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Suse or Yellow Dog Linux on G3 Powerbook

revenuee

revenuee

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 13, 2003
2,251
3
So I dug up my old faithful G3 Powerbook (this little thing saved my life last year)

it currently runs OS 9.2

this little guy is a little underpowered to try and run OS X -- but I was hoping to breath a little life back into him.

I've tried Yellow Dog before --- and it was okay (with my limited experience)

I have both -- Suse Linux and Yellow Dog Linux -- Wondering if there was much preference in the group?

maybe advice?
 
Ydl

I think that Yellow Dog Linux. They have a long history in making Linux for Mac. Moreover, it seems that YDL is more Mac-friendly than Suse.
 
I haven't used YDL but I know that YDL is made for Mac. Terra Soft Solutions takes care about their product, and even sells Macs with installed YDL. I think that TSS is the company that we could expect more, but it's only my opinion. In the case of SuSE, a version for Mac is created like "by the way". I used SuSE on PC, but I wasn't pleased (and I moved to Red Hat/Fedora). It seems that best solution is download both distributions and try them personally.

BTW. Have you tried Ubuntu on Mac? Recently I installed Ubuntu on my sister's computer (she is totally beginner) -- she is absolutely satisfied, and quickly learned the basics. Moreover, Ubuntu is really fast on her old computer.

You might remember that in the case of the older Mac, better is use XFCE as window manager (it's lightweight and fast) instead Gnome or KDE.
 
SpookyLars said:
I haven't used YDL but I know that YDL is made for Mac. Terra Soft Solutions takes care about their product, and even sells Macs with installed YDL. I think that TSS is the company that we could expect more, but it's only my opinion. In the case of SuSE, a version for Mac is created like "by the way". I used SuSE on PC, but I wasn't pleased (and I moved to Red Hat/Fedora). It seems that best solution is download both distributions and try them personally.

BTW. Have you tried Ubuntu on Mac? Recently I installed Ubuntu on my sister's computer (she is totally beginner) -- she is absolutely satisfied, and quickly learned the basics. Moreover, Ubuntu is really fast on her old computer.

You might remember that in the case of the older Mac, better is use XFCE as window manager (it's lightweight and fast) instead Gnome or KDE.
Click to expand...



I really appreciate that --- My research has found what you said about Yellow Dog being the better mac solution.

interesting that you said you went to Red Hat/Fedora because because that is what Yellow Dog seems to be built on.

Ubuntu you say might also be worth looking at?

i'll dig around -- i'm about install Yellow Dog now --- I was copying over some old files from my G3 that I wanted to keep before I wiped it

thanks for your help

perhaps you could elaborate a little more about Ubantu?
 
I think that it's worth to look at Ubuntu. This distribution is totally free and coming in seceral versions (e.g. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xbuntu). For older computers, Xbuntu will be better solution (as I mentioned earlier it has XFCE that is lightweight and fast window manager).

I played a little with Ubuntu and must say that I like it -- it's fast, easy to learn, very stable, has good repositories and a mechanism for automatic software installation, just select app or tool and click install. It's simple and convenient. I had no problems, and for long time I had Ubuntu in Parallels - I was afraid that I would be a tech support for my sister, but she perfectly coped with it and didn't need my help. It is probably good recommendation, is not it? :) It seems that Ubuntu is pretty easy for beginners (in Linux) but not easy like Macs.

Look at Ubuntu website. I'm sure that many people installed it on Macs, so you should easily find some information on this topic.
Hope it helps.
 
revenuee said:
...

it currently runs OS 9.2

this little guy is a little underpowered to try and run OS X -- ...
Click to expand...
Not true. My PowerBook G3 (Pismo) runs MacOS X faster than it runs MacOS 9.2. This is due to the superior memory management of MacOS X over that of MacOS 9.

I currently run MacOS X 10.4.11 on the PowerBook. The OS required an update of my hard drive, which was necessary when the stock 6 GB drive went to its reward. I replaced the old drive with a 120 GB model. Back when I still ran MacOS 9, I had to boost the RAM to 384 MB. It could use more RAM, but I have not added any RAM beyond the 384 MB that I have now.

Run Linux because you want to run Linux. Don't run Linux because you think that you can't run MacOS X.
 
