Using a repurposed iMac G3 in my Radio Shack

I am big on the three "Rs" or Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. In this blog I am going to show you how I met the second "R" by repurposing my old first generation iMac G3 and gave it a new use in my Radio Shack.

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Installing a new Operating System

My iMac G3 hardware was in perfect working condition. I just needed a newer OS (Operating System) as not many applications were being written or are supported on Mac OS 8.6. While I could have upgraded to a new Mac OS, as the PowerPC Processor was supported up to Mac OS 10.3.9 "Panther", I chose to install Linux ported for the PowerPC Processor as a lot of the applications I wanted to run were not ported for the Mac OS.
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Deciding on a Linux Distro to Install

Distro is short for "Distribution", and refers to the type of Linux OS (Debian, Umbuntu, MintPPC). My first generation iMac G3 uses a "tray loader" style CDROM drive and is very finicky when booting from ISOs, or Linux install images, burned to CD-Rs. Later generations of iMacs use a "slot loading" CDROM drive and will boot from a wide variety of ISO Linux images. As such, the only Distro I was able to get my vintage iMac to boot from was MintPPC so this is the one I decided to install.

What is MintPPC?

Linux MintPPC is a Linux distribution for 32 and 64 bits PowerPC computers which is based on Linux Mint LXDE, ported to Debian/PPC. MintPPC offers a Desktop Manager, which runs fairy quickly and without lag, on older G3, G4, and G5 Mac computers with PowerPC processors.

MintPPC 8 is based on the stable release of the Debian codename "Lenny" Linux OS while MintPPC 9.3 is based on the stable release of Debian "Squeeze" OS. I choose to install MintPPC 11 which is based on the Debian "Wheezy" release. 

Due to issues described earlier with first generation "Tray Loader" IMac G3, I booted my iMac from a mini.iso which has just enough intelligence to boot then perform a network install of MintPPC. It is important to have a reliable and fast Internet connection to install MintPPC in this manner. 

Link to MintPPC Website

Instructions I created for installing MintPPC on iMac G3

1. Download mini.iso from this url http://www.mintppc.org/content/installation-instructions-mintppc-11
2. Burn mini.iso to CD-R.
3. Power down iMac.
4. Attach iMac to the Internet, do NOT try to use Microsoft ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) to provide access.
5. Insert mini.iso CD-R into iMac.
6. Click on the Power button while holding down the C key, this will boot you from the CD-R.
7. Type install url=mintppc.org then Enter
8. Select a language then Enter.
9. Select the country then Enter.
10. Select a keymap then Enter.
11. Type the hostname then Enter.
12. Leave domain name as default then Enter.
13. Select the Debian mirror country then Enter.
14. Select the mirror site then Enter.
15. Leave proxy blank then Enter.
16. Enter a root password then Enter.
17. Verify the root password then Enter.
18. Enter full name for user then Enter.
19. Enter user account name then Enter.
20. Enter user’s password then Enter.
21. Verify user’s password then Enter.
22. Select time zone then Enter.
23. Select Manual then Enter.
24. Select and Delete each partition.
25. Select Guided, use entire disk with separate partitions?
26. Select SCSI1 (sda) drive then Enter.
27. Select All Files in one partition then Enter.
28. Select Finish partitioning and write changes to disk.
29. Yes to write changes.
30. No to popularity contest.
31. Leave the default applications then Enter.
32. If application setup fails choose to install again.
33. Continue to Finish installation.
34. It took me several attempts to get MintPPC installed. iMac kept complaining that is was not able to process  files and I had to attempt again.

How to boot to CLI

By default, MintPPC tries to boot to the Linux Mint LXDE Desktop. If there is a problem with the LXDE Desktop you may need to boot to the CLI (Command Line Interface). Below is the step needed to accomplish this action:

1. While the iMac is booting to MintPPC, type Linux 1 at the boot: prompt to get into CLI then log in using the root password.

Network Access Issue

I was unable to connect to my local network after the install of MintPPC, I had to do the steps below to fix the issue. This procedure assumes you have a router or server on the local network that has the  DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) service running.

