What have you done with a PowerPC today?

[PC mcLinMorph]

It'll run on a G4. I installed Fienix on my 17" powerbook not that long ago. It has issues with graphics, but can be worked around. I just don't remember everything i did. Anyway, here's what i remember.....

Boot in to single user mode: Linux single
This will bring you to the text based log in.
Log in and su or sudo to root user.
Get a network connection (ethernet required and may require manually starting dhcp or the like)
NOTE: all root commands will need to be done by typing the whole path in single user mode (e.g. /sbin/reboot)
Run sudo apt update
Install some other DE or WM (xfce4 or icewm are good choices) and also install another session manager as the default session manager (try maybe lightdm, xdm, etc) and Mate are causing the graphics issue.
Once those are installed reboot and graphical login should work. Don't use Mate. Choose your new DE or WM.

There may be more to it than that, but that's what i remember when i installed it. It should get you going in the right direction at least.

Cheers

Thank you!
Yes, this got me going a little bit, and i could update/upgrade, but when i try to install packages it can't find any of them!

 

[wicknix]

Maybe his repo is down again. Its a home server and it goes down from time to time.

More info here

Fienix 6.0.1 - Hyperion Entertainment Message Boards

 

[PC mcLinMorph]

Maybe his repo is down again. Its a home server and it goes down from time to time.

More info here

Fienix 6.0.1 - Hyperion Entertainment Message Boards

There is no xfce (for example), in http://fienix.servehttp.com/fienix/evo/pool/main/x/

 

[wicknix]

Ahh. Ok. I remember another step i was missing. Add the debian sid (unstable) repositories to /etc/apt/sources.list and run apt update again. I forgot fienix only wants you to use Mate, so it's repos dont have other DE's in it.

 

[DouglasCarroll]

"What have you done with a PowerPC today?"​

Last night on my Powerbook G4 I installed the original Neverwinter Nights and a bunch of premium modules and also plugged in my Radio Shark and listened to the radio!

Played some of the game this morning...working great!

 

[MarkC426]

I did this a while ago, but found it only worked with the CD in...
At one point I got it to work as a disk image on the SSD, just needed to mount it, then run the game...

I should try it in my G5.

 

[PC mcLinMorph]

Ahh. Ok. I remember another step i was missing. Add the debian sid (unstable) repositories to /etc/apt/sources.list and run apt update again. I forgot fienix only wants you to use Mate, so it's repos dont have other DE's in it.

O.k, so i found this:

deb [ arch=powerpc ] http://ftp.ports.debian.org/debian-ports/ sid main

and i've added it to /etc/apt/sources.list

and i have run apt update, now running apt upgrade (it's a lot)

 

[PC mcLinMorph]

O.k, so i found this:

deb [ arch=powerpc ] http://ftp.ports.debian.org/debian-ports/ sid main

and i've added it to /etc/apt/sources.list

and i have run apt update, now running apt upgrade (it's a lot)

And... SUCCESS! thank you!!

 

[wicknix]

Glad it worked out.

 

[PC mcLinMorph]

Glad it worked out.

Yeah, and the funny thing is that by installing xfce, i got Mate to work. Now i don't even have to add any kind of parameters to yaboot!

 

[PC mcLinMorph]

Glad it worked out.

Now i'm going to see if i can get i2c-dev for keyboard backlight to work
and a battery indicator (which one are you using in Lubuntu 16.04 Remix ? ibam and apm?)

Could not find ibam and apm in the repository

 

[wicknix]

You'll want to modprobe pmu_battery to get battery status working.

Keyboard backlighting and media controls require modprobe i2c-dev and apt install pbbuttonsd.

 

[PC mcLinMorph]

You'll want to modprobe pmu_battery to get battery status working.

Keyboard backlighting and media controls require modprobe i2c-dev and apt install pbbuttonsd.

pbbuttonsd is not in the repository. Do you know where i can install it from?

Update: i found a 2016-version in https://mirrors.mit.edu/ubuntu-ports/pool/main/p/pbbuttonsd/

but is this really the latest one?

Update: It works!

Only thing now is that the screen brightness goes down sometimes and one has to press Fn+F2 a lot of times.
Does anybody know how to fix this?

 

[wicknix]

Its an issue with pbbuttonsd / i2c-dev and is pretty common. I just leave it disabled. If you really need it just start it manually. Cool concept, but it never really worked right. Or leave pbbuttonsd enabled and unload i2c-dev. Media controls will still work, just keyboard backlight won't.

