10.04 Install Problem - No Display

[svtguy88]

I've been (on and off) trying to get an solid linux install up and running on my Powermac G4. I was never able to get the live CD to boot, so I used the alternate installer. Everything installed fine, but the system does not boot correctly, or if it does, there is simply no display.

I read a few threads similar to mine about people with Poewrmac G5's and Geforce 5200's. It sounds as if I am having the same problem. When I attempt to boot the system, I get the yaboot screen and then the first Ubuntu loading screen (it says "Ubuntu" with the four dots under it). The screen flashes, some lines appear ( the standard "oh no, there goes my video" lines) and then darkness.

I've been booting a Finnix live CD to edit my xorg.conf file. There wasn't one originally, though there was a xorg.conf.failsafe interestingly enough. I renamed it to xorg.conf and have been playing with the options, but I can't get it to work.

So far I've tried "vesa" and "nouveau" as the driver with "Option" "UseFBDev" both on and off. Also, I did some googling and tried forcing DVI output ("DFP").

Nothing I try seems to change anything. Any thoughts? The card is a Geforce 6200 (vga/dvi outputs. 256 mb).

[linuxopjemac]

which exact powerbook? show me the link
http://www.everymac.com

[svtguy88]

It's a PowerMac G4 (tower). Originally a dual 500 mhz with some sort of Radeon (the Gigabit Ethernet was Apple's designation for what rev G4 I have). Now it's a dual 1.8 ghz with the Geforce 6200 256mb.

[linuxopjemac]

which exact monitor ?

[svtguy88]

oops double/triple post....see below

[svtguy88]

oops....double post

[linuxopjemac]

Out of curiosity, these processors ?
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/MAXG48D1800/

[svtguy88]

Monitor: Princeton W1901PD (http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/princeton-w1901pd-lcd-display/1707-3174_7-32610088.html)

Processors: Sonnet Encore/ST G4 Duet (http://www.sonnettech.com/product/encore_st_duet.html)

The processor page lists 1.6 ghz as the clock speed. I have the older card, which was clocked up to 1.8 ghz. They downclocked it due to kernel panics (too hot, I believe. I'm on my second processor card, the first one kernel panicked its way to a warranty replacement.)

[linuxopjemac]

ok found it, max resolution is 1440 x 900 @ 60 Hz Native Resolution
Scanning Frequency 31 kHz to 81 kHz Horizontal
50 Hz to 75 Hz Vertical

Do you know other known to work resolutions ?

[svtguy88]

I'm not sure on the other res's. OS X give me a bunch of options (1024x768, 1280x1024, etc), but nothing looks "right" other than native.

[linuxopjemac]

ok, we focus on the native then.

Hang on...

[linuxopjemac]

can you give me the output of:


cvt 1440 900

[linuxopjemac]

if you are ever interested in the other resolutions:
http://images.owneriq.net/download/images/5/534851a1-a7e2-4d2d-83e5-c5c43efd184a-000001.png

[svtguy88]

Thanks for the monitor info link. I have the owners manual around here somewhere, but I have no idea where.

I'm not (entirely) sure of what the "cvt" command is supposed to do. Finnix doesn't have it...

[linuxopjemac]

boot from Ubuntu liveCD, is that possible?

[linuxopjemac]

Fotget my last question, didn't read your 1st post.

Try booting your Xubuntu like this

if it's called Linux in yaboot, boot with 1 option:


Linux 1

This will bring you in single user mode and X won't start yet. Hopefully you have cvt there.

can you do it now? I want to hurry this one as I want to go to bed.

[svtguy88]

The current Ubuntu Live CD won't boot. I had to use the alternate to install.

[svtguy88]

Rebooting to linux now to try single user mode. Finnix doesn't start X at all. It's just a basic command line.

[svtguy88]

I booted both Finnix and the broken Ubuntu install with "1" option in yaboot. Finnix still doesn't have cvt. The ubuntu intall shows some terminal output instead of the "Ubuntu" loading screen with the dots on it, but then the monitor still goes to No Input Mode. I waited for what should be enough time to boot and tried to drop to a terminal, but still nothing...

[linuxopjemac]

do you have kernel mode setting off ? Otherwise add do this to nouveau-kms.conf and try again with single user mode:


sudo echo options nouveau modeset=0 > /etc/modprobe.d/nouveau-kms.conf

[linuxopjemac]

Just to clarify, you have only one graphics card in your machine, the nVidia Geforce, right ?

[linuxopjemac]

Getting tired, start with this xorg.conf file:


Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
BusID "PCI:0:16:0"
Driver "nouveau"
Option "NoInt10" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "W1901PD"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 31-81
VertRefresh 50-75
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "W1901PD"
Device "Configured Video Device"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

[svtguy88]

Only one graphics card. I added the sudo echo command to etc/modprobe.d/nouveau-kms.conf (had to create the file first). Also, just finished copying everything to my xorg.conf....

Still the same result. I get a few lines of terminal output, the "here goes my display" lines flash and then back to No Input mode.

Thanks for all of your help thus far.

