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What have you done with a PowerPC today?

OpenBSD, NetBSD, and FreeBSD for PPC is not supported for IOQuake3. I figured I could fix that, and turns out it was really simple.

One file contained the *BSD if then else statement for x86 and amd64. It does not include PPC. By simply adding an else if for PPC with valid definitions its successfully compiled.

Due to some odd reason the opengl1 and opengl2 renderers were named wrong in the executable, so I just made symlinks to the names it expected.

Fullscreen is broken (it’s scaled wrong in the corner of the screen) but windowed it looks great. I had to change the graphics setting to “fastest” (there is some kind of memory leak in the Radeon 9200 driver otherwise, and this does not appear to be OpenBSD specific as other people have had the same error on other systems and OSes but with the same driver) and then set the resolution to 640x480.

Then finally, playable Quake 3 on OpenBSD 6.7! Frame rate was in the 20s on some matches with more people and in the 40-85 range with just one other person. At least it works well enough to be playable.

Edit: Well enough to win my first PPC OpenBSD Q3 match! 5-8 one v one.
 
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Man you're killing me. I have been wanting to test drive BSD on a mac for a while now as a possible LTOS after Leopard support fizzles out. Q3 support just make the itch that much worse. :D
 
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RhianB said:
Man you're killing me. I have been wanting to test drive BSD on a mac for a while now as a possible LTOS after Leopard support fizzles out. Q3 support just make the itch that much worse. :D
Click to expand...

Now has never been a better time! You can easily multi boot it with the guide I wrote.

The other day I updated from OpenBSD 6.6 to 6.7. Just executed one command, ‘sysupgrade’ and copied back my xorg conf Radeon file after the update finished, which was all automatic.

Binary packages were just uploaded for macppc 6.7 either today or yesterday. They lag behind releases since it takes so long to compile all of them.

Been watching shows, playing games, all on an OS “that sucks for graphics” on PPC of all things. People really have the wrong idea about the OS.
 
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Ok, I am in big trouble.. maybe someone can assist.. well, not to much in trouble, since my G4 550 I did not touch :) So, I suspected a bad hard drive I had which originally came with my Pismo G3 500(I have 2 + 400 daughter card) - So, to make long story short I did not watch what I was doing and I accidently bent some of the pins on the back of the 500 mhz daughter card - can this be fixed ? I can upload a screen shot so someone can tell me if this is possible. I don't think any of the pins broke off, they are all there. I am trying to save from having to buy a new 500 mhz card, so right now I am using the 400, though this Pismo is an extra one.

Can some one offer assistance ? I am not good with soldering, though I read the 400 can be increased to 500, however I just want a new daughter card and many places are asking a lot for this. DV warehouse is asking like 300.00.. Used Mac is asking for close to 50.00 which isn't bad and he has like 300 of them in stock.

Suggestions ?
 
alex_free said:
Now has never been a better time! You can easily multi boot it with the guide I wrote.

The other day I updated from OpenBSD 6.6 to 6.7. Just executed one command, ‘sysupgrade’ and copied back my xorg conf Radeon file after the update finished, which was all automatic.

Binary packages were just uploaded for macppc 6.7 either today or yesterday. They lag behind releases since it takes so long to compile all of them.

Been watching shows, playing games, all on an OS “that sucks for graphics” on PPC of all things. People really have the wrong idea about the OS.
Click to expand...
Could you make a little video-review of OpenBSD on your mini G4?
 
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Macbookprodude said:
Ok, I am in big trouble.. maybe someone can assist.. well, not to much in trouble, since my G4 550 I did not touch :) So, I suspected a bad hard drive I had which originally came with my Pismo G3 500(I have 2 + 400 daughter card) - So, to make long story short I did not watch what I was doing and I accidently bent some of the pins on the back of the 500 mhz daughter card - can this be fixed ? I can upload a screen shot so someone can tell me if this is possible. I don't think any of the pins broke off, they are all there. I am trying to save from having to buy a new 500 mhz card, so right now I am using the 400, though this Pismo is an extra one.

