MorphOS for PowerMAC G4 support coming
  • Just looking around
    MorphOS_Team
    Posts: 10 from 2004/7/23
    If it's using an ati radeon 9000 gfxcard it might work. Only problem might be ethernet.
  • »30.11.09 - 13:12
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    stephen_robinson
    Posts: 746 from 2007/4/22
    Nice descriptions of the different Powermacs, here:-

    http://lowendmac.com/ppc/index.shtml

    I got dual 533 digital Audio one I picked up for about ?35 including postage, I'll see if it works with MorphOS.

    Powerbook or G4 ibook next please.

    edited to add, just checked, after a bit of trouble getting it to start, nVidia GeForce2 MX, well nice idea while it lasted..

    [ Edited by stephen_robinson on 2009/11/30 16:37 ]
  • »30.11.09 - 14:36
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  • Order of the Butterfly
    Order of the Butterfly
    Ruud
    Posts: 335 from 2009/2/2
    From: Hampshire, UK
    This is good news! A wider choice of hardware can only be a good thing.

    I was looking at the specs and the only Powermac I'd have over my 1.5Ghz mini is the 1.42Ghz MDD model. Sure you can get a faster G4 (3rd party) for the "Quicksilver" but the bus is slower and it takes PC133 ram rather than DDR.

    [EDIT] The Sonnet online store says it has a 1.8Ghz dual CPU upgrade for the MDD Powermac in stock - it's only $599.95!  :-o

    [ Edited by Ruud on 2009/11/30 18:02 ]
    "We live, we die, we laugh, we cry"
  • »30.11.09 - 16:53
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  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    Posts: 80 from 2009/1/19
    OK, with this style Mac (Power Mac G4 MDD) you definitely have my attention!

    Quick research shows single and dual 1.25ghz cpu's. I also see 2*1.42ghz varieties. What will Morph specifically support in these regards?

    I am assuming that we do not use supplied video and instead use a Morph supported card?

    Looks like 4*PCI available. This surely opens up the expansion path a bit. Also looks like 4xAGP slot available so decent video possible? I think with this PCI expansion ability, the benefit of developing drivers for a variety of PCI cards should be a more attractive option.

    USB 1.1 is a limitation in my opinion.

    regarding ram.... looks like we have up to 2gb here. Morph able to see all of it?

    I pondered on a Mini but this would be a better road depending on how Morph supported the hardware aspects of this G4 machine.
  • »30.11.09 - 17:53
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  • Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Posts: 140 from 2003/9/16
    From: aGas founder M...
    Quote:


    Highly doubtful AFAIK, especially not in a way you would refer to as true SMP.



    Are you saying me that the "AMP" would be very welcomed?

    And it will be milestone for MorphOS.

    Krashan talking a bit here
  • »30.11.09 - 18:19
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12400 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > I am assuming that we do not use supplied video and instead use a
    > Morph supported card?

    The supplied Radeon 9000 is a MorphOS supported card.

    > looks like 4xAGP slot available so decent video possible?

    Depends on what "decent" means for you. I doubt it can get any more decent than with Pegasos, as AGP version (as opposed to speed) is the same.

    > regarding ram.... looks like we have up to 2gb here.
    > Morph able to see all of it?

    Max is 1.5 GiB for MorphOS.
  • »30.11.09 - 18:55
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  • Order of the Butterfly
    Order of the Butterfly
    CLS2086
    Posts: 168 from 2005/8/25
    From: West of PARIS
    CongratulationS !
    Keep the Faith !
    VG 5000/A1000/500/500+/600/2000/1200PPC-GREX/1200PPC-ATEO/1200+1230-IVFPUSCSI/CD32/Pegasos 1 April1 G3/Pegasos 2 G4/ Ahtlon/K6-3/various funny machines too  :-)
    Maybe one day a G4 AmigaONE when they will be debugged and without April...
  • »30.11.09 - 19:13
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  • Paladin of the Pegasos
    Paladin of the Pegasos
    pampers
    Posts: 1061 from 2009/2/26
    From: Tczew, Poland
    That's awesome news! More supported machines might give our community more users, especially that PowerMacs are very cheap.

    MorphOS Team: I think it's time to update help section in your site :)
    MorphOS 3.x
  • »30.11.09 - 19:43
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  • Order of the Butterfly
    Order of the Butterfly
    Korni
    Posts: 472 from 2006/2/23
    From: the Planet of ...
    Besides AGP port there is no AGP interface in Pegasos. Latest PowerMac should be noticable faster than Pegasos (and cheaper! :) )
    http://korni.ppa.pl/modkowypaczek/ | My Rifle, My Bunny, and Me
  • »30.11.09 - 20:02
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Zylesea
    Posts: 2065 from 2003/6/4
    Quote:


    Rodomoc wrote:

    USB 1.1 is a limitation in my opinion.



