shed computer - mac ppc running linux

[bigegg]

really pushing the OT limits here, but we pride ourselves on having experts on everything.

i bought a cheap apple mac power PC c.2005 to use in the shed.
just for music + audiobooks predominantly, but a bit of browsing, and viewing pdfs etc. (no videos, or facebook!)

so... the previous owner had tried to wipe the hard drive, but only trashed the OS - all his private files were intact.

i couldnt get hold of an original contemporary version of macos, so i've installed Lubuntu on it.

I've never used ubuntu - only fedora/redhat - so i'm not sure about the procedure for finding/installing software?

i'd likd to install a plex client, or equivalent - just for audio files.

i havent a clue where to start looking - everything i've found seems to be about installing tbe OS, rather than additional software.

any pointers?

 

[Slowcoach]

really pushing the OT limits here, but we pride ourselves on having experts on everything.

i bought a cheap apple mac power PC c.2005 to use in the shed.
just for music + audiobooks predominantly, but a bit of browsing, and viewing pdfs etc. (no videos, or facebook!)

so... the previous owner had tried to wipe the hard drive, but only trashed the OS - all his private files were intact.

i couldnt get hold of an original contemporary version of macos, so i've installed Lubuntu on it.

I've never used ubuntu - only fedora/redhat - so i'm not sure about the procedure for finding/installing software?

i'd likd to install a plex client, or equivalent - just for audio files.

i havent a clue where to start looking - everything i've found seems to be about installing tbe OS, rather than additional software.

any pointers?

I’m no expert but some macs you can run windows, Mac OS and Linux on all at the same time, but not sure if it’s only on intel processors. Is it a tower, possibly silver, or a laptop?
OS X is python based. I’ve got old Mac OSX upto 10.4 and it’s obsolete now really.
It might even be os9.
So I suppose I can’t help, sorry.

 

[Slowcoach]

Thinking a bit more, a rare event, if you know he’s left his private files on hard drive the os must be there or it wouldn’t have strayed.

 

[bigegg]

its not intel based, so no windoze, unfortunately
its an "imac"(?) - computer built into monitor.

 

[bigegg]

Thinking a bit more, a rare event, if you know he’s left his private files on hard drive the os must be there or it wouldn’t have strayed.

he'd deleted some of system folders.

just enough to stop it booting.
i accessed the drive via recovery console, but couldnt restore the missing folders/files without an installation disk

theyve all gone now anyway - full format of all partitions during install

 

[tlovatt]

really pushing the OT limits here, but we pride ourselves on having experts on everything.

i bought a cheap apple mac power PC c.2005 to use in the shed.
just for music + audiobooks predominantly, but a bit of browsing, and viewing pdfs etc. (no videos, or facebook!)

so... the previous owner had tried to wipe the hard drive, but only trashed the OS - all his private files were intact.

i couldnt get hold of an original contemporary version of macos, so i've installed Lubuntu on it.

I've never used ubuntu - only fedora/redhat - so i'm not sure about the procedure for finding/installing software?

i'd likd to install a plex client, or equivalent - just for audio files.

i havent a clue where to start looking - everything i've found seems to be about installing tbe OS, rather than additional software.

any pointers?

There will be 2 options, firstly via the command line, as it is a Debian based distro you will use the apt command.
Simpler if you are not familiar with apt - there will be a software centre somewhere in the menu that will let you install whatever packages you want, normally under the systems section of the apps menu.

For what it is worth, bin Lubuntu and install Mate 18 - you may need to tweak a few settings to get the interface more in line with what you are used to (i.e. turn off automatic focus) but it is a great distro

 

[Kayos]

I had an old CRT iMac running Slackintosh, an unofficial port of Slackware. I used to be a massive linux geek though

 

[Slowcoach]

I seem to remember you can boot from FireWire from whatever pc you have and partition hardrive.

 

[julianf]

Be aware that computers don't generally like damp conditions.

Wastefull as it is, the computer attatched to my CNC machine never gets turned off.

It's own warmth seems to stave off the issues with trying to start it up on cold mornings.

 

[bigegg]

I seem to remember you can boot from FireWire from whatever pc you have and partition hardrive.

ive already sorted all that.

just need the music software - which i *think* has been answered.

 

[mangocrazy]

I use VLC media player on both Linux and Windows, and it's excellent.

 

[Popcorn]

It'll of had OSX10.4 Tiger or maybe 10.5 Leopard when new, I've still got install disc images of both if you want them.

 

[tlovatt]

For what it is worth, bin Lubuntu and install Mate 18 - you may need to tweak a few settings to get the interface more in line with what you are used to (i.e. turn off automatic focus) but it is a great distro

Just realised, that should read MX18, not Mate 18 - am getting old and the mind is getting a bit blunt at times! https://mxlinux.org/

 

[bigegg]

It'll of had OSX10.4 Tiger or maybe 10.5 Leopard when new, I've still got install disc images of both if you want them.

thanks for the offer! i may take you up on that.

but:
im not sure which will be more useful?
linux? or a very outdated macos?

 

[maz0]

The introduction of the apt-get/yum commands were a god send for linux, but to be fair its still not fool-proof. You first have to find if the software is available for requesting, and also get the naming convention correct. Depending on the distribution you could be using 'sudo apt-get install plexmediaserver' but may require additional steps like adding the repository that contains the files. Honestly the best way to use the command is by plugging it into google each time to see how the developer prefers it to be used. Alternatively the software package suites tend to have most of the common apps that you can search and install with a few clicks. Lastly you can sometimes download the application as a .deb file or similar which is as close to a Windows installer file as you can get, but its not uncommon for it to tell you that dependencies are missing and send you on a merry-go-round of apt-get install chasing odd name libraries.

If you have any trouble locating/installing a specific thing then give us a shout!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I spent a weekend trying to get Linux to dual boot on a new Win10 machine....what a waste of time. The board had that stupid OS lock that they stick on new machines....very annoying as I wasn't aware of it!

I use bitlocker on all my windows machines....well worth doing to prevent "someone" stealing your PC and lifting the drive out and just reading all your data. BitLocker basically encrypts the drive....am sure Linux has something similar?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I spent a weekend trying to get Linux to dual boot on a new Win10 machine....what a waste of time. The board had that stupid OS lock that they stick on new machines....very annoying as I wasn't aware of it!

I use bitlocker on all my windows machines....well worth doing to prevent "someone" stealing your PC and lifting the drive out and just reading all your data. BitLocker basically encrypts the drive....am sure Linux has something similar?

https://www.zdnet.com/article/installing-linux-on-a-pc-with-uefi-firmware-a-refresher/

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Yea I just threw in the towel in the end...that was the end of my Linux adventure!

I managed to get either Linux or Windows to work...but dual boot just wasn't happening.

 

[Screwdriver]

If you can fire it up, go to the Apple menu top left and click, about this Mac. Let me know what ot is and I'm sure I'll be able to help. I specialised in Mac support for years during my time at the BBC, then my own ltd. co., even ended up working for Apple for a while.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Yea I just threw in the towel in the end...that was the end of my Linux adventure!

I managed to get either Linux or Windows to work...but dual boot just wasn't happening.

Quick read would suggest mbr boot as per pre uefi.
Thankfully I haven't had issues yet. As long as I can dual/triple boot a few versions of 7 I'm happy.

Is running Linux in a virtual box not an option?

https://www.virtualbox.org