Void Linux for PowerPC

[PowerBookG4Enjoyer]

I tested some USB Wi-Fi dongles on Void with Network Manager recently to see which ones work out of the box. Here are the results:
TP-Link TL-WN725N (Realtek RTL8188EUS) - works out of the box
TP-Link Archer T600U Nano - isn't detected at all
TP-Link TL-WN823N - is detected but won't connect
Generic dongle (Realtek RTL8192EU) - is detected but will not connect
Ralink MT7601U - same story, doesn't want to connect to my network

 

[Tratkazir_the_1st]

TP-Link Archer T600U Nano - isn't detected at all

lsusb didn't show it at all?

 

[PowerBookG4Enjoyer]

lsusb didn't show it at all?

I haven't checked. I just plugged it in and it didn't seem to power on at all. I'll have to do that, thanks

 

[Sincci]

I really hope that someone will at least mirror the repos if this project ends at the end of this year. I'm still hopeful that someone will take over maintaining the packages for this absolutely fantastic distro for ppc macs.

 

[Sincci]

Since the github page for Void Linux PPC Packages, it's almost safe to say that there won't be any future updates for it before the main repo shuts down on 1.1.2023. It's kinda shame because Linux 6.1 was just released and would have been amazing to have on my old trusty PPC G4 iBook. Hopefully the alternative mirror repos (https://mirrors.servercentral.com/void-ppc/ and http://ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/void-ppc/) won't get shutdown too because it would still be quite amazing to install stuff from those repos even if they won't get updated anymore.

Anyway, just in case the current devs or someone who might continue this project in some form; would it be possible to get just one more update for the latest packages before the project is shut down?

Iirc @pipetogrep wanted to take over the project, but was unable to contact @foxlet and @q66_ and we haven't seen any discussion about about this for a while, so I thought I should ping these people one more time.

 

[q66_]

there won't be any more updates because

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1604461674139885569

the repo won't shut down on 1.1, but i can't guarantee how long it'll stay up (probably at least through january, might be a few months)

This is as previously announced (https://voidlinux-ppc.org/news/2022/09/repo-update.html) which says nothing about shutting down, merely about ceasing maintenance (but I have no direct influence over how long that will stay up, as I do not handle the hosting)

FWIW, servercentral is not really a mirror (it's run by the same person as the primary repo)

 

[fluidhd]

Quote from
https://www.reddit.com/r/voidlinux/comments/yt892y
"We generally don't want users to host complete private mirrors since that results int a lot of traffic. The main mirrors provide rsync to download everything, but its strongly suggested against to waste traffic."

Anyone know how to use rsync to make a private repo mirror?

 

[Sincci]

Oh well, since there wasn't going to be any official update to the Linux kernel to version 6.1, I decided to learn how to do it myself and create my own packages with xbps-src.

I mostly just used this guide as a reference, but also ended up making some minor changes to the template. Basically, you'll first have to following commands to get the building environment ready:

$: git clone https://github.com/void-ppc/void-packages

$: cd void-packages

void-packages $: ./xbps-src binary-bootstrap

Then copy the linux6.0 template directory into linux6.1 template with following commands:

void-packages $: cd srcpkg
srcpkg $: cp -a linux6.0 linux6.1
srcpkg $: ln -s linux6.1 linux6.1-headers
srcpkg $: ln -s linux6.1 linux6.1-dbg
srcpkg $: cd linux6.1
linux6.1 $: sed -i "s/# Template file for 'linux6.0'/# Template file for 'linux6.1'/" template
linux6.1 $: sed -i 's/pkgname=linux6.0/pkgname=linux6.1/' template
linux6.1 $: sed -i 's/linux6.0-headers_package()/linux6.1-headers_package()/' template
linux6.1 $: sed -i 's/linux6.0-dbg_package()/linux6.1-dbg_package()/' template

I then edited the srcpkg/linux6.1/template file with nano to change the line "version=" to 6.1.1 (or whatever is the latest at the time).

