ILamp iMacs (G4s) are maybe the most notoriously difficult Macs to get a Linux desktop on, mostly because of the GeForce graphics they were afflicted with came with. Since I don't have one and haven't tried to put Linux on it myself, I haven't posted anything about it, but PPC Luddite reader Gary R. via email shared a very concise set of instructions on how to get Ubuntu running on his, so I thought I'd post it here.
Here I quote Gary very liberally:
Thanks again to Gary R. MrSeeker July 21, 2016 New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
Here I quote Gary very liberally:
This is how I got Ubuntu to work:And scene. Gary adds he has to boot into rescue mode as it seems necessary with the nvidiafb and it's the only way to have shutdown, suspend, and reboot working properly. He also likes MATE, and after playing with the latest release on my Debian Sid install, I like it, too. So there.
Download Ubuntu 16.04 minimal install iso for ppc.
Install system utilities and Ubuntu Mate
When finished, reboot
At yaboot type: Linux nomodeset single
When you reach root, type: visudo
Below: root ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL type: username ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL (as per your instructions)
Hit Control o, hit return, then exit
nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf
comment (#) nvidiafb, uncomment vesafb
write, save, exit
nano /etc/modules, add nvidiafb
write, save, exit
nano /etc/initramfs-tools/modules, add nvidiafb
write, save, exit
update-initramfs -u
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add:Section "Screen"write, save, exit
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Default Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
DefaultDepth 16
EndSection
nano /etc/yaboot.conf and add to the append lines to read "quiet splash video=offb:off nomodeset single"
write, save, exit
ybin -v
Type "passwd" and add a root password
Reboot
You should come to a screen that says "Enter root password for maintenance or Control D to continue"
Hit Control D and you should get the Ubuntu Mate desktop
Thanks again to Gary R. MrSeeker July 21, 2016 New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
Getting Linux on an iLamp iMac with Nvidia Graphics
Posted by Maestro Game VIP on Thursday, July 21, 2016
People tell me things...
Via reader Ed, a new version of OpenBSD is out with improved PowerPC and G5 stability and performance. I don't know much about OpenBSD, but don't let that stop you ;)
Also, Hack 5190 at MacRumors' PowerPC Forum dropped news of a new version of the Flash hack that has the old 10.1 plugin spoof itself as the latest v19. This should be useful to those of you using Cameron Kaiser's SandboxSafari.
In case you missed it, the PowerPC Hub just celebrated its fourth birthday with a video.
At the Ubuntu forums, I saw this Radeon UMS thread for users who need to disable KMS and can't get acceleration because the Radeon driver dropped UMS support. The new UMS-enabled debs are for Ubuntu 14.04, but just for giggles I tested them on Debian and they worked! I just had to install libgcrypt11 1.5.3 in addition to the debs provided--the libgcrypt11 in Debian was too old.
Finally, Apple's ruse to release El Capitan as x86 only to reveal it was PowerPC all along is up:
Spotify 1.0.8 on El Capitan detected as a PowerPC app
Nice try, Apple. If it weren't for those meddling kids! MrSeeker October 22, 2015 New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
Via reader Ed, a new version of OpenBSD is out with improved PowerPC and G5 stability and performance. I don't know much about OpenBSD, but don't let that stop you ;)
Also, Hack 5190 at MacRumors' PowerPC Forum dropped news of a new version of the Flash hack that has the old 10.1 plugin spoof itself as the latest v19. This should be useful to those of you using Cameron Kaiser's SandboxSafari.
In case you missed it, the PowerPC Hub just celebrated its fourth birthday with a video.
At the Ubuntu forums, I saw this Radeon UMS thread for users who need to disable KMS and can't get acceleration because the Radeon driver dropped UMS support. The new UMS-enabled debs are for Ubuntu 14.04, but just for giggles I tested them on Debian and they worked! I just had to install libgcrypt11 1.5.3 in addition to the debs provided--the libgcrypt11 in Debian was too old.
