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| Is MintPPC still best option for G4 Powerbook? |
Posted by: RickNel on 2013-06-11 19:38:55
I'm giving MintPPC a try on my G4 TiBook, but I notice there has been no release since November 2011.
Is there a better alternative?
Rick
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Posted by: markyb86 on 2013-06-11 20:28:03
Because it's so outdated now, I would give Lubuntu a go. It's current and I have read a.lot of success stories. I got it to run on a 350mhz sawtooth with 1GB ram, as well. Dual booted with Tiger.
This blog is where I first read of success and I got hints on installing.
http://powerpcliberation.blogspot.ca/
There is also this blog talking about using Debian linux.
http://ppcluddite.blogspot.com/
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Posted by: RickNel on 2013-06-12 05:32:04
There's a snag with MintPPC that may be common to many or all PPC Linux distros - the wireless network utility can not negotiate WEP security via Airport.
Obviously, a Powerbook is not much use without wireless network access. I don't want to have to use a WiFi dongle if I can avoid it. I have to attach various vintage devices that can only use WEP to my local WLAN, so I have to use WEP security.
The blockage seems to be with the way Airport interprets a "hex" password - you can't enter anything but ASCII into the password forms. Most systems will parse the ASCII representation of a hex password correctly, but airport seems to read the entered characters at their ASCII binary values. In Tiger, for example, you have to tell the utility whether the password is ASCII or HEX. Debian-based utilities don't give that choice.
Any known work-around to this? I searched quite a few forums without any success.
Rick
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Posted by: PowerPup on 2013-06-12 14:38:51
@RickNel: Have you tried the "0x" trick? I've had to do this under Mac OS 9 and 10.4. So maybe it's a hardware thing?
While I do not have any Macs at home running Linux, I did help my library set up their Mac Mini G4 with Lubuntu 12.04LTS as a web server and Circulation System. It's been running 24/7 for about a year now with no issues.
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Posted by: RickNel on 2013-06-12 15:19:55
Yes, I have tried the "0x" prefix, also the "$" and "&H" prefixes. They don't work.
I think the problem is Debian/Mint being a bit clever in the wrong way. The one entry box is used for 40bit security passwords in either Hex or ASCII formats. It counts the numbers of characters entered. The "Save" option becomes available only when you hit 5 characters (which would be ASCII representations of the binary value) or 10 characters (which would be the ASCII alphanumeric hexadecimal code, eg 7f0587d65c...). So no prefix characters can be entered.
I tried to get around this by modifying the password to ensure it could be entered in 5 characters. Didn't work.
Since any PPCLinux is essentially a vintage project, I am surprised that nobody seems to have sorted out this problem of compatibility with Mac firmware . I'm not sure where the hex translation to binary takes place in the native Mac stack - it could be in Open Firmware or in the airport card firmware. But since WEP code entry works OK in Tiger, logic suggests it is in the OS or the specific network utility.
Rick
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Posted by: RickNel on 2013-06-12 17:34:27
BTW the WICD alternative network manager is definitely a better interface - however it does not overcome this specific issue of WEP code rejection.
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Posted by: theos911 on 2013-06-16 16:04:11
MintPPC 11's base is still Wheezy and Wheezy is the current Debian stable release. The only "old" packages are really those that make it look and feel like Linux Mint rather than straight Debian. Upstream keeps all the important stuff up to date (well, as much as Debian keeps anything "up to date") and secure.
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