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Snow Leopard on Unsupported PowerPC Macs

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
vddrnnr

vddrnnr

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Hi all,

So I did the install process a little different from Lars.
What I've done would be more in line with getting your current systems
to "dualboot" Leopard and Snow Leopard.

So the steps were ( from inside a Leopard installed system ):

0. Mount the OSX Server ISO with DiskImageMounter
1. Copy all the contents from the mounted ISO to a folder on your HD ( do this from Terminal using sudo )
Do something llike:

sudo cp -R * "destination folder"

2. Replace the OSInstall.mpkg as mentioned in the tutorial made by Lars
3. Run this package directly ( do not run the Install OSX in the root of the extracted ISO )
4. Follow all the install steps which is basicly select the destination and "Next"
5. Modify the "10.6 Post.sh" to use the correct source and destination folders
6. Run the "10.6 Post.sh" from Terminal
7. Mount your OSX boot partition. From the command line do:
( get the list of disks and partitions with diskutil list from Terminal )

sudo diskutil mount /dev/disk<your boot disk and partition>

8. Go to folder "/System/Library/CoreServiices" inside the newly mounted partition
9. Copy bootx from the BootX zip file to this folder.
10. Rebbot while pressing "Option" or change your startup disk in "System Preferences"
11. After reboot finish the install process
12. In the end if you get a blue background screen with a functioning mouse pointer and
nothing happens next force shutdown with the power button and power on again.

Best regards,
voidRunner
 
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Larsvonhier

Larsvonhier

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vddrnnr said:
Hi Lars,

Can I put bootx directly on a currently running Leopard System?

Best regards,
voidRunner
Click to expand...
Hm. Don´t really understand the question - as BootX to my knowledge was the PPC boot method and was there (on 10.x to 10.5.8).
[automerge]1587940379[/automerge]
Update: Got the 10A96 server build uploaded to mega. Link on page #1.
[automerge]1587940610[/automerge]
vddrnnr said:
@Lars you can add Geforces in G5s as working

Best regards,
voidRunner
Click to expand...
Fully accelerated with OpenGL? Which GeForce do you have in there? (The FX5200 in my iMac G5 currently cannot be "convinced" to do OpenGL).
 
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vddrnnr

vddrnnr

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Hi Lars,

In System Profile my Geforce is recongnized like this ( see below ) so
I think it's fully supported.

I've also tried DVD Player which looks completely borked. But I've
copied the version from Tiger 10.4.11 along with the DVD Playack System Framework
and it works great no weird display.
You can also make it look almost like Leopard's so it can be a good replacement while
we find a "working" version. What do you thnk?

One think I've noticed is that images don't "stretch" so well they all show pixelated.
Any ideas?

I've also noticed that in System Preferences two of them do not open:

Displays
Printers

Everything else in there seems ok.

Best regards,
voidRunner

Picture 1.png


Picture 2.png
 
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vddrnnr

vddrnnr

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Hi Lars,

I ran Xbench Opengl test and it ran withou problems.
Should I run something else?

Best regards,
voidRunner
 
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Project Alice

Project Alice

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vddrnnr said:
Hi guys,

So Lars has finished uploading the file to my DropBox account.
It's an ISO for the version which he got working with PPC.
If you want to download it send me a PM and I'll send you a public link for it.
I think for now and to test DropBoxe's capacity we should give it a few tries
downloading at the same time.
If everything goes well then I think I can share the link publicly.

@Lars Is this ok with you??

Best regards,
voidRunner
Click to expand...
Oh I definitely need this. I’m not home and on mobile right now, first thing when I get home later I will download it.
 
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wicknix

wicknix

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Just a question / possible suggestion. Would it be possible for you guys to make a restore.dmg much like someone did years a go for leopard with all the intel stripped out? Just do a fresh install, apply needed scripts/fixes, and reset it to act like a new install. It'd make installing for the average user painless.

Cheers
 
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vddrnnr

vddrnnr

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Jan 23, 2017
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Hi wick,

I can try and do a CCC sparse image.
Right now the installed system uses 11G so worst case scenario it will be
a 11G download for the fully running system that just needs to be
"extracted" to a disk partition.

PS. even with the glitches I found the system seems rock solid lets just hope
we can get the required frameworks are there. My next step will be to run
the Xcode installer ( the one that is in the snow leopard server installer ).

PS2. The Xcode installer starts ;-)

PS3. The Xcode installer finished :)

PS4. Xcode runs and we have Xcode 3.2 :D

Best regards,
voidRunner
 
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Larsvonhier

Larsvonhier

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vddrnnr said:
Hi Lars,

In System Profile my Geforce is recongnized like this ( see below ) so
I think it's fully supported.

I've also tried DVD Player which looks completely borked. But I've
copied the version from Tiger 10.4.11 along with the DVD Playack System Framework
and it works great no weird display.
You can also make it look almost like Leopard's so it can be a good replacement while
we find a "working" version. What do you thnk?

One think I've noticed is that images don't "stretch" so well they all show pixelated.
Any ideas?

I've also noticed that in System Preferences two of them do not open:

Displays
Printers

Everything else in there seems ok.

Best regards,
voidRunner

View attachment 909628

View attachment 909629
Click to expand...
 
Larsvonhier

Larsvonhier

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Having a ready-to-go image that takes up at the point of registering user(s) is imho a good idea. Thought about that from the beginning. Downside is that some people do not trust such a pre-install due to what might be included there.
And we´ll have to update it from time to time with updated components that we find...