MisterMe said:
Not true. My PowerBook G3 (Pismo) runs MacOS X faster than it runs MacOS 9.2. This is due to the superior memory management of MacOS X over that of MacOS 9.

I currently run MacOS X 10.4.11 on the PowerBook. The OS required an update of my hard drive, which was necessary when the stock 6 GB drive went to its reward. I replaced the old drive with a 120 GB model. Back when I still ran MacOS 9, I had to boost the RAM to 384 MB. It could use more RAM, but I have not added any RAM beyond the 384 MB that I have now.

Run Linux because you want to run Linux. Don't run Linux because you think that you can't run MacOS X.
Click to expand...

First -- the Pismo is compatible with with OS 10.4

I have the Lombard -- model earlier --- which according to my research can run 10.4 with an XfactoPost software mod

I was able to install 10.4 on the hard drive by wiring it into my G4 powermac installing Tiger and then connecting it back into my G3 -- so this does work

but it is painfully slow -- i have 128 MB of ram, and a 6 gig hard drive in it

the reason I wanted to run linux is because I wanted to run a significantly deflated installation of it --- such as offered by xubuntu

Also, I can't boot of off CD because the CD rom is fried in my G3 powerbook

I installed Xubuntu onto the hard drive while it was wired into my G4 -- but when I threw it back into the laptop --- no success in running -- i suspect that linux is a little more finicky.

Does anyone know how to boot off of an external CD rom drive on one of these older machines?

any suggestion would be appreciated -- thanks
 
Have you looked at PenguinPPC.org? They have a list of Linux distributions for PPC hardware.

The number of PPC Linux distros seems to be shrinking. Ubuntu's PPC ver. is no longer officially supported, and starting with ver. 7.04, PPC releases are "unofficial"...
 
localoid said:
Have you looked at PenguinPPC.org? They have a list of Linux distributions for PPC hardware.

The number of PPC Linux distros seems to be shrinking. Ubuntu's PPC ver. is no longer officially supported, and starting with ver. 7.04, PPC releases are "unofficial"...
Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice --- I'll see if there is a solution I'm looking for

but truthfully i'm not at a loss for Linux disto's right now

Yellow Dog ver. 2,4,5
openSuse ver. "Whatever"
Ubuntu, Xbuntu
I even have a copy of Damn Small Linux -- which isn't PPC supported -- but i'm considering loading it the 486 that's still kicking around -- for nothing else but a fun project

Currently thought --- if anyone knows how to get a G3 Powerbook Lombard to boot off of an external CD drive then my life would be A LOT easier

best
 
I think YDL is the only viable option.

G3 macs have a strange display configuration problem that Ubuntu will not boot up to a stage you can install at all. With Apple switching to Intel chips, I doubt Ubuntu made any fix to it.

SUSE is slowest linux distro I've ever used, 128MB will not do the trick.

YDL will, unfortunately, VERY slow as well, 128MB RAM just isn't enough for gnome. You might want to install XFCE on top of YDL.
 
KingYaba said:
Instead of a CD, you could use a USB flash drive.
Click to expand...

How though?

how would I start up from it?

what do I hold down at start up?

what should I look for when I go into open Firmware and run the devalias and/or printenv commands.

I'm in the middle of setting up netboot right now <-- i hope that works

I installed xubuntu onto the hard drive using my G4 and then swapped the drive back in -- but when I started up it got stuck with a reading in bootstrap and then spit out a bunch of hexadecimal and other stuff that seemed like junk -- and then it got stuck in that loop.

I tried installing YDL the same method to test it out but version 5 is to large to install on the 5.6 gig drive.

Version 2.3 has been giving me a headache -- which is weird because I had a much easier time installing it on this same computer -- but I have a feeling it might have something to do with the fact that I had to flash the rom a few years ago on my G4 to install a 1.47 Ghz upgrade over the original 400 mhz drive.

ps. the swapping out the drive method worked when I installed Mac OS 10.4 no problem --- just the Hard drive/memory makes running it painful.

I suppose for a faster solution I could of just ordered more ram, large hard drive from OWC and purchased a new CD rom drive off of ebay -- but i'm trying to avoid spending money this system.

I'm approaching day 5 on this project ... LOL
 
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