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Update On Linux For PowerPC

Posted by Hemos on from the lotsa-fun-with-the-g4-world dept.

Smitty825 writes: "On Tuesday, LinuxPPC released a beta of their next product, while SuSE has announced that they will be shipping SuSE 7.0 for PowerPC on November 20! Both distros come with XFree 4.01 and KDE2, as well as the MacOnLinux emulator product."

8 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. Actually it's a PPCLinux kernel bug by Ian+Schmidt · · Score: 3

    Most OSS audio applications on Linux use an ioctl SNDCTL_DSP_GETOSPACE to control audio timing (it tells how much data is free in the sound driver's output buffer). This isn't implemented in PPCLinux's "dmasound" driver, so applications must detect the breakage and work around it (XMMS does, and a small sound player I wrote myself does as well after someone loaned me an iMac to play with).

    1. Re:Actually it's a PPCLinux kernel bug by puetzk · · Score: 3

      As a matter of fact, GETOSPACE works just fine (I know this, since I was down in dmasound recently to fix kde2's soundserver.

      I also hooked up GETCAPS, and fixed a small bug on our SETFRAGMENT behavior.

      So hopefully, it's all better now :-) If you know of any other problems, drop me a line at puetzk@iastate.edu

      I use ogg vorbis myself without any trouble at all, though I haven't ever tried ogg123 (I ues the xmms plugin). Will have to investigate that.

      --
      The Matrix is going down for reboot now! Stopping reality: OK. The system is halted.
  2. Linux and the iBook FireWire SE by Xenex · · Score: 3
    In the last few weeks I have been seriously considering an iBook as my first notebook computer. Myself being a x86er from way back, moving to the PPC world of the Mac would be a big step, but with what I have seen and read about OS X, it seems like a good future...

    If I were to purchase an iBook, it would most likely be the 466mhz Graphite with 128meg of RAM and a 10gig hdd (unless I can scrape up the ~ $AU500 to afford the 20, with our dollar so low the iBook prices have risen lately). And the one thing that worries me - do any of these Linux distros run on these iBooks?

    After looking around for info on Yellow Dog, LinuxPCC, and SuSE, I have not been able to find a definate answer. Are there any docs or faqs around? What the the best resources for Linux on Macs? Are the iBooks really any good with Linux at all?

    I'm sorry to all you Mac people that see these as stupid questions, but I am new to your world, and hope to be joining it soon with my own iBook. I just need a few things cleared up...

  3. Forget about my kernels by BenH · · Score: 3

    With recent 2.2.18pre's, all that support has been merged in the main tree. You can either pick Alan latest 2.2.18pre or use Paul Mackerras usual rsync repository.

  4. A note about the Public Beta by haaz · · Score: 3

    No one seems to have noted that you can install the public beta over _any_ existing (installed) RPM-based Linux/PPC distribution. It doesn't have to be LinuxPPC, either. It can be SuSE or some other distro, and the beta will happily install on top of it.

    Enjoy!

    Haaz: Co-founder, LinuxPPC Inc., making Linux for PowerPC since 1996.

    --
    -- haaz.
  5. Running Linux on Cube? by Idaho · · Score: 3

    What I'm wondering: has anybody tried to install Linux on the Cube? I mean, it looks very cool and I've heard they're pretty fast too....

    Anyway, I see it runs on the G4. Has anyone tried how fast and stable they 'feel' compared to Intel-based computers? I'm wondering this, because I like the design of both G4 and Cube very much but don't like MacOS :-)

    --
    Every expression is true, for a given value of 'true'
    1. Re:Running Linux on Cube? by CodeToad · · Score: 3

      Yes, installing and running LinuxPPC on the cube It is fully possible..But you'll want to head over to http://ppclinux.apple.com/~benh/ to pick up his (renouned in the ppclinux community) special kernels for the newer hardware(Which includes airport support).. About "feel": Provided you get the video card configured as the frame buffer, and such, you'll be crusing along on ppc! In fact, I'm typing this from my bed while on my iBook SE, running LinuxPPC Halloween Edition :)

  6. Real world experience on LinuxPPC by tsciortino · · Score: 4

    I have used and worked on x86 Linux for quite some time. I had been offered to work on linux for an embedded system but it used a ppc processor. I started to check out MAC's just to see what they have to offer(never used one) much of the reading I did made them look to far surpass the x86 world. This includes studies by NASA for example. So I purchased a Dual Processor G4 500 with a DVD/RAM drive and Apple Studio Display monitor. Everything is USB. Within a week I had LinuxPPC up and running fully. SMP, usb keyboard/mouse/sound and a beautiful X 4.01 display running at 1280x1024 32bit color Helix Gnome 1.2
    Now, this is not for the novice Linux user, but for the power user, this has been the best setup I have ever seen. x86 never ran or looked so good as it does on this MAC hands down.
    iBook, LinuxPPC sure runs great there too.
    Check out lists.linuxppc.org for answers to everything.
    Here is the slap to x86 Linux users. You know those annoying linux newbies who have all those stupid questions about things you have done and they just don't get it and the reply they all get from better linux users, RTMF, read this HOWTO or read the man page. But hardly ever give the correct answer. Now I hate to repeat myself also, but to my surprise, in LinuxPPC land the most advanced users and kernel contributers take a moment to help where they can.
    Linux in the PPC word is way way more friendly than x86 land.