Tried to boot Ubuntu 10.04 LTS in an iBook G4 from cd but didn't work...

[benny74402]

...the cause might be that I've the wrong version. After reading for a few hours in the forums it appears that there's a different version for PPC's as opposed to the regulars.

This cd has been used before and it worked well on other machines.

How can I tell if I'm using the wrong version by using the tools available with OS X?

Thanks in advance for any info on this!

PS. In the long run I'm intending to dual boot on this machine but not necessarily with 10.04.

[este.el.paz]

...the cause might be that I've the wrong version. After reading for a few hours in the forums it appears that there's a different version for PPC's as opposed to the regulars.

This cd has been used before and it worked well on other machines.

How can I tell if I'm using the wrong version by using the tools available with OS X?

Thanks in advance for any info on this!

PS. In the long run I'm intending to dual boot on this machine but not necessarily with 10.04.

The iso should say "powerpc" somewhere in the file name . . . you should easily be able to get Xubuntu 12.04 running on that machine . . . 14.04 narrows the field of choices for PPC iso's . . . and you might need to use some "radeon" boot params . . . but is do-able . . . prolly no sound in 14.04 w/o doing some tweaking . . . .

e...

[benny74402]

I forgot to state that, for now, I just have 394 MB of RAM. In the next few days I'm hoping to receive a 1 GB card that, hopefully, is compatible with the hardware. That's the main reason I decided to try the Ubuntu 10.04 (thinking it wouldn't need that much memory).

BTW, when trying to boot the cd I did it from memory & used the OPTION key & it booted up in "Safe Mode" without sound. Didn't know of any of those options in this hardware.

Where can I download or read about all the options for booting the iBook? I would like to check as with a normal PC, the BIOS or equivalent in this machine just to see what's tweakable.

[este.el.paz]

You can probably still get Xubuntu or Lubuntu 12.04 to work with that amount of RAM . . . 14.04 might need more. Find your way to the "PowerPCFAQ" . . . part of the Ubuntu wiki . . . should show up in a google search, or might be in the sticky at the top of the page "Where can I find stuff to download for my PPC computer?" . . . there's only two stickies, one for mactel, the other for PPC . . . .

e...

[Bucky Ball]

Forget 10.04 LTS. No longer supported and you won't get a lot of help with it. Try Xubuntu or Lubuntu 12.04 LTS or 14.04 LTS, but to be honest, with that little RAM you probably won't have a lot of luck. Perhaps Puppy Linux may be more appropriate.

[benny74402]

Thanks to both of you guys, este.el.paz & Bucky Ball, for replying!

I went to the ubuntu wiki and read extensively. Many good info & links there!

I asked at linuxquestions.org about the possibility of dual booting with Puppy Linux and they sent me to Lubuntu.

What's the difference between Lubuntu & Xubuntu?

Thanks for any info on the above issues!

[Bucky Ball]

What's the difference between Lubuntu & Xubuntu?

Desktop environment and default apps. Lubuntu uses lxde desktop environment which is slightly lighter than xfce4, used by Xubuntu. Lubuntu is your best chance. They are both based on the Ubuntu kernel and use the same official repositories. As I mentioned, you would be lucky to get either going satisfactorily with your amount of RAM.

You could try the minimal install which involves installing the Ubuntu kernel then anything else you want: a lightweight DE, a few apps. That would be a steep learning curve, though, but if you're up for it ...

I have a laptop with an i3 and 4Gb of RAM but have gone the mini install route for a number of years. It flies. No bloat.

PS: See here. Download the Lubuntu ISO and give it a try (14.04 LTS).

[benny74402]

Thank you Bucky Ball for replying!

I just checked my system and I don't have a burning device in this laptop. The cdrom drive just reads info. I might fetch for an external cdrom player/burner at night to see if it's still functioning and usable on this harware; for the moment my front yard is calling me...

I'm thinking I'm going for the 'minimal install method', it doesn't sound too hard and it brings the promise of being as light as I care to make it. For the moment, I most re-read the instructions and take some notes before hand. Also, I'm going to try Lubuntu 14.04 LTS; I don't have a very fast web conn. but I can wait. Around this last point, I know that there used to be a Firefox ext. to download large files in segments even if it would take weeks for finishing it; since I'm using Safari version 5.0.6 and I haven't had yet the opportunity to play with it long enough, I don't know if this browser can handle such a situation successfully if it takes some days to finish. Do you or somebody knows if it can handle chunks of info & putting them together at the end?

Time to rer-read and taking notes now. I'll be back as soon as I'm ready to start...

[Bucky Ball]

You could use a torrent to download the ISO. You can also create a bootable USB if you have no optical drive (or it is read-only).

[benny74402]

I'm sorry to say that I received a 1 GB SODIMM stick this weekend but, even though it looked exactly as the one inside, it netover went fully in place. I'm planning to open the laptop tomorrow during the day again & have a closer look at it to try to figure out what is different. I searched the web with the part number on the new chipset but no conclusive evidence to any side, yet.

I also found an old iomega cd player/burner with its cable & power supply (yet to be plugged in to check that the computer can talk to it).

Will keep posting as I go further on this...