I prepared a list with newer kexts that exist in 10.5.8 in comparison to 10A96 and that run here - as 10.5.8 was clearly more serviced and a bit more recent than the initial 10.6 release(s). Will put it in a table on page #1 and attach a zip archive with all of them. Care has to be taken to test all modifications on various machines - as I found i.e. that ATA kext families seemed to work at first and then on another machine failed to recognize drives.

Good news: At least the newer iTunes 8.2.1 runs out-of-the box while the latest 10.5.8 version seems to need some updated frameworks.

Also tbd: A table with PPC applications that have been tested on 10.6 PPC, also on the wiki page #1 for everybody to submit what you found! I can start it in the evening...

Speaking of frameworks: That will be my next focus (and due to gigantic combinations and dependencies I will need all help I can get there! ;-). So the task would be to find 10.5.8 frameworks and libraries that run on 10.6 and improve things (as a basis for newer applications that req. them).

Somewhere in the system is also the reason for the faulty jpg decoding (that TenFourFox and Preview show). Interesting that other browsers handle it differently.
Might also be some framework stuff.

Having XCode 3.2 is great news, perhaps even the last for SL (3.2.6) will run?
 
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Larsvonhier

Larsvonhier

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As @vddrnnr found, it´s sufficient to detect OpenGL / QuartzExtreme with tools as XBench and take system info on the GPU as an indication.
I´d just add iTunes in "graphics effects" mode: If you see only a black screen there, then some GPU feature/driver/kext is missing.
Also with the tool "OpenMark" you find out quickly: If benchmark runs and displays a rotating globe, all is fine. Otherwise the tool complains about "missing pixel aspect ratio for current screen" or the like.
 

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vddrnnr

vddrnnr

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Jan 23, 2017
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Hi Lars,

Regarding the "install" method I agree with you.

The sparse image would be just to facilitate if someone
less knowledgeable wants to try it and it would be done
"no strings attached" without any obligation to release new updates.

It's like the sparse image @dosdude1 made at some point
for Lion 32bit. This image was the one I used to get it
on my 32bit CoreDUO 17" macbookpro. I was then able to
update it to 10.7.5 with the combo update and then had to redo
manually the steps required to get it booting by replacing the kexts
and mach_kernel ( If anyone want's it let me know ).

Is this case we can also use Path finder to replace the crippled DP1 Finder which
was still 32bit which gives us a fully updateed Lion on 32bit machines.
Using the sparse image may also be a good way to get more people to
try/test the apps without ving to be able to really do the install process.

As I said I agree with you and that the main focus should be on an installer like
what's been done to get newer macOS versions in unsupported hardware.

Best regards,
voidRunner
 
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vddrnnr

vddrnnr

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Jan 23, 2017
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Hi guys,

Another quick update.
I have now extended my install to a PBG4 DLSD ( just copied the
partition from my G5 with CCC ) nothing else.
You are not going to believe this although there is no Hardware Core Image or Quartz Extreme
( so unfortunately some graphics eye candy are not so smooth )

THE SYSTEM RUNS FASTER!!!!

I've been browsing with TFF and page loading is faster, scrolling works better....

I think I'm going nuts.....

@to everyone who has downloaded the ISO can you share your experiences??

Best regards,
voidRunner
 
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vddrnnr

vddrnnr

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Jan 23, 2017
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Hi Lars,

Just found something that is required for PBs to have the temp/fan sensors working
properly.
The IOI2CADT746x.kext is not available in 10.6 and must be copied from Leopard.
Now I can seel all the info in iStat and use G4FanControl to set the temps for fan ramp up.

Best regards,
voidRunner
[automerge]1588037583[/automerge]
Hi Project,

Have you tried the method I suggested?
It does not require running the normal installer from DVD/External disk.

Best regards,
voidRunner
 
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Project Alice

Project Alice

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vddrnnr said:
Hi Lars,

Just found something that is required for PBs to have the temp/fan sensors working
properly.
The IOI2CADT746x.kext is not available in 10.6 and must be copied from Leopard.
Now I can seel all the info in iStat and use G4FanControl to set the temps for fan ramp up.

Best regards,
voidRunner
[automerge]1588037583[/automerge]
Hi Project,

Have you tried the method I suggested?
It does not require running the normal installer from DVD/External disk.

Best regards,
voidRunner
Click to expand...
Just a second ago I did. The installer errors out seconds after with "The installer could not locate the data needed to install the software".

I might re-clone the image and try again.
 
vddrnnr

vddrnnr

macrumors 6502
Jan 23, 2017
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750
Hi guys,

I forgot to mention something in my howto. Sorry my bad... :(
You must create an RW dmg image mount it and then copy everything
from your local drive into it.
Then run the OSInstall.mpkg from there.
I think if you don't do it it complains with the error you got.

Best regards,
voidRunner
 
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Project Alice

Project Alice

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vddrnnr said:
Hi guys,

I forgot to mention something in my howto. Sorry my bad... :(
You mus create an RW dmg image mount it and then copy everything
from your local drive into it.
I think if you don't do it it complains with the error you got.

Best regards,
voidRunner
Click to expand...
I'm actually running this from it's own hard disk, connected via FW. One partition for the installer, another for a full bootable install was my goal here. It's from there I replaced the kexts, OSInstall.mpkg ect.
 
vddrnnr

vddrnnr

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Jan 23, 2017
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Hi project,

You are doing this from a running Leopard right?
I mean running the installer?? ( OSInstall.mpkg )

Best regards,
voidRunner
 
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