Before installing please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCKnownIssues#A14.04_Trusty_Tahr and have a quick look at the general information in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCFAQ . There is a wealth of information in those links, and they will save you a lot of time when you run into a problem (which you will).
The iso works like any other PowerPC iso (it was based on Lubuntu 14.04) and so I’ll only mention the bits I changed:
- The boot message for yaboot was updated so it doesn’t give rubbish advice
- The /install/pegasos file was removed as it seemed obsolete (although I can’t read FORTH!)
- The /boot directory was added which includes the grub files
- b43-fwcutter was added to /pool/main/b (Lubuntu don’t have it on the iso because they have it installed)
- Some extra mate packages that are not part of the standard install were placed in the /pool/ubuntu-mate directory
To use grub to boot an iso file:
Those familiar with PowerPC will know that yaboot is the default bootloader, and that remains so on Ubuntu Mate, but I’ve also added grub to make booting directly from an iso file easier. There is no need to burn a DVD!
Open up the iso, navigate to /boot/grub and extract the file ‘grub’. You need to save it somewhere that you can see in openfirmware (i.e. not a linux partition!). Reboot into openfirmware and issue something like:
boot hd:2,\grub
Thanks to some grub trickery, it will look first for a real CD/DVD, and if it doesn’t find one it will look for an iso file. It expects it at the root of a partition (this can’t be hfs/hfsplus), but don’t worry if you’ve placed it somewhere else because you’ll be given the opportunity to edit the iso_path value. Marvelous!
It should work on a USB drive too (more info on that and how to use openfirmware is in the PowerPC FAQ).
Unlike with yaboot, there is an “install only” option which you might need if you are short of ram. If you’ve burned a real DVD and want to do this using yaboot then just add the “only-ubiquity” boot parameter. Or use grub from openfirmware:
boot cd:,\boot\grub\grub
The ubuntu-mate desktop:
Once booted you should see the Ubuntu Mate desktop in all its glory. If you are a radeon user and the colours are wrong then you didn’t read the Known Issues wiki!
The only mate/ubuntu-mate package that has been changed from the ppa source code was ubuntu-mate-meta:
- Refreshed dependencies to create powerpc package lists
- Removed acpid from core-powerpc
- Removed grub2-themes-ubuntu-mate from core-powerpc
Note, the PowerPC ubuntu-mate desktop seed does not have LibreOffice and the live seed does not have the language packs. You can of course install these yourself, and in fact on first boot you should get a reminder about the language packs.
Ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu-mate is also not installed due to currently broken webkit on PowerPC.
I made the slightest adjustment to ubiquity (the installer) to fix a long standing issue with blacklisting sound modules on ‘newer’ machines. This has been patched upstream, but is not a complete fix (for that see launchpad bug 1296373, referenced on the Known Issues page).
Everything else (e.g. the kernel) is stock Ubuntu. I didn’t want to make too many changes as it just gets confusing.
If you want to install the powerpc packages I placed in /pool then you’ll have to do it manually.
For example:
sudo dpkg -i package_name.deb
This was needed because ppas do not compile/contain PowerPC packages. You will not receive any automatic updates to mate/ubuntu-mate “powerpc.deb” packages. However, any “all.deb” packages (e.g. themes) can be installed normally from the ubuntu-mate ppas.
Other issues:
I’ve noticed a slight graphical glitch with marco’s window tiling preview (launchpad bug 1406344). Though I personally don’t use marco, but use compiz 0.8.6 for that complete retro feel. I wrote my own grid/tile preview patch for that too, it still works in 14.04 with a little bit of adjustment. Probably at some point I’ll release some PowerPC compiz debs.
The file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mate.list was mistakenly left over from building the ISO. You can remove that file, or uncheck the following line from software sources:
http://127.0.0.1/ubuntu-ports /trusty main
UPDATE: To stop problems due to package version mismatches you should also uncheck the ubuntu-mate ppa as a source before running an update.
If you need assistance then the best place to ask for help is on the Apple Ubuntu forum. However, most PowerPC related problems are already covered in the FAQ and Known Issues pages. Please help to update/edit/add to them!
