Install issues on imac g3 333mhz

robosexual · n00b Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 2

Hey there. I'm trying fix up this old iMac for my SO's kid and I'm having trouble figuring out exactly what's wrong with it.

It's an iMac G3 333mhz, 160mb RAM, 6gb HD.

When I start the liveCD, it usually hangs at udev, or gives me a bunch of abnormal exit errors that are different every time. IF it gets past that, I can partition the hard drive and I can start to untar the stage3 archive, but then it farts all over me and gives me segmentation fault all over the place.

So far I have tried replacing the hard drive (twice), taking out the 128mb RAM, swapping it with the RAM from my laptop, putting the initial RAM back in, burning the install CD on three different burners, a couple different kernel arguments that did nothing, pitching a gargantuan fit, and ignoring the godforsaken thing for a week.

Current theories include: something stupid that I'm forgetting to do or don't know about, failing CD drive, or *gulp* the mobo.

This is my first attempt putting linux on a ppc. It is a foreign concept to me, I am far more comfortable with x86.

Suggestions?

Habbit · Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 10:39 pm Post subject:

If you are certain that the memory is OK, then SIGSEGV (segfaults) usually indicate invalid CPU opcodes. Maybe the livecd (I'm taking you mean the universal install cd) kernel/apps were compiled for post-g3 machines. In the x86 arch, the livecd requires an i686, while the minimal cd should run on a 486. Have you tried using the minimal CD instead? You might also have an overheating problem or a defective CPU.
_________________

robosexual · n00b Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 2

Ah yeah, I forgot that one ... for some reason I'd figured that it wasn't the CPU and it was more likely the CDROM and I can't remember why, I'll have to look at what sort of crap the monster is spewing at me again.

I've tried both the minimal and the universal cd. minimal works a little better. maybe i'm missing something somewhere I should be doing, I know G3's tend to be a pain, from the research I've done so far.

nixnut · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:56 pm Post subject:

Moved from Installing Gentoo to Gentoo on PPC.
_________________
Please add [solved] to the initial post's subject line if you feel your problem is resolved. Help answer the unanswered

talk is cheap. supply exceeds demand

Habbit · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 10:22 pm Post subject:

Can you post the concrete error message, along with any other relevant information?
_________________

JoseJX · Retired Dev Joined: 28 Apr 2002 Posts: 2774

I'd also suggest trying the 2006.1 InstallCD, some people with older machines have had better luck with that one.
_________________
Gentoo PPC FAQ: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-ppc-faq.xml