Ryano writes "
TechWeb has a story about LinuxPPC's strong debut at MacWorld. I was interested to read the bit about Linux tapping into Mac extensions to use features it doesn't yet support itself. Additionally, there is also some stuff on the future of LinuxPPC. "
29 comments
MacOS emulation?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
See http://www.ibrium.se/linux/mac_on_linux.html for notes on another MacOS emulator that might be supported by the linuxppc guys. Looks like it's still in development, but it might have hope!
Inhereting a Power Mac 7100/66
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
1) Can I freely download Linux PPC, or do we need to purchase a distribution?
You can freely download it from ftp.linuxppc.org. If I were you, I'd wait until R5 is finalized and shipping.
2) Can I pick up an adapter for an SVGA monitor to macintosh?
Yes, for about $5 to $10.
Huh?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
"about Linux tapping into Mac extensions to use features it doesn't yet support itself"
can someone explain this to us dumb intel users?
Griffin Technology makes excellent VGA Adapters.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Their adapters are a bit pricier ($20.00) than some other vendors, but they're worth it. If they can't make your monitor work, nobody can.
Watch it
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Some of you might have to admit that Mac/Apple/iMac is actually a GOOD thing. God forbid that would happen, remember?
Huh?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
I am assuming the author is talking about things like processor upgrade cards. Many of these require some code to be initialized at startup. Most of these cards are not directly supported by linux, but will work if you boot into the MacOS first so that the appropriate extension (kind of like a DLL in winblows) is loaded and initializes the card.
Sleep? Why a problem?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
If you find your Mac sleeping after half an hour, why don't you just go into the "Energy Saver" control panel, and turn the Sleep functions OFF?
Why not sleep?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
I'm pretty sure that processing is still going on at full speed while your (desktop) Mac sleeps. It just shuts down the monitor or spins down the hard drive to save power. When I download something especially huge, I start it right before I go to sleep, then put the Mac to sleep. It will finish the download, hang up the modem, and do any decompression all while sleeping.
Sheepshaver?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
if they mean sheepshaver.. is sheepshaver good? based on how it works in BeOS, what would a linux version mean? would we just have the mac os running in its own vterm, like x windows does, in an isolated thread? or what? that would be neat.
and everyone, please try to remember the difference between emulation (which would be like VPC or vmac) and hardware abstraction (Wine or the mac os x blue box). it makes discussions like these very confusing when you say "emulation" but don't mean emulation.
os x on linux kernel? huh?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
"linuxppc adds one new feature that may make it popular: once it is loaded onto a powerpc machine, it can run either mac osx or linuxppc."
huh? what the hell does that mean? Does it mean that mac os x can be running alongside linux? I know you can do that with BSD flavors, since OS X uses the BSD kernel, but can you mix kernels like that?
damn, this is a badly written article. i'm just gonna wait for linuxppc.org to post something.:P
and when are we gonna see some hfs+ support?
Cool!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Does it run on the PB 1400 yet?
I have a shot at inheriting one, but I have no use for the MacOS. It'd be nice to have a laptop around the house but until the damned thing can run Linux I don't really need a PPC.
And please don't point me at MkLinux -- it says right there on the hardware page that the PB1400 isn't supported? (Did Apple manage to obsolete hardware that is only a year old? Or is this another Apple-wont-pony-up-the-specs problem?)
Sheepshaver? Yes, they're refering to Sheepsaver.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Been away from mklinux for a few months, just brough it up on an ol 7500 recently, knew about sheepsaver way back when. any news on a 'when' for it?
Race with the Dev^W^WJon Katz on Linux Highway
by
Chris+Johnson
·
· Score: 1
*hehehe* Well, I'm trying to get LinuxPPC up and running. It's entertaining to see those dos boot screens on my trinitron:) Initial notes: Use BootX. BootX clearly rules. It's beautifully simple. Use Mac tools to partition the disk you want. Seriously- nothing in Linux is half as elegant as plain old Drive Setup- make a bunch of partitions (I made 5, including an HFS partition) and size them in Drive Setup, with the handy slider cursor. Then when you use fdisk (actually it's gdisk) in the Linux install, look at all the partitions, _write_ them down if you need to (there ain't no scrollback! No amenities at all. Though there's now a MacOS SIOW implementation of this which does have scrollback). Anyway, in pdisk, delete the Mac partition corresponding to the Unix partition you want to create- then make a new one with _exactly_ the same numbers for start and length. Tadah! The install isn't incredibly hard, though it borders on incredibly awkward. But there's amusement value in puttering DOSishly around in a Macintosh:) I hate to say it, but so far I haven't beat Jon Katz to running actual Linux. Why? kmod: failed t(obscured by dialog) comps file is not 0 as expected kernel panic- kernel access of (dead?) area pcc002c4e4 I'm starting the whole process from scratch, on the assumption that my install folder was totally hosed because Fetch knew how to uncompress gzip files on post-processing. I worked out that I had to redownload the ramdisk, but that was _not_ the only gzip, and I have a hunch that something else needed to remain zipped up neatly. (Note: when downloading these things, try disabling _all_ post processing, then unHQXing and unstuffing Mac apps as needed, leaving all zips strictly alone) I look forward to relentlessly solving all this- and will be getting a beater PC to practice the installing on x86 (of a sort;) ) as well. Nice ta join you all:) ...for some values of 'join'. Use BootX! BootX rules! BootX lets you dualboot with ostentatious ease, total Macish simplicity and elegance, and LinuxPPC apparently lets you access HFS volumes (cool!) Be sure to name the HFS partition something Linux can comprehend. I believe that means a little short word that's all lowercase. Be seeing you!:)
which comes on the LinuxPPC distribution CD last time I checked. You can download and install Mk/Linux (I did this when I first started out) but it's a pain in the ass; just get the CD, you'll thank yourself later. (it's only $32 and you support a bunch of great people)
Trust me on this one. Once you get MkLinux up and running, it works pretty much like any other RPM-using Linux (from a user perspective, that is). It comes with the usual stuff -- Apache, Sendmail, etc.
