Hi,

It runs NetBSD 1.5.2 just fine with a few changes, see
http://www.mysunrise.ch/users/beoneel/NetBSD.html.  I'm
sending this email to you from within Squeak running on the
 PB540 running 1.5.2.  You'll probably want more than a 160 
meg disk, and the more memory you have the better. 

At the moment it is a bit ofa diy project.  You'll need a new 
libc with the fpe buitlt in as described above, and then 
you'll have to build a sbc kernel since there is no 1.5.2 one,
and while you're building the kernel you'll need to tweek ams.c
soo that the trackpad works in X.  The web page
details all of this.

Once running it runs failry well.  X works well though I
have no idea if the external monitor bit works.  

I have no idea how it compares to an x86 system.

It took me an hour ot two to install from a local disk.

cheers

bruce


"Jeremy C. Reed" <reed@reedmedia.net> wrote:
> The Ports/mac68k/ webpage doesn't list Powerbook 520 or 540c as supported
> system models, but I have found postings about using them so I assume they
> are supported.
> 
> I have found a cheap 520 and 540C (with MacOS 7.6 installed).
> 
> I read that the 520 is 50Mhz and the 540c is 66Mhz. But I don't have
> experience with them, so I don't know much about their performance.
> 
> (My Intel 486-66 boxes not running X work just fine. My Intel Pentium 166
> workstations running X work great, but my Intel Pentium 120 laptop is
> very slow.)
> 
> What would something like a 520 or 540C compare with (performance) in the
> Intel i386 world?
> 
> It would be nice if X can run okay for doing presentations (via LCD
> projector plugged into external monitor port).
> 
> I am curious: for someone who has never installed NetBSD on a Macintosh,
> but has installed it on i386 well over one hundred times, any ideas on how
> long it will take to install (not counting download time)?
> 
> (Please CC me when responding.)
> 
> Thanks,
> 
>    Jeremy C. Reed
>    http://bsd.reedmedia.net/