Installing Ubuntu Linux (PowerPC) on an iMac G4 - Krazy Ken's Tech Misadventures

To celebrate the release of Ubuntu 18.10, Krazy Ken rummages through his old CDs, and finds a PowerPC version of Ubuntu Linux 8.04. He chooses to install it on a vintage iMac G4, and get it on the network, but plenty of chaos ensues.
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Krazy Ken's Tech Misadventures #69 - Installing Ubuntu Linux (PowerPC) on an iMac G4
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[@Rednax35]

MacOS9Lives was the partition you used to install the sketchy MacOS 9 ISO during the OS 9 Installation Frustration

[@SillyTimeVR]

Part 1 of 2

[@thisisg7648]

He scatteu 👾🗡🩸😵

[@janluofficial]

Ken: "Oh shit, they are after me." Also Ken: _Shakes the Camera instead of running._

[@ChaseMC215]

I bet everyone is just as krazy as Ken.

[@RaysGamingChannel2003]

⁠@@ChaseMC215I’m actually Krazier then Ken

[@YouTube2ndOfficial]

where is the timeline

[@ComputerClan]

Let’s celebrate the new Ubuntu 18.10 with a nostalgia trip! Also, should Krazy Ken do an install and test drive of Ubuntu 18.10, after this video? Let me know, and I’ll demand that he does. And don’t forget to subscribe and click that *Bell* button. That way you won’t miss the next video!

[@thebowlfosho4974]

Computer Clan Yea, that would be interesting

[@jonathanzopf6444]

Ubuntu 10.18? I don't know an ubuntu version called 10.18. Maybe you mean 18.10?

[@Rednax35]

My day hasn't been good because I sprained my ankle. This made my day 10 times better

[@monty___5567]

yow

[@danielgartin6993]

Rednax ouch

[@Hydr8Man]

Oof

[@applesiri2381]

@@forcequitOS made me lol

[@youatoughguy]

I will pour my heart and soul into making your day bad again by breaking your spi-

[@OSSHeadquarters]

29:21 Ken, you forgot the #!

[@JessicaFEREM]

You can install Modern Ubuntu MATE If you wanted.

[@JessicaFEREM]

I don't see why you would want to install old ubuntu on computers unless you wanted to specifically looked at old ubuntu's, but MATE supports PPC and it's still the old gnome look

[@NeonHunter82]

Only 16.04, with the PowerPC platform being dropped completely in April 2019.

[@RFLCPTR]

@@NeonHunter82 still better than the old versions

[@archlinuxrussian]

@SheekKid12 thanks! I didn't know that D:

[@cooliofoolio]

With Linux being open source and all that I'm sure someone will always be maintaining a PPC Linux distro

[@mawj09eas4]

35:20 is where the Ethernet cable hijacking starts. 35:36 - _”Oh s**t, oh s**t, oh boy, oh they’re after me, oh s**t…”_ was the funniest part!

[@WOSArchives]

Wow. That Hardy Heron background takes me way back, as Ubuntu 8.04 was the first version of Ubuntu I've ever used.

[@matthewelerick648]

Windows OS same

[@subwaygaragemusic]

I used to have a genuine Ubuntu 8.04 disc somewhere. It came with my Ubuntu tutorial book.

[@FireFoxDestroyer]

i need ubuntu

[@rxgtv]

If only you didn't need SSH keys to log into Ubuntu terminal on the Raspberry Pi.

[@ChrisYx511]

The 801.x protected wired thingy means that the wired connection is protected, just like a protected wifi network

[@IanC14]

Theres still a version of Ubuntu for PowerPC, though its designed for the modern day Amigas by A-EON Technology. Yes, Amiga is still around, sorta.

[@phantomfour8530]

Wow

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

The newest version I know of is 14.04 lts.

[@RobbDrew03]

@@EvilTurkeySlices it is 18.10

[@AeriaVelocity]

Hey Ken, remember in the live when I asked you to say CONVERSION TECHNOLOGY in a movie trailer voice?

