Hello,

How are you all? Good I hope.
Well I have a G3 Blue & White. The old OS would not run and I did not have the originald discs. So I decided to burn a SUSE Linux 10.1 PPC ISO image onto 5 CDs and then install it.

Installing SUSE Linux 10.1 on this G3 has been problematic.

I am a newbie to Linux so I will try to explain some of the problems.

For one, after installations, the update process was unfamiliar to me. I understood that you you check dependancies before installing updates. So I selected all recommended pacakges, tested them and then installed them. This did not seem to change much until later the Gnome Desktop just would not load anymore. So I did a clean install again. It seemed to work the 2nd time, but after updating the system, several applets were not loading and I was prompted to either delete them or leave them.

I've tried doing a rescue install but it always prompts me for an install login. But when the password prompt appears, I cannot enter anything.

So I did another clean install. The applet issue came up again. So I thought maybe I'll try a different OS. Mayeb SUSE Linux 10.3 will work better than 10.1.

Only problem is 10.3 only comes in a DVD. I can't seem to get the G3 to install 10.3 from the external DVD. Does anyone know how to command the computer to boot from an external DVD?

I thought maybe deleting the entire old installation would force the MAC to boot from the DVD but In cannot even delete all the partitions. There is always an error.

Finally, I am trying to access my windows workgroup through the Mac. During install of 10.1 I set the domain to the workgroup of the windows domain but Linux does not recognize any of the devices on the windows network even if all the firewalls are off all the computers on the network and the Linux computer as well.

To sum up,

Is it safe to just select all the default updates recommended by linux if the dependencies are OK? If so, this is done by selecting all packages and accepting the updates right?

Secondly, how do you force a G3 to boot from an external DVD? I'm sure if you told me how to get into the BIOS I could change the settings. I've tried changing the installation source yet it will not recognize the DVD player even though I can access the files on the DVD through SUSE

Why would Linux throw up error messages when I try to delete the partitions while signed in as an administrator?

Why would Gnome become inoperable? And why do I always get these messages about applets failing t load delete or not?

Finally, why doesn't Linux recognize the devices on a windows network while all the firewalls are off and the right workgroup name is set?

Thanks for any help ahead of time.
Sorry if I am not specific enough. If you need more clarification I can provide it.