Easy Way to Install Ubuntu on iMac G3

[ZoiaGuyver]

Ok ive seen so many people lately have these problem's i thought id make a post as a little walkthrough of the install for Ubuntu and Varients on the iMac G3's.

Ok to go into a little detail of the problems we face first. The first problem people will definatly notice is the lack of a DE/GUI on boot, this isnt a major issue, its nothing to be scared of its just the way X.org trys to communicate with you screen thats slightly off.

The second problem that can turn up is whats kindly reffered too as the "date bug", basically OF (Open Firmware, Apples version of a bios) stores all its data with the help of a pram battery, a lot of people would refer to it as a kind of bios battery. This bug can and will break the install of Ubuntu in many cases causing very weird things to happen.

Ill try and take it step by step so hopefully we can have a successfull install of Ubuntu first time.

Lets start by making sure our Date and Time are correct.

As the iMac boot's hold down these keys

cmd + option + p + r (Thanks for noticing my silly mistake fkdev )

If this is successfull you should hear another start up chime. This means the OF has been reset to defaults and should also make OF update the time and date from the network.

Next to the meat of the project getting us a working install of Ubuntu. Now here we have two choices depending on a persons prefference. One takes us through a GUI install of Ubuntu the other will leave us a basic Command Line.

GUI Install

This is probably the most simple of the installs, the Ubuntu devs seem to have worked long and hard on making the GUI install as nice as possible, for this install we would require the "Ubuntu Live CD" or one of its Varients (Kubuntu/Xubuntu).

Right first we need to set our iMac up, so once youve got the CD booted you will be greeted by a blankscreen rather than the desktop you had been waiting on. So first lets fix this by using a terminal and writing these command's to get us a working X.org and GUI.

Hit these keys to take you to a terminal.

ctrl-option-F1

at prompt type

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Look in the file for the "Modules" Section in there you should have one that says

Load "dri"

change that to

#Load "dri"

Then look towards the bottom of the file for

HorizSync

and

VertRefresh

change the values of these to

HorizSync 58-62

VertRefresh 75-117

Then do ctrl + o then enter

Then do ctrl + x

Then type

sudo killall -HUP gdm

If all has gone well you will now be greeted with the desktop you first expected. Now you can install using the installer link on the desktop and begin your wonderfull adventure into Ubuntu and Linux. Once the install is finished and you've rebooted into your new Ubuntu system i would recommend two more commands before you rush off to play

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

This will make sure you have the latest security and package updates.

CLI Install

This install is a little more hands on as it were but still leaves us with a working system that is command line only though so we are left to customise things, for this install we would require the "Ubuntu Alternate Install CD".

At the "boot" prompt press the "tab" key to display a list of possible installs the one we are interested in for this install is the "cli-powerpc", so at the boot prompt we type:

cli-powerpc

Now this install uses a debian type of graphic install and will walk you through the rest of the install with various choices given to you, my only suggestion here would be to read the options and select them from there.

After this has been completed the Mac should ask you to reboot and eject the CD. On reboot we will be left with a Command Line. Now the task is to log in using the name and password you used for the install, at this point you should be at the prompt.

Now we want to make sure we have all the latest packages.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

At this point you may notice the kernel has been upgraded and there are packages being held back. So our next step would be to restart the machine. Type "reboot" at the prompt and once restarted login again. Now we deal with the held back packages type

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Now this will grab us a later kernel and install that for us. Reboot the machine again and login so we can start to get us a GUI.

Now my choice of DE/GUI whatever people want to call it is Enlightenment E17, this is a very much in development Desktop Shell (as they like to call it), but in my eyes its def one of the best for use on the iMac. I wont walk people through how to install that as its not a default UI and needs the sources.list file edited. Instead i will tell you how to install X.org and one of the Ubuntu desktops instead.

At the prompt we need to type in a few commands to make sure we get the packages we need. The first and main pakage would be X.org the Xserver we will be using.

sudo apt-get installl xorg xserver-xorg-dev

startx

After this you should notice that X looks a little weird so we need to sort that before proceeding. This is the time to edit xorg.conf, first we need to kill X by using

ctrl + alt + backspace

Then we type

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

The first thing we do in the file is to disable the DRI as explained above.Then on most of the iMacs you will notice that the driver for the graphics card is "fbdev" change this to "ati". Also be sure to adjust the refresh rates to those above.

Now some will ask why we need the X.org dev most wont need it but you may find when installing from source (which you probably will be doing on PPC) its needed sometimes.

Second we need to decide and get our DE. Typing these commands will get them for us.

Choose One of these

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop Gnome

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop KDE

sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop XFCE

Once this is done you can reboot the Mac for one last time and should see a wonderfull login manager greet you on startup.

I hope this helps someone out.

Tbh its basically all the stuff ive found while trying out different bits. There is also a way to enable "dri" on the iMacs but maybe ill go into that if ppl want me too

[solar george]

One takes us through a GUI install of Ubuntu the other will leave us a basic Command Line.

You can also use an alternate install CD, it uses a text menu to install but sets up the GUI for you.

[anurse]

Many thanks. For people like me who have been mainly Mac users, this type of step by step instructions is really needed. Again, thanks.

[ZoiaGuyver]

Yes i know we can do that from the alternate.

The reason i gave cli instructions are for those like me that dont want it installed for first boot but rather have it after all the updates have been done.

Sorry for not making that clearer maybe i should have said it was my preferred install method and explained it a little better sorry.

[Orange.exe]

I just got a lime imac dv w/ os 8.6, and plan to install edgy w/ the live cd.

First, would there be any problems letting it format the drive w/ os 8.6 on it?

Also, would it be possible to install beryl or compiz on this mac?

[ZoiaGuyver]

If you dont want 8.6 anymore then its fine to format the complete drive. Imo Ubuntu would make a very good replacement for you.

The answer to the beryl/compiz question im afraid is no, the graphics cards in the imac (ATI Rage based) arnt supported, you can get AIGLX to go on them but tbh the performance is terrible.

XGL is a total no go as the Rage isnt even supported and there are issues with locking.

[fkdev]

Correction:

 ctrl-option-p-r

should be:

 cmd-option-p-r

However, one should note that, at least I think,
If people have changed the insides of their computers (like replacing drives)
then this may make Mac OS 9 require a re-install of drivers
for the partition via the recovery or install cd's disk utility

[didg]

About X resolution and iMac, does Feisty liveCD work ok now? (It should).

[ZoiaGuyver]

First off FKDev is correct it is cmd-option-p-r i do apologise i wrote this up quick and muddled the keys :S

Secondly ive been testing fiesty and tbh it seems to be a problem within the Xorg not actually within Ubuntu. I dont really know if this is sorted within the finals (havnt had chance to update to that yet as im waiting for some memory for my G3), it wasnt corrected in the last of the beta's before going to release though

[BigG123]

Ok.