I needed to perform a memory test on a Mac G4 PPC. We frequently use memtest that is a bootable ISO for Linux. I check ubunta's live-cd for PPC but no joy. I then went looking and found:
http://www.memtestosx.org/
I'm testing a mac's memory now.
From the web site:
Memtest 4.13 is now available for download as a single universal binary. Just double-click the OS X image file to mount it and then double click the package to install.
Besides providing support for the latest Intel-based Macs, version 4.13 also adds improved status reporting for each of the individual tests. This gives the user a better perspective on the amount of time remaining to complete each of the tests which is especially useful for the longer ones. The User's Guide has been updated with additional information frequently requested by users.
PPC G5 Macs running 10.4 or later run in 64-bit mode, allowing virtually any amount of installed ram to be tested. All other systems run in 32-bit mod, limiting testable memory to 4 GB.