Mac OS X 10.5.8 with modern Browser
As you can see in the screenshot, I am visiting both my weblog and amazon.de Websites with the Powermac G5 2,0 GHz. This is only possible because there is a relative modern webbrowser (2022) by user wicknix, built upon TenFourFox.
InterWebPPC: Mozilla for Power Macintosh
So with this webbrowser the old 20 years old Powermac is able to visit modern websites like Amazon. No, I dont like amazon, but is is an example. Youtube also works, but loads a lot longer.
With this browser it is possible to use the mac in a day to day modern web world, but slow. I can even access webmails, read yahoo news or something like that while chatting via colloguy and telnetting into my server.
Really sad to read this:
This repository has been archived by the owner on Jul 26, 2023. It is now read-only.
Another good one is gone, but wicknix do have his reasons I bet.
Ressources
- https://github.com/wicknix/InterWebPPC
Tags: macosx, powermacg5, firefox, leopard
A picture of my Powermac G5
My Powerhouse :-)
A picture of my Powermac G5
- Powermac G5 11,2 with
- 2 GHz Dual Core IBM PPC970 CPU
- 12 GB DDR2 Ram
- PCIe NVMe-SSD with 1 TB SSD
- Apple Cinema HD 23" Display
- Original Keyboard and Mouse
Tags: powermacg5
Fienix Linux seems to be dead
I find it quite sad because I only recently got to know Fienix Linux, even though it has been around for a long time. And I think it's absolutely great because it works better than any other Linux on the Powermac G5 that I've tried so far:
- Graphics acceleration
- modern web browser
But unfortunately the package sources are dead, this Linux is based on Debian SID and uses APT. The Fienix source server is unreachable and there is no alternative.
I tried to contact the developer, I know that Fienix Linux is a one-man project and therefore there are few resources available, but I haven't received any response.
So it's not really possible to reinstall packages, I also can't install a development environment to compile myself and so it remains nice, but not very expandable and usable.
Tags: powermacg5, linux, ppc64, eolie, browser, fienix
Fienix Linux for PPC Computers
The other day I stumbled across Fienix Linux. It is a Distribution maintained by one man, Casey Cullen. It is based on debian, but with focus on powerpc first. I just tried to install it on my Powermac G5. And it works great!
Fienix Linux 6.0.1 on my Powermac G5, on real Hardware.
How To Boot Powermac from USB
There are many different mentions in the web. Some say it is impossible to boot Powermacs from USB, others says: only PowermacG5 from 7,3 Revision are able to boot from USB and the third party says: every Powermac is bootable.
And because I own this late and great Powermac G5 11,2 and I don't want to always burn a CD/DVD everytime I try a new Linux or something else out, I invesitagted a little bit further: the third statement is correct: every Powermac can boot from USB.
But it is not so easy like we knew it from Intel/x86 Machines. Press a button and it boots. Because this is a Powermac with a PowerPC CPU and therefore it uses Open Firmware as an BIOS alternative. Open Firmware was far ahead of it's time with great features, but it is a cryptical terminal. :-) So far - so good.
Allow Apps From Anywhere macOS 15.2 Sequoia
So, the other day I installed a media server to stream my long lost MP3-Archive like it's Spotfiy, over the air to my Smartphone while I wear Headphones etc. pp and therefore I tested a lot of apps. I ran into the issue that macOS 15 does not let you device to open an unverified app like on the macOS releases before, it is a way harder. But the easiest solution I found is this, type in the terminal:
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/app
Replace /path/to/app with the app, the easiest way is to drag the app into the
terminal, it will complete the path automatically. After that, the app will start.
Firefox 128-ESR on PPC64 Powermac G5
Since I own the Powermac G5 and play around with it, I want to install a modern Browser and therefor, I want to run Firefox on it. But it is not possible. I tried different Linux Distros like Debian 12 PPC64, T2/Linux by Rene Rebe and even some special builts of ARCH for PPC64 - but I had no luck. No one had luck and even the Debian Mailinglist said it is not possible to built Firefox for PPC64 at this time. I even wrote about that.
And now, the other day, I tried Adelie Linux PPC64 and et voila: I fucking could start Firefox and tested some Websites like youtube.com and it worked. So I made a screenshot because I could not believe myself. I totally hope I can use Firefox sooner than later on the other Distros too.
Firefox 128 ESR running on top of LXQT Adelie Linux Powerpc 64 Powermac G5
Sincerely, Jan
Tags: powermacg5, firefox, ppc64, linux
Using OpenFirmware on Powermacs
There is always the discussion around if the Powermacs are able to boot from USB or not and I can say: every Powermac G5 is able to boot from USB Thumbdrive. So it is quite easy to dd an ISO of Linux or Leopard to an USB-Drive and boot-up the Powermac G5 with it. But also older Macs. Older Roms. Older Edlers.