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Re: wanted: old G5 hardware for use on the ppc64 port



Hello Clemens,

I must clarify I'm not a developer, I am however part of the Lubuntu QA Team and as you have noticed modern distros face various issues on ppc macs.

You often need to do extensive research on workarounds to get things to a more useable state which usually makes things too much of a hassle for the endusers, especially without knowledge on Linux or more general of things all around IT, which is also why many Macs get thrown out when they would not have to be and can still function very well on a modern OS.

This is exactly why and where testing is needed and the hardware pool for that sadly is quite small and that's where your Mac would come in, more specifically Lubuntu testing, bug hunting, initiating contact with actual devs on issues (ppl dont get payed any more to support our loved but old Macs so we basically get fixes more often on the side, other more modern ppc systems keep ppc developement alive) and possible solutions, workaround documentation as Lubuntu still supports ppc as a community effort and a lot of work is still to be done to make it more useable out of the box for the enduser so that many more Macs will get to see many more years of happy usage in the future. :)

So if that still would fit your goal, just shoot me a message on here after which I would contact you privately regarding shipping.

Best regards, viele Grüße
boris


Clemens Dürrschmidt <clemens.duerrschmidt@gmail.com> schrieb am Di., 3. Feb. 2015 11:28:
Hi Boris,
I am very happy to give the G5 away so it can be of use for someone,
rather than have it end up in some kind of private Apple museum (or even
worse, spend more years in my attic).

After Apple discontinued Mac OS X for PPC I used this system with Debian
for a couple of years, so I consider myself kind of indepted to the
developers.

As Konstantinos doesn't want my G5 you can have it.
I did a test run with Debian and found out that currently there seems to
be a problem with Mesa and nouveau. Xorg with nouveau produces no video
output at all (blank picture) and starting X with nouveau blacklisted
results in strange/inverted colors and very bad 2d performance.

To make sure it's not a hardware problem I tested the system with both
an older Fedora install CD and the Mac OS install disc. In both cases
the graphics work fine.

So if you're still interested in the G5 let's work out shipping details.

Best regards, Clemens

On 02/03/2015 08:19 AM, Boris Reinhard wrote:
> Hello Clemens,
>
> aside from the RAM your system is still a nice one for these type of
> machines, be aware you could still get quite a lot on ebay for it, the
> other day I saw a G4 iMac with 1.6 GhZ go away for just under 60 Euro tho
> (usually those go for around 100-120), yours is a much nicer one, BUT if
> you're still able and interested to give it away for testing I would be
> interested and I'm located in Germany as well.
>
> Sadly my test system, a G4 ibook, died about a month ago, so that was is
> for me. Some months earlier I already had asked around for ppc test
> hardware on the lubuntu qa list to no avail:
>
> https://lists.launchpad.net/lubuntu-qa/msg04763.html
>
> Grüße
> Boris
>
> Clemens Dürrschmidt <clemens.duerrschmidt@gmail.com> schrieb am Di., 3.
> Feb. 2015 01:27:
>
>> Hi,
>> I have a single core PowerMac G5 that I'm willing to give away.
>> It doesn't have the most amazing specs (1x1.8GHz, GeForce FX 5200, only
>> 512MB RAM but a fast 74GB WD Raptor w/ 10000 RPM, a bluetooth module and
>> a SuperDrive) but it works fine.
>>
>> Unfortunately it comes in a very large box (60cm x 60cm x 45cm) and it
>> weighs about 26kg.
>>
>> I'm located in Germany, so I figure shipping inside the EU will be
>> around 100€ to 150€.
>>
>> Is this machine of interest to you?
>>
>> Best regards, Clemens Dürrschmidt
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 02/02/2015 08:44 PM, Konstantinos Margaritis wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I'd like to help on the ppc64 port, I have ppc32 hardware,
>>> ppc64/ppc64el remote VM accounts but no actual ppc64 hardware. I
>>> just lost an extremely low bid for an imac g5 on ebay and am short
>>> on cash for another, but if anyone has a spare G5 (any model, but pref
>>> imac so that it can be easy to ship) in working order and is willing to
>>> part with it, I could handle the shipping costs (please, only within
>>> the EU, I've had the unhappy experience of paying insane shipping costs
>>> for buying a big box from the US :)
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> PS. I've resumed my work powerpc, which I didn't deal with in years,
>>> and until this [1] becomes real (I have a pretty good hunch/inside info
>>> that it will), I'd like to help to get the port up to speed.
>>>
>>> [1] http://www.powerpc-notebook.org/en/
>>>
>>
>>
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>>
>

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