Question

1

Ubuntu PPC version liveDVD not booting on powerbook G4 15"... What to do?

rated 0 times [ 1] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 4362 / 1 Year ago, mon, may 8, 2023, 2:57:50

My 15" Powerbook G4 (AL) was getting too old and Mac OSX Lion installed by default on it was too boring to use as my daily driver..

So.. I decided to install Ubuntu 13.04 PowerPC version on it..

I downloaded the LiveDVD Image, burned it to a Disc and quickly tried to boot it on my Powerbook..

I got the Yaboot Prompt..

I directly pressed enter.. Ubuntu Boot screen appeared with "Ubuntu 13.04" text and four running dots.. and then after two to three flickers, I got a mouse pointer.. then highly unusable low graphics... with crazy grid-like grey dots and all... I pressed Ctrl+Alt+fn+F1... got a terminal screen... typed "lspci" and got the following output:

0000:00:0b.0 Host bridge: Apple Inc. Intrepid2 AGP Bridge

0000:00:10.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RV350/M10 [Mobility Radeon 9600 PRO Turbo]

0001:10:0b.0 Host bridge: Apple Inc. Intrepid2 PCI Bridge

0001:10:11.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)

0001:10:14.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1510 PC card Cardbus Controller

0001:10:15.0 USB controller: NEC Corporation OHCI USB Controller (rev 43)

0001:10:15.1 USB controller: NEC Corporation OHCI USB Controller (rev 43)

0001:10:15.2 USB controller: NEC Corporation uPD72010x USB 2.0 Controller (rev 04)

0001:10:17.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Apple Inc. KeyLargo/Intrepid Mac I/O

0002:24:0b.0 Host bridge: Apple Inc. Intrepid2 PCI Bridge

0002:24:0d.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Apple Inc. Intrepid2 ATA/100

0002:24:0e.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Apple Inc. Intrepid2 Firewire

0002:24:0f.0 Ethernet controller: Apple Inc. Intrepid2 GMAC (Sun GEM)

I didnt know what to do.. so tried with "live-nosplash" yaboot parameter..
I got sequences of text... then got a display with too less colors... but looks as if a light ray is emerging out from the bottom left corner... but again unusuable... then again could get a terminal as before...

then for my 3rd attempt.. tried "live video=ofonly" parameter...
I got a blue colored boot screen with running dots.. but proper ubuntu logo this time... booted up to a black screen... when i increased the brightness, I got "The system is running in low-graphics mode" dialog box... colors were proper this time... after clicking on OK.. I got options to configure graphics manually... As I havent done this before, I dont know what to do... but again was able to get a terminal screen as before...

then for my 4th attempt.. tried "live nomodest" parameter...
got results as i got in my 1st attempt... terminal still worked..

I'm out of options... Please help me out here...

Answers

Only authorized users can answer the question. Please sign in first, or register a free account.

odenanno

Add To Favorites

Follow

Total Points: 207

Total Questions: 113

Total Answers: 94

Location: South Korea

Member since Sat, Oct 2, 2021

3 Years ago

odenanno questions

1 Startup script not executing

Mon, Jun 6, 22, 17:37, 2 Years ago

1 apt-get is inconsistent on cluster, can't always find package (libmysqlclient21)

Sat, Jan 15, 22, 15:56, 2 Years ago

1 How do I get rid of all of these duplicates?

Fri, Dec 30, 22, 10:54, 1 Year ago

1 How to install Cozy Audiobook Player in Ubuntu 20.04 without Flatpak

Mon, Dec 12, 22, 06:53, 1 Year ago

1 What is the difference of installing ffmpeg through snap and apt-get?

Sat, Dec 10, 22, 21:10, 1 Year ago

View All

answered 1 Year ago fittecanap · Accepted Answer

Try Lubuntu 13.04 powerpc instead of Ubuntu.

I have been trying to get a working Linux installation on a PowerBook G4 (2005). Started with Debian Wheezy (7.1) and got it installed but I was having ongoing random crashes and abandoned it to try one of the powerpc variants of Ubuntu.

I also had many problems with configuring the framebuffer when using an Ubuntu 13.04 powerpc ISO installer. Never did get a usable window manager display. Tried many of the same yaboot parameters discussed by the OP (and others).

I have just installed using the Lubuntu 13.04 powerpc ISO available at:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/13.04/release/

The notes at the following link were useful:

http://powerpcliberation.blogspot.ca/2012/10/lubuntu-install-guide.html

In particular, I needed to use video parameters to yaboot similar to those suggested in step 2 of those instructions. In my case, the yaboot line was:

live video=radeonfb:1280x854-32@60

Even though the information for my display suggested that "1280x854-24@75" would make sense, that did not seem to work. The OP also shows a Mobility Radeon 9600 graphics controller, the same as mine, so this may work in that case as well.

With the above yaboot line, the display worked properly, installation has gone smoothly, and I'm now rebooted, running in LXDE, and downloading updates.