 

[PC mcLinMorph]

Its an issue with pbbuttonsd / i2c-dev and is pretty common. I just leave it disabled. If you really need it just start it manually. Cool concept, but it never really worked right. Or leave pbbuttonsd enabled and unload i2c-dev. Media controls will still work, just keyboard backlight won't.

Another thing: Where do i get the b43-installer for the wifi? Can not find it in the repositories

Update: Sorry. I found it in The PowerPC Debian Wiki here on the forum

 

[swamprock]

Another thing: Where do i get the b43-installer for the wifi? Can not find it in the repositories

Update: Sorry. I found it in The PowerPC Debian Wiki here on the forum

Please keep us posted on your experiences with Fienix. It doesn't get much mention around these parts.

I attempted an install on my TiBook 1.0ghz last night, but my Superdrive took a crap. I guess I'll try to boot the install from USB (which I've done in prior Linux installs on PPC...).

 

[Amethyst1]

Began setting up my newly acquired 400 MHz Sawtooth (896 MB RAM, 10 + 160 GB PATA HDDs, DVD-ROM, Zip 100, 16 MB ATI Rage 128 Pro DVI). Nevermind the totally period-incorrect keyboard and crappy mouse, it's just what I had floating around. This is my first G4 tower, so I'm just a tiny little bit excited.

It's almost a little strange to see Mac OS 8.6 on the perfectly period-correct 22" Cinema Display (original DVI version) but it fully works and is taken to by the OS.

Look at that lovely icon for the display! I know Virtual Memory is evil, I've turned it off already.

 

[TheShortTimer]

This is my first G4 tower, so I'm just a tiny little bit excited.

Congrats but what took you so long?

 

[Amethyst1]

Congrats but what took you so long?

The assumption that iBooks and PowerBooks (of which I’ve had several) fully cover my PPC needs. They mostly have, but they don’t have the 8.6-and-Rhapsody-compatible Rage 128 Pro with a DVI output though, which is a hole the Sawtooth plugs perfectly. I’ve also wanted to test the limits of the GPU’s TMDS transmitter for quite some time. That is, can I get more than 1600×1024@60Hz out of the DVI port?

 

[TheShortTimer]

The assumption that iBooks and PowerBooks (of which I’ve had several) fully cover my PPC needs. They mostly have, but they don’t have the 8.6-and-Rhapsody-compatible Rage 128 Pro with a DVI output though, which is a hole the Sawtooth plugs perfectly. I’ve also wanted to test the limits of the GPU’s TMDS transmitter for quite some time. That is, can I get more than 1600×1024@60Hz out of the DVI port?

Welcome aboard and I look forward to seeing what delights your experiments yield!

 

[MarkC426]

The assumption that iBooks and PowerBooks (of which I’ve had several) fully cover my PPC needs. They mostly have, but they don’t have the 8.6-and-Rhapsody-compatible Rage 128 Pro with a DVI output though, which is a hole the Sawtooth plugs perfectly. I’ve also wanted to test the limits of the GPU’s TMDS transmitter for quite some time. That is, can I get more than 1600×1024@60Hz out of the DVI port?

I can connect my G4 PB to my 23ACD with DVI and get 1920x1200.....?
I have an Apple PB to DVI cable.

 

[Amethyst1]

I can connect my G4 PB to my 23ACD with DVI and get 1920x1200.....?

Any PowerBook with DVI has either an ATI Mobility Radeon or NVIDIA GeForce FX5200 GPU. They have no problem with 1920×1200@60Hz (seen that? ). The ATI Rage 128 Pro is older (it was the first GPU with a built-in TMDS transmitter I think). It can do 1600×1024@60Hz but attempts to run higher resolutions via DVI have failed. I am going to try to find out where the Rage's real limits are in terms of resolution/refresh rate/pixel clock, because that hasn't been done yet and I'm interested in that sort of stuff

 

[MarkC426]

The ATI Rage 128 Pro is older (it was the first GPU with a built-in TMDS transmitter I think).

Your baffling me with tech now.....🥴

 

[joshjohnson]

I’ve downloaded YouTube videos on my intel Mac to watch them on my Mac mini ppc. Great fun. Should convert them to mpeg 4 so I can be even sillier and watch the videos on OS 9

 

[Doq]

(seen that? )

I can smell the blur on that desktop background.