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Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work

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On Tue, 27 Aug 2013, ddwr@hotmail.com wrote:

> On Tuesday, August 27, 2013 2:06:06 AM UTC-5, David Brown wrote:
>> On 26/08/13 18:20, ddwr@hotmail.com wrote:
>>
>>> If I was to install Debian on a PPC mac could I remove the HDD and
>>
>>> put it into a PC and it work
>>
>>
>>
>> If "it" is the hard disk, then yes it will work - though you would want
>>
>> to re-format the filesystems to get read-write access (I believe Linux
>>
>> can read HFS filesystems, but not write to them - but it was a decade
>>
>> ago that I last tried this).  You may even have to make a new partition
>>
>> table on the disk - many PC bioses cannot boot from GPT partition
>>
>> tables, which I think is the standard on Macs.
>>
>>
>>
>> If "it" is the Debian installation, then no.  The best you can do is
>>
>> read the data off the disk.
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>
>>> I thought I bought a live copy of Debian on ebay on CDs not dvds but
>>
>>> should I be able to boot into a desktop right away all I get is
>>
>>> installer text. Can Debian come on a set of Cds and run live from
>>
>>> just one cd or does it swap cds as it is getting up running. Is it
>>
>>> running on a Ram disk when it does work?
>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> It is not clear what your aim is, or your limitations.  It sounds
>>
>> vaguely like you want to install Debian on the PC from CDs, but you
>>
>> don't have a CD player on the PC and want to use the CD drive on the
>>
>> Mac.  Please be a little clearer here, and people can give you more
>>
>> useful help.
>>
>>
>>
>> I can't imagine buying Debian CDs on Ebay, given that Debian is free (at
>>
>> least, if you have a decent internet connection).  What did you pay for
>>
>> them?
>>
>>
>>
>> If you need to buy Linux CDs or DVDs due to poor internet connections, a
>>
>> good source is the cover disks on Linux magazines.  Alternatively,
>>
>> <http://on-disk-com> has a wide range - and unlike eBay, you know you
>>
>> will get what you pay for, get the latest version (or old versions if
>>
>> you prefer), and for many of their disks some of the money goes back to
>>
>> the developers.  I haven't used on-disk.com myself, but I know that
>>
>> LinuxMint sells disks through them, which is a good endorsement.
>
> I bought PPC discs thinking they were for a windows PC because no mention of apple or Mac was in the description on EBay. Yes it did say PPC in description and am an old Mac user and should have realized what I was buying. I want to get Debian on my old Dell 4550 with 1 GB ram. And yes know I need to run something less intensive than Gnome.
> So I have an old G3 Mac and wondered if I could use it and the discs to format for Linux and install it. I do not care to be able to read any Mac or windows HDDs after installation but run (learn & play) with Linux on the old Dell PC.
> I know you can?t tell me what I bought but here is the URL to the eBay item I did get.
> And yes my internet connection is slow dial up during summer where I reside.
> One last thing is I did a few months ago download a none live version of Debian but when I switch the BIOS to boot from the DVD I burnt from my download I got a message that I was to hit F1 to continue to boot which just looped me into the same message. I could not get the DVD to boot to an installer command. Did I download ok or burn the DVD correctly who knows so being here with dial up only I went to eBay and bought ready made Cds.
> Link to what I bought item number 200950547909:
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/200950547909
>
That description at Ebay is not very good.  It says PPC, but a quick 
glance makes no obvious reference to the Mac or the PPC.  SOme of the cut 
and paste is just generic to Debian.  It even says further on something 
about the needed processor, and it doesn't say PPC.

If you put the disk into a Pentium type computer, either it will boot, or 
it won't.  If it doesn't boot, it's not right for your processor (which 
then presumably verifies that it's for the PPC, but might mean it's for a 
more recent CPU if you don't have the latest computer).

Installing via a Mac won't work, the code won't run on an Intel computer.

On the other hand, you could run it on the PPC, unless the Mac is too old 
for the version on the disk.  There is a sharp line of divide at some 
point.

   Michael

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Thread

Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work ddwr@hotmail.com - 2013-08-26 09:20 -0700
  Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work root <NoEMail@home.org> - 2013-08-26 16:37 +0000
  Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2013-08-26 12:39 -0400
  Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be.invalid> - 2013-08-26 18:40 +0200
  Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work Kirk_Von_Rockstein <Kirk_Von_Rockstein@nowhere.invalid> - 2013-08-26 23:10 +0000
  Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2013-08-27 09:06 +0200
    Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work ddwr@hotmail.com - 2013-08-27 07:55 -0700
      Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2013-08-27 17:17 -0400
      Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2013-08-27 23:36 +0200
    Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2013-08-27 17:12 -0400
      Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2013-08-27 23:39 +0200
        Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work JEDIDIAH <jedi@nomad.mishnet> - 2013-08-27 17:20 -0500
          Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2013-08-27 16:43 -0700
          Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2013-08-28 09:22 +0200
            Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work JEDIDIAH <jedi@nomad.mishnet> - 2013-08-28 10:17 -0500
            Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work ddwr@hotmail.com - 2013-08-28 10:11 -0700
              Re: Ok dumb question can a PPC Mac HDD be moved to a PC and work ddwr@hotmail.com - 2013-08-28 10:20 -0700

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