[@ComputerClan]

I remember : )

[@AeriaVelocity]

Yeah, I didn’t think you’d actually do it!

[@camman-hd6dp]

@@ComputerClan NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@camman-hd6dp]

@@AeriaVelocity NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@simplyalonso]

@@camman-hd6dp WDYM NO??

[@samplasion]

Right when I thought "Wow, those older Macs had a system icon next to the drive icon", you said that. I felt like you were reading my mind

[@raydeen2k]

Ubuntu MATE 16.04 installs quite nicely on older PPC hardware (I have it installed on an old G4 iBook and PowerBook). The only caveats are that if you have an ATI card, you have to jump through a hoop or two to turn off part of the driver to maintain system stability. Nvidia cards work nicely though (the PB has one and has no issues with installation). Now you'd think any version of 16.04 for PPC would work. Nope. At least not in my experience. MATE works, but then you'd probably want to install an alternate desktop (Lubuntu/Xubuntu) afterwards depending on processor speed and memory.

[@tunatezer8902]

31:14 *I want an iMac G4 now. (at least as a monitor)*

[@tunatezer8902]

Lubuntu and Ubuntu MATE support PowerPC.

[@one-stopkilling2236]

1000 years from now "Just going to scroll to 3018 here" "Eventually"

[@SirBrocky]

11:34 i like that sound

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

0:44 I have one of those, literally within arm’s reach. When I was making the buying decision, I was thinking: “What’s the worst Apple could do? Up the screen size from 15" to 17" later? It still looks cool regardless; OK, I’ll buy it”. Guess what they did 6 months after I bought it ...

[@PaoloPisanu]

Ubuntu MATE 16.04 LTS works perfectly on my beautiful iMac G4 PowerPC (2003)!! It recognizes all the hardware and it works like a charm!

[@JoeZyzyx]

the whole problem with installing old versions at EOL, is their repositories disappear, so no upgrades, no other programs unless you get from a current repository for some later version. Of course, one can order the complete repository from osdisc if you do so, preferably just before it's LTS expires.

[@RaysGamingChannel2003]

Yep

[@KurisuYamato]

My kind of video. Also, 10.10 was my favorite version of Ubuntu

[@tunatezer8902]

Watching this after upgrading to Ubuntu 18.10

[@cthedosboss5113]

same

[@rcwaffles]

I'm watching this on my 2nd day with ubuntu

[@tunatezer8902]

@@rcwaffles You just installed it?

[@jamesperih9658]

Ooo, while I couldn't find an 18.10 installer, it did prompt me to do-release-upgrade from 16.04 powerpc...

[@certifiedcelingfan]

1:31 love this

[@Fiddlesticks86]

38:56 Classic Autoconfig IP failure -_- Check your internet gateway through the mac mini and manually configure a 192.168.x.x (Might be something else if connected through your phone) gateway and IP on linux ✌

[@stephanebosch9963]

Thank you very much ! I've tried multiple versions of Linux for my iMac Sunflowers in the past with no luck so far. Now I know which one is supposed to work so I'll give it a try soon and give a second life to this nice piece of computer.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

11:17 You should have heard the original 400K floppies on the first Mac ... now that was music ...

[@BulldoggMusicofficial]

When he said call me is was is thinking call me by your name

[@nigelcooper1191]

You know. Rather than have to sacrifice the Ethernet cable from the WiFi and have to use Mobile Hotspot. You could have just used the internet sharing on the Mac mini and shared the connection through FireWire. That version of Ubuntu does support connection to the internet through FireWire.

[@alexjesse644]

35:21 Ken Stole The WIFI! 35:36 Ken Gets Attacked!

