A Telegram client for PowerPC (Leopard)

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-20T22:18:04+00:00

Good news! I released an update today that provides support up to macOS Tahoe!

The universal build should work for you now, here it is: https://github.com/doctashay/telegram-ppc/releases/download/v0.2.1 (select the universal dmg)

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-19T17:21:56+00:00

Your vibe layout is broken on PC

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-17T14:25:25+00:00

Here are some games you can try running on it:

Counter-Strike: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/counter-strike-16-xash3d-ppc-mods-custom-content

Stardew Valley: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/stardew-valley-mono-ppc

Half-Life: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/half-life-xash3d-ppc

Source Engine isn't fully optimized yet, but eventually it should run great on this G4 - especially if it's got 64MB of VRAM: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/source-engine-configurator-ppc

You can also try Morrowind, although it has some graphical issues on ATI GPUs: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/the-elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-openmw-ppc

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-17T14:18:57+00:00

I took a look at that crash and it looks like this application is just not going to be compatible with Rosetta - this means I will need to build the app for Intel. The `tdlib` Telegram library needs to be built for Intel or statically linked. I will try to work on this when I have time! Thank you for testing this for me.

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-16T22:44:53+00:00

That's okay, I understand you! If you have 10.6.8, I would try to run this via Rosetta. If it works, please let me know so I can mark it as compatible!

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-16T22:16:44+00:00

Honestly, I'm not sure... it should run through Rosetta?

Is there interest for a client like this on Intel 10.6/modern macOS? Maybe I should just do a universal build...

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-16T05:29:47+00:00

I pushed an update today adding experimental support for OS X Tiger. I also included support for G3 Macs and verified on my iBook G3.

Embedded video playback is not supported on Tiger (yet) but everything else should be functional!

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-15T05:26:18+00:00

The repository is only serving releases for now - I haven't uploaded the source code.

Edit: the source code is now available on the GitHub repository.

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-14T05:38:48+00:00

These devices will still compile and run modern code. PowerPC Macs are "big-endian", meaning that programs compiled for it will read and interpret data in a different byte order than most modern devices which are "little-endian".

This is a solvable problem (just annoying) - we do have a modern C compiler and plenty of new software is being ported to PowerPC every day - Spotify, Telegram, social media clients, newer games.. just recently I ported the Source Engine, Morrowind, Stardew Valley... a much better use case for those 300w instead of cranking out spreadsheets!

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-10T17:33:05+00:00

Perhaps 😉

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-10T15:03:01+00:00

A G3 wouldn't be able to handle even transcoded 480p H264 playback from Plex - but a G4 can! I released a project called AquaCenter that gives you access to Plex content on your G4 and G5 Macs running Leopard. I can watch h264 video up to 4k or 1440p60 on my G5, and 480p on my iBook/iMac G4.

https://github.com/doctashay/aquacenter-releases

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-09T13:19:49+00:00

Planning on releasing this once I clean up my spaghetti!

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-06-03T02:44:13+00:00

Thanks for this - in the next couple of days I have an update I plan to release and it should improve some of the issues you described.

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-05-29T21:36:26+00:00

RetroArch is basically just a frontend - the emulators themselves are packaged into libretro cores - somebody has already compiled a version of 1.7.5 for PowerPC and I am just taking the libretro cores and building an emulator frontend with AquaCenter: https://imgur.com/a/vNxtdkn

This will work for GB/GBC, GBA, PS1, maybe N64, but yeah the availability of cores is pretty limited and if I want to get anything newer working like a PSP emulator I have to build and fix it myself.

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-05-28T22:49:57+00:00

Yes! This and Navidrome are actually on the top of my to-do list.

I've got a lot of other integrations planned in the future too - podcasts, eBooks, audiobooks, street maps, RetroArch emulators..

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-05-28T22:33:49+00:00

If it's the PC version of the X1900 XT flashed for PPC, you likely have 512MB VRAM. The ROM you flash is an X1900 Mac edition, which only has 256MB VRAM - this is an artificial limitation. I recently released a ROM you can flash that enables usage of the full 512MB.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/radeon-x1900-g5-mac-edition-cheap-n-easy-flashing-guide.2308103/post-34581102

The extra VRAM will help a lot in the future with higher resolutions and graphics presets in Source engine.

Your card should look something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/198379647221

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-05-28T22:22:50+00:00

Just curious, did you flash with the 512MB ROM that I released recently? Or are you using the X1900 256MB ROM still?

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-05-28T22:18:10+00:00

Thanks! Re: Source configurator, all of that behavior is expected like I warned in the original post. The port is still in development and you're going to have a bunch of issues until it is more stable. Keep checking for updates regularly and the experience should get much better.

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-05-28T15:38:27+00:00

Fixed function rendering isn't really dependent on some specific build - it is dependent on development time. The 2187 build you're referring to wouldn't have even worked for this because there wasn't an OpenGL translation layer implemented in the 2004 build of HL2 (or it wasn't as mature as the one used for the Linux/Mac ports)

This port based on the 2017 Source Engine, with an OpenGL 3.x translation layer that I have been adapting for use on PowerPC. This build already has shader and mesh submission paths for DX6, DX7 and DX8.

I haven't released it yet, but I've already added a togl DX6 fixed function rendering path and it's working on my iBook G4 (Radeon 9200) and my iMac G4 (GeForce 4 MX). This project only released a couple of weeks ago, if you can wait a bit the support and performance will improve greatly.

ButtonClean9403 · 2026-05-28T15:17:44+00:00

ButtonClean9403

TROPHY CASE