Linux on my iBook?

octane

octane

I have issues, OK!
I'm curious about Linux and I'd like to get it running on my iBook.
I've been looking at Gentoo [if you know a better one, let me know!]

The problem is -- although there's instructions on how to re-partition the hard disk on my iBook in a nondestructive way [I don't want to have to wipe it, because it took me ages to get it where it is] and all other manner of help files are there -- I don't have a clue what the hell they're going on about.

Don't get me wrong, I can pipe the odd program output or bumble my way around pico, but I'm no Unix CLI geek.

So, just to recap:

1) Re-partition a live hard disk
2) Install Gentoo [or better distribution of] Linux

Any help from a passing Unix CLI geek would be repaid in the next life...
 
You could copy your entire hard drive to i.e. another (firewire) drive. Then partition your drive and then just copy your files back to the new partition with carbon copy cloner. I'm not aware of any nondestructive way to partition a hard drive.

http://www.bombich.com/software/index.html

I've installed Yellow Dog Linux on my PowerBook 12'. And it's working great. Just make sure you get the 3.0.1 version.
 
I've tried it on the clamshell iBooks, and it works great...abnd this was with YDL 2.x. Version 3.x should run great on this and the newer iBooks as well.
 
Thanks, guys!

Well, the Gentoo site offers tools that -- as far as I can see -- are built into Linux that repartition live drives. It's on their site, but I just can't find it, but I did see it.

That said, the advice you both offer is sound. For one, I would need to make a back up of my drive in any case.

I want to get into Linux and by doing that, it might help me understand OS X better...
 
octane said:
Thanks, guys!

Well, the Gentoo site offers tools that -- as far as I can see -- are built into Linux that repartition live drives. It's on their site, but I just can't find it, but I did see it.

That said, the advice you both offer is sound. For one, I would need to make a back up of my drive in any case.

I want to get into Linux and by doing that, it might help me understand OS X better...
Click to expand...

You can also try Darwin, which is basically the underlying UNIX part of OS X. Another option is OpenDarwin, which is a binary compatible version of Darwin. The OpenDarwin site has links to both Apple's Darwin and OpenDarwin right here.

Since everything is more like what you would find in OS X, this might be a better option. :D
 
a_iver said:
Here's another idea you might want to think about. A liveCD...
Click to expand...

Actually, that's exactly what I'm doing right now!

I'm downloading the ISO files...
 
I've downloaded the two ISO files and their accompanying .md5 checksum files.

Now, I've no idea what the hell all of this is about. What I do know is, the second LiveCD gets all of the way through the download with Transmit and then as it finishes, I get an error saying that the server terminated the connection and the file wasn't saved .. even though it's right there in the folder.

From what I understand about checksums is that they somehow represent the integrity of the file that they are associated with.

I downloaded a application called: checksum+ from Version Tracker but it just hangs whenever I try to check one of the .md5 files.

So I don't know whether the second ISO image is valid or not .. I don't even know if the first is, for that matter!

Help required once more, guys!..
 
Use the md5sum command in Terminal to create the md5 checksum of your downloaded file, then compare it to the according .md5 checksum file.

md5sum downloaded.iso >my.md5
diff my.md5 downloaded.md5

If diff doesn't output anything then everything is ok.
 
I would have to recommed YellowDogLinux 3.1 if you can get it. It's pretty straightforward and includes a lot of useful applications. It'll partition your drive for you, so you don't have to mess around with figuring out how large each partition should be and what-not.

I have it installed on my G4/400 PCI machine, but it took some work -- I have a dual-monitor setup, and YellowDog needs a little tweaking to get it to install correctly on that kind of setup. On a single-monitor setup, though, it's easy as cake to install. Pop in the CD, reboot from CD, click install. No problem.
 
rhg said:
Use the md5sum command in Terminal to create the md5 checksum of your downloaded file, then compare it to the according .md5 checksum file.

md5sum downloaded.iso >my.md5
diff my.md5 downloaded.md5

If diff doesn't output anything then everything is ok.
Click to expand...

md5sum livecd-g3-grp-1.4-cd1.iso >livecd-g3-grp-1.4-cd1.iso.md5
-bash: md5sum: command not found
 
I'm not having much luck here. I tried Disk Utility to check the disk images. The first one is seen as an HFS+ disk image, while the other is ISO, even though they're both seen as ISO.

