MorphOS on Power Mac G5

[Karlos]

Hardly, the Apple G5s were not really up for discussion at the time when X1000 was announced. Do you suggest that takemetograndma never put down the X1000?.

Actually, I'm rather hoping TMHG has learned a valuable lesson in this thread.

He's popped up in several OS4 related threads to shoot down OS4 and promote MOS. That, in itself wouldn't have really registered on my radar but there was one thread in particular that stands out. It was created by a poster that was asking specifically what the deal with OS4 was, what was fun and what was cool. He'd already created one for MOS asking the same.

Regardless of this, TMHG jumped into the thread in full fanboy mode to try and persuade the OP what he really wanted to talk about in that thread was MOS. The OP didn't and went as far asking that he desist. And, after some complaints, so did I.

Unfortunately, being in full fanboy mode, it seems he just was incapable of stopping and the thread got derailed further and further.

In the end, the OP was thoroughly put off both options.

Now, in the course of that thread, TMHG was pretty scathing towards the OS4 option.

Which is why, in this thread, after I tried to get him to explain why MOS on a G5 would be a better choice than say linux on an x86 for any compute intensive task, the following response made me laugh out loud:

I think it's funny that an Amiga enthusiast has to defend his preferred choice of OS and HW for his Amiga hobby here on Amiga.org. This is something I would expect over at slashdot, i.e. "Linux on x86 is cheaper, faster and better". Well it might be, but it won't be MorphOS.

Well, perhaps next time he'll remember that before he trashes some other amiga user's preferred choice of OS/HW.

[amigadave]

@Karlos,

Thanks for the reasonable replies.  It was not too long ago when MorphOS could only be run on hardware that was produced in very limited numbers and it has only been a little more than 10 months since support for the G4 MacMini was released.  The power afforded by supporting the 1.5GHz G4 MacMini is not that much greater than the Pegasos2 and the developer base for third party native apps or games for MorphOS2.x is painfully small, so I think it is going to take more time before we see applications that fully utilize the small increase in power and even years longer before we see native MorphOS apps and games that take advantage of the G5, if it is ever supported by MorphOS.  But if support never comes to MorphOS for the G5 we will just have to find a way to do as much as we can on the G4.

As for porting apps and games from other OSes instead of writing something new and original from scratch, that is more a function of the complexity of newer programs and the lack of man-power to code anything native for MorphOS.  It just makes more sense to take advantage of any source code that can be found, instead of recreating the wheel just to show that we can do it.  Like you, I would be very pleased to see any original ideas coded to run native on MorphOS2.x and AmigaOS4.x, but with the limited number of programmers I think the best we can hope for are projects like OWB on MorphOS that runs better and faster on the same hardware than it does via Linux.  If MorphOS2.x and AmigaOS4.x programmers can take existing source code, port it to either or both Amiga NG PPC OSes and improve it's function, features and speed in the process, I think we have a winning combination.  Having the fastest PPC hardware we can get will make this process more successful for certain power hungry apps and games.

 I totally agree with you that both MorphOS2.x and AmigaOS4.x desperately need more software and developers to write that software, but having more varied hardware choices certainly won't hurt our chances to get more software and developers, it should help at least in some small way.

@kolla,

Now you are just trolling for your personal enjoyment.  I had forgotten how childish you could be.

[Piru]

Anyone considering purchasing a G5 tower should stay away from the water cooled models, as they have not aged gracefully and are leaking all over the motherboard.
Unless of course you're handy repairing water cooling systems.

Actually they aren't water cooled. The liquid propylene glycol (neon green).

I just took a look at the cooling unit in my dual 2.5GHz PowerMac G5 and it looks just fine. All the rubber pipes are ok, and there are no indications of any potential leakage. At least this particular machine has aged gracefully in this regard.

Obviously YMMV. The liquid cooling systems failed quite a lot, even as much as 20% of certain models within a year. On the other hand many liquid cooled systems are still working just fine. Go figure.

If this system dies I'll just get another.

[Karlos]

At least propylene glycol is fairly non-conductive. As is pure deionised water, come to think of it. However, the former is far less likely to dissolve things that will increase it's conductivity once it has seeped out...

[amigadave]

Actually they aren't water cooled. The liquid propylene glycol (neon green).

I just took a look at the cooling unit in my dual 2.5GHz PowerMac G5 and it looks just fine. All the rubber pipes are ok, and there are no indications of any potential leakage. At least this particular machine has aged gracefully in this regard.

Obviously YMMV. The liquid cooling systems failed quite a lot, even as much as 20% of certain models within a year. On the other hand many liquid cooled systems are still working just fine. Go figure.