[@somegreenguy]

i'm pretty sure MacOS9Lives is kinda like a fan installation, I have it on my iBook G3

[@Arctic740]

It’s just a version of Mac OS with all the updates pre-installed

[@sparely]

just discovered your channel coming from retro man cave LGR and the other tech channels im liking your videos 😄

[@Poire33]

Great video, I enjoyed it. :) You know Krazy Ken, you could have made an image of the full drive of the iBook and the iMac through Target Disk Mode by connecting them one at a time to your Macbook Pro using your trusty conversion technology and use Disk Utility or Superduper to image the whole drives of these computers and then just do a clean install of Linux onto both of these systems. That would have been way easier. Next time maybe think about doing a backup before an installation sensation onto a Mac rather than repartitioning.

[@hannescampidell]

for hex you need a # on the beginning

[@allan.n.7227]

My iMac G4 is waiting in excitement for me to learn from this video.. thanks for uploading.. (btw mine has the old airport card that is not WPA2 compatible, så I plan to hook up an airport express to the ethernet port..)

[@allan.n.7227]

Shoot.. any idea why?

[@oliviarose9541]

I absolutely loved this video

[@ComputerClan]

Thank you.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

27:30 Apropos June Whitfield’s immortal line from _Absolutely Fabulous_ : “Just the one, dear?”

[@MikeDancy]

I read on the internet that the ibook is still reformatting to this day.

[@beedslolkuntus2070]

12:11 Truck horn 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@codfish6845]

I tried to do this on my eMac (G4) and I got the same black screen problem he got on the iBook the first time with every distro I tried to boot.

[@Sithhy]

Seeing the old Ubuntu kind of brings back some memories for me... The first ever Linux I tried was Ubuntu 10.10 but I didn't really do much on it

[@MaximNightFury]

You can still install Ubuntu on PowerPC, though I doubt there's support for G4

[@HughJaeness]

that ubuntu wallpaper on the iMac was a hard nostalgia hit

[@YMica-OSE]

My favorite Linux distro FINALLY HERE!!!!

[@exist_without_saving]

MacOS9Lives was the unofficial Mac OS 9 system install you downloaded because your Mac 9 disk wouldn't work during the Mac 9 install episode I think. The folder is empty because the installation failed lol

[@ComputerClan]

That makes sense!

[@rockettaco]

Yay! Krazy Ken! Long time no see.

[@TimurTripp2]

38:56 self-assigned IP. Try assigning both computers a static IP in the same subnet (and put in the Mac mini's IP address next to "Gateway address" on the Ubuntu iMac).

[@Cyber_Horse_Studios87]

“MATSHITA CD” ...thanks Ken. I will never unhear that. XD

[@venomixminecraft4093]

Ken's Unknown Disk Partitions - 2018's biggest game

[@samf1504]

Skipped part with spider because I was scared. XD

[@TorSmedbergGames]

You have to put "#" before the hex color code.

[@VocaloidFan9753]

Simple = Suffering

[@ananthalakshmiyerukonda9939]

Windows Guy:HOW THE HECK CAN U LIVE WITHOUT RIGHT CLICK MAC Guy:i have a just have a left click

[@ComputerClan]

What? Apple mice have had a right click for years. : s

[@ananthalakshmiyerukonda9939]

Omg ITS YOU!!!?!?!!!!!

[@vl1asdfasdf]

Ubuntu' * boots up and plays bongos * Ken: Woah! Bongos!

[@RaysGamingChannel2003]

Donkey Kongs in the house

[@InvoxiPlayGames2]

hi vl1

[@vl1asdfasdf]

@@InvoxiPlayGames2 why do people keep finding my comments from years ago i always cringe every time i see them☹️☹️☹️☹️ /lhj

[@majoryoshi]

A 40 minute long video... Time to get the popcorn!

[@ComputerClan]

Atta boy!

[@VictorRodriguez-zp2do]

I doubt a popcorn can last 40 minutes

[@MatthiasLee1]

Victor Rodriguez he didn’t day only one

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

1:41 Absolutely no leg movement, so I’m thinking pretty confidently “gravity” at this point. (Speaking from long experience with encountering long-legged house spiders ...)