    Sure, inbuild would be nicer, but get an usb 2.0 card then. They are cheap and work nicely. Just as with the Pegasos.
    --
    http://via.bckrs.de

    Whenever you're sad just remember the world is 4.543 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie.
    ...and Matthias , my friend - RIP
  • »30.11.09 - 20:17
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  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    Posts: 80 from 2009/1/19
    Regarding AGP video, it would appear that AGPx4 cards in Radeon 9250 would be best bet according to Morph hardware compatibility list. While 9250 not specifically on that list, I use this card on my Efika without issues (although I believe Efika runs at slower speed). So I have to believe that this card running at true 4X in the new Mac would run faster. This would really increase the video performance gap between Morph and that other PPC OS alternative.

    1.5GB Ram a great deal. So here is my next question, I am assuming that the new Mac machine needs to be populated with the full 2GB in order to get 1.5GB available to Morph. No big deal....

    The more I think about Morph supporting this new Mac, the more I like it. It is probably the best solution since the Pegasus and a better one at that. I was never a lucky Peg owner. Got into the game too late.

    I read through Krashons former posts regarding multiple cores. A very interesting read. So from what I gather, the 2nd core would essentially be unused unless someone writes an application that somehow does it. I understand that utilizing multi-core within Morph OS itself would be a large undertaking. This is all OK with me and not a limitation. I have a 400mhz Efika with limited hardware-terrible expandability and am looking to upgrade into a 1.42Ghz Mac with lots of features and good expandability. I could care less about multi-core support at this time.

    I see mention of various 3rd party accelerators for these new Macs. All I can say is be careful that Morph sees them properly. In addition, say you had a 2*1.42Ghz machine and wanted to go to 2*1.8Ghz.... awefully pricey for a small gain and only in one usable CPU.

    I surely look forward to a MorphOS release in this new hardware. This would almost seal the deal as far as my transformation from 68K.
  • »30.11.09 - 20:26
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  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    Posts: 80 from 2009/1/19
    I wasn't aware any USB cards were supported in Morph. If they are, then this is very encouraging indeed. I do happen to have a Mac PCI card sitting in a 7600 machine that has 4 usb2 high speed ports.

    please advise on PCI USB card support in Morph.
  • »30.11.09 - 20:28
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Zylesea
    Posts: 2065 from 2003/6/4
    Quote:


    Rodomoc wrote:
    I have a 400mhz Efika with limited hardware-terrible expandability and am looking to upgrade into a 1.42Ghz Mac with lots of features and good expandability.


    And being an Efika use myself can asure you one thing: You will be literally blown away by that overwhelming and unbelieveable speed. There is this kind of funny-nasty smile in my face since early October and it refuses to get less...
    --
    http://via.bckrs.de

    Whenever you're sad just remember the world is 4.543 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie.
    ...and Matthias , my friend - RIP
  • »30.11.09 - 20:41
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  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    Posts: 80 from 2009/1/19
    [/quote]
    And being an Efika use myself can asure you one thing: You will be literally blown away by that overwhelming and unbelieveable speed. There is this kind of funny-nasty smile in my face since early October and it refuses to get less...
    [/quote]

    This is just about the best customer review I have heard in a very long time! especially the funny-nasty smile bit.
  • »30.11.09 - 20:47
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12400 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > it would appear that AGPx4 cards in Radeon 9250 would be best bet
    > according to Morph hardware compatibility list.

    Best performing and fully supported card at the moment is still Radeon 8500. Radeon 9100 (= 8500 LE) comes second.

    > I am assuming that the new Mac machine needs to be populated with the full
    > 2GB in order to get 1.5GB available to Morph.

    Populating with 1.5 GiB would be sufficient if hardware supports such RAM configuration.
  • »30.11.09 - 21:27
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  • Order of the Butterfly
    Order of the Butterfly
    Posts: 236 from 2003/7/28
    From: Canada
    Quote:

    And being an Efika use myself can asure you one thing: You will be literally blown away by that overwhelming and unbelieveable speed. There is this kind of funny-nasty smile in my face since early October and it refuses to get less...


    Sure, I agree. However, being a Mac Mini 1.5GHz user myself, OWB can still sometimes be sluggish and of course flash support could also still need a speed boost.

    Windows browsers (like IE9 and even FireFox) are moving to hardware accelerated rendering of web content. It would be nice if this was possible for OWB/Flash on MorphOS 2.4.

    That being said, I don't think it's the fault of the MorphOS programmers, but rather the bloated and/or crap software that they have to work with or port.
    A4000/060/PPC-200MHz, A4000T/060/PPC-233MHz, CD32, MicroA1, Pegasos 2 G4, AMD Phenom Quad Core 2.5GHz, MacMini 1.5GHz/64MB VRam...mwwmwahhh :)
  • »01.12.09 - 15:16
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    magnetic
    Posts: 2129 from 2003/3/1
    From: Los Angeles
    MorphOS Team

    MorphOS Team

    Very exciting news! This should be a bigger boost to the community. My question is when will the Powerbook G4 support come in? I have 3 PPC laptops, a 500mhz Pismo, a 667mhz Titanium Powerbook g4 and my baby a 1.25 ghz powerbook g4 aluminum 15'. I'd love to run Morph on that. I've seen some posts with the OS running on this platform how far away is support for this? I really feel that this would really increase the sales of Morphos. There has always been a need in the Amiga community for an Amiga like laptop.

