in order to get to the desktop to install Lubuntu 12.04 Remix onto an 867Mhz, 1 Gb RAM, Nvidia Geforce4 MX , PowerPC G4:

Holding down the option key I select the CD
Yaboot appears and I enter the following:

live-powerpc video=offb:eek:ff nouveau.modeset=0 single

The screen goes to an Open Firmware screen and freezes (this is expected)

You must wait until the system has finished booting/loading whatever ~ 10 minutes

You won't see the following appear on the screen when you enter it:

modprobe nvidiafb

If you waited long enough, the screen will flicker and a root terminal will appear, I enter the following at the command line:

$ modprobe nvidiafb mode_option=1280x1024-16
Another entry line appears and I enter
$ start lightdm

The desktop loads and the install can commence. The graphics are not the best but useable for installing the software.

I DONOT install upgrades or third party software during the install per instructions provided with the distro

During this particular install I get the following "critical" error (paraphrasing)

CRITICAL ERROR: Ubiquity unable to create '/root/.cache/dconf, dconf will not work properly

The install continues until this

Error migrating documents and settings, the installation will continue some documents and setting were not transferred to the installed system.

I hit OK

Installation completes and I hit RESTART NOW

A screen appears and asks for the install media to be removed and then hit ENTER, the CD popped out, I hit enter and nothing happens other then some hieroglyphics appear when I hit ENTER (a square, an insert sign and a backslash)

No other key entries work to get the system to restart. So I use the power button to shut the unit down.

Iaboot doesn't startup, so I hold down the Option key to get thestartup disk screen and the Linux HD does not appear. Launching into Mac OSX Tiger, I can see that the hard drive has been partitioned by the installer CD but I'm pretty sure the installation was not completed properly.

So there you have it. More troubleshooting underway.

MacMav
 
Linux shouldn’t be this hard to install. Seems Leopard is the easier route.. I have been using Leopard for awhile now and with new web browsers, I have no problems at all.
 
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