I recently got a mac as a gift, a powerpc g4, which has 1gb of ram but came with no optical drive or hard drive. Handbrake is an opensource, gpllicensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for mac os x, linux and windows. The project began its life as an ubuntu remix, but starting with version 15. I cant think of one user group thats about linux powerpc as a whole. Its my most powerful powerpc mac, so i figured it would be a good way to take linux for a spin. Linux has continued its great advance into the powerpcmacintosh world. Improves classic application compatibility in mac os x and delivers updated support for macintosh systems that are based on the powerpc g3 or g4 processor. The debian powerpc port began in 1997 at the german linux congress in wurzburg. Nubus systems are not currently supported by debian powerpc. All in all, with yellow dog linux you could revive an old g3, g4 and g5 apple computer, either by dualbooting both mac os x and ydl systems, or by installing it as the only computing environment. A lot had been said lately about running linux on powerpc and it reminds me a lot about the argument of pcs vs mac. The monolithic linux ppc kernel architecture does not have support for these machines. Thanks for obs and kvm on power we are able to do a public builds.
Ubuntu jaunty is also available for powerpc, with a graphical installer. Because of this, lubuntu has very low hardware requirements. Be aware that the use of ibm java environments on apple ppc hardware is not supported by ibm. Md5 checksums, gpg signatures and package lists are available in the release notes for each download. Users of 32bit cpus apple g3g4 must use the 32bit powerpc platform, users of 64bit cpus that support 32bit operating systems apple g5 have a choice, and users of 64bit cpus that do not must use powerpc64. Linux distribution for ppc powerpc architecture last updated august 27, 2007 in categories ask nixcraft, debian linux, download of the day, gentoo linux, gnuopen source, linux desktop, linux distribution, redhatfedora linux, ubuntu linux. Still, right now, linux is a specialized operating system catering to developers, networkers and it professionals. Once you download your iso images, burn them onto disk, and give the installation a.
So i put a dvd burner and a hard drive of 40 gb i got. Ubuntu installs by default a boot loader called yaboot yet another bootloader and this allows you to start linux or select which other os youd like to. It is sooo nice to let us devoted fans get a chance for a clear download. For most users this bug should be fixed when you run the update manager.
Im also looking at buying an ibook to go with my g3 desktop so id like to hear your experiences with it. Do i access the internet and this article and links from the g3 and download directly onto it or do i download onto. It works on 32 and 64 bits big endian powerpc g3g4g5 and newer freescalenxp chips. We reported how to run upcoming lubuntu desktop lxqt in xenial xerus on a raspberry pi 2 and now, thanks to tester herminio hernandez, jr. Revive your old mac g3, g4, or g5 with linux ghacks tech news. Below youll find links to the isos on the main ubuntu server, as well as, help on finding mirrors. Theyre based on debian and an lxde desktop thats made to look like a mint distro. However i have not heard discussions of dropping powerpc. Mac powerpc and ibmppc power5 desktop cd for apple macintosh g3, g4, and g5 computers, including ibooks and powerbooks as well as ibm openpower machines.
This is an englishlanguage usertouser support group. The powerpc architecture design is newer than the other successful cpu architectures. Debian runs nicely on a g3 ibook, jason packer, macs in the enterprise, 2008. In this tutorial ill show how you can put ubuntu linux on a powerbook g4 and resurrect one of these durable old laptops from the dead. Ibm does not offer service support for these configurations and so the author is not encouraging.
Mac os x tiger was released in 2005, its final security update being in 2009. When it comes to old hardware, its not always best to recycle it. Ports to other powerpc architectures, such as the bebox and mbx architecture, are underway but not yet supported by debian. Powerpc linux 32bit builds support ubuntu 12 14 16, debian 8 9 10 sid and voidppc glibc version. This is the download area of the opensuse distribution and the opensuse build service. How to install linux mint on a powerpc mac youtube. Mac os x leopard was released in 2007, given its very last. That means, you can, without any access to the powerpc hardware, build your application for ppc64 or ppc64le architectures. Revive a powerpc mac running linux the mac observer.
