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Running Mac OS X Natively on Pegasos
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.
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"
Is it possible to run this OS on Apple hardware? There seems to be no Pegasos laptops available (yet?).
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.
- 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
Since OpenDarwin is being ported to the platform, I'd be inclined to believe that just plain Darwin (MacOS X) would NOT run on the hardware as-is and therefore you can't run MacOS X on the system.
When the OpenDarwin port is complete, you *may* be able to install MacOS X on a drive then overlay OpenDarwin on top of that and then be able to boot it onto the clone.
Remember that Macs use Open Firmware to boot, so this clone would need either Open Firmware, something compliant to the spec, or hooks to make it work (or some combination of all three).
Considering the cheapest 12" PowerBooks start at around $1200, I'd say the Apple premium isn't too bad. Granted, that's WAY more than these clones, but then you don't have to deal with the fuss of trying to shim MacOS X onto a non-native platform.
All opinions presented here aren't mine.
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.
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
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.
I am not sure what the obsession with people prepared to spend an unlimited amount to avoid buying from Apple
s .html
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_pegaso
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.
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
Hello, if you visit this site you might learn a little bit about Open Firmware... especially the Open part
Time for some tasty Shiner Bock!
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.