Lubuntu 16.04 Remix (updated)

[netsrot39]

@wicknix I see you also have a last gen Mac Mini G4 (Silent Upgrade) and I'd like to ask you if your Lubuntu 16.04 remix version is supported on it. I do have the same Mini (actually three of these, recently got another one for a steal I'm trying this on) and upon booting the DVD the live system tries to load but there is an error with the GUI (only black screen and cursor showing and what is shown refreshes every couple of seconds). It works however with the command you suggested for elderly Nvidia cards (or so I thought). My problem is that the live system does work for like 2-3 minutes but eventually locks up and the screen refreshes every 5 seconds or so, rendering the system basically brain-dead. Is there a way to get 16.04 working on a last gen Mac Mini G4 and if so what am I missing here? Lubuntu 12.04 works like a charm on it but I'd like to try out something newer. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated

 

[wicknix]

Yeah 16.04 will/does work on the mini. If i recall you just need to use the boot parameter of:
live radeon.agpmode=-1 nosplash
Due note however that LXDE and the Radeon 9200 don't get along real well in 16.04 for some reason. The UI will be a tad sluggish. You can fix that by installing and using a different DE / WM. I used IceWM, but other lightweight ones like fluxbox work fine also.

Cheers

 

[netsrot39]

Yeah 16.04 will/does work on the mini. If i recall you just need to use the boot parameter of:
live radeon.agpmode=-1 nosplash
Due note however that LXDE and the Radeon 9200 don't get along real well in 16.04 for some reason. The UI will be a tad sluggish. You can fix that by installing and using a different DE / WM. I used IceWM, but other lightweight ones like fluxbox work fine also.

Cheers

It doesn't lock up and flicker anymore! Thanks!

 

[netsrot39]

Sorry four the double post but I thought it would be better to start a new post so that everyone notices it. Also it has been some time since my last post. After replacing the semi-dead optical drive of my recently acquired Mac Mini G4, I was able to successfully install Lubuntu 16.04 using the "live radeon.agpmode=-1 nosplash" command on startup. After the install, the operating system would stall again after a minute or so. Also it wouldn't take any commands in the Yaboot boot loader because it complained about missing files and directories. I booted the live dvd again with said command and fixed the /etc/yaboot.conf on my system partition by adding: append="quiet splash radeon.agpmode=-1". I then booted into the system partition again (which was a time bomb due to the 1-2 minute gpu issue) and quickly typed "sudo ybin -v" into the Terminal and rebooted the machine.

Now the operating system works without any freezes and graphical glitches. The speed for office work isn't actually too bad. I noticed however that video playback is awful and always out of sync. There are many frame drops and the images are shown slower than audio. Does this have to do with the ATI 9200 and is there any way to fix that? And I'm not referring to HD playback but simple 480p and DVD playback.

There also seems to be a problem with updating Lubuntu to a newer version. It complains about many files not (I did update the SSL certificates). Do I have to change the sources.list for Lubuntu 16 as well?

Thanks!

 

[wicknix]

What are you using for a desktop? As i mentioned before LXDE (default) does not work well with the 9200. It will be slow/laggy to render/draw. That could be the reason your video playback is out of wack. I highly suggest icewm, window maker, fluxbox, etc instead. Or if you still want a more full featured desktop, use xfce but make sure to disable window compositing in its settings.

As for updating to a newer version, you cant. 16.04 was the last official version released for powerpc. You might get notices that 18.04 is available, but it wont upgrade because it doesn't exist for ppc. You can however update to some newer packages by using debian 10 repositories. I already included them in apts sources.list but have them disabled by default. Open /etc/apt/sources.list in an editor and have a look. Just be aware that using debians repos can break your system if you aren't careful.

Cheers

 

[shakary]

Special thanks to wicknix who with his contribution allowed me to revitalize a 2005 apple ibook g4 using lubuntu 12.04 remix. The machine is equipped with a 1.33 ghz processor and has 1.5 gigabytes of ram. Only suggestion, after a lot of work it would perhaps be advisable to enclose in a single document all the procedure from installation to setting up hardware and software to get the most out of that little gem. Thanks again wicknix.