The stept are applicable to any g3, g4 or g5 mac that meets the. I test various features, dvd, wireless, bluetooth, networking, printing, etc. Slowlyi think more slowly than most linux fans would wantthe operating system is moving into an arena where it might be generally useful. Be aware that if you have a g3 then youll need to download specially compiled versions of vlc and mplayer, the developer of mintppc has already done that for you, and you can download it from the mintppc repos, or you can follow instructions on how to do it yourself on ppcluddites blog. Ubuntus apple forums are also worth a look, and the ubuntu powerpc faq is probably the single best powerpc resource out there. Gentoo linux 47 gentoo linux is a versatile and fast, completely free linux distribution geared towards developers and. Linux breathes new life into old mac computers also in todays open source roundup. Linux and bsd unix are free, open source operating. Sometimes, you can even revive an old powerpc mac running linux.
If you are searching for a specific package for your distribution, we. In this video, we will take a look at installing linux mint on a powerbook g4. The mini iso will download the latest kernel version which contains the fix. Revive your old mac g3, g4, or g5 with linux ghacks tech. These include the 610071008100 line of power macintoshes.
Do you want to breathe life back into your old powerbook or powerpc machine. When you install ubuntu onto a newworld apple macintosh powerpc g3, g4 or g5 computer you can choose to boot between two or more operating systems. Ibm developer kits for java technology on apple powerpc. Code names in finnix refer to the development cycle leading up to. Ive experimented with linux and bsd macs going back to the mac iici era, and. Just make sure you pick a download that has powerpc in it. Download powerpc linux software advertisement euae powerpc jit v. Download yellow dog linux the premier linux operating system for powerpc and ibm powerlinux 7r2 hardware platforms. For g3, g4, and g5 machines there is the option of gentoo. For a start, performance of linux on a g3 350mhz, 128mb ram, bluewhite case should exceed that of mac osx, especially for the very slow ms office and endnote applications. I suggest you start by downloading mac powerpc and ibmppc.
There are also four flavours of the powerpc kernel in debian. This article shows how to use fullyfeatured, productionproven ibm developer kits for java technology for linux distributions for ibm power and ibm powerpc hardware on linux for apple powerpc hardware. Linux breathes new life into old mac computers infoworld. I need to do what you suggested above only, um, how. Powerpc, as an evolving instruction set, has since 2006 been named power isa, while the old name lives on as a. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Some people defend their favorite os to death and theyre so passionate that its hard to talk about it without offending someone. Debian 9 and powerpc gnulinux open hardware powerpc. Lubuntu uses lxdelxqt and a selection of light applications. Linux distribution for ppc powerpc architecture nixcraft. I am currently trying to install suse linux on a imac g3 ppc but when i put the first disk in the drive and type install it does a bunch of checking from what i can tell then it gives me a line saying please supply a config file.
Whatever happened to the black lab and yellow lab linux that ran on these when the powerpc was still new. Most systems use this kernel flavour, which supports the powerpc 601, 603, 604, 740, 750, and 7400 processors. Powerpc with the backronym performance optimization with enhanced risc performance computing, sometimes abbreviated as ppc is a reduced instruction set computer risc instruction set architecture isa created by the 1991 appleibmmotorola alliance, known as aim. All of those will work on your system so it is basically your choice in what you desktop you want or even no desktop. Im trying to install from open firmware as i havent a mac keyboard, i use one standard. A key resource for powerpc linux development is penguinppc, which also includes a hardware compatibility list. Ever considered linux as an alternative to your aging os x version. Download lubuntu, a fast and lightweight linux operating system. It is used as ordinary car racing game, as ai racing game and as research platform. From the beginning, powerpc was designed with more features than other cpus.