1. Boot into CLI.
2. cd /etc/network
3. Type nano interfaces
4. Add the following lines:

                auto eth0
                allow-hotplug eth0
                iface eth0 inet dhcp     
​      5. Ctrl-X then “Y” to save.
      6. Type shutdown -r now
      7.  Boot to CLI (Covered in the "How to boot to CLI" section of this blog)
      8. Type ifconfig you should see eth0 interface with a non-routable IP address.
      9. Type ping www.yahoo.com, you should be able to get ping replies.
      10. Ctrl+C to stop ping.

Other useful CLI commands:

1. ifconfig eth0 down - stops eth0 interface
2. ifconfig eth0 up - starts eth0 interface

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Getting the Linux Mint LXDE Desktop to work

I got a black screen when booting into the Linux Mint LXDE Desktop until I did the following:

Note: You iMac must be able to access the Internet in order to perform the following steps.

1. Boot to CLI (Covered in the "How to boot to CLI" section of this blog)
2. Type cd /ect/X11
3. Type wget http://mac.linux.be/files/xorg/imac1.txt
4. Type cp imax1.txt xorg.conf
5. Type shutdown -r now
6. iMac should now boot into Linux Mint LXDE Desktop without issue.

Fixing the Gnome Terminal

By default, I could not see letters or numbers I type into the Gnome Terminal window. Gnome Terminal is an application within the Linux Mint LXDE Desktop.

1. Log into the Linux Mint LXDE Desktop as user.
2. Launch Terminal from the menu.
3. Choose Edit | Profile preferences in the Terminal window.
4. Click on the Colors tab, change Text color to White.
5. Click on the Close button.
6. You should now see the text typed in.

 Setting up iMac to access Internet using ICS from a Windows 10 Laptop (optional)

I do not have any network connections in my Radio Shack and rely on a Laptop with wireless enabled in an other area of my basement to provide Internet access to my iMac using ICS or Internet Connection Sharing.

This steps are optional and would only be used of you don't have an Ethernet connection in close proximity to your iMac.

1. Make sure Windows 10 Laptop can access the Internet via Wireless connection.
2. Start | Settings | Network and Internet
3. Change Adapter Settings link.
4. Right-click on the Wireless Network Connection then choose Properties.
5. Click on the Sharing tab.
6. Select “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection”.
7. Click on the OK button, the word “Shared” should show up under to the Wireless Network Connection.
8. Connect Ethernet cable between the Ethernet port on the Windows 10 Laptop and the uplink port on a Ethernet Switch. Connect another Ethernet cable between a port on the Ethernet Switch and the Ethernet  port on the iMac.
9. Click to step 16 if you do not have Norton Internet Security install on your Laptop running Windows 10.
10. Click on the up arrow on the Taskbar of Windows 10, right-click on the Norton Internet Security icon then choose  Open Norton Internet Security.
11. Click on Settings then the Firewall Link.
12. Click on the Traffic Rules tab.
13. Create a new rule with the following properties:
    • Action: Allow
    • Connections: to and from other computers
    • Computers: Any computer on the local subnet
    • Communications: All types of communications
    • Advanced: Apply rule for NAT transversal, if Explicitly requested
    • Description: imac
14. Move the traffic rule to the top of the list then click on the Apply button.
15. Close Norton Internet Security
16. On the iMac boot to CLI, type the following to register new DHCP address: sudo dhclient -v eth0
17. Type ipconfig to verify new IP address.
18. Type ping www.yahoo.com to verify that you can ping an address on the Internet.
19. Type shutdown -r now

iMac Usage

I currently use the IceWeasel Internet Browser on the LXDE Desktop to access the arrl.org website to use the callsign lookup function. In the future I also plan on using ARRL's "Logbook of The World" to document my contacts as well.  Another great application ported to Linux is Xlog which is also used for documenting contacts. Below is a link that will connect you to a Website listing many great Ham Radio applications ported to Linux.

Link to Linux Ham Radio Applications

Below is a picture of my iMac running MintPPC in my Radio Shack:

My iMac G3 running MintPPC in Action!