Ubuntu 14.04 On G5 (Post #11)

[z970]

Quick post. I finally got Ubuntu working after a full year of active pursuit, and I couldn't be happier. From what I've so far seen, Ubuntu 12.04 blows OS X away in terms of capability. Browsing the web feels like you're on a much newer computer, 720p fullscreen YouTube is not an unbearable slideshow, you've got a far larger selection of applications at your fingertips, and being Linux, you command the power of gods.

I could really go on. And I daresay I think it's even more optimized for the PowerPC than Leopard is. It certainly appears to take greater advantage of the hardware. But that's just my freshly printed perspective.

Now then... Does anyone know how to get around 14.04's graphical issues?

 

[pochopsp]

Contact Luigi Burdo on YouTube . He is an Italian guy fond of powerpc hardware... He managed to get almost everything with Linux and his Power Mac G5

 

[Lastic]

Contact Luigi Burdo on YouTube . He is an Italian guy fond of powerpc hardware... He managed to get almost everything with Linux and his Power Mac G5

He is on another level, I tried to replicate his Fedora install but never got it running as smoothly as he

 

[Guy Clark]

Indeed Linux can transform a Mac with PPC architecture in to a very usable machine and looks as though you have come up trumps with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS running on your PowerMac G5.

Unfortunately Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is now unsupported by Canonical and images for PPC architecture are no longer being released for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.
If I were looking to do the same I would be considering Ubuntu 16.04 LTS which is supported until 2021
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/16.04/release/

Whichever way you look at it running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS rather than Leopard you have a far more productive machine.

 

[z970]

Indeed Linux can transform a Mac with PPC architecture in to a very usable machine and looks as though you have come up trumps with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS running on your PowerMac G5.

Unfortunately Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is now unsupported by Canonical and images for PPC architecture are no longer being released for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.
If I were looking to do the same I would be considering Ubuntu 16.04 LTS which is supported until 2021
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/16.04/release/

Whichever way you look at it running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS rather than Leopard you have a far more productive machine.

16.04 is out of bounds for me. I'm currently going through the agonizing process of getting 14.04 to work. I've got the login screen, but whenever I try to log in, it sets me right back to login. It's done this on Unity (2D) and GNOME. I've tried different Xorg drivers, different Nouveau drivers, different desktop managers... I've already asked Luigi Burdo, but he hasn't said anything yet.

Possible ideas? I 'aint givin' up.

 

[Macbookprodude]

One issue I am having with my Quad - I can't get past the splash screen.. My video card is the 256MB Nvidia card. How do I get past the splash screen ? It loads, but i can't see anything.. so i gave up running Linux on my Quad.

 

[AphoticD]

One issue I am having with my Quad - I can't get past the splash screen.. My video card is the 256MB Nvidia card. How do I get past the splash screen ? It loads, but i can't see anything.. so i gave up running Linux on my Quad.

Read the section on "2D acceleration Under Nvidia Cards" here;
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCKnownIssues

I've had luck getting full GPU acceleration on my PCIe G5 with a Quadro FX 4500 card by just disabling MSI;

nouveau.config=NvMSI=0

Otherwise, you can disable GPU acceleration altogether with;

nouveau.noaccel=1

 

[VanneDC]

IntrestingI...

 

[galgot]

Nice!
Does sleep works with Linux on G5 now ?
Last time i've tried Ubuntu on my iMac G5, there was no way to make it sleep . this due to G5 using SMU instead of PMU.
But that was some years ago...

 

[AphoticD]

Nice!
Does sleep works with Linux on G5 now ?
Last time i've tried Ubuntu on my iMac G5, there was no way to make it sleep . this due to G5 using SMU instead of PMU.
But that was some years ago...

No sleep unfortunately. But that's not a deal breaker for me. I have the G5 setup to triple boot (Leopard, Tiger and Ubuntu Mate 16.04), with OS X as the primary system.

 

[z970]

Update. Got Ubuntu Server 14.04 working under GNOME Flashback + Metacity using gnome-session-fallback, and unless there's some kind of breakthrough with 16.04 that allows people to get past the VFS error, I foresee this as final for my machine. Nothing worked under Compiz, but GNOME Flashback worked under Metacity, so I'm going to see if I can get Unity humming with Metacity. More to come.

 

[pc297]

Update. Got Ubuntu Server 14.04 working under GNOME Flashback + Metacity using gnome-session-fallback, and unless there's some kind of breakthrough with 16.04 that allows people to get past the VFS error, I foresee this as final for my machine. Nothing worked under Compiz, but GNOME Flashback worked under Metacity, so I'm going to see if I can get Unity humming with Metacity. More to come.

Hi @z970 , I managed to install 16.04 server with ubuntu-desktop on top on a quad G5, it runs fine with gnome-compiz or metacity however not with Unity so far on a GF 7800 GTX 512. 3D acceleration works fine, glxgears runs on it. I have a radeon HD 4870 which runs on it with fbdev but only with gnome-metacity, if I can get it configured ok I might be able to run Unity on it. I'll keep you posted

Cheers,

 

[z970]

@pc297 I would be very interested in hearing how you got the Radeon HD 4870 running with your G5. I've tried using off-the-shelf GPUs in the past, but I've personally never had much luck in getting them to interface between the rest of the hardware and the OS. Maybe I've been doing something wrong all along.

I've always wanted to expand the possibilities of using standard GPUs with Power Macs into the grasps of other people though, if possible. With your guidance, perhaps I'll even be able to incorporate a section on doing so into The PowerPC Debian Wiki.

 

[pc297]

@pc297 I would be very interested in hearing how you got the Radeon HD 4870 running with your G5. I've tried using off-the-shelf GPUs in the past, but I've personally never had much luck in getting them to interface between the rest of the hardware and the OS. Maybe I've been doing something wrong all along.

I've always wanted to expand the possibilities of using standard GPUs with Power Macs into the grasps of other people though, if possible. With your guidance, perhaps I'll even be able to incorporate a section on doing so into The PowerPC Debian Wiki.

Hi @z970 , yes a dedicated section on The PowerPC Debian Wiki would be a great idea for the folks out there who still have ppc machines! I could definitely give a hand there. I actually followed the instructions posted by luigi burdo:

[PPC] Instruction for Install Ubuntu & sons on PowerMac G5 Quad with Radeon HD

Ok guys because many people ask me here and there and on youtube and on g+ the same info i make this thread . Please read this instruction and do exactly the same thing. This guide is for install Lubuntu, Ubuntu Mate 14.04 on Quad G5 with Apple Flashed GPU and RadeonHD (in couple) This...

ubuntuforums.org

with some variations.

In a nutshell, 14.04 works fully out of the box with a radeon HD (although in my hands so far only on mate 14.04) by using the following append:

Linux video=offb:off video=nouveaufb:off video=radeonfb:off nouveau.modeset=0 radeon.modeset=1

I think on lubuntu one has to remove the fbdev driver but only via aptitude (as apt-get remove will remove many xorg compoments). I might try with Ubuntu server 14.04 and see if Unity is supported with a radeon HD.

Re 16.04, so far I only got it to work in fbdev using:

Linux video=offb:off video=nouveaufb:off video=radeonfb:off nouveau.modeset=0 radeon.modeset=1 video=fbdev

I am having trouble configuring xorg and getting the right xorg.conf so far, but from what I have read, radeon HD 4XXX models should be fully supported without having to resort to fbdev.

Cheers,