 

[wicknix]

Glad you find it of use. If memory serves me right, i think i included a readme.txt in
the iso with tips. I know macbuntu had it for sure, just cant remember if i included it in the standard remix or not. Otherwise the first post has some extras/updates linked since this was released back in 2020.

Cheers

 

[shakary]

yes the readme.txt also exists in the standard and was very useful. But I am referring more to a sort of collection of all the bright and resolute "tips" that you have given over the years in relation to the optimal use of lubuntu remix 12.04 / 16.04 and of the various software installed especially for browsers which are the most delicate part, to have an immediate overview, in my opinion it would be useful. Always thanks.

 

[ervus]

@wicknix I see you also have a last gen Mac Mini G4 (Silent Upgrade) and I'd like to ask you if your Lubuntu 16.04 remix version is supported on it.

Yes, I installed this on a Mini also. I posted up my results not that long ago. Basically, follow the instructions on the first post. I think the only trick I needed was booting off a USB stick.

 

[netsrot39]

@wicknix I'd need the expert's help again I'm trying to install Lubuntu 16.04 on an A1107 PowerBook G4 with an ATI Radeon 9700. The Yaboot parameters do work with the live DVD and I can install it without problems but as soon as the OS is installed on the drive I can't get past a black screen anymore. I pretty much tried every parameter you suggested for ATI 9 series cards but I always end up with a black screen.

For example: "live radeon.agpmode=-1 nosplash" works but "Linux radeon.agpmode=-1 nosplash" doesn't. The screen is black also for the first minute or half with the live DVD but it eventually vanishes and the desktop loads just fine. Not the case with the installed system though. Any ideas? Thanks!

Btw I upgraded the panel in the A1107 (to a higher resolution one – LP171WE2TL02 with 1680x1050) but I don't think that this is related to my issue. Anyways I just wanted to mention it in case the information does matter for maybe another parameter I could try or something else.

 

[wicknix]

Hmm. Does it seem like the backlight is off? Can you take a flashlight and see the desktop if you shine it through the apple logo? If so try FN and brightness keys. If thats not it you can specify resolution in the boot params. Try adding "video=1680x1050-16" and see if that helps. Also try adding "video=offbff". That should let you see the boot messages rather than a black screen while it boots.

Cheers

 

[netsrot39]

Hmm. Does it seem like the backlight is off? Can you take a flashlight and see the desktop if you shine it through the apple logo? If so try FN and brightness keys. If thats not it you can specify resolution in the boot params. Try adding "video=1680x1050-16" and see if that helps. Also try adding "video=offbff". That should let you see the boot messages rather than a black screen while it boots.

Cheers

Wow! It really worked. The parameter

Linux radeon.agpmode=-1 nosplash video=1680x1050-16 video=offb:off nosplash

was the solution to my problem. After booting into the OS on the hard drive I could easily modify my yaboot.conf file and bless it with the ybin command. In case anyone is interested (maybe someone with an actual 17" DLSD) this is a screenshot of my yaboot.conf file which allows me to boot into Lubuntu without typing any commands on startup.

Thanks @wicknix for the quick help!

 

[codeslinger.dev]

@wicknix

So, despite every indication that this is a 64-bit installation (ppc64) on my G5 (PPC970FX), the actual kernel appears to be 32-bit, as indicated by:

getconf -a | grep LONG_BIT
 > 32

as well as:

file /bin/cp
 > ELF 32-bit MSB shared object

Are the kernel and libraries really only 32-bit for this install on G5 Powermac7,3 machines, or did I miss a step along the way?

This seems to happen with every Debian-based ppc64 install (Sid, Sid remix, lubuntu remix, etc) I've tried. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding something fundamental?