I then returned back to the ~/void-packages directory and installed the xtools package with with command "xbps-install -S xtools" in order to use the command "xgensum -i linux6.1" to generate proper source checksums for the template file. I then edited the part of the script in srcpkg/linux6.1/template that says "# Switch to /usr.". The original command "mv ${DESTDIR}/lib ${DESTDIR}/usr" didn't work for me since mv just ends up complaining that it couldn't move /lib to /usr since it wasn't empty. The quick fix I came up was just to simply modify it to "cp -R ${DESTDIR}/lib ${DESTDIR}/usr" and add "rm -rf ${DESTDIR}/lib" to the next line. The final modification was in the the section "# usb" where I modified the line "for i in cpia2 em28xx pwc; do" to not include cpia2 since it's being deprecated in Linux 6.1 and newer kernels.

Okay, time to start the actual compilation process. First type "./xbps-src pkg linux6.1" so that the script downloads the sources and starts configuring for your system. It's going to then ask you what to do with the new features in Linux 6.1. Personally I just said yes to "Multi-Gen LRU" and enabled it by default. For the rest of the questions I just pressed enter to use whatever the default option was and that seemed to work just fine. After that it's just going to compile everything automatically. If it succeeds, you can install the newly compiled kernel with command "xbps-install --repository hostdir/binpkgs linux6.1-headers linux6.1"

I have only tested this with a 32bit ppc system, but I don't see why it wouldn't work on ppc64le, ppc64le-musl and ppc64 systems too. However, the entire process takes over 24 hours with my old iBook 1.2Ghz G4, so you should only do it if you have a lot of time and patience for it.

 

[dextructor]

thanks for the guide @Sincci but what exact "benefits" did you have on the 6.1.X kernel?

Anyone know how to use rsync to make a private repo mirror?

Since here there isn't that many Void specifically users and for consequence heavy users that can have your answer, try the "official" Void Linux Forum on Reddit. Usually there they are more likely to help you with this, because I don't know much about rsync other than the real basic.

And if that fails, as a last resource you have the neck beards over IRC that can help you even more.

 

[smnbldwn]

I have finally got around to getting my PB G4 fixed and Void PPC is shutting down. Has anyone got any thoughts as to what they will try next? I have been practising with FreeBSD on an old x86 Netbook and it works OK but also thinking of Debian or maybe Adele if it is working now... Maybe the new successor to Void ppc if it does come out in 32bit.

 

[dextructor]

Has anyone got any thoughts as to what they will try next?

As the lead developer mentioned linking to the news on Void site he it's focusing on his new project Chimera Linux and the roadmap our legacy PowerPC's (64bits first and maybe 32) are being considered.

But for other distros, I don't have any hopes because unless the developer focus his efforts on bringing packages, stability... Linux (or every System Like BSD) will be a second or third tear class and will be buggy at minimum and unstable.

Adelie the team it's effort it's something to be glad on a project as ambitious and challenging as they have.

 

[smnbldwn]

On that subject, I just started my Void ppc install up for the first time since July 2021 and (unwisely) ran a system update with xbps. I now no longer have a working DE and it also broke the wifi amongst other things.
Are there any tips for sorting this out along the lines of the fix-broken-install feature in apt or otherwise? I thought I'd do one last update before thinking of moving on. I found Void ppc to be a great distro on my machine and will be sad to leave it.

 

[dextructor]

ran a system update with xbps. I now no longer have a working DE and it also broke the wifi amongst other things.

That doesn't make much sense to me. The wifi should not be affected by the updates, in my iMac G5 and the 17" latest PowerBook no problems what so ever with the WiFi. I use only the ethernet cable on my machines, but just to be sure, tested without issues. Since I use the same Openbox + Polybar configs (not because I'm smarter, but to avoid huge changes on my daily machines with updates), I can't help you on that, but probably you will have more luck on the Reddit Forums since many more advanced users and developers are there regularly (here we have a bunch of experienced users, but not Void specifically to help you more quickly)

 

[smnbldwn]

That doesn't make much sense to me. The wifi should not be affected by the updates, in my iMac G5 and the 17" latest PowerBook no problems what so ever with the WiFi.

