Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
I am trying to install Debian 10.9 on the old iMac G5. I burned the 'debian-10.9.0-ppc64el-netinst.iso’ image to CD on a newer iMac (2017). When I boot the iMac G5 holding the ‘Option’ key down with the CD inserted, the G5 doesn’t recognise the CD as a bootable CD. I then did the same with the 'debian-bullseye-DI-rc1-ppc64el-DVD-1.iso’. Till the same problem. I was able to install Ubuntu Mate 16.04 for powerpc without any problem. Can you please help me to solve this problem? Kind regards Pat
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
On 5/2/21 3:21 PM, Pat Pathmanathan wrote: > I am trying to install Debian 10.9 on the old iMac G5. I burned the > 'debian-10.9.0-ppc64el-netinst.iso’ image to CD on a newer iMac (2017). > When I boot the iMac G5 holding the ‘Option’ key down with the CD > inserted, the G5 doesn’t recognise the CD as a bootable CD. I then did > the same with the 'debian-bullseye-DI-rc1-ppc64el-DVD-1.iso’. Till the > same problem. I was able to install Ubuntu Mate 16.04 for powerpc > without any problem. > > Can you please help me to solve this problem? > Hi Pat, Debian has 3 architecture for powerpc : - ppc64el (official) - powerpc (unofficial) - ppc64 (unofficial) Only official architectures have testing and stable branches. Unofficial architectures have unstable/sid branch only. I'm not sure what computer architecture your old mac belongs to so try to use the same architecture you have used with Ubuntu. Kind regards Georgi
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
Hello, From what I understand (If I understand correctly), your processor is a powerpc64 Big Indian, not a powerpc64 Little Indian and nowadays the rare Linux ditros that still propose a powerpc64 portage do it for Litte Indian (ppc64el) as Debian do. So Debian is not compatible with your hardware. The only distros I have found that seem to support your hardware are Gentoo https://www.gentoo.org/downloads/ (download the PPC64 stage3 image, not the ppc or ppc64le ones) and Adelie (the distro is in RC (release candidate) stage but ther are even live images) https://www.adelielinux.org/download/ Even the *BSD seem to lack support for the Imac G5
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
On Sun, May 02, 2021 at 04:38:21PM +0200, didier gaumet wrote: > From what I understand (If I understand correctly), your processor is a > powerpc64 Big Indian, not a powerpc64 Little Indian [...] That's "Endian", not "Indian". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
Hi, Pat Pathmanathan wrote: > I am trying to install Debian 10.9 on the old iMac G5. I burned the > 'debian-10.9.0-ppc64el-netinst.iso’ [..] > I was > able to install Ubuntu Mate 16.04 for powerpc without any problem. Possibly you want Debian for "ppc64" or "powerpc". At least the boot equipment of debian-10.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso and debian-10.0-powerpc-NETINST-1.iso looks like the one of ubuntu-mate-16.04-desktop-powerpc.iso. (I.e. CHRP MBR partition and Apple Partition Map announcing a HFS filesystem. Made by genisoimage. The Debian ppc64el ISO has only CHRP and was made by xorriso.) See https://wiki.debian.org/PPC64 https://wiki.debian.org/PowerPC The latter mentions "G5 Power Macs". There is a mailing list https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/ where searching for "G5" yields lots of hits https://lists.debian.org/cgi-bin/search?P=G5&DEFAULTOP=or&B=Gdebian-powerpc&SORT=&HITSPERPAGE=10 So i guess your goal is on topic there. Have a nice day :) Thomas
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
On Sun May 2 08:17:13 2021 Greg Wooledge wrote: > On Sun, May 02, 2021 at 04:38:21PM +0200, didier gaumet wrote: > >> From what I understand (If I understand correctly), your processor >> is a powerpc64 Big Indian, not a powerpc64 Little Indian [...] > > That's "Endian", not "Indian". 8080 One little, 8085 Two little, 8086 Three little-endians 8088 Four little, 80186Five little, 80286Six little-endians 80386Seven little, 80386SX Eight little, 80486Nine little-endians Pentium DIVIDE ERROR -- /~\ Charlie Gibbs | They don't understand Microsoft \ /| has stolen their car and parked X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | a taxi in their driveway. / \ if you read it the right way. |-- Mayayana
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
On Sun, May 2, 2021, 11:51 AM Charlie Gibbs wrote: > On Sun May 2 08:17:13 2021 Greg Wooledge wrote: > > > On Sun, May 02, 2021 at 04:38:21PM +0200, didier gaumet wrote: > > > >> From what I understand (If I understand correctly), your processor > >> is a powerpc64 Big Indian, not a powerpc64 Little Indian [...] > > > > That's "Endian", not "Indian". > > 8080 One little, > 8085 Two little, > 8086 Three little-endians > 8088 Four little, > 80186Five little, > 80286Six little-endians > 80386Seven little, > 80386SX Eight little, > 80486Nine little-endians > Pentium DIVIDE ERROR > +1 Kenneth Parker >
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
