Re: [LUG] Non-functioning G4 iBook now boots thanks to Linux

["Grant Sewell" <dcglug@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm afraid I have a correction to make - it's a G3 not a G4, but testing OpenDisc stuff is definitely on the agenda.

Grant

-- Sent from my Palm PrÄ

---

Rob Beard wrote:

Grant Sewell wrote:
> This is very odd. I'm still at a loss as to what might have done this.
>
> I was given an old 13" Apple G4 iBook. It wouldn't boot properly...
> or rather it would start OSX, get to the login screen and then pretty
> much instantly go into what I presume is "standby" mode (or
> hibernate... not sure which... it started to blink the white LED on
> the front of the machine).
>
> Now, I didn't know what version of OSX it had and I don't happen to
> have any OSX disks handy... so off to download a PPC Linux distro to
> see if it'll boot, and if it does how long does it last before it goes
> poof. Plumped for Ubuntu 9.10 PPC. Downloaded, burned, booted...
> slowly... and then got to an Ubuntu desktop.
>
> So, I had a look around, see what hardware it had found, etc. Didn't
> really want to install Linux on it just yet - I already have a Linux
> laptop as my main workhorse. Reboot and... OSX boots up quicker,
> log-in fine and doesn't go poof at all! All I did was lsusb, lspci
> and fdisk -l... and somehow OSX has been cured by it.
>
> Very strange.
>
> Grant.
Hmm interesting, I wonder if maybe something was corrupted in the
nvram. It's been a while since I used a PPC Mac (I have one in the
loft) and I've seen some odd problems related to nvram which needed
zapping, or due to flat battery problems.

Anyway, sounds like you did well there. A G4 iBook while not the
fastest most recent bit of kit out there would probably make a nice
little machine for, I dunno, possibly testing PPC applications for
inclusion on the OpenDisc? :-)

(I would test them on my iMac but it's not got any memory, a knackered
hard disk and it's so slow, I think it has a hardware fault).

Rob





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