Which Linux distributions work on IBM's JS20 PowerPC blade?

Question

Which Linux distributions have people successfully gotten working on an IBM JS20 Blade, which has the PowerPC 970 processor? Specifically, I'm interested in distributions other than RHEL and SLES. What gotchas need to be watched out for when installing a particular distribution of Linux on the JS20?

Non-Specific Distribution Information

• IBM's Linux on BladeCenter JS20
• IBM's eServer BladeCenter JS20 Whitepaper — "The JS20 blade supports all popular Linux distributions including Red Hat®, Inc., and SUSE LINUX."
• PenguinPPC Distributions List
• PPCLinux — "This project is a repository of information on how to run GNU/Linux on PowerPC architectures." Link is now broken.

Ubuntu Specific Information

• Ubuntu PowerPC FAQ — "Ubuntu 6.10 was the last officially supported PowerPC version of Ubuntu."
• Ubuntu PowerPC Download
• Ubuntu 8.04 PowerPC Supported Hardware

For Apple Macintosh G3, G4, and G5 computers, including iBooks and PowerBooks as well as IBM OpenPower machines.

Debian Specific Information

• Debian on PowerPC —"We may have a 64bit port in the future." Looks like there is only a 32-bit version available currently.
• Debian on JS20 blades — Link is now broken
• Installing Debian Etch on IBM JS20s

Gentoo Specific Information

• Gentoo Linux
• ppc64 Release Notes for Gentoo Linux 2005.1

Crux PPC Specific Information

• Crux PPC

Answer 1

I would expect somewhat difficult installation process on JS20. In my situation keyboard sometimes worked with SMS menu (think BIOS), but as soon as installation CD booted, it absolutely ceased to function. I found out that keyboard is officially not supported during installation. I had to configure Serial-Over-LAN (SOL) on the chassis, but luckily after that it worked. Of course this means no GUI during install. On installed system the keyboard works, yay.

I've never installed any distro besides SLES on Power. Anyway, keep an eye on DLPAR functionality, because it's very, very useful for production on large boxes (you can add memory or CPU without OS shutdown). I don't think you plan to partition the blade, so it is less important for you right now, but nevertheless you could consider it for scalability reasons (i.e. maybe you wish to be prepared for normal-size p machines).

Answer 2

Perhaps Yellow Dog Linux will also run on the JS20?

I've gotten YDL 6.1 running on my QS20 blades.

Answer 3

I have a IBM 620. I have test Suse, Ubuntu and Debian on it. In the end I used to Debian. It has been two years now, and I have never looked back. Current uptime of over 400 days.

I had some initial problems installing, but debian as a rich set of information on the Internet.