-- Remember that what's inside of you doesn't matter because nobody can see it.
"In the coming months, Haas said, LinuxPPC hopes to add numerous functions to make the OS more usable. These include a sleep function, as well as an emulation mode for running the Mac OS from within LinuxPPC. These changes will be contributed to the Linux development effort for possible inclusion in the next version of the Linux kernel."
Now THAT would make me switch over completely.
LinuxPPC does not run on the 7100
by
diaphanous
·
· Score: 1
Sorry, but LinuxPPC does not run on any Nubus machines. If you want to run Linux on you will need to use MkLinux. MkLinux is a modified Linux kernel running through the Mach 3.0 microkernel. it will be 20-30% slower than native PPC Linux, but from a users perspective is functionally the same as the equivalent native Linux kernel (2.0.x) and it is binary compatible with LinuxPPC.
-diaphanous
Inhereting a Power Mac 7100/66
by
seppy
·
· Score: 1
My coworker and myself just got a Power Mac 7100/66 from the radiology department and were trying to figure out ways to put it to use with Linux PPC.
A couple of questions: 1) Can I freely download Linux PPC, or do we need to purchase a distribution? 2) Can I pick up an adapter for an SVGA monitor to macintosh?
Just curious, if anyone would offer any insights. thanks,
Brian Seppanen
--
Brian Seppanen
Minister of Information and Propaganda
Area 54
The Secret Government Disco Labs Provo
I think you're right on this one. Of course, the SheepShaver Website hasn't been updated in over a month; anyone know how SheepShaver/LinuxPPC is going? I'd love to be able to OF-boot LinuxPPC and run MacOS from within it; saves all the rebooting hassles.
Inhereting a Power Mac 7100/66
by
Millennium
·
· Score: 1
1) Can I freely download Linux PPC, or do we need to purchase a distribution?
Unfortunately, LinuxPPC won't support the 7100. MkLinux does run on it, however, and despite rumors to the contrary it's very much alive. It's freely downloadable from Apple, or you can buy LinuxPPC (which includes a copy).
2) Can I pick up an adapter for an SVGA monitor to macintosh?
Absolutely. MacConnection would probably be your best bet for getting one of these; I've had great luck with them in the past. I use just such an adapter myself; it's great.
OS X/Linux stuff: The author didn't understand what I meant about how you can have a dual-boot system pretty easily. He came by and got straightened out on a lot of things, like that.:)
Re: using extensions: again, confused reporter. BootX uses the Mac OS's video settings, but it doesn't actually use any of the Mac OS extensions for anything. If it did, then we'd have a lot more hardware drivers.;')
-- -- haaz.
Another PowerPC Linux article at news.com
by
Sleepy
·
· Score: 1
I run linuxPPC and macos, and I used to have problems with sleep in macos, when I left my box running the distributed.net client, I'd come back a half hour later and the damn thing would be sleeping, even after I quit all other apps (including the Finder).
Whats more, everybody should be running the rc5 client, nobodies box should have time to sleep! :)
With open firmware in Linuxppc, I can run my big 20 inch non-multisync monitor in Linuxppc, cause it detects it on startup and sets it to the proper resolution so that the monitor syncs.
Note that LinuxPPC can use either native kernel video drivers or OF drivers. The former are faster, but are harder to set up. What often happens is that you use the OF drivers when you first install Linux, just to get things working quickly, and afterwards you get the native drivers running at your leisure.