Can some one offer assistance ? I am not good with soldering, though I read the 400 can be increased to 500, however I just want a new daughter card and many places are asking a lot for this. DV warehouse is asking like 300.00.. Used Mac is asking for close to 50.00 which isn't bad and he has like 300 of them in stock.

Suggestions ?
Click to expand...
Yes, you should be able to bend the pins back. I badly bent some on a Pentium CPU once and managed to get them back, using a nail file between the rows of pins to see how straight I was getting them.

Hope this helps ;)

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
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Today I'm using my iMac G3 DV SE as a terminal to my main computers. The warm glow of a CRT displaying SSH is always pleasing.
 
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laylow said:
Even better, I'm using GLTerminal.

osxdaily.com

GLTerminal – Retro Terminal Simulator Updated for Mac OS X Leopard

I’ve been on a bit of a retro and minimalism kick lately, preferring simplified apps that take me back to the good old days of BBS’s and 2400bps modems (ok maybe not the modems), and wh…
osxdaily.com osxdaily.com
Click to expand...
I’ll one-up you there with my old Raspberry Pi hooked up to my even older 9” green Apple Monitor // :p

The Pi is stuck inside the housing of a dead Mac mini :)

EEDAF5A5-49E9-465A-ADCF-7F7FC53B68F1.jpeg
 
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I'm using one of my G4 Minis running 10.4.11 to fill out https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wg45xflCn8MAPvE0H4un7OmbavRNW5qlSHbeZg39Q9A/edit#gid=0 -- it runs headless on my network and I VNC in when I want to run something up.

Last weekend, I got my other G4 Mini dual booting OS 9 and Mac OS X 10.6 PPC. Still need to do some work on that one; can't reliably run it headless yet. Once I can, it'll be a secondary testing system for old software.
Fourecks.png


[edit]
And now I've got it running headless (mostly); just have to keep MacOS9VNC running in the background and in the startup items folder when booting OS 9 :)
1590791202113.png
 
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Finally removed the PRAM battery from my PDQ. Thankfully, it hadn't leaked, but it doesn't hold a charge. I put off removing it for years because I knew it was going to be difficult. It wasn't easy to remove, but it was easier than upgrading the optical drive on the iBook. One of the weird things about the WallStreet/PDQ, in my experience, is that there is a significant delay in booting up between the chime and the screen turning on. I heard that a dead PRAM battery was the cause. Perhaps if I had replaced it instead of just removing it maybe the delay would be gone, but I didn't. I also never have a main battery in this Mac, so maybe that's part of the issue too? I reduced the RAM from 256 MB RAM to 128 MB of RAM and this seems to help somewhat with the delay. Played out with various Mac OS versions trying to figure out which one is best for this Mac. OS 8.1 will boot, but I had weird issues like Mac OS Setup Assistant freezing up or Finder errors whenever I tried to set the time and date using the SetDate Control Panel. Not sure if it was the CF card I was using (I booted via a CF to PCMCIA Adapter) or if 8.1 doesn't run well on late 1998 WallStreets. I ended up going back to the stock hard drive and installing 8.5.1. 8.5.1 seems to work well, but I was having issues reading PCMCIA cards. Unsure if OS 8.5.1 was being glitchy, the PCMCIA slots going wonky, the Mac overheating or some combination of all of them. I have run OS 9.2.2 on this Mac before, but i find it to be slower compared to OS 8. OS 9 also causes the boot delay to be significantly longer.

Burned a CD on the iBook. That was a hassle. Toast 5 would randomly freeze and I had to do hard shut downs. I used Toast 5 because there aren't a lot of CD Burning options for OS 9 and I needed to use OS 9 because I was burning an HFS CD with classic Mac applications on it (QuickTime installers, utilities, system software updates, that sort of thing). OS X seems to mess with the resource forks of classic Mac applications.
 
