Where to download Ubuntu for PowerPC and other frequently asked questions

[Trooper1420]

Thanks, but I have tried booting with 'C' and also with 'Option' to select a boot drive. So far, none of the three Ubuntu boot CDs I've tried are recognized by the Mac.

[linuxopjemac]

try booting from open firmware:
boot cd:,\\:tbxi

To get into open firmware, boot with the following key combination:
option+command+o+f

[Trooper1420]

Thanks, I had tried some other open firmware boot commands, but not that one.

However, I'm sorry to say it didn't work... it came back with the message:
"LOAD-SIZE is too small"

From comments and advice elsewhere, it sounds like Mac Disk Utility and the Windows applictions I've used are doing something to the Ubuntu installation CD that prevent it from being recognized as a bootable volume.

For my next attempt, I will try burning the Ubuntu installer from Toast and see if that CD will boot.

Thanks again for the advice! I'll post with the toast results soon.

[linuxopjemac]

never mount the iso, just burn "as image" from Dik utility should work

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

[Rabendoktor]

Hi, there,

I've got the same probs as well on my G4 MDD as on my iMac G4 (iLamp).

On the MDD, no matter what version of installation-CD I put in, it somehow starts from them, but only to show me a bluescreen with nice vertical stripes on it.

On the iLamp, I get past the initial boot-screen, but afterwards (no matter what boot-option I choose) only a magentascreen will remain forever.

I downloades the ISOs from cdimage, tried the alternate-version as well, know how to burn an ISO with diskutility, but nevertheless - no chance with those Macs (on my Lombard, it works very slowly, but it works)...

Any ideas how 2 fix this issue?

Thanks - and have a nice weekend....

[zoomy942]

Can get new or used Windows 7 (32bit or 64bit) or XP Pro (32bit or 64bit) or Apple Tiger or Leopard and such from eBay every so often for around £30 to £80, I bought OSX 10.4 Tiger family pack (5 users) for £60.

Some time back I bought XP Pro for £30 odd retail new and unused (from an eBay store with plenty of new copies) and Windows 7 Ultimate I bought for £80 new unused unopened, I have seen Windows 7 from £60 retail and Snow Leopard from £32 retail all new unused from eBay stores. For old G3's and such Panther is usually availale somewhere for around £30, Tiger for around £60

My upstairs PC is W7 64bit (I may change the upstairs PC to Ubuntu or Mint seeing as PPC is not Mac compatible) my downstairs PC is W7 64bit, my Mac will now be Tiger 10.4

Edit; Received my Tiger OSX 10.4 yesterday, installed it and updated to 10.4.11 with all updates up to date, and also installed a Genuine copy of Windows XP as a virtual PC within my Mac OS. The Mac is working well with XP a little slow as it's running as virtual. None of the issues I experienced with Ubuntu raised their heads.

Take your hourly rate of pay, multiply your hours spent finding out Ubuntu does not work and that gives you a rough idea of Ubuntu's cost. Time is not free.

how did you vitualize windows? an intel mac?

[Rabendoktor]

Hi, there,

at least for my G4 MDD (PowerMac3,6, with Radeon 9000 Pro) a firmware-update fixed my probs - although I had 4.4.8f2 installed, running the update (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120171) enabled me to install Ubuntu 10.0.4 from the alternate-cd without any probs.

Have a wonderful sunday...

[Trooper1420]

Here is an update on my efforts to burn a bootable Lucid Lynx CD for my Mac PowerPC g4

Here's what I was trying:

(1)Burn .iso from PC- did not work.

(2)Open the downloaded .iso file and then burn the contents to a CD using Toast- also did not work.

(3)Drag the downloaded .iso file to the left column of Disk Utility. Hit the burn button & insert a blank disc.

The first time I tried method 3, the disc would not boot. I could open the CD and see the .iso file, but it wouldn't do anything but show me a bunch of folders that weren't much good to me. This is the point at which I nearly gave up.

I can't recall ever before trying to burn a bootable Mac CD before, so my inexperience led me to believe that I was doing something wrong (and my first few tries, I was). But I had explicit directions (including the set Tacit linked to), and am "purdy good at readin werds", so I was perplexed and frustrated about my inability to burn a bootable disc.

Later in the week, I noticed that another disc I burned with the Mac had some corrupt data, so I got to thinking it was the superdrive after all. I replaced the superdrive and burned another Ubuntu .iso CD using method #3. This CD was bootable, and I used it to install the Ubuntu.

So: apparently a superdrive can work well enough to read everything on a CD, and write well enough to get most of the data across, but not write well enough to make a CD bootable.

More about the installed Ubuntu in the next post.

[Trooper1420]

Power PC Mac g4 Mirror Door Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04

[John Sawyer]

at least for my G4 MDD (PowerMac3,6, with Radeon 9000 Pro) a firmware-update fixed my probs - although I had 4.4.8f2 installed, running the update (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120171) enabled me to install Ubuntu 10.0.4 from the alternate-cd without any probs.

I'm interested in your comment about G4 MDD firmware update 4.4.8f2, as I also have a G4 MDD. You say your MDD already had firmware 4.4.8f2, but then you ran a firmware updater you downloaded from the Apple web page you cite, and this allowed you to install Ubuntu. But the firmware updater available on that page is also 4.4.8f2. I downloaded it, and ran it, and it wouldn't install on my MDD--instead, it reported that my MDD already had 4.4.8f2 installed (which I already knew, but I doublechecked by using System Profiler before running the updater you cite). Apple's firmware updaters won't install the same version of firmware as is currently installed, so are you sure your MDD already had 4.4.8f2 installed? Did you doublecheck before running the firmware updater you cite?

Another wrinkle: I used to fix Macs (from 1985 to about 2007), and so I've updated the firmware on all updatable models made until then, and I've kept the updaters. I looked at my collection of firmware updaters for the MDD, and found that the only one I had, was one whose readme file is dated Nov 25 2002; this version comes in the form of a standalone updater app. The version on the Apple web page you cite, has a readme dated Dec 9 2002, and comes in Apple's later format--a generic updater app, plus a script to load into it. Since I had only the standalone app version in my collection, this implies to me that this is the version I ran in 2002 to update my MDD's firmware to 4.4.8f2. Since the version on the web page you cite, wouldn't reinstall on top of that version, and reported my Mac already had 4.4.8f2 installed, this indicates that both updaters install version 4.4.8f2, and implies that the only difference between the two is the different formats of the updaters.

But if your MDD already had 4.4.8f2 installed, and the Dec 9 2002 version of the 4.4.8f2 updater was still able to install on your MDD, allowing you to install Ubuntu, more power to you. Maybe something was corrupted in your MDD's 4.4.8f2 firmware (which might have also been the cause for your earlier trouble with installing Ubuntu), and the Dec 9 2002 updater was able to detect that, and that may be why it was still able to install even though the firmware version was the same.