{"id":517,"date":"1999-02-06T13:17:59","date_gmt":"1999-02-06T21:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/?p=517"},"modified":"2020-07-08T19:05:30","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T02:05:30","slug":"how-to-install-linux-on-a-g3-power-macintosh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/1999\/02\/06\/how-to-install-linux-on-a-g3-power-macintosh\/","title":{"rendered":"How to\u2026 Install Linux on a G3 Power Macintosh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jeffrey Carl<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From MacAddict Magazine, March 1999<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve heard the hype about Linux \u2013 a free version of the powerful Unix operating system. You\u2019ve heard it makes a great web server or file server; or you\u2019ve heard that it makes a fast workstation. You\u2019ve envisioned yourself being the envy of your friends with an un-crashable OS, doing cool (yet vaguely dirty)-sounding things like \u201ctweaking your kernel.\u201d And, being an unrepentant geek, you can\u2019t wait to play around with it. So you\u2019re ready to think different \u2013 really<\/em> different \u2013 and try installing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the good news \u2013 despite what you\u2019ve heard, Linux installation can be a very simple, non-intimidating process. Even better, Linux has become available for most Macintoshes \u2013 both PowerPC and 68k. With any luck, you could be up and running in about an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the bad news \u2013 Linux support isn\u2019t perfect for all Mac-compatible machines and peripherals. Most importantly, you\u2019re taking off the training wheels here \u2013 installing an operating system on your machine which isn\u2019t officially supported, doesn\u2019t come with much documentation, and can require you to mess around with the very guts of your machine in ways you had never imagined were possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Getting ready to install Linux on a Power Macintosh G3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re still with us after reading that last paragraph, then you\u2019re stout of heart and soul \u2013 or you\u2019re a glutton for punishment. Either way, let\u2019s get started. For this example, we\u2019ll be installing LinuxPPC 4 from a CD onto a Power Macintosh G3\/266, with an external SCSI 1.5 GB hard drive set up as the Linux volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Get Prepared<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. First, make sure that you have a supported Macintosh for your Linux of choice (see sidebar) and a hard drive you can repartition to make a home for Linux. At least 400 MB of space is required, and 1.2 GB or more is recommended. You can<\/em> use your MacOS drive to include Linux volumes, but you\u2019ll have to wipe it clean and repartition it first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Back up all of your files. Really. You can get away without doing this if you\u2019re installing Linux onto a fresh new disk (and you like living on the edge); but if you\u2019re repartitioning your current MacOS drive, you\u2019ll need<\/em> to do this because you\u2019ll be wiping your disk clean in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Partition Your Disk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll need to create several disk partitions for Linux (at least two, and four or five is recommended). This comes from an old Unix tradition of placing files which seldom change (and important system files) on different partitions from frequently-changing user files so that they\u2019re less likely to be corrupted by frequent writes to the hard disk. The minimum number of partitions is two: one for swap (sort of Linux\u2019s virtual memory scratch disk) and one for \/(\u201croot,\u201d or your regular filesystem). It is recommended that you create these two partitions, as well as one for \/usr (where most of Unix\u2019s programs are installed) and \/home (where users\u2019 personal files are stored).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Choose a drive-partitioning utility. Your choice here depends on what type of disk you\u2019re going to use (SCSI or IDE\/ATA). If you aren\u2019t sure what type of disk you have, consult the documentation that came with your Mac. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For SCSI disks, you can use the Apple_HD_SC_Setup<\/strong> program which came with your Mac to create the partitions and set them as the correct type (A\/UX). If you have a non-Apple disk or a Mac clone, you can use the third-party utility that came with the drive or computer (like FWB Hard Disk ToolKit<\/strong>) for this. If you have an Apple IDE or SCSI drive, you\u2019ll need to use the Apple Drive Setup<\/strong> utility that came with your Macintosh (make sure you have the newest version). If you use Drive Setup (as we\u2019ll be doing here), you\u2019ll also need the pdisk<\/strong> utility (included on the CD) to convert the HFS partitions you create to their proper type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Open Drive Setup utility and choose the disk you\u2019ll be partitioning. Note that you can\u2019t<\/em> use Drive Setup from your startup disk; you\u2019ll have to partition another drive, or boot from your MacOS system CD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Get the Tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, you\u2019ll need to get Linux and the utilities for installing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. One of the nice things about \u201cfree operating systems\u201d is that they\u2019re just that \u2013 free. If you have a fast Internet connection, you can do an installation via FTP from the LinuxPPC site (ftp:\/\/ftp.linuxppc.org<\/a>) or one of its mirrors, and it\u2019s absolutely free. However, it may be easier for most users to order a CD from the good folks at LinuxPPC (http:\/\/www.linuxppc.org)<\/a>, which includes a recent distribution plus other programs and goodies for $XX plus shipping. In addition, if you buy a CD, you\u2019re completely free to share it with as many people as you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Install BootX<\/strong> (included on your LinuxPPC CD), the utility for switching back and forth from MacOS to Linux when you boot your computer. Simply drag the BootX control panel onto your system folder to install it (you\u2019ll need to reboot before you can use it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this doesn\u2019t work for you, you can manipulate which OS you boot into through BootVars<\/strong> (http:\/\/url.goes.here<\/a>, or included on the CD), a control panel which allows you to manipulate your Mac\u2019s Open Firmware. However, this isn\u2019t recommended \u2013 mucking around with Open Firmware has reduced more than one formerly confident Mac Jedi to bingeing on non-prescription cold medications in frustration (also, this option is no longer officially supported by LinuxPPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Drag two files from the CD onto your System Folder: vmlinux and ramdisk.image.gz. These files should stay at the \u201ctop\u201d level of your System Folder (not inside any folders inside the System Folder).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Begin the Installation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Insert the LinuxPPC CD into your CD-ROM drive, and open your BootX control panel (double-click it or select it from your Control Panels menu in the Apple Menu).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Leave the \u201croot device\u201d field blank. Check the \u201cUse RAM Disk\u201d and \u201cNo video driver\u201d options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Click the \u201cLinux\u201d button to reboot your computer into the Linux Red Hat Installer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Use the Red Hat Installer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Sidebar]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resources<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The LinuxPPC website:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.linuxppc.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LinuxPPC Installation Guide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.linuxppc.org\/userguide<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MkLinux website:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.mklinux.apple.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Linux Mac68k Project website:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.mac.linux-m68k.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Linux on PowerPC newsgroup: comp.os.linux.powerpc<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Sidebar]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which Macs Can I Get a Linux For?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

LinuxPPC 5.0 supports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any PCI-based Power Mac, PowerBook or Macintosh clone (including iMac), as well as BeBoxes. \u201cBlue-and-white G3\u201d not supported yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MkLinux 3.0 supports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NuBus-Based Power Macs (6100, 7100, 8100, 9100), PCI Power Macs (7200, 7500, 7600, 8500, 9500, 7300, 8600, 9600), PCI Performas (4400, 5400, 5500, 6400, 6500), 20th Aniversary Mac, Desktop and Minitower Power Mac G3 (but not \u201cblue-and-white G3\u201d yet), PowerBooks (5300, 1400, 2400, 3400, G3, G3 Series)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LinuxMac68k supports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most 68030- and 68040-based Macs (but not most 68LC040-based). 68020-based Macs with a FPU (Mac II, or those with a FPU emulator).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For complete, up-to-date lists, please refer to the website of your Linux of choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jeffrey Carl From MacAddict Magazine, March 1999 You\u2019ve heard the hype about Linux \u2013 a free version of the powerful Unix operating system. You\u2019ve heard it makes a great web server or file server; or you\u2019ve heard that it makes a fast workstation. You\u2019ve envisioned yourself being the envy of your friends with an … Continue reading How to\u2026 Install Linux on a G3 Power Macintosh<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,66],"tags":[27,72],"class_list":["post-517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-and-the-rest","category-tech","tag-linux","tag-mac-os-9"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":568,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions\/568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffcarl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}