MATE 16.04 on iBook G4 GUI freezes - does not work

hi there -

seems, I got no luck installing 16.04. LTS on any of my PPC Platforms.

After failing on G5 PowerMac, I tried to install it on my iBook G4 1.33Ghz 1.5GB RAM ATI 9550 32MB.
Everything is fine, WIFi install works like a charm

BUT every 5-20min GUI freezes (you can move the mouse-pointer, but nothing else responds)

I read, there is an issue with Raedon Cards and I tried the yaboot-params (all of them, one after the other) but same results, GUI freezes after random amount of time…

So, on 12" iBook G4 1.33, MATE seems to be “useless”, same as on PowerMacs G5 with Nivdia Cards…

The website here states: "For G4, G5 Macs, ibook,… " and so on - this should be changed, as only very few models seem to work (I read, that on some powerBooks it does not work, either)

I highly recommend installing “Debian 8 PPC” - but beware, you need to install XFCE and/or MATE Desktop, when asked by the installer - the default Debian one does not work (boots, but you get no GUI)

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When I dug out the iBook G4 last month, I was informed of some commands to enter at the yaboot prompt, which may be of use to you:

Booting from DVD:

live radeon.agpmode=-1 radeon.modeset=1 video=offb:off video=radeonfb:off

Booting once installed:

Then after install add:

radeon.agpmode=-1 radeon.modeset=1 video=offb:off video=radeonfb:off`

to the “apped” in /etc/yaboot.conf and then run ybin -y to update the boot loader.

I originally had Lubuntu 12.04 running on it. I didn’t have a DVD-R to write to, nor could I get it to boot via USB, so I had to upgrade it 12.04 → 14.04 → 16.04 and then switch LXDE for Ubuntu MATE… especially considering the partition is tiny!

I don’t recall it freezing, but the graphics performance wasn’t very good.

thanks a lot - this is exactly, what I did, Parameter wise - but 16.04 mate still freezes randomly…

I also added “video=ofonly” in another try, but this makes no difference. Maybe it´s the Amiance/Radiance theme, that makes it freeze, when you got RV300 chip, aka Raedon 9550, who knows?

You are using LXDE for Ubuntu Mate, so it is not what you get with the standard Ubuntu-Mate-live-installer… maybe this indicates, it´s a Desktop GUI issue somewhere…

Again thanks for responding !

Now I got Debian 8 installed with XFCE and “xubuntu-makeover” (Whisker-menu and Greyhound theme and so on), I will try to install Numix theme and also Radiance/Ambiance for window Dekoration and Overall “dark-ish” look.

If this works, I think it will be even cooler, than Standard Mate Desktop.

Only downside is, I only got “Iceweasel” browser, which is a tad slower, than Firefox (!)

Is there a way to install Firefox in Debian Jessie 8 PPC without destroying everything?

I already tried to apt-install, but it says “there is no release candiadate” or something like this.

Just to clarify, I mean I removed all of Lubuntu’s (and LXDE) packages, as much as I could, and then install Ubuntu MATE’s packages instead. The end result wasn’t LXDE looking like Ubuntu MATE, but actually running MATE very close to a fresh install. :slight_smile:

It’s possible that some old configuration was left over from 12.04 that isn’t causing it to freeze… but the graphic performance was poor as far as I remember.

You could do something similar with Debian by installing the MATE Desktop packages (mate-desktop) instead of XFCE if you like. :wink:


For your Firefox question, I suspect the enabled repositories on your system doesn’t have a package for Firefox. Maybe a repository needs to be enabled?

Since Firefox is in Ubuntu, it will definitely be in Debian.

Great, do you know, where u can find the right repository to install Firefox, from?

I tried to install numix theme and radiance/ambiance theme - but after adding the needed repositorys and apt update , both could not be installed because the packages were not found ?! System advise was, to run “apt update” again, to fix - but this was not fixing this issue.

When installing Debian, I installed MATE desktop from Debian installer - but it was looking different from what you get with Ubuntu mate. The Windows (decorations, buttons,…) for example did not look like in Ubuntu mate and so on…