I didn't have any problems with the WiFi either until I updated a rolling distro after 18 months! I got a number of error messages and then the Mate desktop and display manager broke. Now, I can get into a shell but if I plug in an ethernet cable, I get repeating error messages like this one: openntpd[2732]:segfault (11) at 4 nip a7b63f74 lr 74f4dc code 1 in libc-2.32.so[a7a2f0001c2000].... I am probably going to try reinstalling but the last live image for 32bt ppc is from August 2021 so maybe there is no point and it is just time to move on...

 

[dextructor]

openntpd[2732]:segfault

I'm far from an expert but Let's analyze it with some caution and patience. OpenNTPD it's a service/deamon that sync your clock against a server when detect an internet connection, so if the conditions are present it should be activated, so if only appears when you connect the Ethernet cable and your machine have internet access it's "a good sign". But I never encountered Segfault before on my X86_64 machines, only when I started on Linux PowerPC (Debian in the beginning). The only package that I on Void that give me this error was SMTube (that I replaced with pipe-viewer). So unfortunately the package, the library, or anything else have some kind of problem and here my knowledge ends to diagnose/fix your problem. Only the developer(or more experienced users) can help you better.

try reinstalling but the last live image for 32bt ppc is from August 2021 so maybe there is no point and it is just time to move on...

It's a valid path to fix your situation, but I recommend that you post your case on the Void forums over Reddit because there you will encounter many more users that can help you better than me. It's a good opportunity for you to learn more about Linux, of course if you have time/interest. But remember that you can have problems in the future also and maybe your knowledge can help then. (Also you can help other users as well )

I updated a rolling distro after 18 months!

I usually keep my machines updated at least once a week or two weeks, but on of my PowerBook's I updated after 6 months without problems, but I can't recommend keeping it so far behind. But I'm against updating on the other extreme: every day, multiple times on a single day.

 

[smnbldwn]

Sounds like good advice, I have posted over on Reddit. a lot of this is to learn about Linux as well as just an excuse to keep on using the PB, it is a lovely machine.

 

[smnbldwn]

Is this a good place to continue the discussion about what to do next?

I was really happy with my PowerBook dual booting 10.5 and Void Linux and could still do certain productive tasks on it. I am a teacher and used OSX for creating worksheets and tests as Pages 09 works brilliantly for this, much better that current Pages or Word. If I needed to go online, I used Arctic Fox or one of the other similar browsers on Void or opened a terminal to use SSH. I actually did my school's timetable using open-source software on my PowerBook. None of the alternatives to Void look very encouraging. I used Debian 8, Ubuntu 12.04 and Ubuntu 16.04 before Void and found Void works much better than any of them. While my PowerBook was out of action, I installed FreeBSD on a 32bit x86 Netbook and it works pretty well but the i386 architecture is much better supported than powerpc with lots of packages available. I couldn't get Adelie to install the last time I tried although the Live DVD looked very impressive and there don't seem to be any decent browsers for powerpc on Adelie. Has anyone got any thoughts or experiences to share? Is it worth the pain to install Gentoo or Open or Net BSD?

 

[dextructor]

I read your post on Reddit and here you are again (no complains). For me Void it's one of the best distros that I ever use, with many packages available, in the most part stable (unless I make some noob mistake for one reason or another). Could have a better documentation like Arch or Gentoo? Sure, but it's not the devs job to do, it's the community, and at least in Void, it's reasonable friendly and want's to cooperate helping, but in case of time constrains, the docs would be more quickly.

Adelie can be a awesome distro in the future, and I love musl since discovered in Void X86_64 and tried in all my PPC machines (32 and 64), it was damn fast. But since Adelie isn't out of alpha/beta yet, we need to wait, more.

Speaking of wait, the Chimera also interest me a lot since was the former Void maintainer that it's leading the project, but the complexity and many platforms he wanna to support, it would take a while. (and it's also musl)

The BSD land, I don't have much experience, just installed once on my ThinkPad T400, played for a few days and didn't have problems, but also didn't catch my attention. (I believe that my WiFi was broken, but since I use ethernet primarily, didn't missed at all). The joke it's that NetBSD would install even on a toaster with enough ram and CPU.

The problem with our Mac's it's when they was launched the internet wasn't so prevalent, and essential (specially browsers). So using a computer didn't necessarily means that many tasks require a browser, but we migrated many things on the browser, and many pseudo-applications run on the browser that make our CPU's look pathetic in some sense.

