Gentoo PPC General Questions

kcsduke · n00b Joined: 25 May 2002 Posts: 40 Location: Cambridge, MA

I'm considering buying a used ibook (G3 ~500MHz, 256MB) or powerbook (G4 ~500MHz, 256MB), and I'm curious what sort of performance to expect. I've been using linux for about 2 years, but only on intel systems (my computer is desktop P3 450, but I've used others too). My understanding is that processor speed is not an accurate way of comparing the intel vs. motorola effective speed. How fast do the apple laptops "feel" (perhaps compared to an intel system) running gentoo?

Are there any major downsides/upsides to running the ppc version of gentoo rather than the intel version?

Anyone have any major problems with Apple Laptops? They seem like really solid (and attractive) machines, but like I said, I don't have a great deal of experience with them.

Thanks a lot!
~Kyle

brady · n00b Joined: 11 Jun 2002 Posts: 23

i have an ibook2.

1. the stability of the hardware is excellent.
2. the stability of the os (linux) is also excellent (but you need a benh kernel. the gentoo-ppc kernel is not so good in my experience).
3. hardware compatibility is a non-issue. everything on my ibook is supported. i have dvd/cd-rw ``combo drive'' and i have both working perfectly - and i just watched akira last night (what a great flick). devices i hae working:
--pmu (power managment unit) works excellent. i have all major features working except hibernate.
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--dvd/cd-rw
--usb mouse, keyboard, zip drive, and a comapct-flash camera (to mount the cf device).
--ethernet (cat 5)
--ethernet (wirless airport card)
--the brightness, volume, and eject buttons
--fire-wire. i dont own any devices, but i have connecteda fw hard disk with no problems.
--the external monitor port

i have had no reason to use the modem, but i can only assume it would work if i configured it to work.

and then there is the issue of speed. youre right - clock speed is not the only metric. my ibook2 is g3 500mhz, 384mb ram. its plenty fast for everything i want to do. i havent used intel in a few years, but if i had to throw a number out there, id say typical things respond at about 650mhz on the ``intel'' clock speed metric. however, this will change when preempt+lockbreaking is available for ppc. i would project somewhere around 700-750mhz ``feel''.

hope this helps.

cheers!

-brady

my stance: i will not buy intel again, even if that mean buying amd

Gerk · Retired Dev Joined: 07 May 2002 Posts: 435

FWIW I have a test machine (http://quad.macdiscussion.com) with the -ac 01 scheduler patches in it for PPC and it has been pretty much rock solid so far

zojas · Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2002 1:35 pm Post subject:

what app do you use for dvd playback in gentoo?
thanks.

brady · n00b Joined: 11 Jun 2002 Posts: 23

mplayer

ive also heard ogle works good too.

-brady

zojas · Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2002 4:51 pm Post subject:

I just tried Ogle over the weekend and it crashed on me for an encrypted dvd. I don't think I tried it on an unencrypted dvd.

Xine will play unencryptd dvds for me, but says it's missing a plugin for encrypted dvds. I have xine-dvdnav installed too. I'd really like to get xine working cause I'd like to take a few screenshots of some dvds.

vlc will play encrypted dvds, but won't do the dvd menu or screenshots. (it seems to do screen shots when using the X11 plugin but the output is extremely corrupted)