Straight Installation vs. While there are some computers that come with Linux Mint. Void Linux for PowerPC/Power ISA (unofficial) Void Linux ppc is a staging fork of the Void Linux distribution intended for the PowerPC/Power architecture. It supports 64-bit and 32-bit hardware, with 64-bit supporting both little and big endian modes, while aiming to. It is certainly possible, and there are actually quite elegant solutions for the NewWorld Macs, to dual boot your Debian PowerMac system with Mac OS and/or Mac OS X. If you are planning on doing a new installation of Mac OS X, though, do it before installing Debian. The Mac OS X installer is very unkind to existing systems when it installs.
][ Installation ][ Documentation ][ Development ]Debian for PowerPC
The PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture developed by IBM, Motorola (now Freescale) and Apple. The PowerPC architecture allows both 64-bit and 32-bit implementations (the 64-bit implementation includes the 32-bit implementation). The first PowerPC microprocessor was the 601, a 32-bit implementation released in 1992. Several other 32-bit implementations have since been released, including the 603, 604, 750 (G3), 7400 (G4) and the PowerQUICC embedded communications processors. 64-bit implementations include the 620, POWER4, POWER5 and the 970 (G5).
Linux for the PowerPC was first released at the 2.2.x version of the kernel. A key resource for PowerPC Linux development is penguinppc, which also includes a hardware compatibility list. PowerPC support in the Linux kernel is now developed as part of the `main' Linux kernel at kernel.org.
The Debian PowerPC port began in 1997 at the German Linux Congress in Würzburg. A PowerPC machine (Motorola StarMax 4000, 200 MHz 604e) was donated to the Debian project. Additional information about this computer is available from the history page.
Debian on 32-bit PowerPC (powerpc)
It first became an official release architecture
with DebianGNU/Linux 2.2 (potato
) and had retained that status until the publicationof Debian 9 (stretch
). The last supported release for 32-bit PowerPC is Debian 8 (jessie
).See the release note and installation manual for further information.
Debian on 64-bit Little Endian PowerPC (ppc64el)
Starting on the release of Debian 8 (jessie
), ppc64el is an officiallysupported architecture on Debian.See the release note and installation manual.
Here you can find information about the64-bit PowerPCLittle Endianarchitecture.
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However, note that there is also information at theppc64el wiki page, such asinstallation and ABI information.
Installation
There are a variety of systems using the PowerPC microprocessor. Check our Installation pages for specific information about installing Debian/PowerPC on your system.
There are some quirks you need to know about when installing on an iBook, TiBook, or iBook2, especially when dual booting with Mac OS X. Some iBook2 hardware, especially on recently introduced models, is not well supported as yet. For specific information on potential problems and solutions, study these web pages:
- William R. Sowerbutts' Installing Debian GNU/Linux on the Mac Mini
- Mij's Hints on installing debian on an iBook2
- Installing Debian GNU/Linux on an iBook 3.3 (G4) by Sébastien FRANÇOIS
- Debian network installation on IBM RS/6000 44P-170 (POWER3) HOWTO by Rolf Brudeseth
- Installing Debian GNU/Linux on a p630 LPAR (7028-6C4) - English and German (Florian M. Weps, link to archived copies in archive.org)
- Daniel DeVoto's Installing Debian Wheezy/testing on an iBook G3
Debian GNU/Linux does not officially support NuBus PowerPC machines, such as the 6100, 7100, 8100 and most of the Performa series. However, an MkLinux-based kernel is available, which can be launched from a Mac OS boot loader. A Debian system can be installed using this kernel, which is available at http://nubus-pmac.sourceforge.net/.
When upgrading from Potato to Woody or upgrading really old kernels, there is some important information you should be aware of regarding a change in keyboard coding. This could save you some time and headaches!
Links - Documentation
Up-to-date information on Linux for PowerPC is atPenguinPPC.We have an older collection of PowerPC links anda couple of pointers for Debian PowerPC developers.
Hardware specifications for Apple computers are available atAppleSpec.
More information and documentation about the POWER architecture:
- Official ELFv2 ABI Specification (under section 'Link')or thisPDF. Registration required.
- GNU ToolsCaldron 2014 slides & video
Available Hardware for Contributors
Please read the list ofDebian machines to access powerpc/ppc64el Debian porterboxen.
Contact information
Linux Os For Mac Ppc Software
If you need help, try asking for help in the following places:
Mailing Lists
The Debian PowerPC mailing list is the proper place for questions,suggestions for improvements, or just for chat concerning PowerPCsystems running Debian. The debian-user list is also available forgeneral Debian questions which are not specific to PowerPC.
To join the list, send e-mail to<debian-powerpc-request@lists.debian.org> with the word'subscribe' in the Subject line.List archives areavailable.
Usenet Newsgroups
Linux for PowerPC Systems
Linux in general
IRC
The #debian channel on irc.debian.org isfor general topics relating to Debian, and there is the#debianppc channel for topics specific to Debian onPowerPC processors. You will almost always find someone on-line who ishappy to share information and help you with your problem.
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