    From a tech standpoint, what is the difference with getting support for the mobile ppc computers as opposed to power mac towers?
    Pegasos 2 Rev 2B3 w/ Freescale 7447 "G4" @ 1ghz / 1gb Nanya Ram
    Quad Boot: MorphOS 2.7 | Amiga OS4.1 U4 | Ubuntu PPC GNU/Linux | OS X 10.4
  • »01.12.09 - 17:54
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  • MorphOS Developer
    jacadcaps
    Posts: 3200 from 2003/3/5
    From: Canada
    @magnetic

    I already stated in many various threads what the laptop support needs extra compared to non-portables. To name a few: touchpad, power management, wireless. Anyway, there are currently no plans to support generations older than Aluminium PowerBooks starting from Rev-B. Older ones won't work due to unsupported / crap graphic cards. It might be a bit better for iBooks since all G4 models come with supported graphic cards.
  • »01.12.09 - 18:27
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    magnetic
    Posts: 2129 from 2003/3/1
    From: Los Angeles
    jada
    thanks for the response, i havent been following the forums that closely this year. Even Linux has trouble with full trackpad support on powerbook iirc
    Pegasos 2 Rev 2B3 w/ Freescale 7447 "G4" @ 1ghz / 1gb Nanya Ram
    Quad Boot: MorphOS 2.7 | Amiga OS4.1 U4 | Ubuntu PPC GNU/Linux | OS X 10.4
  • »01.12.09 - 19:20
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  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    Posts: 80 from 2009/1/19
    Quote:


    Andreas_Wolf wrote:
    Best performing and fully supported card at the moment is still Radeon 8500. Radeon 9100 (= 8500 LE) comes second.



    I was unaware that these cards performed better and are better supported than 9200 series....

    Another question, MAC hardware related. I see PCI slots in proposed Morph supported G4 machine. Cool. I get conflicting reports on what these slots really are though. I'm no hardware expert..... I guess I was wondering if my old Soundblaster Live! card would run inside a Mac. Would be nice because this is a very nice card w/ auxillary board, has correct EMU chip that Morph supports, etc... I believe my card is 32bit and 5V.
  • »01.12.09 - 19:20
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    magnetic
    Posts: 2129 from 2003/3/1
    From: Los Angeles
    rodo
    You cannot use pc cards in a mac its not a pegasos!
    Pegasos 2 Rev 2B3 w/ Freescale 7447 "G4" @ 1ghz / 1gb Nanya Ram
    Quad Boot: MorphOS 2.7 | Amiga OS4.1 U4 | Ubuntu PPC GNU/Linux | OS X 10.4
  • »01.12.09 - 19:23
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  • Moderator
    Golem
    Posts: 766 from 2003/2/28
    From: Denmark
    @magnetic

    So what makes an SBLive a pc card?
  • »01.12.09 - 20:41
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12400 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > I was unaware that these cards performed better and are better
    > supported than 9200 series....

    I didn't claim they were better supported. In fact, they are equally well supported. It's just that they perform better.
  • »01.12.09 - 23:17
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  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    Posts: 80 from 2009/1/19
    Quote:


    Andreas_Wolf wrote:
    > I was unaware that these cards performed better and are better
    > supported than 9200 series....

    ......It's just that they perform better.


    Got it!

    In looking at various system board pictures of these G4 MDD Mac's, it looks like there is a dedicated AGP slot and then PCI slots. PCI slots sure look like 5V 64bit to me.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/PowerMac_G4_MDD_open.jpg

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PCI_Keying.png

    Here is picture of SB Live! card that I have.... I already know this to be 32bit 5V card.

    http://www.karbosguide.com/images/_976.jpg

    So this card would definitely physically plug into a Mac G4 MDD PCI slot. It would also have correct 5V. It sure looks like it would work to me.
    I know Soudblaster made a Live! version for Mac. I am unaware if there is an electronic difference between Mac and PC versions of this card. I'll keep researching this. It sure would be cool if it worked because this would seal the deal for me in regards to getting one of these machines to use MorphOS on. Any comments welcome here.









    [ Edited by Rodomoc on 2009/12/2 8:22 ]
  • »02.12.09 - 13:21
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  • Moderator
    Golem
    Posts: 766 from 2003/2/28
    From: Denmark
    Quote:


    Rodomoc wrote:

    So this card would definitely physically plug into a Mac G4 MDD PCI slot. It would also have correct 5V. It sure looks like it would work to me.
    I know Soudblaster made a Live! version for Mac. I am unaware if there is an electronic difference between Mac and PC versions of this card.


    Chances are it will work fine, only issue I could think of would be drivers for OSX, but who cares about that?
  • »02.12.09 - 14:02
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