15 Jun
2009
15 Jun
'09
1:59 p.m.
2009/6/15 Cameron Kaiser <spectre at floodgap.com>:
This has been discussed at very considerable length on the LEM
UnsupportedOSX list and it appears to be quite definite; for more
info, I'd suggest asking there.. It does not necessarily imply that
the kernel uses AltiVec, although I don't find that massively
implausible; for instance, the Linux kernel uses MMX and SSE to
accelerate software RAID functions. All it implies, AFAICS, is that as
it loads the kernel checks that it's on a G4-class or better CPU and
aborts if it's not.
I think we're talking two different things here. I have it on reasonably
good authority that Leopard will boot on a G3, *if* you install it
on a supported machine and swap drives, *or* you fudge OpenFirmware and
fool the Installer. I read your post to say that even that configuration
won't boot on a G3. Did I misunderstand?
If there is an AltiVec dependency in the kernel, then I would imagine that
the kernel either would crash outright on a G3, or certain things would
break. OTOH, certain things do break under Leopard on a G3, so maybe there's
some AltiVec code there after all, just not in the bootstrap.
Well, I might be wrong, but I've not heard of this. I've certainly not
even tried with either of my G3s. I have heard people managing to coax
it into life on G3s *with a G4 upgrade chip* but that is rather
different. (Indeed, I've just bought such an upgrade chip to try to
turn my old B&W into a Tiger Server.)
http://www.lowendmac.com/mail/0807mb/0711.html#43
And then again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su8zWpFOkAM
Leopard (10.5)
requires a /G4/ of at least 867MHz. The kernel is
compiled against a G4 and will not boot on a G3. The check can be
bypassed with an app called LeopardAssist or an OpenFirmware hack.
Compiling against a G4 implies there is AltiVec (without a non-AltiVec
option) code in the kernel. To my knowledge the Leopard kernel does
not have such a dependency; where did you see this?
Not that I advise bothering with Leopard on a G3, mind you :) From the comments to that vid:
(note that if you
want to to this with your own Beige G3 you will need
a G4 upgrade CPU for it, as Leopard was compiled by Apple without G3
support to try and cut off these awesome old machines and make Leopard
an impossibility on them)
I only have hearsay & circumstantial evidence, but all I've read and
got from Googling is that you need a G4 chip. AGP graphics and things
can be worked around using extra drivers and things - which is /far/
too much work for me - but that the G4 spec. can't be.
I'd be quite happy to be proved wrong on this one, though.
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lproven at gmail.com
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884 ? Fax: + 44 870-9151419
AOL/AIM/iChat/Yahoo/Skype: liamproven ? LiveJournal/Twitter: lproven
MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? ICQ: 73187508