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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.

6 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Doesn't seem likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You would be surprised what support is in OSX.

    run the following command:

    strings /mach_kernel | grep THREAD_STATE

    Interesting. Support for M68K, M88K, HP-PA, Sparc, PPC, i386, I860, M88110...

    Just what else do you want? Apple have OSX ready for FAR more than just the PPC boxes they're shooting with now.

  2. Just Don't Get It by tres · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not that I don't get that the x86 is a dinosaur architecture, and there needs to be an exit strategy, but it seems to me that the days of shade-tree computer building with expensive proprietary OS's is about over. If you are looking to support Linux on PPC, then hats off to you; Linux provides a quality software analog to the best-of-breed computer componentry out there. But trying to graft OS X onto Pegasos is the exact wrong way to go; no one wins.

    Apple loses money spent on unsupported hardware. Linux loses the time that would otherwise be invested making Linux run better on PPC, and the buyer loses the support, service and integration that Apple and Linuxprovide.

    I guess maybe it's that some people are somehow angry with Apple for not providing the kind of craphouse of componentry that the x86 world has been for the last seven years.

    And I guess when you approach a computer as a bundle of hardware components, then all it's ever going to be is a bundle of hardware that does stuff. When you look as a computer as the amalgamation of hardware, software, support and service, then you start seeing exactly what I don't get.

    Apple provides the support, service and integration on Apple hardware. Linux provides support, service and integration on supported hardware. No one provides support, service or integration with OS X on Pegasos. Even those that would try could not publicly support it for fear of legal reprisal.

    As more people change their idea of what a computer is--from a bunch of hardware that does stuff, to a sum total of hardware, software support, service and their integration--need for cheap off-the-wall components will die out. Microsoft is going to be at the front of this push, making systems like the X-Box for office workers everywhere.

    --
    Notes From Under *nix: blas.phemo.us
    1. Re:Just Don't Get It by zpok · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't know, some people enjoy goofing around, installing this and that, soldering their computer to pieces, attaching freezers to dangerously overclocked processors ...

      If you fall into that category, nothing you - aptly - stated applies.

      And then getting OS X to run on a slow, non-babtized-build-your-own-and-run-whatever-you-l ike-as-long-as-it's-obscure machine suddenly makes sense, kind of, erm...

      Know a guy who's always tinkering with everything, his macs and pc's are always in a state of undress, very erotic.

      --
      I think, therefore I am...I think.
  3. Why? by dhobbit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe I just don't get it but why would you want to run MacOSX on the Pegasos board? Don't get me wrong I love the idea of a PPC board and I'll be getting one as soon as I get a job. But I'll be getting it to replace the piece of crap x86 board in my Linux box.

    Yes, I'll admit I'm a mac user and I love my powerbook. I personally find OSX to by the greatest OS ever, with OpenBSD and Linux taking a very close second. And for me this is where the Pegasos fits perfectly, I can now run all my system on PPC. A nice PPC OpenBSD server, serving files, web, and email to my OSX laptop and my PPC Linux desktop (until I can afford my G5).

    I personally can't wait for the day when I can add "x86 free" to my "Microsoft free since 1998", tag-line. A perfect world is one where I don't have to use MS and/or x86 for anything!

    If you want OSX then help Apple and buy Apple hardware. If Apple can't sell hardware then they don't write software and then we're stuck with that nasty Windows UI (and just for the flame bait I'm lumping Gnome and KDE into this, since they can't seem to come up with an original UI design) And just to piss everyone off I'll even throw Apple under the bus and point out that the "New and Improved" finder under 10.3 really looks like crap.

  4. Re:Apple ROM by ryanr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The file is named "molpeg.mpg", I'm guessing that implies MOL, which the poster said he didn't want.

  5. If you can get Darwin to run.... by putaro · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you can get Darwin up and running, Mac OS X will run. I've replaced the OS X kernel with a kernel compiled from the Darwin sources (on a Mac, mind you) and it all works just fine. The trick will getting all of the drivers to work properly. Objective-C, anyone?

    There's no magic Mac ROMs anymore. That's been dead for so long it's ridiculous. I used to work on the OS team at Apple - I _know_.