Gamecube linux, it is possible!
My old Powermac G4 Desktop environment
I got myself a new powermac g4 (in a year 2022). This video up here is 10 years old. Newest debian distro that works for cubes 32-bit powerpc processor is debian 6.0. Newer ppc linux needs 64-bit powerpc processor, even Wii U is on the same level as gamecube. But it is possible to use PowerMac to compile 32-bit packages. I used 10 years ago MintPPC linux distro in my G4 Mac, nowadays you can find better distros.
Someone threw away powermac g4 MDD, if im not mistaken its one of the best g4 machines out there.
And you can use chroot and mount gamecubes filesystem as a loopback device. And you can even upgrade from debian 3.1 sarge all the way to 6.0 one upgrade after another! I prefer powermac's linux to compile all the powerpc linux packages, with gamecube only compiling it could take many days. And broadband adaptor is a must have for gamecube linux. SD card only mode is a clonky way. Gamecube has its own gx graphics library and mplayer has a working SDL MFE frontend. Its kinda cool to use "nfs" (network file system) to boot 360p and 480p videos through network. Im a bit crazy with youtube. I backup all the best junk to my pc, so I dont have to use youtube for them :). All the old AVI and xvid-videos work, but as you can expect Gamecube doesnt handle 720p or 1080p videos. And it is easy to backup youtube videos with things like y2mate.com. And then choose 360p or 480p to quality. And then just extract them to NFS user interface. Basic know how is required to use this SSH login to cube and install some useful apps through apt-get. You get used to terminal commands: "ls -l" "cd" "cd.." "dir" If you can use dos-commands, you get along with a linux terminal very fast. Linux has a very powerful packing and unpacking commands with simple terminal commands. Im not a IRC fan, but it is possible to install irssi. And through apt-get I recommend to instal "screen" package, so if you close the ssh the screen is still active. There is even easy ssh login client called "putty", for other platforms than linux. And some fun linux desktop games run in cube, like supertux and kobo deluxe.
For linux kernel with NFS support (Broadband adaptor is a mandatory). Use a 2.6.32 kernel source, and patch it with gamecube compatibility. This is a bit tricky, but you can use "crosstool" crosscompiler on x86- or x86_64 linux pc. You can use "make menuconfig" command to edit kernel features, you can choose many features like ntfs-driver, ext2, ext3 or ex4, and even macs APFS. And network block device (NBD) is possible, but I found NBD-image with debian 3.1 "sarge" inside it. And rooted it and made it to work in my NFS-environment . It is possible to do a sdcard-based linux, (Or use both sdcard and nfs) if you can get a good sdgecko drivers (im sure they are out there). When you get through the compiler without errors you must figure out a a working script to build gamecubes DOL-file (zImage.elf - or dtb.image-kernel), get a working script and save it as a sh-file and use terminal with a right commands or just drag and drop with a mouse, the file, right into -sh-script and you get a working DOL-file. There was instructions in wiki-sites for these kind of things. And you can always ask professional people in IRC to give you few tips. When finally you get a working dol file ( I HOPE :D ). You might need a hexeditor, if you want to choose between sdcard and nfs-environment, just make copies of the dol file. For example. Use ctrl-f, to find "ip.address" . From there you can choose some features. What version of the nfs is in use and is it "no root squash" or something else. Also you can use static ip or dhcp. And when you make changes pad with space. Remember! One digit at a time. There is a limit of space for this hexedit, be sure to make it right.
When you start to master all the ssh logins and commands and get a good feeling with debian linux in your cube, I recommed to edit /etc/fstab to get network drives ready for your mfe-player (mplayer).SMB shares and Samba shares work great! And do a startup script to get extra ram in use /dev/aram/ swap 0 0
/dev/loop0
And coz All the consoles lack a good ram capacity I recommend to use 128 mb "dphys swapfile". Package is available in apt-get, debian 6.0 repository. If im not mistaken, it is possible to write these all down in /etc/fstab
If you find other gamecube apps that work for linux, the easy way to get them to work in your full debian 6.0 cube distro is to try to migrate them, with almost like copy and paste mechanism. You just need the right files!
There is even some gaming emu's ported for gamecube linux. You just need to figure out how to use gamecubes own library files.
I highly recommend building your own crosscompiler from scratch to make a working linux kernel (search gc-forever forums!). You dont need a powermac linux distro for this. Its better to use a normal PC with linux. I, myself got mad with cross compiling with ubuntu and arch linux etc. Configurations in compilers were confusing and always some GNU-package was wrong version or was missing! But everything starts to get easier with C-language when you get used to it!
This video right here shows my Viper GC-extreme and qoob pro modchips, and also you can spot the Wii optical drive emulator, WODE. These are a way to go if you are not interested on linux. Homebrew runs better with a raw code and DevkitPPC is a very powerful toolchain. You can use sd media launcher gamedisc equipped with a sd card reader in a memory-slot, if you dont want a chipped console.
Here is a link to devkitppc forums Click Here for devkitppc information
Early Wii WODE footage, hardmod and softmod together!
Power Imac G4 700mhz, 768mb sdram running halo ce universal binary
This is here for an crazy idea. Could powerpc mac apps and games be ported for gamecube and wii???
Wii U could be capable to run this!
More iMac gaming, minimum processor IS 500 MHz, alot better performance than Halo CE.
My newest powermac G5!!
World Book 2012 software running! Mac OSX Leopard.
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