Many distro's have really outdated and/or limited browsers (and I tried almost all of them) and having patience to do anything it's a path to a monk training, so when wicknix released his customized browsers to many glibc distros made such a difference for everyone.

So porting existing customized browsers to musl will involve many attempts if they can port at all (it's not impossible, but the level of the task if you analyze the legacy code and what musl expects/needs sometimes aren't worth the trouble).

Gentoo it's a great project, but also a nightmare from a user perspective since the level of granularity/customization it's really demanding from the user in the beginning, and you need to compile from source everything (and depending on the speed of the machine you'll need days at least)

Debian and derivatives aren't bad, but the priority it's really low, so expect missing packages, and other broken things from time to time. And lot's of legacy/outdated standards, that in my opinion don't make sense and make our machines at least less efficient that they could be.

I liked the Ubuntu remix 12 on my 17" PowerBook DLSD, but the outdated softwares and libraries wouldn't help if I wanna use other things, but if I only need the installed softwares that was already included, that would be great.

So there's a easy answer? Right now no, and sorry for that, but with Void being discontinued I can't recommend it so easily as before, and other distros have many "flaws" that for me make the experience less enjoyable or more difficult that it needs to be. Because at the end of the day as much as we can love to install and customize our machines, we need to use them.

 

[smnbldwn]

Thank you for summarising the situation and giving helpful advice. I will share my further adventures on here when I have decided what to do next...

 

[dextructor]

And don't forget that the number of distros it's much bigger that what I mention or everyone, theres much more options, but the problem it's Linux it's by nature a niche marketing, and depending on the popularity there's some names that I never heard before, and sometimes documentation it's lacking as I mentioned for many reasons. So enjoy your world of options on the link below (many Linux, BSD and other alternative O.S.)

Operating Systems for PowerPC

 

[MacMaverick855]

Having tried for a while to get Adelie installed on My G5 ppc64, pre-intel Mac, and failing miserably, I decided to try Void. The installer quit at "Installing for powerpc-ieee1275 platform". I was using the network install, may try the iso repo install. Now I find out That Void is discontinued, I may stop.

This G5 has proved to be from another planet, or dimension. No distro has cleanly installed and operated on this machine. I have a Radeon 9600 GPU, 2,0Ghz Processor and all of my install attempts go on a separate drive. This G5 will not and never has been able to boot from a USB drive.

I will research the above link by @dextructor, maybe I'll find somethign there.

I currently have 4 different devices running one or more different Linux flavors. I really thought the G5 would be the machine that would benefit most from a linux distro but, for whatever reason, it;s been the most difficult machine to try to install linux on.

As always if there;s a breakthrough , I'll let y'all know.
MM855

 

[MacMaverick855]

Ok, so I lied, I (finally) was able to install Void (kernel 5.15) but not much sure of much more. The login screen comes up but I can't enter my user name, the screen keeps cutting in and out, cursor moves but clicking it doesn't seem to do anything.

I think I need to enter a boot command to deal with the Radeon 9600 card. I've tried video=radeon.agpmode=-1, video=ofonly and video=offbff, they all seem to have no affect on the screen response performance. If I boot using the 4.4 kernel, I get a message about the radeon ROM being incorrect, and AGP:-1 even when I don't enter a boot command.

@wicknix, any suggestions?
MacMaverick855

 

[wicknix]

Sadly no. No idea. My G5 and 12" powerbook that run Void both have nvidia cards in them. Does the live xfce iso run fine without gfx issues?

 

[MacMaverick855]

Sadly no. No idea. My G5 and 12" powerbook that run Void both have nvidia cards in them. Does the live xfce iso run fine without gfx issues?

Sometimes. When it does boot to the live session it works. But sometimes it only boots to the terminal login screen.

 

[wicknix]

Hmm. Ok. Silly question.... Does os x work on said machine? Intermittent working boots of a live disk make me think there is a hardware issue. Maybe bad ram, bad gfx card, cold solder joints for ram and or agp port. There really is no other reason that at least 1 of the distros doesnt work. That gfx card is very well supported on ppc linux. I have one and its always worked with Debian/Ubuntu/Void/Fienix/OpenBSD.