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.
Sorbet Leopard 10.5.9
There are quite a few Powermac Enthusiast around the world, like I am. They are using the Powermac G5 for day-to-day work and I think this is pretty cool, even when I think we need to go green as fast as possible in the reason of power consumption, I will give it a try. My G5 doesnt need more than 250 Watts even with the Cinema HD 23" Display in use.
magine if Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was released for the PowerPC architecture. Aging machines would have received a much-needed boost in performance, software updates would have carried on for a little bit further, and instrumental features would have been newly claimed -- resulting in pre-existing hardware being kept in service for much longer.
While Apple opted not to continue the development of Snow Leopard for PowerPC-based Macs, that did not stop dedicated communities from filling this void (and then some) over a decade later. Enter Sorbet Leopard, a fresh new release of Mac OS X designed exclusively for the venerable Power Macintosh, fifteen years after the final model was sold.
Built off of the rock-solid Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard base system, Mac OS X 10.5.9 Sorbet Leopard offers a significant jump in speed and security over its predecessor by utilizing advanced methods of performance optimization, system streamlining, and brand new features, all together rivaling most of the UX improvements seen in Snow Leopard on Intel machines.
Thanks to the over 70 new changes present in Mac OS X 10.5.9, here's what to expect once installed ...
- Faster startup times, application launch times, and network performance
- Smoother, more fluid, and more consistent UI animations
- A brand new app store tailored for only the best apps on Mac OS X 10.5.x
- Built-in tools to create RAM disks, run routine maintenance, configure hidden preferences, toggle background services, and more
- Full compatibility with the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse
- Full compatibility with Unicode 13.1 emoji characters
- Updated desktop pictures, user pictures, screen savers, fonts, and Apple dictionaries, alongside apps such as Dashboard 1.7, Exposé 1.1, Front Row 1.1, Spaces 1.1, Time Machine 1.1, Java Preferences 13.9.8, and System Profiler 10.6.0, all from the final release of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
- Comprehensive system themes inline with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, and iOS 4 to 12, featuring authentic desktop pictures, user pictures, screen savers, and UI assets unique to each choice
- Updated security certificates inline with macOS 10.13 High Sierra
- Updated applications including Safari 11 with new security updates and performance improvements, QuickTime 7.7 Pro, Bash 4.3.30, and ntpd 4.2.8
- Integrated optimizations such as reduced disk activity, reduced CPU / RAM / disk usage, PowerPC-optimized binaries, and universal ad blocking
Ressources:
Tags: powermacg5, leopard, sorbet-leopard
Apfelhammer.de goes Indieweb
As I mentioned on my several domains before, I am a great fan of the so called indieweb were you link each other in mentions and talk about topics and you do this on your domain or your website, not on social media pots were your data and your stories and thoughts are trapped. Trapped at them.
So I configured my domain apfelhammer.de as part of the indieweb. I think I can get webmentions and I am part of the indiewebring.
So you are welcome.
Bye…
Late and great Mini-ITX Build?
I lastly saw this video about a company who invents Mini-ITX Cases for PCs, especially for Gaming PCs. And I saw this great case [^1]. The Case is so neat and everything fits so well. The case is small and can stand up to not use too much space on the Desk which I really like. It reminds me on my Mac Pro 6,1 - also known as Trashcan - which was an really great mini-ITX Computer before it was cool. I would still use one but you can't upgrade and therefore it is way much powerconsumption (compared to actual computers) for no reason so an actual Mac Mini M4 is all you need for everyday computing.
And those M4 Processors are really great, evolving with every new generation and doing so good in performance and watt consumption. But there is no graphicscard and the graphic cores are damn slow compared to nVidia or ATI Cards, even when they also go better and better. Since Apple Silicon, the company dropped external VGA Support via Thunderbolt. It is not possible to connect one anymore. And will never be again. So this is a big problem for Macs - like ever. If you stuck to eGPU Support, you are bint to macOS / Intel Platform forever.
And beside that this is the reason I want to build a PC in mini-ITX format just for my pleasure. To game on Windows. And to run Linux on it. To crosscompile on it. Because since a long time, there is no x86 compatible Computer in my house. And now, here is the Video. I don't often mention YouTube-Videos, but that is the reason for this post:
Sadly but there is no seller for this case in germany, I don't know how to buy it. You can order on the official website of XIKII, but I have no glue if it works, shipping to europe, germany. So maybe I need to look for another great mini-ITX Case, there are plenty of them outside.
Status of Firefox on PPC64 Big Endian
So yesterday was the release ouf 24.12 T2/Linux and the maintainer, creator and mastermind behind, René Rebe, were at a lifestream on youtube and twitch. So I played around with T2 on my Powermac G5 and listened to the stream and had a small chat with him. The most important part is an actual browser on that machine so I asked for the actual status of firefox.
René replied that the problems with big endian still exist and occours so there is no Firefox for Big Endian Machines at the moment. Firefox builts well on all little endian processors, but not on the big ones. There is no better answer at this time, but I hope he can do something when he have the time. Because to make that clear: there is not a big audience who is working on big endian ppc64 processors like my 970MP is in the world and I believe he get's not enough feedback and attention for his work for the open source community. But this is another part.
Debian also faces the problem of not building firefox for ppc/64, but they have other important things to do than to fix that.
I know there were patches from oracle for big endian firefox but I cant find the repository anymore. Maybe these patches and the Void Patches could do some important thing? [UPDATE] I found the patches for firefox.
I bet biggest problem are the people at firefox who doesnt care about big endian firefox builts for ppc64 because it is not important.
Ressources
- New Release Of T2/Linux
- Oracle Patches for Firefox
- PPC 750 Void Linux Firefox Patches
- void-packages-ppc750/srcpkgs/firefox/patches/big-endian-image-decoders.patch
- Debian Build Status Firefox
Tags: t2linux, powermacg5, linux, firefox