[wplug] Linux on a G4 iBook

[Chris Thomas]

I've just installed Linux on my G3 600Mhz iBook. I debated between
Ubuntu and Gentoo and I decided to go with Gentoo.... although the
latest Ubuntu is quite nice.

There are some difference between x86 and PPC. The big one being the
lack of Macromedia/Adobe Flash for PPC. There are some open source
implementations of flash, but none are totally mature yet. The other
being that video out isn't totally supported yet.

The partitioning and bootloader are different on PPC than on x86. I
needed 2 partitions, one  for the Apple system map and one for the
Apple bootstrap. You also use yaboot (rather than grub or lilo) and
you don't need a boot partition.

Other than the installation, it's mostly the same, however sometimes
new software isn't available right away for PPC. Things like sound,
display, sleep, usb, special buttons, wireless all work for me.
Getting your Airport wireless card to work can be tricky if you have a
newer Airport Extreme card. I have an older one, so it was easy.

-Chris



On 6/4/06, Michael P. O'Connor <mpop at mikeoconnor.net> wrote:
> Ok I been having more problems with OS X then I care admit.  And I am
> thinking of blasting my iBook's hard drive and putting Linux on it.  The
> iBook is a good candidate to just blast the whole drive, I have not
> files on it that are not backed up else where, and the iBook freezes on
> boot up.  So if I can get it to get Linux on it, I will save the iBook.
> So I am looking for advice, on 1) which distro would be good 2)
> differences between Linux on a x86 (pc) and a PPC (G4) 3) will the
> devices be the same as I am use to in the x86 world 4) any other
> pointers you might want to put out there that might help.
> --
> Michael P. O'Connor
> mpop at mikeoconnor.net
> http://www.mikeoconnor.net
>
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