Installing Ubuntu on an iMac G3

Caius Durling – 2008-12-09 08:51:48

I decided to install ubuntu onto my iMac G3450Mhz G3, 768mb ram, 20GB Hard Drive to play around with. Only problem was it would boot so far, then just stop at a black screen. In googling the fix, the blog post that contains the fix is slightly outdated and 100% 404.

Here is the fix, updated for Ubuntu 6.10 Desktop PPC:

  1. When the screen goes black, drop to the console

    Control - Option - F2

    (if you need to log in use the name ubuntu to log in.)

    $ sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

  2. Change the frequencies in monitor section as follows:

    Section “Monitor”
    Identifier “Generic Monitor”
    Option “DPMS”
    HorizSync 60-60
    VertRefresh 43-117
EndSection

  3. After the changes then type control-o, return (to accept the filename), then control-x (save and exit nano)

  4. Restart X by running the following:

    sudo killall gdm && sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

5 Comments on Installing Ubuntu on an iMac G3

  1. i do no why ubuntu cant automatic boot? tks for explication step by step finally i can run Ubuntu on G3 !! you are super!!

    karol - 2009-05-16 00:53:40

  2. Thank you thank you thank you

    Geoff Boyd - 2009-12-16 00:55:49

  3. For a Imac G3 333Mhz this is:

    Horizsync 30-65 Vertrefresh 50-75

    Beatjuggler - 2010-01-27 11:26:14

  4. Good solution Caius, and thanks also to Beatjuggler. Now how can I add this into my Live Desktop CD ?

    MacFreak - 2010-01-29 12:16:22

  5. I found that if you use the external Monitor port, the Machine will display the desktop on it. Might be of some use until the config file is edited.

    James - 2010-06-16 04:08:07
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