#Linus for mac ppc g4 mac os#
#Linus for mac ppc g4 install#
#Linus for mac ppc g4 software#
#Linus for mac ppc g4 iso#

To be more precise, Linux is just a kernel of an operating system (like Mach in Mac OS X), on which complete operating systems are based and these operating systems are called Linux distributions. Remove all the snd* entries in the file, add a single line that reads snd-powermac and reboot to let Debian autodetect the right sound driver.Just like Mac OS X, Linux is an operating system built upon the principles of Unix. To get sound, simply open a terminal, switch to the root user ( su - root), and edit the /etc/modprobe.d/ file. It should be ready to use right after the command is done, and will be persistent after a reboot.

#Linus for mac ppc g4 install#

Run the apt-get update command to update the repository list to include the contrib repositories, and then run the apt-get install b43-fwcutter wpasupplicant firmware-b43-installer command to install the firmware and driver modules for your wireless card. Then, edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file and add the keyword contrib after the keyword main next to each repository listed. To get your Wi-Fi card working, open a terminal and switch to the root user using the su - root command. Boot your PowerBook from the CD/DVD by holding down the C key at boot timeĪfter the installation, you’ll notice that your Wi-Fi card isn’t detected, and that you don’t have sound! Luckily, you can fix both easily.

#Linus for mac ppc g4 iso#

Download and burn the ISO for the latest version of Debian Linux for PowerPC (PPC).

Connect your PowerBook to your home router using an Ethernet cable (the Wi-Fi driver isn’t available during Debian installation, and it needs to download many packages).

If you have an old PowerBook, I highly suggest doing the same. Basically, Linux has extended the life of my beloved PowerBook! The Debian desktop uses far less than 1GB of RAM and almost no CPU cycles.

#Linus for mac ppc g4 software#

Bottom line: Linux performs much faster than Mac OS 10.5 did, and I when I plug it into a projector to do a presentation, people will see the latest version of Firefox (called Iceweasel in Debian), as well as the latest version of other popular open source Linux software packages. So, I downloaded and installed the latest version of Debian Linux on it, because Debian releases current versions of their Linux distribution for many different platforms. I want to keep using it, but its aging software makes me want to keep it hidden in the basement like Sloth from “The Goonies.” It’s done the work of 100 laptops and is a tribute to rugged Apple manufacturing. It’s followed me to hundreds of different events, and I’ve used it to give countless presentations. I’ve written over a dozen textbooks on it.

In other words, you won’t get new versions of software if you have an old PowerPC-based Mac running Mac OS 10.5….īut I love my PowerBook. With only 1.25 GB of RAM and a 1.5 GHz PowerPC CPU, it could only run Mac OS 10.5 (very old), and nearly all Mac software programs, including Web browsers, have discontinued support for PowerPC-based Macs. I recently installed the latest version of Debian Linux on my PowerBook G4 to make it useful again. So what do you do when you have an old PowerBook that still works but can’t run the latest operating system (OS) and software? Well, you could sell it - but it won’t fetch much at all (less than $50 in most cases).Ī better option is to install a currently-supported OS that runs really well on limited hardware…….in other words, install Linux on it!