PowerMac G5 11,2 - Morphos

[Vik Vaporoub]

Hello,

I've been wanting to buy a PowerMac for a couple of years so I can install the Morphos, and I recently found a very good deal to buy a PowerMac G5.
The only problem is that it differs from the version of compatible models, since on the Morphos website it says that it must be model 7.1 or 7.2, and this is version 11.2 (2Ghz)

I left the system with 2GB of RAM and I'm trying to boot from the Morphos CD but all I get after the system's been reading the CD for a while is the screen going blank, having to reboot to get out of there.

Is it possible to install a Morphos on this version of processor though it's not fully compatible? Could it help to install a graphics card from those listed in the Morphos compatible list?
The point is that, if the installation is not possible, I see the purchase of the graphics card as unnecessary, so I would like if someone could help me with this.

Thank you so much!

 

[Doq]

Unlike the rest of the G5s, the 11,2 (or Late '05 models) are vastly different in logic board configuration and technologies. The 11,2 has DDR2 memory, PCI Express for both graphics and expansion, CPUs with two cores on them, and from what I'm aware of, a different chipset entirely.

As for MorphOS, it could be any number of reasons for the lack of compatibility, not just graphics.

 

[AdamBuker]

I have booted MorphOS on an 11,2 G5. As long as you have an ATI Radeon card (like the X1900) it should work.

 

[Vik Vaporoub]

I have booted MorphOS on an 11,2 G5. As long as you have an ATI Radeon card (like the X1900) it should work.

Good! Then, nothing is lost
Well, my graphic card is not an ATI one. In fact it's a GeeForce 6600LE. (I know it's not in the compatible list, but it's not the 11,2 anyway).I assumed you have a G5 11.2, 2GB of RAM and that ATI card, is that correct?
In that case, I think I'm gonna buy one of those ATI cards and see what happens

 

[Vik Vaporoub]

Unlike the rest of the G5s, the 11,2 (or Late '05 models) are vastly different in logic board configuration and technologies. The 11,2 has DDR2 memory, PCI Express for both graphics and expansion, CPUs with two cores on them, and from what I'm aware of, a different chipset entirely.

As for MorphOS, it could be any number of reasons for the lack of compatibility, not just graphics.

I know, but the computer was a real bargain and I had to try! 🙃
I noticed someone got to load Morphos on a G5 11.2, so I'll go for it and pray it works.
THank you!

 

[AdamBuker]

Good! Then, nothing is lost
Well, my graphic card is not an ATI one. In fact it's a GeeForce 6600LE. (I know it's not in the compatible list, but it's not the 11,2 anyway).I assumed you have a G5 11.2, 2GB of RAM and that ATI card, is that correct?
In that case, I think I'm gonna buy one of those ATI cards and see what happens

Mine is the 2.0 Ghz Dual Core. I'm running 16GB of ram in mine, but I don't think you would need that much for MorphOS. I think it's really the ATI card that makes the difference. I've actually since removed mine as it started glitching on me, so I swapped it for a flashed 7800GT, so I can't boot it on the G5 anymore. I myself tried MorphOS and decided that it wasn't for me. I think I'm going to try putting either Fienix or ChimeraLinux on mine alongside Tiger and Leopard.

 

[Vik Vaporoub]

I'm reading in the Morphos web about the ATI Radeon x1900, it says "no W3D)... What's supposed to be that exactly? Is there any kind of incompatibility with this card?

 

[AdamBuker]

I'm reading in the Morphos web about the ATI Radeon x1900, it says "no W3D)... What's supposed to be that exactly? Is there any kind of incompatibility with this card?

I think it's referring to their Warp3D library that they include for compatibility reasons with older Amiga games and applications. It just means that those applications will rely on CPU rather than the GPU for rendering. For a G5, I don't think that should be a problem and newer apps that use the TinyGL library should render just fine with the Radeon X1900.

If you look on this page and scroll to the 3D section under the heading of 'Goa' it explains about the Warp3D library. I think the reason for the incompatibility is that the incompatible GPUs are newer relative to the ones that are compatible.

 

[Bug-Creator]

"no W3D" means that it lacks the Warp3D emulation needed to run old Amiga 3D games from the 90s and early 2000s.
Never games will run with anything that isn't marked 2d only.
Well not really as there is a TinyGL Beta available that will enable some better cards.

No 11.2 shipped with a Radeon and as most supported cards won't show a boot screen or OSX it is still listed as "unsupported". AFAIR you also need to install a PCIe network card as the one onboard isn't supported.

The x1900 (or was it just one variant?) is special as it does exist as a PPC compatible OF and OSX supported PCIe card.

 

[Vik Vaporoub]

"no W3D" means that it lacks the Warp3D emulation needed to run old Amiga 3D games from the 90s and early 2000s.
Never games will run with anything that isn't marked 2d only.
Well not really as there is a TinyGL Beta available that will enable some better cards.

No 11.2 shipped with a Radeon and as most supported cards won't show a boot screen or OSX it is still listed as "unsupported". AFAIR you also need to install a PCIe network card as the one onboard isn't supported.

The x1900 (or was it just one variant?) is special as it does exist as a PPC compatible OF and OSX supported PCIe card.

Ok, so I'm better off buying one of those that are Warp3D compatible and get an additional network card. I didn't understand quite well what you mean in the last line... what does mean that there are PPC Compatible OF and OSX cards?