-- If a thing is not diminished by being shared, it is not rightly owned if it is only owned & not shared. S. Augustine
Extensions are files which extend the functionality of the MacOS. Some of these files are libraries, similar to.dll files in Windows. Others contain code which is loaded along with the OS at startup. They allow new features to be added to the system without having to modify the core OS.
Slashdot Mirror
See http://www.ibrium.se/linux/mac_on_linux.html for notes on another MacOS emulator that might be supported by the linuxppc guys. Looks like it's still in development, but it might have hope!
1) Can I freely download Linux PPC, or do we need to purchase a distribution?
You can freely download it from ftp.linuxppc.org.
If I were you, I'd wait until R5 is finalized and
shipping.
2) Can I pick up an adapter for an SVGA monitor to macintosh?
Yes, for about $5 to $10.
"about Linux tapping into Mac extensions to use features it doesn't yet support itself"
can someone explain this to us dumb intel users?
Their website is here, or jump straight to the video adapter info.
Their adapters are a bit pricier ($20.00) than some other vendors, but they're worth it. If they can't make your monitor work, nobody can.
Some of you might have to admit that Mac/Apple/iMac is actually a GOOD thing. God forbid that would happen, remember?
I am assuming the author is talking about things like processor upgrade cards. Many of these require some code to be initialized at startup. Most of these cards are not directly supported by linux, but will work if you boot into the MacOS first so that the appropriate extension (kind of like a DLL in winblows) is loaded and initializes the card.
If you find your Mac sleeping after half an hour, why don't you just go into the "Energy Saver" control panel, and turn the Sleep functions OFF?
I'm pretty sure that processing is still going on at full speed while your (desktop) Mac sleeps. It just shuts down the monitor or spins down the hard drive to save power. When I download something especially huge, I start it right before I go to sleep, then put the Mac to sleep. It will finish the download, hang up the modem, and do any decompression all while sleeping.
if they mean sheepshaver..
is sheepshaver good? based on how it works in BeOS, what would a linux version mean? would we just have the mac os running in its own vterm, like x windows does, in an isolated thread? or what? that would be neat.
and everyone, please try to remember the difference between emulation (which would be like VPC or vmac) and hardware abstraction (Wine or the mac os x blue box). it makes discussions like these very confusing when you say "emulation" but don't mean emulation.
"linuxppc adds one new feature that may make it popular: once it is loaded onto a powerpc machine, it can run either mac osx or linuxppc."
:P
huh? what the hell does that mean? Does it mean that mac os x can be running alongside linux? I know you can do that with BSD flavors, since OS X uses the BSD kernel, but can you mix kernels like that?
damn, this is a badly written article. i'm just gonna wait for linuxppc.org to post something.
and when are we gonna see some hfs+ support?
Does it run on the PB 1400 yet?
I have a shot at inheriting one, but I have no use for the MacOS. It'd be nice to have a laptop around the house but until the damned thing can run Linux I don't really need a PPC.
And please don't point me at MkLinux -- it says right there on the hardware page that the PB1400 isn't supported? (Did Apple manage to obsolete hardware that is only a year old? Or is this another Apple-wont-pony-up-the-specs problem?)
Been away from mklinux for a few months, just brough it up on an ol 7500 recently, knew about sheepsaver way back when. any news on a 'when' for it?
*hehehe* :) :) ;) ) as well. Nice ta join you all :) :)
Well, I'm trying to get LinuxPPC up and running. It's entertaining to see those dos boot screens on my trinitron
Initial notes:
Use BootX. BootX clearly rules. It's beautifully simple.
Use Mac tools to partition the disk you want. Seriously- nothing in Linux is half as elegant as plain old Drive Setup- make a bunch of partitions (I made 5, including an HFS partition) and size them in Drive Setup, with the handy slider cursor. Then when you use fdisk (actually it's gdisk) in the Linux install, look at all the partitions, _write_ them down if you need to (there ain't no scrollback! No amenities at all. Though there's now a MacOS SIOW implementation of this which does have scrollback). Anyway, in pdisk, delete the Mac partition corresponding to the Unix partition you want to create- then make a new one with _exactly_ the same numbers for start and length. Tadah!
The install isn't incredibly hard, though it borders on incredibly awkward. But there's amusement value in puttering DOSishly around in a Macintosh
I hate to say it, but so far I haven't beat Jon Katz to running actual Linux. Why?
kmod: failed t(obscured by dialog)
comps file is not 0 as expected
kernel panic- kernel access of (dead?) area pcc002c4e4
I'm starting the whole process from scratch, on the assumption that my install folder was totally hosed because Fetch knew how to uncompress gzip files on post-processing. I worked out that I had to redownload the ramdisk, but that was _not_ the only gzip, and I have a hunch that something else needed to remain zipped up neatly. (Note: when downloading these things, try disabling _all_ post processing, then unHQXing and unstuffing Mac apps as needed, leaving all zips strictly alone)
I look forward to relentlessly solving all this- and will be getting a beater PC to practice the installing on x86 (of a sort
...for some values of 'join'. Use BootX! BootX rules! BootX lets you dualboot with ostentatious ease, total Macish simplicity and elegance, and LinuxPPC apparently lets you access HFS volumes (cool!) Be sure to name the HFS partition something Linux can comprehend. I believe that means a little short word that's all lowercase.