Le 02/05/2021 à 16:43, Greg Wooledge a écrit : On Sun, May 02, 2021 at 04:38:21PM +0200, didier gaumet wrote: From what I understand (If I understand correctly), your processor is a powerpc64 Big Indian, not a powerpc64 Little Indian [...] That's "Endian", not "Indian". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness Thank you Greg, but I promise you, Your Honor, I'm not guilty, for the life of me ;-) In this case, I did know the concept and its correct spelling but: - being absent-minded by nature - thinking in english (I have almost wrote "inglish") - but unconsciously verifying spelling in french (my native language) while writing - and being guilty of not re-reading myself before posting You have there a perfect recipe for a disaster ;-)
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
Le 02/05/2021 à 19:29, didier gaumet a écrit : (I have almost wrote "inglish") sorry : "written" There: absent-minded ;-)
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
On Sonntag, 2. Mai 2021 13:29:47 -04 didier gaumet wrote: > Le 02/05/2021 à 16:43, Greg Wooledge a écrit : > > On Sun, May 02, 2021 at 04:38:21PM +0200, didier gaumet wrote: > >> From what I understand (If I understand correctly), your processor > >> is a>> > >> powerpc64 Big Indian, not a powerpc64 Little Indian [...] > > > > That's "Endian", not "Indian". > > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness > > Thank you Greg, but I promise you, Your Honor, I'm not guilty, for the > life of me ;-) > > In this case, I did know the concept and its correct spelling but: > - being absent-minded by nature > - thinking in english (I have almost wrote "inglish") > - but unconsciously verifying spelling in french (my native language) > while writing > - and being guilty of not re-reading myself before posting > > You have there a perfect recipe for a disaster ;-) That is cute and it reminds me of Peter Sellers in "The Party" ... talking of little Indians and disasters ...
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
Pat Pathmanathan composed on 2021-05-09 19:02 (UTC+0100): > I finally managed to install the following image on my iMac G5 : > https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ports/current/ > https://saimei.ftp.acc.umu.se/cdimage/ports/current/debian-10.0.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso > The installation went fine. When I start the system, the grub menu loads > allowing me to select Debian Linux to boot. On selecting the option it goes > through the startup process and the last thing was 'Starting Gnome manager' > (or something to that effect). It then hangs with a black screen and a > small blinking cursor on the top left corner. > > It took many attempts to get here. Still no luck. Any suggestions? Is it truly hung, or can you reach a login prompt via Ctrl-Alt-F3 or remote? Did you select autologin at installation time? -- Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion, based on faith, not based on science. Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
On Sun, May 9, 2021, 1:18 PM Pat Pathmanathan wrote: > I finally managed to install the following image on my iMac G5 : > https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ports/current/ > > https://saimei.ftp.acc.umu.se/cdimage/ports/current/debian-10.0.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso > > The installation went fine. When I start the system, the grub menu loads > allowing me to select Debian Linux to boot. On selecting the option it goes > through the startup process and the last thing was 'Starting Gnome manager' > (or something to that effect). It then hangs with a black screen and a > small blinking cursor on the top left corner. > > It took many attempts to get here. Still no luck. Any suggestions? > Based on similar symptoms on Intel platforms, check brightness and contrast on your monitor. It may simply be too low to see. Or as already suggested, try other available sessions. Pat > > >
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
Hi, (there is at least one answer which was not Cc'ed to you as follow-up under https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2021/05/msg00358.html ) Pat Pathmanathan wrote: > I finally managed to install the following image on my iMac G5 : > [...] debian-10.0.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso [...] > 'Starting Gnome manager' > (or something to that effect). It then hangs with a black screen and a small > blinking cursor on the top left corner. > [...] Any suggestions? Did you already try the "powerpc" architecture as alternative to "ppc64" ? https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ports/10.0/powerpc/iso-cd/debian-10.0-powerpc-NETINST-1.iso If this doesn't work either, then i propose again to ask at debian-powe...@lists.debian.org Subscribe at https://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/ Have a nice day :) Thomas
Re: Installing Debian 10.9 Buster on iMac G5 (powerpc)
Hello, Your graphic card can probably be managed by: - Nvidia closed-source driver (including firmware): https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers - Nouveau open-source driver (automatically loaded by default for your hardware) with a firmware you have to install (probably the firmware-misc-nonfree package from the non-free repository) (you can check for potential other missing firmwares for your hardware by typing grep -i firmware /var/log/messages in a terminal/console as root)
