PowerPCFAQ

Revision 12 as of 2007-04-28 07:17:06

Clear message

This is work in progress see http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=377978

Many more general questions have answers at ["CommonQuestions"]

General Questions

Which Macs are compatible with Ubuntu?

All newworld Macs should work. This means iMacs, iBooks, blue & white G3s, Lombard G3 PowerBooks and newer. The minimum system requirements are 256 MB of RAM and 3 GB of hard disk space.

Is Ubuntu supported on PowerPC?

Ubuntu 6.10 was the last official supported PowerPC version of Ubuntu. Future version will be community supported. This was [https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2007-February/000098.html announced] on the mailing list.

Is Ubuntu still available on PowerPC?

Yes, although it is not official supported. Future versions may not be on all mirrors. Feisty disk images can be found at http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ports/releases/feisty/release/ .

Where can I find Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu ... for PowerPC?

There are no longer install disks available for the derivatives on PowerPC. You will need to install using the Ubuntu cds (see above). Then install the required *-desktop package. For example kubuntu-desktop.

To remove gnome, and the gnome apps run 

sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get autoremove

Installation

How do I get a Mac to boot from CD?

The simplest method is to hold down the 'C' key (for x86 Macs use the 'D' key) as you turn the power on. Once you hear the CD drive reading the disk you can release the key.

Multimedia

Drivers and Hardware

Will my wireless work?

The original airport wireless cards work fine straight out of the box on ubuntu.

Airport extreme wireless cards require some setting up. See ["WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx"]

How do I control trackpad behaviour?

Install the package

powerpc-utils

To enable tap, run:

trackpad tap

to disable tap, run:

trackpad notap

see

man trackpad

for more details.

Troubleshooting

After logging in I get a blank brown screen?

This could be caused by a number of problems.

  • Clock set before 1970. See ["UbuntuDateBug"]

  • Sound problems
    • Press CTRL+ALT+F1. Log in at the text terminal, if needed. Type

      • killall esd

      and press enter. Press CTRL+ALT+F7 to return to the desktop.

How do I get Ubuntu working on an iMac G3?

Do you get a blank screen after booting? The problem is that xorg.conf is not set up properly for the iMac G3.

Follow these steps to fix xorg.conf:

After booting is complete:

  1. Type: ctrl-option-F1 (should give you a command prompt, may take a couple of tries)

  2. Type: sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf (return)

  3. In the Monitors section, change "HorizSync" to 58-62 and "VertRefresh" to 75-117.

  4. Disable DRI. In the the Modules section, put a hash mark (#) at the beginning of the line containing "load dri".

  5. Type: ctrl-O (return) to write edited file

  6. Type: ctrl-X to exit nano back to command line

  7. Type: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart (return) to restart Gnome. (In Dapper and Edgy, the restart command is broken. Use sudo killall -HUP gdm instead.)

Where can I get more help?

One of the best places for Ubuntu PowerPC help is in the [http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=133 forum]