Re: Debian 12 on iMac G5
On Wed, Feb 07, 2024 at 08:19:19PM +0100, Claudia Neumann wrote:
Hi all,
in the meantime I succeeded in installing Debian 12.0.0 on iMac G5 with radeon
graphic
card.
I used ISO-Image 2023-06-18, installed default with tasksel KDE plasma, LXDE
and LXQT.
I had to insert "radeon.agpmode=1 radeon.modeset=1 video=offb.off nomodeset" in
grub
to get graphic mode.
Just for future references. On my iMac G5 I've the Nvidia GeForce and the
nouveau driver. I had to set "video=TV-1:d" to avoid continous error ("DDC
responded, but no EDID")
Now firmware R300_cp.bin, b43 and isight.fw is missing. I can not install this
firmware
from the indicated sources.
/etc/debian_version is telling me, it is trixie/sid, but 12.0.0 should be
bookworm stable.
Can I change /etc/debian_version to bookworm and change the
/etc/apt/sources.list to
bookworm? Should I download the missing firmware by hand and install it?
With LXDE I can work although it is rather slow.
I'm using i3 and the performance is fine. It might take a while to get used to
i3.
Firefox hangs, konqueror will not show
google. Are there any tricks to make that better?
I'm struggling as well in finding a decent browser for such an old hardware.
I've in the pipeline to try ArticFox (https://github.com/rmottola/Arctic-Fox)
A bit extreame perhaps. You could try `lynx` and friends.
Otherwise the iMac G5 is not usable.
Best regards
Claudia
--
Federico Vaga
Re: Debian 12 on iMac G5
On Sun, Feb 04, 2024 at 03:57:30PM -0500, Jeffrey Walton wrote: On Sun, Feb 4, 2024 at 3:33 PM Claudia Neumann wrote: Can I boot from USB? I don't think you can boot from USB on G5's. Or I was not able to boot from a USB thumb drive when I installed Debian on my PowerMac G5. The Open Firmware would not allow it. I had to burn the CD or DVD. Actually yes, you can boot from USB on the iMac G5. Here it is the procedure: 0. prepare a USB key with the netinstall image using ``dd`` 1. hold ``Command + Option + O + F`` while booting until you get the OpenFirmware command line 2. type the following command ``boot usb/disk@:,\`` Replace with the USB port number you are using. On the iMac G5 they go from 0 (top) to 2 (bottom). Replace with the disk number assigned. This is usually 0 or 1. Replace with the full path to the grub bootloader. In practice, assuming that you have the USB key in the top USB port. ``` boot usb0/disk@1:,\boot\grub\powerpc.elf ``` How do you find this yourself? Using ``dev / ls`` you get the hardware layout (device tree). In there you will see a node under a PCI endpoint named ``disk@``. Remember type ``devalias``, and you will see that a ``usb`` name is mapped to the PCI endpoint you found before. -- Federico Vaga
Re: Debian 12 on iMac G5
Hi Claudia, perhaps there is a misunderstanding. I'm trying Debian 12 ppc64 Big-Endian. My suggestion to you is to try the proposed fix from the fienixppc team. I report here what is mentioned in their article (I copy only what is of interest to you). ``` [...] the system shows only a black screen, a black screen with a cursor, or a garbled image: These issues are caused by driver configuration issues. Try entering the below boot parameters when you see the yaboot prompt (when booting up your system). Radeon GPU [...] If you have a Radeon GPU, try entering the following boot parameters (one at a time, must be entered EXACTLY as listed): "Linux radeon.modeset=1 video=offb:off nomodeset" "Linux radeon.agpmode=-1 radeon.modeset=1 video=offb:off nomodeset" ``` In other words, using grub, try to add to the command line paramenters "radeon.modeset=1 video=offb:off nomodeset" or "radeon.agpmode=-1 radeon.modeset=1 video=offb:off nomodeset" In my particular case, my iMac has an Nvidia card, therefore I tried another set of parameters. For me, it did not help. But you are using a different card with a different driver. It might be of help. On 2024-01-23 15:53, Claudia Neumann wrote: Hi Federico, if it didn't work for you, I would rather try with Debian. CU Claudia Am Dienstag, 23. Januar 2024, 15:05:06 CET schrieb Federico Vaga: Hi Claudia and all, this is a very interesting coincidence. I've started trying a couple of days a go to install Debian 12 on the same iMac. In my case, I'm booting the netinst image from USB but the kernel crashes somewhere. The screen is not refreshed after a few kernel messages, so I was not able to debug any further. On the web I've found this project https://fienixppc.blogspot.com/ and I their suggestion about a video driver misconfiguration and a possible solution. See https://fienixppc.blogspot.com/p/troubleshooting-of.html None of the options, helped me. But I did not try to investigate more since then. Perhaps you will have better luck :) On 2024-01-23 14:54, Claudia Neumann wrote: > Hi all, > I have an iMac G5, PowerMac 12,1 PPC970FX, Platform: PowerMac 12,1 > MacRISC4 Power Macinstosh, Memory 1GB+384MB. > I had installed Ubuntu 16.04.7 LTS and it was running fine. Now I need > newer libc and so on. So I wanted to install Debian 12 or even Debian > 13 on this iMac. > Is that possible? I tried > > debian-12.4.0-ppc64el-netinst.iso > but the iMac does not start from the DVD. > What can I do? > CU > Claudia -- Federico Vaga -- Federico Vaga http://www.federicovaga.it/
Re: Debian 12 on iMac G5
Hi Claudia and all, this is a very interesting coincidence. I've started trying a couple of days a go to install Debian 12 on the same iMac. In my case, I'm booting the netinst image from USB but the kernel crashes somewhere. The screen is not refreshed after a few kernel messages, so I was not able to debug any further. On the web I've found this project https://fienixppc.blogspot.com/ and I their suggestion about a video driver misconfiguration and a possible solution. See https://fienixppc.blogspot.com/p/troubleshooting-of.html None of the options, helped me. But I did not try to investigate more since then. Perhaps you will have better luck :) On 2024-01-23 14:54, Claudia Neumann wrote: Hi all, I have an iMac G5, PowerMac 12,1 PPC970FX, Platform: PowerMac 12,1 MacRISC4 Power Macinstosh, Memory 1GB+384MB. I had installed Ubuntu 16.04.7 LTS and it was running fine. Now I need newer libc and so on. So I wanted to install Debian 12 or even Debian 13 on this iMac. Is that possible? I tried debian-12.4.0-ppc64el-netinst.iso but the iMac does not start from the DVD. What can I do? CU Claudia -- Federico Vaga