Finally, Apple's ruse to release El Capitan as x86 only to reveal it was PowerPC all along is up:
Spotify 1.0.8 on El Capitan detected as a PowerPC app
Nice try, Apple. If it weren't for those meddling kids! MrSeeker October 22, 2015 New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
(UPDATE: The original version of this post had typos in the symlinks below. They have been corrected.)
Following up on my last post where I mentioned compiling a custom kernel to test sound patches, I can report the patches worked and those of you who have been suffering from that nasty soundcard detection failure will have restored sound in, I believe, the 4.2 kernel. However, if you don't want to wait that long, I'm making available the patched Jessie kernel I compiled on my Sawtooth (download link at bottom).
Actually, the first kernel I compiled was on my G3 iBook, but I compiled it without Altivec instructions, so that would be kind of useless to G4 owners. So I compiled another one on the Sawtooth (I didn't want to risk melting my iBook again), and it works fine on all three systems I've tried it on (G3 iBook, G4 Sawtooth, and G4 Powerbook). It's compiled with all the stock options; the only modifications are the two patches, this one applied on top of this one, that fix the sound bug.
So after you download it, open a terminal and use the
Then install the kernel with:
Then to set it as your default kernel, create these two symlinks:
Then edit /etc/yaboot.conf, adding this kernel entry on top of the others:
Now using this very unofficial kernel brings up thorny security issues: how can you trust it, how do you know it doesn't have malicious code, etc. However, in the years I've written this blog, I think I've established that
a) I'm reasonably trustworthy.
b) I totally lack the skills to pull something like that off.
So install with no worries :)
Here's the download and sha256 fingerprint:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/cj8h2h4dybg2otm/linux-image-3.16.7-ckt11-soundfix_1.0_powerpc.deb
sha256: f489a9d2c617fa803bbe44c7913a4540b1705ab3e6da6b149559bddcb3b508ff MrSeeker August 13, 2015 New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
Following up on my last post where I mentioned compiling a custom kernel to test sound patches, I can report the patches worked and those of you who have been suffering from that nasty soundcard detection failure will have restored sound in, I believe, the 4.2 kernel. However, if you don't want to wait that long, I'm making available the patched Jessie kernel I compiled on my Sawtooth (download link at bottom).
Actually, the first kernel I compiled was on my G3 iBook, but I compiled it without Altivec instructions, so that would be kind of useless to G4 owners. So I compiled another one on the Sawtooth (I didn't want to risk melting my iBook again), and it works fine on all three systems I've tried it on (G3 iBook, G4 Sawtooth, and G4 Powerbook). It's compiled with all the stock options; the only modifications are the two patches, this one applied on top of this one, that fix the sound bug.
So after you download it, open a terminal and use the
cd command to change to your downloads directory:cd ~/DownloadsThen install the kernel with:
sudo dpkg -i linux-image-3.16.7-ckt11-soundfix_1.0_powerpc.debThen to set it as your default kernel, create these two symlinks:
sudo ln -s /boot/initrd.img-linux-image-3.16.7-ckt11-soundfix /boot/initrd.img.soundfix
sudo ln -s /boot/initrd.img-3.16.7-ckt11-soundfix /boot/initrd.img.soundfixsudo ln -s /boot/vmlinux-linux-image-3.16.7-ckt11-soundfix /boot/vmlinux.soundfix
sudo ln -s /boot/vmlinux-3.16.7-ckt11-soundfix /boot/vmlinux.soundfixThen edit /etc/yaboot.conf, adding this kernel entry on top of the others:
image=/boot/vmlinux.soundfix
label=soundfix
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img.soundfixsudo ybin -v to update the configuration.Now using this very unofficial kernel brings up thorny security issues: how can you trust it, how do you know it doesn't have malicious code, etc. However, in the years I've written this blog, I think I've established that
a) I'm reasonably trustworthy.
b) I totally lack the skills to pull something like that off.
So install with no worries :)
Here's the download and sha256 fingerprint:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/cj8h2h4dybg2otm/linux-image-3.16.7-ckt11-soundfix_1.0_powerpc.deb
sha256: f489a9d2c617fa803bbe44c7913a4540b1705ab3e6da6b149559bddcb3b508ff MrSeeker August 13, 2015 New Google SEO Bandung, Indonesia
