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Running Mac OS X Natively on Pegasos

Posted by pudge on from the emulation-is-for-weenies dept.

Peter writes "The Pegasos is an interesting new platform, being one of the very few affordable non-Apple PowerPC systems. But to be a real alternative for me, I want it to run Mac OS X directly (without the need to use Mac-on-Linux or such). Have any of you Slashdot readers done this, and how much hacking did it take?" The Pegasos currently uses a G3/600, and ships with Debian Linux for PowerPC and MorphOS.

9 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Doesn't seem likely by Gleng · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well, technical issues aside, it's forbidden in the OS X licence agreement to run the OS on non-Apple hardware. (disclaimer: not a Mac user, can't be 100% on the wording of the licence)

    Whether or not it's technically possible to find a workaround to boot it without an Apple BIOS is another matter. I'm sure it will be possible though somehow ;)

    --
    "Proudly Posting Without Reading The Article"
  2. Re:Apple ROM by SewersOfRivendell · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mac OS X doesn't rely on the toolbox ROM, though. What it probably _does_ rely on is a version of OpenFirmware compatible enough with the version implemented on Apple's motherboards.

  3. Nice troll by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    - There is no "dual" 1.6GHz G5; only a single processor model exists.

    - Even if you were mistaken about dual, and it's really a single 1.6GHz G5, the 1.6GHz model does not have PCI-X. Only the 1.8GHz and dual-2.0GHz models feature PCI-X.

    - "Trying to install Star Control 2"? You mean, the 11 year old game? How, exactly, are you "trying to install" it? Nice one.

    - The rest of your post is laughable, especially the part where you forget you said "dual 1.6GHz" and then say "this G5 dual 2GHz"

    - Nice troll, anyway

  4. Pegasos - the ultimate geek machine by nickos · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those of you who don't know, the company behind Pegasos is focused on creating the ultimate "geek" machine. A number of Pegasos machines have been provided to various alternative OS developments, and it seems that the alternative OS market is a good niche that should allow this company to thrive.

    from www.pegasosppc.com/operating_systems.php
    "The following Operating Systems are in final stages of being ported to the Pegasos Platform and should be completed soon: AROS, Gentoo, Knoppix, NewOS, OpenBSD, QNX
    The following Operating Systems are in the early stages of being ported to the Pegasos Platform: AmigaDE, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBeOS, OpenDarwin, Zynot
    The following Operating Systems can be run on the Pegasos through emulation: Amiga OS 3.x, Mac OS 9, Mac OS X"

    Personally speaking, as a fan of silent machines and a user of a PC that exclusively runs Linux, I am very tempted by this machine. I don't have to worry about the company going bust because by running Linux, I can easily switch hardware platforms should I need to, and I can play with Morphos and all this Mac stuff too.

  5. Re:Doesn't seem likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not only does the Apple ROM need to be in place (or a substitute for it, such as MOL) OSX also needs to have drivers for the particular chipset the pegasos uses. drivers for the audio that the pegasos uses. drivers for the type of usb, ata, firewire, parallel and floppy controllers that the pegasos uses

    None of which are in OSX

  6. Re:You do realize ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Like what, for instance? Open Firmware? Nope, that's (as the name would imply) open. The RAM? Nope, standard. The disks? Standard. Heck, even the processor itself isn't proprietary, as this silly "Pegasos" thing demonstrates.

    A Mac's as open as any other computer. It's just that the parts are relatively rare. And also, of course, that you cannot legally run Mac OS X on anything other than Apple hardware. It's in the license agreement.

    Silly rabbit.

  7. Pegasos Motherboard Cost = $500 !!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I am not sure what the obsession with people prepared to spend an unlimited amount to avoid buying from Apple

    From the UK Pegasos site [1] the bare motherboard appears to be $500 which seems somewhat high for a 600MHz G3 - adding disc/memory/peripherals + operating system this doesnt look like a very good deal given that I can by an 800MHz G4 eMac complete with OS-X for $799.

    [1] http://www.pegasos-uk.com/english/products_pegasos .html

    1. Re:Pegasos Motherboard Cost = $500 !!! by Parsec · · Score: 4, Informative

      Or a used iBook from PowerMax: a white G3/500 is about about $839.

      If you are a student, you can get the eMac for $749. Or checking Apple's refurbished deals there is a refurbished G3/700 iBook for $799 (non-educational price).

  8. Re:Apple ROM by wchin · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wow... let's get up to date.

    Apple's New World ROM based machines which have been shipping for quite some time now (think B&W G3 and the original iMac) are closer to CHRP type systems. A basic OpenFirmware ROM is what is on the motherboard. The rest of the old "Macintosh ROM" is loaded from disk for Mac OS

    For more information, see: Apple Technical Note TN1167, The Mac ROM Enters a New World.

    Darwin is roughly equivalent to the Mac OS X CoreOS and one would have to write a new platform support code and relevant drivers. One could copy over the parts from a Mac OS X CD after getting Darwin to work. However, to be legal, one would have to obtain a license from Apple that is different from the license that is on the current retail product. But it's not the ROM.