 

[wicknix]

For a long time, probably to keep overhead, build times, etc to a minimum, a lot of ppc distros used a 32-bit rootfs and packages, and supplied both 32 and 64-bit kernels. The installers would auto detect your machine, then install the correct kernel.

You need to choose a ppc64 iso if you want true 64-bit. (which i find unstable compared to 32-bit)

Cheers

 

[tensixturtle]

Sorry, I am a complete Power-PC Linux newbie. I was trying to install Macbuntu on my 14" iBook G4. I flashed the ISO on a flash drive using Balena Etcher and tried to boot it using Open firmware and yaboot, but I keep getting an error message. I have tried using the live and the Radeon command posted above, but no success. Would someone please advise me and tell me what I might be doing wrong? Thanks.

 

[wicknix]

I'd try using dd to write the iso to usb instead of etcher. If that doesn't work, try burning the iso to dvd. Optical media works best for this sort of thing on these old machines.

Cheers

 

[tensixturtle]

@wicknix thank you for the suggestion. I tried with DVD but following further issues I posted a separate thread about it. I'm sure it is something obvious I am completely missing because I have never tried Linux on PowerPC before. Thanks for all the invaluable work you do for the PowerPC and Early Intels, I really appreciate it.

 

[tensixturtle]

@wicknix sorry to bother you again. I don't know if you happened to see the other thread which I mentioned this in, but I've been having a really hard time trying to make a bootable installer. (other than using the USB stick method with dd which works very well on Macs that seem to work well with open firmware) I can't get it to boot the discs I have burned for Macbuntu and Lubuntu-remix 16.04 v4, only v2 out of the bunch I can get to work. I've also tried using dd to flash it on my FireWire drive with the same result. I select the drive or disc from the boot selection but it will just restart and return to the boot selection. I was curious if this is something you've experienced?

 

[wicknix]

That's really strange. Optical media should always work, although i have noticed these older drives can be VERY picky about brand of cd-r / dvd-r being used. Even some of my early intel machines refuse to read certain brands. I've had good luck with memorex and verbatim. Other brands are hit or miss. This may or may not be the issue, but it's about all i can think of that i've personally run in to.

Cheers

 

[tensixturtle]

I am using Verbatim DVDs, and the FW drive was also Verbatim (not that that one matters). When the computer reboots back to the boot picker the color of the cursor and some of the icons are inverted; it's really strange and it happens on my friend's Macs as well (they burned their own discs). See below. Thank you for the suggestion.
Before:

After:

 

[tensixturtle]

I was wondering actually if there might be a way of installing without using the live boot installer by going through a separate OS X partition? I have no idea if this is possible, just curious.

 

[WindowsXPuser]

My PowerBook G4 12" (867MHz) keeps having the install fail. It's always at the same point and the error is always complaining about how the ODD or HDD is having trouble. Before I burn another disc, is there something I should be aware of to make sure the disc burns right? I've only got two more discs and my current disc looks to be perfect so I don't know why it's failing. The DMG is unmountable in macOS Catalina, but I've downloaded it a few times and it's always unmountable so I think that's just how it is.

 

[wicknix]

If your hard drive is dying and doesn't pass the S.M.A.R.T test it wont install.

Cheers

 

[WindowsXPuser]

If your hard drive is dying and doesn't pass the S.M.A.R.T test it wont install.

Cheers

The hard drive is in fine condition. Sluggish, but fine. Two more discs failed to be bootable at all, because of that I'm guessing something was wrong with my discs. I'll just buy another stack of 50 discs; I could really use some more.

 

[im_to_hyper]

Oh my goodness you are amazing! I know there is a VoidPPC port that the maintainer is stepping down from maintaining — but I’m familiar with Debian-based OS’s, and I do recall Ubuntu 12.04 being speedy as heck!

Do you have a GitHub for the changes, and a list of what needs to be compiled for security update backports?

(AKA like I’m happy to work on compiling whatever is needed from a list of security updates to keep these as unofficial-yet-secure distros!)