Re: MacPPC 6100
On Mon, 30 Oct 2000, Taro Fukunaga wrote:
>
>
> Ethan Benson wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 30, 2000 at 10:27:18AM +0100, Chris Mueller wrote:
> > > Hi Linux Friends,
> > >
> > > Does DebianPPC work on old MacPPC 6100?
> > > 24 MB RAM,
> > > 160 MB harddisk.
> > >
> > > Or does another Linux solution work with such a veteran?
> >
> > this is a NuBus based machine which the linux kernel does not
> > support. however the freak cousin mklinux does. i have heard it is
> > possible to install debian under the mklinux kernel but i am not sure
> > how that would work. (i assume just boot mklinux with the debian root
> > ramdisk and install as normal, if mklinux is compatible with the linux
> > kernel it should work..)
> >
> > > Thanks for recommendations end experiences!
> > > :-)
> >
> > i have friends who run mklinux and have found it not all that
> > reliable, but perhaps that is due to the redhat userland mess normally
> > associated with mklinux. perhaps debian under mklinux would work
> > better... but i don't have any direct experience so i cannot say for sure.
> >
> I disagree, MkLinux is very reliable, but tends to be slow because of
> its use of the microkernel. I am not sure if it's even usable (or
> installable) on a machine with only 24 MB RAM. You can find more
> information about mklinux at www.mklinux.org.
>
Again, I disagree, in part. The speed lag due to the microkernel is mostly
negligible (of the order 5%), but 24 MB will be slow with any kernel.
MkLinux itself is probably rather more stable than the monolithic kernels,
certainly much more stable than the monokernel for Nubus under development.
Also, I found pre-R1 userland much better organized than any of the other
Redhat-based distros, in fact, I'm still using it with a monolithic kernel
on my PB.
With that machine you won't be able to run any fancy GUI (though plain X
with blackbox might work nicely, if you manage to get it in 160 MB of disk
space ;).
MkLinux uses a special installer version of its vmlinux server, thus I
don't think you could simply drop in a debian ramdisk. You might be able
to install Debian from a minimal MkLinux install, though...
In fact, I'm not positive if the installer currently works with 24 MB, it's
quite close to the limit, but once installed, it would work with 24 MB.
Feel free to ask on the newly re-created mklinux-users list for more info.
Cheers,
Derek
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