Ok seeing as I have three computers... G4 iBook, AMD64 3000+, and G4 Tower. I'd like to run linux on my G4 tower.

What I'd like it to do:

Serve Music and movies to my iBook with firewire since it doesnt have USB 2.0 and I dont have a gigabit router. (cannot hang like it is now, I think its the CPU getting to much of a load, or maybe the HDD's)

Serve Applications to my iBook (file structure would have to be readable from my ibook)

I'd like an easy to use distro, and I'm thinkin Fedora...

800mhz G4
1.5GB PC133 RAM
160GB 8MB Cache IDE
80GB 2MB cache IDE (OS)

Thinkin of getting a PCI-X SATA card and a couple new 16MB cache drives.

IMHO, your best bet is knoppix, reason being you can apt-get almost anything. In my experience, there is no easy linux, but the easiest to learn would knoppix (or if you dont like KDE, you could go with ubuntu, but myself disliked it, it didnt come with alot of software, which is why I am on knoppix).

There was another one that had alot of bells and whistles, Puppy Linux was one of them. Knoppix and puppy are debian based, Ive read that Debian is very secure (unlike Fedora which is redhat based-Can someone confirm this myth for me?).

However, since you want to run a server, maybe redhat based would be good enough, heres a list of distros based on fedora http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_...on_Fedora_Core

G4 is a ppc chip right? ...not a mac guy. The 2 most fleshed out and robust distros for PPC are Gentoo-PPC and yellowdog linux.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nerdz Ive read that Debian is very secure (unlike Fedora which is redhat based-Can someone confirm this myth for me?).

Heh, I can debunk that myth. Considering Redhat and it's offshoots ie. CentOS (A free version of the commercialized version of Redhat Enterprise Linux) is the most used Linux distro in the server market, and that RHEL is constantly being patched just like any other distribution. Linux itself (Linux is just the Kernel) is quite secure, it's the packages and programs that run on top of Linux that can make it insecure. And most security is userbase, if the user of that system doesn't bother to take neccesary steps to make said system secure, well, then it not secure.

Back on topic.

1394 Networking will probably prove to be quite tricky (Heck it can even be a pain in windows). I'd probably search around for a guide, but before posting this I rattled some of my guru buddies and said they have actually never heard of anyone doing it in Linux. Not to say it won't be possible. (Anything is possible in Linux :-P) It may prove to a bit tricky... I know the modules you would need to get it working though.

Fedora might do it alright, Id have to think it will be quite slow on a 800Mhz PPC considering Fedora (And even Knoppix especially the DVD version) are quite bloated and have a lot of services/daemons running by default, and a load of needless kernel modules.

If you really want to learn Linux, you try a Gentoo install, they have PPC installs. Along with some other distrobutions....

Anyways, post back with how far you get, problems etc. I'll be here to help.

http://penguinppc.org/about/distributions.php


I found that, basically I want a streamlined server that doesn't have all that extra 'junk'
If possible, not terribly hard to use but will run nicely on 800mhz...

So questions questions questions...

What do I do about drivers and software, will all software for linux work on each distro (i wouldnt think it would)

So what distro?

Fendora
Debian
Gentoo
SUSE
Ubuntu

EDIT: This will be a private server (within the LAN) so security isnt huge...

EDIT EDIT: I may pop in a 7GB HDD and install on that to see how I like it.

Eh, I hate to go against my instincts (More like personal preference) but I'd say openSUSE or Ubuntu. I just have a good feeling that they may be able to handle the 1394 networking out of the box and make Linux a lot more of a usable and enjoyable experience, especially for a Linux "Virgin". Ubuntu will be quite a bit more lightweight, and I tend to prefer their documentation and community more than SUSE from what I have seen.

1394 networking in Ubuntu is relatively painless. Out of all the forementioned distros, Im going to have to recommend it for its out-of-the-box capabilities. In my case, it was just a matter of enabling it.

Ideally, considering you're running it on a 800MHz PPC chip, Gentoo would be my choice, but it would take a good bit of time to set it up correctly. However, the difference in speed would be well worth the effort...If you decided to go that route.

Just 'happened' to aquire a iMac G3 400mhz that max's out on a 1GB of RAM (512MB will have to do for now)

But I got Gentoo PPC and Ubuntu to see which I like better, I plan on creating this iMac into a jukebox/picture viewer...

fun stuff eh?

Anyone got a giant list of commands for terminal?

hmm first snags...

How to install (not run a live CD)

Second, how to fix the 'X sever did not start' (which is the graphical part of ubuntu)

Quote: Originally Posted by Dreyco hmm first snags... How to install (not run a live CD) Second, how to fix the 'X sever did not start' (which is the graphical part of ubuntu)

Well, in the latest version of ubuntu, the install disc is the live cd...just run the live cd and there will be an icon on the desktop that says "install ubuntu"

If you dont like that option, there is an alternate install iso availible, never used it but i think its more of a standard text based thing.

The second problem should be fixed by the first maybe? not really comprehending how you got the second error if you have the first.

I got the liveCD from the ubuntu website http://ubuntu-releases.cs.umn.edu//6.06/ The one for PPC... hmm

What video adapter are you using?

Onboard ATI Rage128 Pro

I can see it loading stuff, hear the ubuntu sound and then it just sits there... grrr....

http://www.educationaltechnology.ca/...-a-g3-imac-dv/

weee someone fixed it for me, now to try when I have some extra time (Physics E&M takes a lot of time!)

Grrr.... Ok so those edits would make this work IF I could install the damn thing to install onto the harddrive... (cause the files are read-only) Which the distro I have wont let me, so I have to get the alternate CD of ubuntu...

Hmm this is starting to turn into its only little project thread....

Two steps forward, one backward...

ubuntu Dapper installed successfully after a few hangs, and kernal panics.

New Errors

after logging in I'm greeted by three errors!

Nautilus
-Nautilus can't be used now, due to an unexpected error from Bonobo when attemping to register the file manager view server


Error
-There was a problem registering the panel with the bonobo activation server
-The error code is 3
-The panel will now exit

Error
-There was a problem starting the GNOME Settings Daemon
-Some things such as themes, sounds or background settings may not work correctly.
-The Settings Daemon restarted too many times
-The last error message was:
-System exception: IDL: omg.org/CORBRA/COMM_FAILURE:1.0
-GNOME will still try to start the Settings Daemon next time you log in.