If this system dies I'll just get another.

I saw eBay adds for some G5 PowerMacs that stated they had a Panasonic Liquid Cooling System that was much more reliable and could only be found in about 1 out of every 1000 LCS G5 PowerMacs.  I have not researched this to see if it was sales hype, or if it is true.

I know that there has been no official MorphOS Team announcement regarding porting to the G5 PowerMac, but it is nice to know that at least one member of the Team has the Dual 2.5GHz G5 model.  I hope it is the Quad Core 11.2 model, but I don't think I remember seeing any Dual Core, Dual 2.5GHz G5 PowerMac models, so maybe it is.  That is the model I would like to get and use (there are tons and tons of them available near me that have been retired from movie and music studios recently) as it was the last and fastest G5 PowerMac for running MacOSX 10.5.8, and PPC Linux.  I just saw one sold night before last for $611.00 just loaded with Mac software, like Final Studio2 and tons more.

[Iggy]

@Karlos,

  I totally agree with you that both MorphOS2.x and AmigaOS4.x desperately need more software and developers to write that software, but having more varied hardware choices certainly won't hurt our chances to get more software and developers, it should help at least in some small way.

@kolla,

Now you are just trolling for your personal enjoyment.  I had forgotten how childish you could be.

That first statement above I couldn't agree with more. And with three OS' and the increased number of users, porting across the Amiga base should be easier than into it from outside systems.

As to the second, I don't mind those who sit on their own respective sides as long as the majority of us continue to remain objective.

The more contact I have with all Amigans, the more my respect for the community grows.

BTW - Karlos, thanks for the 64bit flash package!

[kolla]

@amigadave
Right, write me off as a troll, just like the rest of the blue pill crowd - you still have not answered my questions - for me those are real issues, soon enough they will be yours.

[amigadave]

Right, write me off as a troll, just like the rest of the blue pill crowd - you still have not answered my questions - for me those are real issues, soon enough they will be yours.

Don't whine because I refuse to play your game any longer.  Your "issues" will never be my issues.:lol:

[kolla]

I'm not whining, I'm just observing that once again, any critisism against MorphOS is written off as trolling, it's symptomatic for any discussion regarding MorphOS. And what "game"? If anything, it is your game, it was you who started this nonsense.

[Crom00]

What we have here is a win win situation. For those that want os4, get one of the various bits of hardware. Morphos runs on Macs... If I was a developer I would make sure that releases can run on both, if such a thing is possible. I'm curious to see what sofware is developed in the future.  Sure as hell beats the legal limbo of the past few years.

[Karlos]

BTW - Karlos, thanks for the 64bit flash package!

No problem, but just remember it's unfinished software. That said, it has been far more stable for me than the the 32-bit version in npviewer...

[Iggy]

What we have here is a win win situation. For those that want os4, get one of the various bits of hardware. Morphos runs on Macs... If I was a developer I would make sure that releases can run on both, if such a thing is possible. I'm curious to see what sofware is developed in the future.  Sure as hell beats the legal limbo of the past few years.

Exactly! I really don't expect to see many packages that are exclusive to either OS. And the presence of competition may drive both development teams.

As to Kolla's "issues", apparently some of us take the matters we discuss to heart and they become argumentative and defensive.  Luckily, most of you seem to be able to maintain your perspective.

[Crom00]

Exactly! I really don't expect to see many packages that are exclusive to either OS. And the presence of competition may drive both development teams.

It'd be hilarious if Hyperion released a version of OS4 for G5 Imacs or the Graphite G4 (cheapest most common) or  something like that.

Even better just fold and port it all to intel. Come one... if this stuff ran on intel, you don't think they're be Morphos or OS4 netbooks?

[Iggy]

It'd be hilarious if Hyperion released a version of OS4 for G5 Imacs or the Graphite G4 (cheapest most common) or  something like that.

Even better just fold and port it all to intel. Come one... if this stuff ran on intel, you don't think they're be Morphos or OS4 netbooks?

 

I doubt that's going happen and that's not quite what I meant. And, as we've repeatedly discussed, X86 is covered by AROS.

Again, with each OS devoted to different platforms, our base is increased. Both your ideas leave us cannibalizing each others sales.

[gdanko]

OS4 or MorphOS on x86 will likely never happen because of the endian-ness.

[takemehomegrandma]

Do you suggest that takemetograndma never put down the X1000?

I have, I do, and will continue to speak my opinions about the "X1000" whenever I see fit. I have no problems with the "X1000" per se though, nor people wanting it. It's their life and their money, and everyone is totally free to throw both away for all I care.