Netbook vs. iBook G4
It's done, the iBook G4 is now replaced by an Asus Netbook. Since I currently tend to use Ubuntu, this was a logical step:
- Battery lifetime is decreasing for the iBook, even though more than 1h is not bad after all those years. The free replacement of the battery a few years ago was really flawless and a nice upgrade.
- Ubuntu/PowerPC on iBook G4 is working, but on a Atom-based netbook it's even better.
- Sometimes you just need Flash.
- The Atom is a lot faster than G4 (800 MHz).
Still the iBook G4 was a good decision back in 2003/2004. Using Ubuntu it's even working with my UMTS stick by Huawai.
LXDE on Ubuntu Lucid
At least on an iBook, LXDE and LXDM are not really recommendable. Even though I like lean desktop environments and configuring keyboard shortcuts for OpenBox is possible by usage of my favorite tool VIM, but:
- Multiple screensavers (Gnome's. xscreensaver, but only the latter is configurable in LXDE/OpenBox settings) are running and locking the display.
- Gnome's Power Manager is running, but not working correctly, e.g. suspend is not working correctly in contrast to GDM/Gnome.
Fonic/O2 Surf Stick on iBook G4 running Ubuntu 10.04
The Huawai E220/E270 stick I got from Fonic is just working on Ubuntu Lucid Lynx.
Fonic is pre-configured in the provider database of the network manager and there was no need for a special setup of the USB stick.
The latter was necessary on my Dell notebook (see usb-modeswitch). Perhaps it's something related to the different PowerPC architecture, that it's working without this package on the iBook.
iBook G4 upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
Upgrading all the gear to the newest Ubuntu release also includes my iBook. It took some time, but was quite straightforward. Only 2 issues are currently worth mentioning, one about chvt, the other about Gnome Keyring.
- I got rid of all scripts, that switch the console using
chvtto prepare proper video wakeup after suspending. This works now without that fixes. Even worse the scripts were not properly beaming back to X after wakeup. - Gnome Keyring is not properly working, if locked with a password. Currently I run the keyring without a key, because I was tired of feeding the network manager with my WPA key.
iBook G4 running Ubuntu Karmic Koala
A few days ago I managed to connect a new power adapter to the iBook to reanimate it after more than a year of deep freeze.
I soon realized that the installed MacOS is now really out of date including many of the applications (e.g. Safari, Firefox 2, iPhoto, ...). Since an upgrade would not only cost some money, but the latest MacOS releases are also just not available for this architecture, I downloaded the unofficial Ubuntu PPC release.
It's just good to know, you can test it first before switching from an outdated but working MacOS to Ubuntu. But I ran only into some minor issues and the iBook is now running Karmic Koala:
- Keyboard is working, using Fn+Alt for AltGr keys (release Fn key before pressing AltGr-keys on the right hand side, since it overlaps with numeric keypad feature). My keyboard setup is named
Germany Macintosh, eliminate dead keys. - Wired networking is working out of the box.
- Wireless networking is working after installation of
b43-fwcutterpackage. So just use wired networking first to install the package, which will download the necessary data for the firmware. If you don't want to reboot to get wireless running, just reload the b43 module on the command liine (sudo modprobe -r b43; sudo modprobe b43). - Load
pmu_batteryto get battery feedback. Gnome will detect the new feature within seconds, providing a graphical view on the battery state. Since the iBook was subject to a battery change only 3 years ago and the new battery was not used very frequently, the capacity is still fairly ok. - Using the
trackpadcommand from thepowerpc-utilspackage, you can choose the setup of the touchpad, e.g.trackpad dragprovides drag & drop. - Setting
TPMode = dragin configuration file/etc/pbbuttonsd.conf(packagepbbuttonsd) will setup the drag mode for the trackpad automatically.
Thanks to all the people still providing an up-to-date Ubuntu release and all the discussions and howtos, that help me fix the issues in no time.