I'm guessing this is to do with the need for an HFS+ volume being needed to mount on an a mac, and the second disk being whatever once Linux is up and running.

The first disk image reports back with a checksum number, while the second comes back with an error 22.

The thing is, they both mount fine in I double-click them in the finder!

Help!..
 
honestly, gentoo is great if you want to get down to the nitty gritty, but i wouldn't put a whole lot of faith in it if you don't really *know* what you are doing. i only say this because you seem pretty intent on not ruining your current osx setup. be careful or get a more user friendly distro.

my 2 cents
 
cfleck said:
honestly, gentoo is great if you want to get down to the nitty gritty, but i wouldn't put a whole lot of faith in it if you don't really *know* what you are doing. i only say this because you seem pretty intent on not ruining your current osx setup. be careful or get a more user friendly distro.

my 2 cents
Click to expand...

Other than Yellow Dog, what other Linux do you suggest?

For one, the installation instructions for Gentoo certainly don't match the experience; they say one thing and do the other .. not good!
 
for a mac, i don't have a whole lot to suggest. i use mepis linux on my pc laptop. i've used mandrake and suse, and they seem to be ok. mandrake seems to have the best hardware recognition, but thats just my experiences. i've not used yellow dog.

actually, now that i've rambled a bit, what do you plan to do with it? how "good" are you at linux? i might be able to come up with a more intelligent suggestion if i can get this info.
 
cfleck said:
How "good" are you at linux? i might be able to come up with a more intelligent suggestion if i can get this info.
Click to expand...

Well, if you read the first post of the thread, I've got little or no experience. That said, I managed to squeeze Red Hat 9 onto Microsoft VirtualPC 6.1, so that's got to count for something.

In reality, I'm not a Linux user, but that's the whole point, I want to get some version of Linux on my iBook and then learn all about it.

The problem is, Linux is veritable nest of vipers. I don't want to know all of the arcane stuff to just install an OS, but I suppose that's what Linux is all about...
 
cfleck said:
mandrake or suse then.
Click to expand...

Well, suse is a no-go.

Having spent about 15 minutes trying to find a ppc version of suse on the their on-line store, I instead found this page that .. well, let's face it, provides you with bugger-all installation information.

I discovered that you can't just download the ISO's, you have to download a small installer and then pull the rest of the images down via the net.

So I found some document on their ftp site, which if the current download speed is anything to go by, installing suse could take about 3 or 4 days!

I'm just wondering if it's going to be worth my while going any further with this. Let's be honest, if this is the kind of first-time experience people can expect from Linux, Microsoft have nothing to worry about on the desktop...
 
i've often held the opinion that ms has little to worry about on the desktop with linux for reasons such as this. it tends to be a pain more than anything. of course you have to understand that you are using the "free" download method. buying the cds would probably make your life easier.

there is mandrake download link here...
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/company/press/pr?n=/pr/products/2417&wslang=en

linux is a *nix environment for people who like to make it work themselves. os x is unix for people who want it to work for them.
 
donkey said:
buying the cds would probably make your life easier.
Click to expand...

With suse, that wasn't an option:

We don't have a current "consumer" version of Linux for Apple (PPC)
hardware, I'm afraid. Our last release was 7.3, while the current version
on the x86 (Intel compatible PC) is 9.0.

Our Enterprise Server version for PPC (which is intended for big IBM
PPC-based servers) will run on most Apple hardware, but it's expensive.

There are other versions of Linux for PPC which you might want to look
into: in particular Debian and Yellow Dog. I don't know if there are
tools which can non-destructively resize MacOS X partitions.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Best wishes
Click to expand...

donkey said:
there is mandrake download link here...
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/company/press/pr?n=/pr/products/2417&wslang=en
Click to expand...

I found a download page, but I needed to ask a few questions first. Their support system is a shambles. The: 'got a question?' feature was broken and FAQ was useless.

donkey said:
linux is a *nix environment for people who like to make it work themselves. os x is unix for people who want it to work for them.
Click to expand...

Oh, don't I know it!
 
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