[@evangelosraptis5486]

You should have installed the latest version of Debian, which officially supports PowerPC

[@zomboss3912]

ALARM AT 35:36

[@missiondemolition]

I just had the idea to install 10.04 on my 1999 Power Mac G4. It was so hard to find.

[@Noaddedsalt01]

Plan this weekend: watch this on my iMac g4 and log it on KZbin

[@cidsx]

20:18 My thinkpad has a drive with the same name, i think they are a company that manufactures disk drives.

[@maggiethegamer1271]

Your air checking unit in the background is turning greenish, I'd be careful.

[@ComputerClan]

Oooohhhh boy…

[@beanboy89]

Is the iBook sitting on an Apple II?

[@christiannorwik]

21:43 That’s my way to solving stuff... Yeah I’m not alone 😅

[@bradbeck753]

Ken, iBooks don’t have a clock battery. Everything goes off of the main battery.

[@mitchelvalentino1569]

Linux on PowerPC is awesome. But as others have mentioned, more modern versions of Linux are available.

[@ComputerClan]

Will they work well on a 17-year-old computer? I mean, it’s Linux, so paired with the right DE, it could run on a sundial, but I want to make sure. ; )

[@mitchelvalentino1569]

Computer Clan Yes! On the MacRumors forum, under the PowerPC section, there’s a stickied thread about which operating systems run on those old PowerMacs. I prefer OpenBSD and NetBSD, but I know there are some Linux distros that also run well. Maybe some semi-recent version of Debian or Ubuntu? I haven’t checked in a few months. Anyway, it’s great to see a KZbin video of an old PowerMac! Thank you for the upload! Awesome channel! You got yourself a new subscriber!

[@FunkyFurret]

Ohhhhhhhhhh..... This episode is going to be very very interesting.

[@HunterSkiff]

Couldn't you have used the internet sharing feature on the iBook?

[@jjtv9928]

why are you ten stories underground

[@ComputerClan]

I'm still trying to figure that out! The lore seems to be developing…

[@jjtv9928]

@@ComputerClan do you live in those underground Australian homes

[@stevenicks1778]

watching this on an old G4 PowerPC 1.25 MDD (2003 version) running OS X 10.5.8 dual booted with OS 9.2.2, came with Mac Pro Keyboard 300gig IDE HDD + 40gig HDD 1.25GB system ram, the chap I bought it from only wanted £20 so I though why not never owned a Mac computer in my life, it had a faulty stick of Ram causing random lock ups, it could still boot and run fine for ages but random lock ups figured out what stick was faulty removed it and its be rock solid stable since :D albeit sloooow on youtube I can still watch youtube videos using TenFourFox browser and its codec update that works for you tube :D gotta love them for that! G4 PowerPC Super Computer 2019 BABY! (hope the USA Government dont find out I got my hands on one!)

[@spongechair]

You should do more Dual Installation Sensations!

[@Poire33]

26:40 I tried that same procedure on a 2011 iMac with Lion but it wanted me to sign in. Krazy Ken, maybe you already bought Mountain Lion as part of an upgrade?

[@InvertDark]

Did you really forget the Mac OS 9 Installation Frustration Two Part-er?

[@ComputerClan]

Ha. I guess I did.

[@_kat1c]

We’re going to 100k! Just continue Ken! ;)

[@ComputerClan]

That's the plan. : )

[@WD__40]

@@ComputerClan Why didn't you try MorphOS?

[@cirkulx]

The Classic. Conversion Technology. We love conversion.

[@c0rpse1]

that version of linux on the imac is the 1st one i ever used back in the day but not power pc version

[@WindowsSe7enXP]

I Have A Suggestion for an Episode Ken. How About Updating The Linux Partition Of the iMac to The Latest Version Of Ubuntu MATE for PowerPCs, Which is 16.04.1 LTS. Maybe That Can Fix the Internet Issue.

[@StevenSmyth]

I think you need a krossover Ethernet kable to go from Mac-to-Mac.

