Linux On A PPC (mac Mini)
Hello there,
complete off-topic, sorry about this, but my former idea was to install a CentOS on an old mac mini (PPC!). Disappointed to see that PowerPC is not a supported architecture and that non ARM or Intel architecture are not managed by recent distros.. :-(.
Searching the web, I see very few possibilities to install a recent (I
need gnome2) GNU/Linux distro on such hardware. I gave Linux MintPPC 11
(http://www.mintppc.org/content/list-macs) a try, but the netinstall iso simply fails in installing a boot loader that conserves the original OS/X partition even after many tries and workarounds.
Any hint or experience would be welcome?
Regards,
9 thoughts on - Linux On A PPC (mac Mini)
You might try Ubuntu or Debian. Keep in mind that Macs present their own challenge beyond just a different architecture; they had a funky implementation of Open Firmware that was a major PITA to configure properly. The Mac OF bootloader, yaboot, is pretty much abandonware at this point as well.
–keith
Am 15.09.2015 um 17:12 schrieb Keith Keller:
this also helps to boot
http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/
Yeah, PPC – your options are limited.
http://distrowatch.com/search.php?ostype=All&category=All&origin=All&basedon=All¬basedon=None&desktop=All&architecture=powerpc&package=All&rolling=All&status
rEFInd will work on EFI-based Macs, but not on old PPC Macs, which are based on OpenFirmware (so grub won’t work either).
–keith
Am 15.09.2015 um 19:09 schrieb Keith Keller:
you are right – its long time ago that i used a macmini and it was indeed intel based. Before that i used a powerbook and remember that the boot loader was http://mac.linux.be/content/yaboot
Besides the other linux distros mentioned, you have another more retro type choice
http://www.macworld.com/article/2363177/macs/turn-your-g4-era-mac-into-a-next-gen-amiga.html
Oh Geez I remember MKLinux DR3 on my Beige G3 – BootX I think it was –
had to have a small HFS partition (couldn’t be HFS+) with a blessed system folder.
That was my first distro.
I also ran Debian m68k on an SE/30 – that was an experience.
Not knowing who he was, I saw the network driver had been written by a college student name Alan Cox and so I sent an e-mail to the listed e-mail address to say thank you.
You know, I do have a G4 mini somewhere… I do wonder if it also works under emulation (KVM AFAIK does support PPC).
Hi,
thanks to all for your replies to this off-topic thread!
I succeeded in installing a 15.04 Mate Ubuntu, had to struggle a bit to get sound, wifi and video stability (found easy fixes on the web about these). Still remains incorrect desktop colors (something wrong about big endian somewhere in a lib, not fixed AFAIK), but at least I can use the mac mini as a (slow) sound station using rhythmbox + my hifi.
Thanks again, regards