Archpower on Apfel hammer

Strange behavior of my PowerMac G5 - it doesn't boot anymore

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Anyone who reads my blog from time to time is familiar with my PowerMac setup. I have two SSDs connected to the internal SATA ports: a 512 GB SATA SSD for Mac OS X 10.5 and a 128 GB SSD for Linux. I also have an NVMe SSD connected to the internal PCI Express x4 port.

The 128 GB SSD for Linux runs Debian 12 SID, and its primary function is to boot the actual Linux distribution from the NVMe SSD. The PowerMac, specifically the Open Firmware, doesn’t have drivers for NVMe, and neither does Mac OS X. Therefore, it boots Grub from the internal SSD to load the correct kernel and partition from the NVMe SSD.

Long time not seen...

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Dear friends of PowerPC Linux, Unix and especially the Powermac G5, I’ve not written since quite a time. The reason was my other Webproject [¹] which I managed to melt with another Website and beside that, move it into a Docker Container and run it and adopt everything and so on and on and on… you know - from stick to wood like someone says. :-)

But what I want to say is that I am using Arch POWER ppc64 Linux now for quite some time every day and while I am listening to Navidrome streamed MP3 [²] in my TerminalDrome Client or do some Webstuff with Firefox or sending Mails via Calws-Mail, I am absolutely happy and it never crashed or something like that. It works so well.

How to install Xfce Desktop on ArchLinux ArchPOWER ppc64

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As I wrote yesterday, the new ArchPOWER Linux for PowerPC 64 works like charme and with big thanks to (Kernel/Linux)-Hacker René Rebe, Firefox is working on POWER-Architecture (and much more) again after years. So you can use a modern Browser if you want.

But in the last post, I only described how you get your base system up and running while booting from usb pen drive. But you want more :-) A GUI I bet. So if you have a running instance, or when you are still in the live environment of the booted usb pen drive, you can chroot into the freshly installed ARCH Linux and can perfom different tasks. E.g. install a GUI. While the Powermac is not the fastest machine in 2025 anymore and a lot of packages are not available for ppc64, XFCe is a good idea for a good looking and modern desktop environment. My mac has the stock nVidia Geforce 6600GS graphicsboard so we need the driver for this to have 2d-acceleration. This is important, otherwise the gui is not useful because it is too slow.

ArchPOWER Linux for PPC64(/32)

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My bigfat Powermac G5 Workstation running ArchPOWER 64 while compiling Claws-Mail under XCFE and running TerminalDrome

Because of a friendly comment by Powerlinux user Matias, I am willing to try out ArchPOWER Linux for PPC (Link) again. ArchPOWER is an unofficial Port of ARCH Linux for the PowerPC Architecture: It supports: powerpc64le (>=POWER8), powerpc (>=604), powerpc64 (>=POWER4+/G5 & PS3) and espresso (WiiU SMP).

Hello ArchPOWER Linux for PPC64

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In a nice comment from Matias, he told me he is using ArchPOWER Linux, an unofficial Build of Arch Linux for PowerPC, PPC64, PPC and PPCle for the Power8 Architecture etc. pp.; If I remember correctly, I stumbled across this Linux Distro while I researched for the best Linux for my Powermac G5, but maybe because I was at the beginning of my Linux journey on these machines, I found it to heavy or something else told me not to try. I don’t know but it is not important anymore, because I installed ArchPOWER Linux current on my NVMe-SSD in the Powermac, multi-booting with T2 Linux, Debian 12 SID, Adelie Linux and Fienix Linux. :-)