[@ComputerClan]

I haven’t needed one before, when using the Internet Sharing feature. : c

[@vmflameincorporated]

oh video was published on 18.10.2018 Ken mentions ubuntu 18.10 haha

[@alherrera9390]

I hope those were really robodogs, no killing real dogs, dude. This is a very nice video! Learnt a thing or two

[@Toastyisburning]

You should do the next vintage apple vault on this!

[@ComputerClan]

The iMac G4 will be in volume 2 ; )

[@OSSHeadquarters]

You base your studio 10 stories underground? This definitely beats our studio -indie- inside a mountain. 😄

[@glitchslayed6728]

ubuntu mate is supported on powerpc latest version, so use this

[@jamesperih9658]

Could you provide a link to the ISO of the powerpc image?

[@shanmugapriyas7670]

Squash file system is the biggest file size in the ISO it is located in Casper folder

[@coolduder1001]

Before watching, I already know the pain he is going to have

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

29:25 Put a “#” on the front.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

10:05 You should be able to hit CTRL-ALT-F1 to switch to a Linux text-only console. There should be a prompt like “press RETURN to activate this console”. Then you can use the “free” command to see how much RAM you have. Or “ps” to see what the installer is up to. ALT should be mapped to either the ⌥/Option or ⌘ key, I forget which.

[@everythingtube172]

Option

[@thebowlfosho4974]

Yay more Krazy Ken

[@seshpenguin]

Hype! Gotta love PPC and Linux :D I'd also like to remind people Ubuntu 18.10 is much easier to install (and on modern hardware not PPC) ;P

[@glitchslayed6728]

this is reminding me of the old days of ubuntu

[@NaviciaAbbot]

Okay... I think Civvie's in the same facility as Krazy Ken. If Krazy Ken is ten floors below surface, that would make him X-

[@NOSWFT]

This is very cool now i know how to instal ubuntu in a imac

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

10:43 That sounds the same size as the old 800K Mac floppies. Coincidence? You be the judge...

[@benh.635]

I just got a message from the Mac OS telling me to upgrade to Mojave. I'm running El Capitan on a computer that is three years older than the minimum supported models.

[@BlockyOldNov20202]

i have a 2007 imac that from tiger up to El Capitan LOL

[@benh.635]

Has it asked you to upgrade yet?

[@BlockyOldNov20202]

um no becuse i the F**KING HARD DIED 5 weeks AGO but today my 2012 macbookpro asked me to upgrade to mc os mojave and im typeing this on my 2017 imac running mac os high searirer

[@benh.635]

Ah, ok. Do you know why it died?

[@BlockyOldNov20202]

um i dont really no i just hoped on there then went away for 2 hours came back to shift but it wout not let me login then when started it back up it crossed out the hard drive then A FEW YEARS LATTER IT OPENED UP THE MAC OSX SNOW LEPARD INSTALL DVD that had in there from when i stalled swonlepard last year LIKE WOT DA F**K!!!!! OK

[@shady4tv]

if you EVER get an IP that starts with 169.254 you will not be able to connect to the network. Addresses that start with 169.254 are reserved for something called an APIPA (Automatic Private IP Assignment). When you get these it mean's that the device is connected on the layer 2 (it sees the device on the other end's MAC address) but nothing is giving it an IP address. I assume your Mac Mini was not properly configured for DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) which is responsible for giving devices on your network IP addresses. Also - if you need ethernet cables hit me up, I can send you a large box of them lol These things go for a dime a dozen at this point.

[@thisisg7648]

I has a mid JV it on

[@mintybudgie]

i never realized how old kktm was

[@joshm264]

I watched this while trying to do the same on my PowerBook G4, too bad that it still doesn't have a hard drive

[@gamingwithgoku8526]

for pooling the ether net cable from the apple wifi router

[@RFLCPTR]

ahh nostalgia...i tried this shit on my iMac G5. . . My GPU commited suicide while trying to intall Lubuntu. Only a month after buying it used. ....shit happens i guess.

[@chillbro2275]

This was funny and helpful hahaha "Sorry, iMac... Nothing personal" ahaha