Yellow Dog Linux

Jordan

Does anyone run Yellow Dog on their Mac?
I want to know how easy it is to boot and install. For instance, in OS X would I use the Startup Disk to select what OS I want to use.

__________________
Different Tree Same Wood

Josh

Hi,

I did have YDL installed on my B&W G3 350, although it was very slow compared to Jaguar. In response to your other question, you will not choose it in startup disk, a boot loader will be installed and when the computer starts up you will be give a choice of YDL or whatever other OS's are on your Computer (if memory serves me correctly [img]smile.gif[/img] )

__________________
- White MacBook - 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 160GB HD, SuperDrive, 10.5.2

- Black 80GB iPod Classic

gordguide

I have the current version installed on my Quicksilver.

In the past I ran LinuxPPC and YellowDog on my G4/400 (2.2.18 Kernel).

As with the earlier Linux distros, the only problems I encountered were with video (resolution and bit depth); mostly due to my monitor being a bit unusual and not listed under the various configurations built-in.

So, the first question I would ask you is who makes your monitor; what model it is, and which video card you have installed. If these are relatively common and you use an Apple OEM video card, you are probably fine. The only major caveat is you probably won't get far if you have a G5; most support drivers aren't really ready for prime time yet.

You must backup your current installation if you plan to run MacOSX at all, or intend to save any of your current documents.

Then you need to format your HD; any format scheme is fine but leave a free space ("unallocated") area for YDL's Linux format partition utility. 20GB is plenty; if you don't have that much extra space then it depends on what you intend to do with Linux but you can take it quite small (say, 6GB) if necessary.

A second HD is also a great option; since most new drives are way too big for a Linux install you may want to partition it for MacOS and leave free space as above.

I used Linux quite a bit, especially before OSX came out, to help me familiarize myself with UNIX/LInux in general. I don't boot into it much anymore; current versions of OSX/x11 are more than adequate to run the same apps, and less headache to boot.

The bootloader gives you an option of booting YDL, OS9 or OSX with a timeout (user defined, 10 seconds is plenty) and you set a default (ie the OS that boots if you do nothing). If you use the bootloader, you must never use either OS9 or OSX's startup disk utilities. Doing so will cause changes in Open Firmware and your YDL installation will be very difficult to find again.

Hope that helps. YDL is a very easy to use distro; even Linux novices can use it if they're reasonably savvy. I wouldn't recommend new users to go without a MacOS, because pretty much all Linux documentation is online and you're going to need some way to troubleshoot things if you haven't done this a few tiimes.

__________________
"Being an artist doesn't take much, just everything you got. Which means, of course, that as the process is giving you life, it is also bringing you closer to death. But it's no big deal. They are one and the same and cannot be avoided or denied. So when I totally embrace this process, this life/death, and abandon myself to it, I transcend all this gibberish and hang out with the gods. It seems to me that that is worth the price of admission." —Hubert Selby, Jr.

Jordan

Thanks Josh & gordguide
That's exactly the info I was looking for.
I already run Mandrake Linux on an Intel box and was hoping to try YDL on my PB. Possibly take over the OS9 partition that I don't use much.

__________________
Different Tree Same Wood

gordguide

A good starting point and troubleshooting info here:
PenguinPPC Org

If you need a compact PPC distro, you might try CRUX. Since you've used Linux before it may be just what you need and should help with limited drive space on a portable.

Crux

__________________
"Being an artist doesn't take much, just everything you got. Which means, of course, that as the process is giving you life, it is also bringing you closer to death. But it's no big deal. They are one and the same and cannot be avoided or denied. So when I totally embrace this process, this life/death, and abandon myself to it, I transcend all this gibberish and hang out with the gods. It seems to me that that is worth the price of admission." —Hubert Selby, Jr.

ekcondon

Hi There,

YDL is a great linux system for PPC. Back before the CBE approved OS X server edition for computers. I was running YDL as a Mac OS X server on a B & W 400 Rev B. I had NO problems with this linux distribution. It was the only system installed on the B&W, no OS 9 or anything, just linux. Good choice if your getting into linux.

__________________
PowerBook G3 "Pismo" 500MHz G3/512MB RAM/30GB HD/6xDVD...amazing machine!