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I destroyed my 17 inch PB DLSD - which a normal DVD was stuck - I think
My days with PPC is coming to an end - the only machines I have left are the G5 Quad and Pismo - Pismo will never see leopard as it won’t run it well. Given it was near 1:15am this all happened, I am not sure why the DVD got stuck, but it’s been destroyed now - I haven’t hooked it up to a regular DVI monitor which I’d it’s still good then I will continue the use it that way until I feel like buying a new one - which this model is very very rare now.

I just can’t deal with the frustration anymore. I wish it was 2008 - really if I could die and come back through soul travel I would go back to 2000’s where I belong.

As for the PB DLSD - I had her since 2009 and never she gave me a rough time ever... UNTIL TONIGHT.
 
Hughmac said:
Yes, you should be able to bend the pins back. I badly bent some on a Pentium CPU once and managed to get them back, using a nail file between the rows of pins to see how straight I was getting them.

Hope this helps ;)

Cheers :)

Hugh
Click to expand...

I gave up.. I am not Dosdude and the guy is hard to reach for an estimate.
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Amethyst1 said:
Sorry to hear that. What happened? A DVD got stuck... and then?
Click to expand...

Exactly, plus depression and abuse by my son.. all this and that - I will see if I can find a new one. I will
Also hook up the DVI monitor. I feel bad about it, better that than myself or taking it out on my cat who I love so much. I don’t get it - never has a DVD been stuck or any media.
[automerge]1590836553[/automerge]
Just keep me in your prayers right now.. my well being isn’t that good.
 
Hughmac said:
I would have a go for you but I think I'm on the wrong side of the pond, sorry.

My best advice is to leave the broken PPC machines alone for a while until you can cope with them, and work with the Macs you have that are good.

Hope you feel better soon.

Cheers :)

Hugh
Click to expand...

Sad to report my G4 1.67 17 DLSD 2008-2020 is dead. The hard drive must have sustained a very bad fall and now I need to find a screw driver to open the drive to get my data off of it - what screw driver do I need to open 2.5 inch drives and how do I fix it so the platters can be read? It’s valuable data that I need to get back. As for the G4 PowerBook, it is no more.
[automerge]1590878294[/automerge]
Mourning the loss of my PB G4 1.67 DLSD (bought on eBay in 2009 new like condition) until last night when the a DVD copy of Tiger I made got stuck in the drive. I went ballistic and threw the system on the carpet - the hard drive isn’t working anymore, though it powers up, just need the right screw driver to open it and fix the platter arm. I have a lot of data on that drive.
[automerge]1590878375[/automerge]
Finally, what are my chances of getting in good-great condition another G4 DLSD ? Are the 15 inch versions more common ?
 
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The bottom line - it’s 2020, the PB G4 1.67 17 DLSD came out in 2005-2006 - assuming I can find one in good to great condition, will the price justify the need in 2020 ? While I do have a PM G5 Quad it’s not being used right now due to it being humid in my apt plus concerned about my electric bill. The Pismo will never see leopard or PPC snow leo when competed.

I guess if the PPC Snow Leo team gets that working, that can justify the cost of a new PowerBook DLSD, however will I get the same condition ? Prob not - I saw on eBay how sellers abused their PB G4’s vs MacBook pros. It’s horrible and disgusting plus the prices they are asking for non working “old junk”.

Even trying to find a 1Ghz titanium is proving difficult - how many of these models Apple made and why so scarce today the DLSD and TI G4 ?

As for the hard drive, I will take the risk. I have a dust free room here - just need the right screw driver to do it. Drive will be replaced anyway, just want to get it working to the point I can get my data off.
 
Amethyst1 said:
Never ever open a hard drive - unless you're keen on losing your data. Consult a data recovery company and be prepared to pay.
Click to expand...

Ok, so the hard drive that was in my PowerBook G4 1.67 upon impact with the floor, activated the sudden motion sensor found in leopard.. how do I get the hard drive to function if the heads are locked due to the sudden motion sensor technology ? I don’t have any way to place the drive in a native IDE system. It’s a clicking noise the drive is making which Apple describes as the sudden motion sensor doing its job, but how to deactivate it and get the drive heads out of this position ? Drive worked fine before this.
 
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