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Recycled Computing

Getting Xubuntu Linux Up and Running on Your Aging Mac

- 2008.06.04

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I want to begin by saying that what I love about the Mac experience is its operating system. Just the iTunes application is worth the price of admission. (A built in database for your music collection - brilliant!) And I don't know how many times I've looked at some neat ultraportable and said - "That would be really neat, except you would have to use Windows." And that takes it right off the table.

However, occasionally I am given a piece of Windows hardware. It usually doesn't work, and it's owner has moved on to another computer. I play with it for a while and then run back to the comfort of computing with my Macs. But I can't help but wonder what it would be like to use some of the ultraportable computers in the PC market with a decent operating system.

In short, I began to think about Linux. And in between adding my analog records and cassette tapes to my iTunes library, I decided to have a little fun. By a little fun, I mean putting a third operating system on the mighty Pismo.

I know that there is some collective groaning out there. When you can run Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) or 9.2.1, why would you need something else? As my boss said, when you have the best OS, why fiddle with things?

But it's mainly 'cause I can, I replied. Besides, the world of Mac is moving on, and I can't run Leopard on my Pismo unless I put in a G4 processor. I can't replace the video card, and I already have to turn the video display down to thousands of colors to run Cover Flow in iTunes. Zounds!

You can see that Steverino and the boys at Cupertino are marching to the beat of the Intel chip and are going to leave PowerPC in the rearview. What am I going to do when the Mac OS abandons me and I still want to use the trusty Pismo?

What I need is a new operating system that is slim, trim, and still viable.

I know that I am thinking way, way ahead, but what the heck.

If you're familiar with Linux and know all about the KDE and Gnome systems and the many various flavors that Linux comes in, feel free to ignore my ignorant ramblings. Linux is an Open Source operating system, and it started as a sort of bare bones platform. KDE and Gnome started as efforts to add some GUI polish to Linux.

Ubuntu Linux got my attention as a version of Linux that can be installed on PowerPC Macs. Mr. Mike, our hardware guru, recommended that I try Xubuntu, a version of Ubuntu that is based on the Xkce system that is sort of a bare bones edition of Linux, which might be good for putting on my G3 Pismo. Mike ripped me a copy of Xubuntu, and I tried to install it.

Making It Work

Linux wants a different type of hard drive partition than the HFS+ format that Macs use. After several misguided attempts to adjust my hard drive while running from the Xubuntu CD, I finally cloned my OS X system to my backup hard drive. I then repartitioned the Pismo's drive. I had Disc Utility put OS X in the first partition and left an area for "Free Space". According to Mike, Linux knows what to do with "Free Space".

With my hard drive ready, I cloned my OS X system back from my backup (thank you, Carbon Copy Cloner) and then booted up the Pismo with the Xubuntu CD. Installation worked. However, when I went to boot up Xubuntu, I kept getting an input/output error. Much geek head shaking went on.

I took home a copy of Ubuntu to see if that would install. Over the weekend, while one of my sons visited Barnes and Nobles (yes, teenagers who like books still exist), I looked over some of the Ubuntu books in the computer section. Since most Linux users are converting from Windows (I wonder why?), the books I skimmed had little to no advice for Mac users. However, I did find some help in a text that recommended I install the Free Space first and then install the Mac OS X next. This makes sense, in that the Linux bootstrapper will be first in line. Zounds!

I had to reclone and repartition and reinstall, but in the end it worked. I now have a PowerBook that uses Mac OS 9, OS X and Xubuntu. It is a triple boot machine!

Now I have to figure out how to make Xubuntu work. I'll report back. LEM

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