Knoppix on Mac

**solidsnake31990** · 02-24-2005, 03:08 AM

hey, i downloaded it onto my pc laptop, but it started getting all messed up and i had to reformat. i sold it and got an ibook, but never remembered to test it out on my powerbook. im downloading it now, and then ill test it out and post how it goes.

**solidsnake31990** · 02-24-2005, 03:27 AM

i tryed to boot from it but i screwed up burning it. im downloading gnoppix as we speak(or type), and im also going to try that on my powerbook and ibook

**boehmb** · 02-24-2005, 03:37 AM

I just got a new iBook and will anxiously await your report...

**walter_f** · 02-26-2005, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by boehmb

I just got a new iBook and will anxiously await your report...

There's an article on ppcnerds.org reporting about the most recent beta version of Gnoppix, 0.9.9b1 (dated Jan 27, 2005), on an iBook G4 1.2 GHz with ATI video chipset:

http://www.ppcnerds.org/Article278.html

Regards,

Walter.

**boehmb** · 02-28-2005, 02:12 AM

walter_f, thank you for the reference. That's the exact iBook I own, and according to one who tested it on an iBook, the brightness, volume and eject keys have stopped working. Not wanting to mess up a new machine, I think I'll stick to Knoppix on my i486 platform for now...

Brad

**walter_f** · 02-28-2005, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by boehmb

walter_f, thank you for the reference. That's the exact iBook I own, and according to one who tested it on an iBook, the brightness, volume and eject keys have stopped working. Not wanting to mess up a new machine, I think I'll stick to Knoppix on my i486 platform for now...
Brad

Hello Brad,

taking into consideration Gnoppix PPC is still beta (albeit a good one), you might give it a try in April when most probably the first final version (PowerPC as well as the other platforms) will be out. Just keep an eye on
http://www.gnoppix.org/
and
http://www.ppcnerds.org/

Of course, somebody will post in the news section of knoppix.net forums also when there will be breaking news on this...

Regards,

Walter.

**boehmb** · 03-01-2005, 03:27 AM

Thank you again. I've got those sites bookmarked!

**walter_f** · 03-09-2005, 10:30 AM

For all those who prefer KDE to Gnome (I don't), there is a KDE-based variant of Ubuntu, called Kubuntu (what else?

), available as a first preliminary test version:

Kubuntu

There are Live CDs of Kubuntu

Kubuntu Live CD ISOs

as well as Install CDs

Kubuntu Install CD ISOs

Kubuntu is being developed for the x86, PowerPC, AMD 64, and IA-64 platforms. The current version is basically on par with Ubuntu 5.04 "Hoary Hedgehog" which is to be released officially in April.

Regards,

Walter.

**walter_f** · 03-24-2005, 10:49 AM

Debian-Installer Release Candidate 3.

Joey Hess began to work on the next release candidate of the new debian-installer. Most tests ran fine.
He reported that they seem to be on schedule for the release on March 23rd, which will be 3 months since the rc2 release.
Debian Weekly News - March 22nd, 2005

And here it is:
Debian-Installer release candidate 3

Available as images for
[alpha] [arm] [hppa] [i386] [ia64] [m68k] [mips] [mipsel] [powerpc] [sparc]:
Installing sarge with the Debian-Installer

Regards,

Walter.

**walter_f** · 04-24-2005, 01:23 PM

Here's a detailed discussion about installing Debian GNU/Linux on the Mac Mini by William R Sowerbutts:
Install GNU/Linux on the Mac Mini

William provides detailed information on how to partition the hard drive for a dual-boot setup as well as for Linux-only mode.

He has hints on which components of the Mac Mini are supported by Debian (most are).

The most notable exception is 802.11g wireless ("Airport Extreme") which is a BTO option. Due to the lack of Open Source drivers for the Broadcom chipset, in terms of Linux owners of the Mac Mini are in the same boat as owners of other recent Macs and all the owners of PCs with the 802.11g Broadcom chipset (for the x86 platform, there's the NDIS wrapper solution, however). So if you are going to use a Mac mini under Linux only, just don't order the Airport Extreme option, save your money for something else, e.g. for a USB WLAN dongle that's supported by Linux.

There are other issues:
Audio does not work yet, expected to be solved soon;
Graphics over DVI connection not working at screen resolutions above 1280x1024.

There's a forum dedicated to Linux on the Mac mini, too:
Linux on the Mac Mini forum

For Debian on Mac questions in general there's the comprehensive debian-powerpc mailing list:
Debian PowerPC list archive

Best regards,

Walter.