 

[Bug-Creator]

Warp3D is not needed unless you want to play those ancient games.
Current 3D drivers (TinyGL) and games work much better on never cards.
Most of the PCIe based cards don't have a PPC OF (BIOS) but use "AtomBIOS" which is supported by the MorphOS drivers. You just won't be able to see the OF or use them under OSX.

Some? All? (Don't know for sure I use an AGP G5....) x1900 came with a BIOS that worked just fine in OF and OSX.

If you are serious about using MorphOS I'd suggest joining MorphZone to get definitives answers since I don't run such a setup.

 

[AdamBuker]

The X1900 is the only Radeon card that I know of that was made for the PCIe G5’s but you had to buy it separately. If you want to save money on one there are ways to flash a similar PC card. There’s a forum post about this somewhere on here if you want more information.

 

[Vik Vaporoub]

I just noticed that the card I was about to buy is the ATI Radeon x1900 XT (not GT)... I don't see it listed in the compatibilty list... It's a great pitty, it's been too hard to find some of the x1900 series.
I finally acquired the x1600 Pro, let's see how it works.

 

[Vik Vaporoub]

Hello, I'm back again;

I received and tested the ATI Radeon 1600 Pro, but the computer doesn't boot when connected. But it boots with the older card...
Does it matter the model is ATI Radeon Sapphire 1600 Pro?
I don't know why it's not working.

 

[Bug-Creator]

ATI Radeon 1600 Pro

One question I have yet to find an answer for is wether that card would be AtomBIOS or still require separate PC/Mac versions.

If its the later you would need to flash it to a PPC OF card which might never have existed.

I do run an (AGP) HD 3450 (I choose it because I wanted an HDMI port) so such a card (as PCIe) might be worth a try.

Another issue is that booting/installing blind might be hard so it is best to have an OF supported card at hand. In my case I just use the old genuine Apple 9650, in your case you would want to the original NVidia card installed alongside the Radeon.
This should let you see OF or the bootmenu to make sure you are actually booting from CD (or ISO on USB if you go that route) and if you have monitors connected to both at least should show some sort of error if booting fails.

 

[Vik Vaporoub]

One question I have yet to find an answer for is wether that card would be AtomBIOS or still require separate PC/Mac versions.

If its the later you would need to flash it to a PPC OF card which might never have existed.

I do run an (AGP) HD 3450 (I choose it because I wanted an HDMI port) so such a card (as PCIe) might be worth a try.

Another issue is that booting/installing blind might be hard so it is best to have an OF supported card at hand. In my case I just use the old genuine Apple 9650, in your case you would want to the original NVidia card installed alongside the Radeon.
This should let you see OF or the bootmenu to make sure you are actually booting from CD (or ISO on USB if you go that route) and if you have monitors connected to both at least should show some sort of error if booting fails.

Hello;


I've just searched for an AMD Radeon HD3450, but the ones I found have no HDMI port... :-o
I wasn't lucky in my first buying, as the card wasn't working, so I'm off to buy another 1600Pro, plus one AMD Radeon HD3450 just in case the first fails... :-D
As for the flashing part, I don't even know how this can be done.

 

[Bug-Creator]

As for the flashing part, I don't even know how this can be done.

To be clear, no flashing needed for the HD3450 and I just don't know if it would be needed for the 1600PRO.
It might be that some PCIe cards only work in non Apple systems that have x86 support in their FirmWare meaning there might be some blind spots that just can't be made to work in a G5.


Either way you should just put whatever Radeon as a 2nd card into the G5 and see if something appears on the NVidia card.

If it doesn't you are most likely dealing with an HW issue.

There isn't anything special about the 3450 it's just the 1st card at a reasonable price for AGP with HDMI that I found as that was the whole point (the genuine Apple 9650 was more then fine for anything DVI).

There is a long list of supported PCIe cards, at least everything HD3450 or better should be AtomBIOS and higher numbers increase the chance of at least 1 modern port.
Just stay away from cards that require extra power (1 Molex is o.k.) or are oversized.

Once you have a card that does not disturb booting OSX you should burn the ISO to disk (old fashioned but also reliable) hit "option" on power up and select the DVD drive (holding "C" should also work but I had mixed results).
If no error appears on the NVidia you should see the MorphOS boot screen a few secs later (on the Radeon).

Install to HD (follow this guide if you want to keep OSX), reboot. If that works you may remove the NVidia card (if you don't need OSX that is).

 

[Vik Vaporoub]

Does it matter it's an ASUS AMD Radeon HD3450 rather than just AMD Radeon HD3450?
And ASUS Radeon X1600PRO 512MB GDDR2 rather than Radeon X1600PRO?
I see lots of different names and can't tell if it's the correct version or not :-o

I read something in your text that surprised me... Are you telling me I can connect both cards (Nvidia and Radeon at the same time in two different PCI-e slots?

 

[Bug-Creator]

Board partner (ASUS MSI EVGA etc) is irrelevant.

And yes have both cards installed till you get a working system I wouldn’t even date to try an install any other way.

 

[Vik Vaporoub]

Hello again!
Well, it worked! I finally got to install Morphos correctly, it's so different and it's hard for me to find basic things...
The fact is that I see that partitions can't be larger than 128GB with SFS. I'm not quite familiar with the maximun size of the diferent file systems, so I don't know which one to choose for a partition of, say, 400GB. It would be so weird to split the remaining 400GB in the disk into 3 partitions :-o