Be seeing you!
which comes on the LinuxPPC distribution CD last time I checked. You can download and install Mk/Linux (I did this when I first started out) but it's a pain in the ass; just get the CD, you'll thank yourself later. (it's only $32 and you support a bunch of great people)
Trust me on this one. Once you get MkLinux up and running, it works pretty much like any other RPM-using Linux (from a user perspective, that is). It comes with the usual stuff -- Apache, Sendmail, etc.
Remember that what's inside of you doesn't matter because nobody can see it.
MacOS sleeping doesn't depend on the Finder, so quitting all apps doesn't disable it. Look at the Energy Saver control panel.
Mashed potatoes can be your friends!
"In the coming months, Haas said, LinuxPPC hopes to add numerous functions to make the OS more usable. These include a sleep function, as well as an emulation mode for running the Mac OS from within LinuxPPC. These changes will be contributed to the Linux development effort for possible inclusion in the next version of the Linux kernel."
Now THAT would make me switch over completely.
Sorry, but LinuxPPC does not run on any Nubus machines. If you want to run Linux on you will need to use MkLinux. MkLinux is a modified Linux kernel running through the Mach 3.0 microkernel. it will be 20-30% slower than native PPC Linux, but from a users perspective is functionally the same as the equivalent native Linux kernel (2.0.x) and it is binary compatible with LinuxPPC.
-diaphanousMy coworker and myself just got a Power Mac 7100/66 from the radiology department and were trying to figure out ways to put it to use with Linux PPC.
A couple of questions:
1) Can I freely download Linux PPC, or do we need to purchase a distribution?
2) Can I pick up an adapter for an SVGA monitor to macintosh?
Just curious, if anyone would offer any insights.
thanks,
Brian Seppanen
Brian Seppanen
Minister of Information and Propaganda
Area 54 The Secret Government Disco Labs Provo
I think you're right on this one. Of course, the SheepShaver Website hasn't been updated in over a month; anyone know how SheepShaver/LinuxPPC is going? I'd love to be able to OF-boot LinuxPPC and run MacOS from within it; saves all the rebooting hassles.
1) Can I freely download Linux PPC, or do we
need to purchase a distribution?
Unfortunately, LinuxPPC won't support the 7100. MkLinux does run on it, however, and despite rumors to the contrary it's very much alive. It's freely downloadable from Apple, or you can buy LinuxPPC (which includes a copy).
2) Can I pick up an adapter for an SVGA monitor to macintosh?
Absolutely. MacConnection would probably be your best bet for getting one of these; I've had great luck with them in the past. I use just such an adapter myself; it's great.
They said that work on SheepSaver/LinuxPPC would
start in January, so I'd guess there's not too
much progress at the moment.
OS X/Linux stuff: The author didn't understand what I meant about how you can have a dual-boot system pretty easily. He came by and got straightened out on a lot of things, like that. :)
;')
Re: using extensions: again, confused reporter. BootX uses the Mac OS's video settings, but it doesn't actually use any of the Mac OS extensions for anything. If it did, then we'd have a lot more hardware drivers.
-- haaz.
Linux pushes into Macintosh community
I run linuxPPC and macos, and I used to have problems with sleep in macos, when I left my box running the distributed.net client, I'd come back a half hour later and the damn thing would be sleeping, even after I quit all other apps (including the Finder).
Whats more, everybody should be running the rc5 client, nobodies box should have time to sleep!
:)
-Ben
bensmith@biz1.net
With open firmware in Linuxppc, I can run my big 20 inch non-multisync monitor in Linuxppc, cause it detects it on startup and sets it to the proper resolution so that the monitor syncs.
-Ben
bensmith@biz1.net
Note that LinuxPPC can use either native kernel video drivers or OF drivers. The former are faster, but are harder to set up. What often happens is that you use the OF drivers when you first install Linux, just to get things working quickly, and afterwards you get the native drivers running at your leisure.
If a thing is not diminished by being shared, it is not rightly owned if it is only owned & not shared. S. Augustine
Linux should make good competition with Mac OS X. Hopefully it will help force the price down!
That's Time to do some great questions.
This will be help Linux or MacOs? In fact. This will be help us or uncle Bill? What do you Think?
nice day for ya......
(t+)
Extensions are files which extend the functionality of the MacOS. Some of these files are libraries, similar to .dll files in Windows. Others contain code which is loaded along with the OS at startup. They allow new features to be added to the system without having to modify the core OS.