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I have an iMac G5 that I'm looking to install Ubuntu, Kubuntu, etc, and release of Ubuntu on to. Whenever I try to install any version (I've only tried 12.04 and above), I install the OS without errors, but when I restart after installation, I get an error that told me to go to wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b34#devicefirmware. Again, this works with every Ubuntu release I've tried on this specific computer.

I have, although, successfully installed Ubuntu 12.04 on a Mac mini G4, which works entirely fine, which is confusing, because I had no need to install firmware on that, yet I have to install seemingly new firmware on a computer that is older.

This iMac runs on a PPC processor, so it's probably no longer supported.

By the way, I'm completely and totally new to Ubuntu, and I probably have no idea what I'm doing. I needed to switch to something other than OS X because neither of my 2 semi-old macs seem to co-operate with OS X very well. My Mac mini is fine, but this iMac G5 will not stop giving me issues.

I'd really appericate any help that anyone out there might have.

Thanks in advance.

Tim
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user258048
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1 Answers1

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The firmware referred to is proprietary firmware for the specific wireless device in the machine. With a temporary wired ethernet connection, it can be installed with:

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

Reboot and the message will be gone and the wireless present.

chili555
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  • I don't think I'm doing this at the right time/place. I'm doing it once yaboot starts up, which is probably wrong because if I remember correctly it said something about an invalid directory. I just need to know when/where to do this command. – user258048 Mar 14 '14 at 02:29
  • Please do the command when the computer is fully booted up to the desktop. If this firmware message appears during the boot process,ignore it until you are fully at the desktop. It may take a few moments; be patient. – chili555 Mar 14 '14 at 12:04
  • I tried waiting for 30 minutes or so. The computer just freezes at the error and refuses to boot any further – user258048 Mar 14 '14 at 13:34
  • That sounds like this problem and I suggest the same solution. http://askubuntu.com/questions/127358/ubuntu-freezes-running-the-first-time – chili555 Mar 14 '14 at 14:26
  • The thing is... even to do the first step, my keyboard doesn't have an Insert key because this is on a mac. The Esc key doesn't work either. – user258048 Mar 14 '14 at 14:52
  • Can you get to the GRUB menu pressing Shift? – chili555 Mar 14 '14 at 14:55
  • I tried rapidly pressing and holding shift at startup, it didn't appear to come up – user258048 Mar 14 '14 at 15:14
  • I have to press and hold Shift immediately after the computer's Enter the BIOS thing disappears. It usually takes me a couple of tries. – chili555 Mar 14 '14 at 15:18
  • Is the bios after the white screen appears right after pressing power, or is it yaboot, or something else? – user258048 Mar 14 '14 at 15:32
  • I'm not too familiar with Mac, but I'd start pressing it very quickly after the white screen. – chili555 Mar 14 '14 at 15:43
  • Maybe it is Tab: http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1931658.html – chili555 Mar 14 '14 at 15:45
  • Rapid pressing and pressing then holding down of shift did nothing, no GRUB, and pressing then holding down of Tab made it pause on yaboot, then proceeding did nothing. Rapid pressing of tab made a similar occurence. – user258048 Mar 14 '14 at 21:08
  • Please see this: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCKnownIssues "b43 (Airport Extreme) hangs at missing firmware" Evidently, you can add the parameter at yaboot. – chili555 Mar 14 '14 at 22:23
  • I was able to get to the yaboot prompt and type in the "Linux b43.blacklist=yes" command. After it starts booting, it says something about how 'blacklist' isn't valid, something like that. After it goes past that, it freezes at a black screen. – user258048 Mar 14 '14 at 23:12
  • I don't believe it is actually 'Linux b43.blacklist=yes.' I believe it is actually 'b43.blacklist=yes.' Please try again. – chili555 Mar 15 '14 at 13:05
  • I typed in 'b43.blacklist=yes', it came up and said 'b43.blacklist=yes is not a valid file or directory' – user258048 Mar 15 '14 at 13:35
  • Are you typing this at yaboot in order to install for the first time or after install to boot the first time? http://clusterbleep.net/blog/2012/05/09/ubuntu-12-04-splash-screen-lockup-with-livecd/ – chili555 Mar 15 '14 at 13:51
  • I'm typing this in to boot for the first time. I've installed it already. Again, tried to get to the GRUB menu using shift at startup, nothing abnormal happens. – user258048 Mar 15 '14 at 14:12
  • Are you holding down the right hand Shift key? https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2 – chili555 Mar 15 '14 at 14:50
  • I've tried holding down the right shift and left shift keys. Neither seems to bring up the GRUB menu. – user258048 Mar 15 '14 at 15:47