how to boot my G5 into Ubuntu?

Question

Level 2

221 points

how to boot my G5 into Ubuntu?

I saw these instructions on the forums to boot the latest version of Ubuntu:

download the iso.

Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
hdiutil burn image.iso

Place cd in drive
power off machine
hold down option key
power on machine.
click on cd
click on right arrow

I burned the CD, put it into the drive, booted holding Option, and nothing happens - the screen is blank, the monitor shows a yellow light (like it's not getting a signal), and the keyboard Caps lock light won't come on. The computer is humming and on, but not showing me any choices for boot drives. What am I doing wrong?

thanks,

Mike

G5, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Dec 3, 2010 5:42 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Dec 3, 2010 6:08 PM in response to Michael Levin

Hi Mike, what happens if you don't have the CD in place & try the Option boot?

You can eject the CD by holding the mouse button down while booting.

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Answer 2

Dec 3, 2010 8:05 PM in response to Michael Levin

With GNU/linux package managers available for Mac OS X, why would Uwantu?

Fink, Darwin ports, etc... what linux software do you need to run that you can't run in Mac OS X Terminal.app & X11.app, do you really need to run a linux window manager?

You might have more luck running inside a VirtualBox.
http://www.virtualbox.org/

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Answer 3

BDAqua

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250,259 points

Dec 3, 2010 10:34 PM in response to Glen Doggett

You might have more luck running inside a VirtualBox.

On a G5???

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Answer 4

Dec 3, 2010 10:42 PM in response to BDAqua

Right, VirtualBox is Intel only, I was trying to think of a WINE "bottle" like DarWINE with Qemu for PPC.

http://wiki.qemu.org/Main_Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwine

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Answer 5

BDAqua

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Dec 3, 2010 10:48 PM in response to Glen Doggett

Yeah, those might work Glen. 🙂

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Answer 6

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Dec 4, 2010 3:20 AM in response to Glen Doggett

Glen Doggett wrote:
With GNU/linux package managers available for Mac OS X, why would Uwantu?
Fink, Darwin ports, etc... what linux software do you need to run that you can't
run in Mac OS X Terminal.app & X11.app, do you really need to run a linux
window manager?

I have a spare G5 not being used for anything and I wanted to see if Ubuntu run natively would give me a fast, lean linux box; also I have some custom Linux code that uses a USB device and I wasn't sure it would work correctly on a Mac. Of course it might not work on Ubuntu/G5, but I figured I'd try.

thanks,

Mike

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Answer 7

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Dec 4, 2010 3:44 AM in response to Michael Levin

http://usablelinux.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/ubuntu-9-04-on-an-imac-g5/

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Answer 8

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Dec 4, 2010 3:49 AM in response to japamac

japamac wrote:
http://usablelinux.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/ubuntu-9-04-on-an-imac-g5/

ah! I'll try it right now. But, it says

At the boot: prompt typed in install video=ofonly

does this mean I have to install right away - there's no option to run booted off the CD and not affect the hard drives on my system in any way?

Mike

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Answer 9

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Dec 4, 2010 4:04 AM in response to Michael Levin

does this mean I have to install right away - there's no option to run booted off the CD and not affect the hard drives on my system in any way?

Haven't played with that one, but that may be the case.
Situations like this call for a partitioned drive to play with.

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Answer 10

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Dec 4, 2010 4:21 AM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua wrote:
Hi Mike, what happens if you don't have the CD in place & try the Option boot?
You can eject the CD by holding the mouse button down while booting.

weird - same thing! is there a more fundamental problem with the boot process not specifically related to the Ubuntu??

Mike

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Answer 11

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Dec 4, 2010 4:22 AM in response to japamac

japamac wrote:
http://usablelinux.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/ubuntu-9-04-on-an-imac-g5/

hmmm. tried it; almost the same thing - blank screen, fans going full blast, but now the caps lock key does light up green 😟

Mike

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Answer 12

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Dec 4, 2010 10:21 AM in response to Michael Levin

is there a more fundamental problem with the boot process not specifically related to the Ubuntu??

Seems so, Option/alt key at bootup should show bootable drives.

Have you done a PRAM reset, CMD Option+pr...

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

Does it boot into Open Firmware with CMD Option+of ?

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42642

reset-nvram (press Enter)
set-defaults (press Enter)
reset-all (press Enter)

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Answer 13

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Dec 5, 2010 3:28 AM in response to BDAqua

Does it boot into Open Firmware with CMD Option+of ?

nope - the screen stays black (monitor shows no signal coming), and fans are going pretty strong.

Have you done a PRAM reset, CMD Option+pr...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

did that; it chimed 3 times then booted normally off the default internal OSX hard disk. I put in the CD, rebooted with holding down Option, and still no choices of what to boot from!

Mike

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Answer 14

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Dec 5, 2010 11:03 AM in response to Michael Levin

Sorry Mike, I'm at a loss as to why, once it boots from the HD, does the CD show as a boot choice in the Startup Disk Control Panel?

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Answer 15

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Dec 5, 2010 11:10 AM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua wrote:
Sorry Mike, I'm at a loss as to why, once it boots from the HD, does the CD show as a boot choice in the Startup Disk Control Panel?

hmmm. I didn't check because I assumed OS X wouldn't think it was a valid boot disk (not being a version of OS X). Should it show up as such in the startup disk control panel?

Mike

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