So after getting frustrated, I remembered an open-source alternative to the Minecraft server called Cuberite. I searched Oracle’s website, found nothing, tried compiling it myself, also nothing.
I tried to install OpenJDK8, and found out that OpenJDK stopped support the specific revision of PowerPC back during Java 7. After about two and a half hours of loading about 2GB worth of new files onto the old and slow HDD, it was working, and it was working well.
I then ran “sudo dist-upgrade” to upgrade the distro version. After updating all the packages on Debian 7, I changed the name of the version in “sources.list” to “jessie” instead of “wheezy”.
So I though for a minute, “What if a later version of Debian has a newer Java version?” So I began working on upgrading the machine to Debian 8. The problem with that was that the only available version of Java was 7, which is not compatible with the latest Minecraft version’s server. The machine draws too much power to use for a 24/7 server, so I though what if I could get something meaningful running, such as a game server? The first server that came to mind is Minecraft, as it runs on Java. I changed the SSH port, then began working on getting something useful running. After trying a bunch of random passwords on the machine I figured out the root user’s login and got to work. My first order of business was to change the SSH port so that it didn’t interfere with my other Linux machines. So I turned my focus on another project of mine for a few months.Ībout a week ago, I decided to start working on the PowerMac again. The internet browser was old and outdated, the latest officially supported version of any Java JRE or JDK was version 7, and finally nothing would compile as the GNU C and C++ compilers were way out of date.
After installing Debian 7, I got stuck pretty quick on finding any software to run.
I downloaded the net installer for Debian 7, as I found it was the only disc that would boot on the Mac for some reason, even after trying the minimal install, which was just a command line with Ethernet drivers. Luckily this is a common issue, and the forum post I found recommended pushing the flap that covered the drive down and pressing the physical button with a bent paper clip. The disk drive, though a standard drive that you would see on a non-Apple PC, could only be opened from outside the case through software. The system had no hard drive when I got it, so I threw in a 3.5” 80GB drive I had laying around and got to work on getting something to run.Īs the hard drive was blank (or it had a non-Power compatible OS, I had no clue what was on it), I first installed an operating system. It has 1GB of RAM (max of 4GB), has a single-core PowerPC 970FX CPU, and has a NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra GPU. The specific model I got was the lowest end PowerMac you could get from late-2004.
The only “modern” OS you can run on them now is Linux, and I use that term lightly as not a lot of applications support the architecture.Ī few months ago, I acquired an old PowerMac G5 from a local e-waste event, for free. As the Power architecture is now fairly uncommon, as x86 and ARM dominate the processor market, it is now mainly used in server applications. Chandler's Dev Blog Make PowerPC Great Again.īack when Apple didn’t try and screw over anyone with a broken iMac, back before Intel was the standard for Apple hardware, and back before Apple lost its only source of new innovation, that being Steve Jobs, there was the PowerMac, a line of computers running RISC architecture known as PowerPC, co-developed in a partnership between IBM, Apple, and Motorola.