Hello everyone!

This is my first post to this list.

Right off the bat I want to tell everyone that I am completely new to Linux. Basically I am coming from a Mac background. I am currently running OS 10.3 on a Power Mac G4 466 and a Powerbook G4 1.25GHz. In my collection of older Macs, I have a Performa 6360, which was my first PowerPC. I am thinking of installing Linux (Yellowdog to be specific) on this old Mac to breathe new life into it and use it in some form.

This Performa has been modified since I first got it. I pulled out the old, original 30GB drive from my Power Mac G4 and installed it into the Performa. In addition, the original processor has been upgraded to a G3, a Sonnet G3 400MHz, and the built-in modem has been replaced with a COMM Slot II Ethernet card.

I visited yellowdoglinux.com and checked their hardware support section to see if the Performa 6360 was listed. Of all the Performas, it was the only one listed as being able to boot into Linux. Beyond this, there was no other information listed for this model.

Now that you have some background, I have some specific questions:

1. Has anyone had any experience installing Linux on this model?

2. Are there any good resources where I can get specifics about Linux installations and issues on Old World Macs?

In closing, I did come across one positive reference of someone who successfully installed Yellowdog Linux on a Performa 6360. Unfortunately, I am not able to get in touch with the person who wrote the article.

Any assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Roland

Roland,

I've done that. It has been about a year (I don't even have the system anymore-I sold it on fleabay.)

I may still have the articles I printed out that helped me.

Wow, you replaced the internal hard drive? I looked into that, and getting into the case was a downright b*tch. That being said, I've always admired Apple for the aesthetics of their hardware. I got my start in this biz in an entirely Mac Shop. From what I hear, os X isn't too much different from Linux. That kind of makes sense, since it was built on top of BSD, a close cousin to Linux.

I'll post back when I find my documentations from the install.

Kyle,

Thanks for the quick reply.

If you do find these materials about installing Linux on a Performa 6360, how did you want to communicate?

Roland

Roland,

I'm sure I found them online, and printed them out. However; I marked them up with my own experience/discovery. I guess I could snarf the original text, and then add mine as comments. Maybe I could post it here, not sure if LQ has a Linux on Macs or YDL forum...

Kyle

Drats, I seem to have tossed the paperwork, but, here's what I remember:

I installed YDL 3.0 or so on a Powermac 6360 or 6400 (It's been so long, I don't remember exact model number.)

Here are the gotchas:

1: You still need a minimal Mac OS partition (9.0) I am assuming you're installing YDL because OS X won't install on it.
2: You need the YaBooter control panel. It doesn't have to be installed in the control panel, but it does have to reside on the hard drive.
3: YaBoot will boot off of the CD and start the YDL install.
4: Assuming your's goes like mine, there will be no problems detecting your Network Card. Sond will also work without a hitch. You may or may not have a problem with your screen resolution. I imagine tinkering with X86config will help that, though.

All in all, I was impressed with the speed. The one I worked with also had a Sonnet card in it, and; while I did have to do some searching, I did find a sonnet driver on the net for it.

HTH, I will look in my files at home, since it wasn't here at work, but I probably did toss it out.

(Actually, I may not have even done that, I may have just thrown those documents in with the system when I sold it on fleabay, it's been so long, I don't remember but that's definitely a possibility.)

Hope you didn't think I was ignoring you.

Good luck,

Kyle