[linuxopjemac]

I would try to boot a Debian Lenny rescue CD:
http://live.debian.net/cdimage/release/5.0.3-unofficial/powerpc/iso-cd/debian-live-503-powerpc-rescue.iso

Then you chroot into your system like this:
http://mac.linux.be/content/chroot-system-livecd

You are then in a command line environment in your system. I would first edit the /etc/yaboot.conf file to boot without splash:


sudo nano /etc/yaboot.conf

and then add to your image sections append="nosplash"

it will look like this for example


image=/boot/vmlinux
label=Linux
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="nosplash"

image=/boot/vmlinux.old
label=old
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img.old
append="nosplash"

To make it have effect next time you boot, you have to issue a ybin:


sudo ybin -v

Now we want to have the modeline of your monitor for the 1440x900 resolution:


cvt 1440 900

This will give two lines. I want you to copy and paste these two lines into your xorg.conf file into the Monitor section in the xorg.conf file I gave you and you have at the moment. Also add the Option "PreferredMode" "1440x900_60.00".

It will look similar to this:



Section "Monitor"
Identifier "StudioDisplay17"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 30-80
VertRefresh 50-100
# 1280x1024 59.89 Hz (CVT 1.31M4) hsync: 63.67 kHz; pclk: 109.00 MHz
Modeline "1280x1024_60.00" 109.00 1280 1368 1496 1712 1024 1027 1034 1063 -hsync +vsync
Option "PreferredMode" "1280x1024_60.00"
EndSection

Then you reboot and hopefully it works then.

[svtguy88]

The Debian rescue CD booted perfectly (I had to download a newer image though--and alpha to get ext4 filesystem support). I just finished putting the modeline in xorg.conf (along with the preferred mode). However, I get basically the same result on boot.

I don't get the Ubuntu splash screen (the one with the four "loading" dots) after appending "nosplash" in yaboot.conf, but when I try to boot, I get what looks like more terminal output than before (where the splash would have been), but then the lines and back to No Input mode again...

Just so I know I'm not making some silly formatting error, I'll attach my current xorg.conf in the morning. I'm sort of new to manually editing the xorg.conf file (at least beyond basic driver changes), but I've been hitting 'tab' between the entries (ex: Option<<tab>>"Preferred Mode"<<tab>>"1440x900_60.00"), which I believe is the correct method.

I'm heading to bed now though. I work a lot the next few days, but I'll be sure to get my current xorg.conf uploaded tomorrow.

Thanks again.

[linuxopjemac]

Sounds like you did all well. That your monitor dies I really don't understand. If your xorg.conf (which you will upload soon) looks fine, I advise you to switch to Debian Linux. Debian, to my opinion, has better support for the PowerPC arch. You might as well switch to my version of Linux Mint, based on Debian Lenny.

[svtguy88]

Alright, sorry for the delay. Between work and school and life in general, somehow getting linux booting fell off my priority list. I did manage to get OS X to mount my ext4 partition as R/W, which is a nice change. No more booting to a live CD to edit xorg.conf.

Anyway, my current xorg.conf is attached to this post as a .txt file.

[linuxopjemac]

I would go for Debian Lenny as I said.

[svtguy88]

Well, I reinstalled using a netint of Debian. However, X still refuses to start. I reused the xorg.conf that you put together, and now when I try to startx, I get the following:



Parse error on line 44 of section Monitor in file /etc/X11/xorg.conf
ModeLine VTotal expected
(EE) Problem parsing the config file
(EE) Problem parsing the config file

Fatal server error:
no screens found

giving up


I did a bit of googling on Modelines, but I can't figure out what other info I need in that line...

[linuxopjemac]

With Debian Lenny there is no nouveau drivere yet. I will paste a working xorg.conf file for Debian Lenny soon.

[svtguy88]

I think I just discovered for myself that nouveau doesn't work. I installed the kernel from sid, along with a *bunch* of dependencies. That let me get the nouveau from sid installed as well. I just spent a long time tinkering with my xorg.conf, but still get a similar result:



(EE) No devices detected.

Fatal server error:
no screens found


My xorg.log file shows both nouveau and nv (tried both) loading, but then everything goes ominous:



(II)Primary Device is: PCI 00@00:10:0
(EE) No devices detected

lspci lists 0000:00:10.0 as my Geforce 6200, so the ID seems correct. What's odd is that my xorg.conf is pointing to PCI:0:0:16:0 (changing it to PCI:0:0:10:0 does nothing either).

I've had about all I can take for the night...time for some rest.

[linuxopjemac]

I spotted an error in your xorg.conf file you gave us. This is in your file:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
BusID "PCI:0:0:16:0"
Driver "nouveau"
Option "NoInt10" "true"
EndSection

It should be

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
BusID "PCI:0:16:0"
Driver "nouveau"
Option "NoInt10" "true"
EndSection

Note the different BusID

And there is also something wrong with that modeline I think. There should be nine numbers there, I only see eight. Check again with


cvt 1440 900

You also want to try other modelines if for some reason 1440x900 does not work:


cvt 1280 1024 72
cvt 1280 1024 70
cvt 1280 1024 60
cvt 1024 768 75
cvt 1024 768 70
cvt 1024 768 60

[DarianMac]

Hello. How do I install Ubuntu 10.04 PPC on my system? My system at the signature below.
The problem is that nothing appears after boot from a CD. Absolutely nothing, not even a text message. I understand somewhere that may be because Ubuntu 10.04 has nouveau driver. What can I do? May send kernel parameters, so I can start the GUI?
I mention that I checked the disc (MD5 sum), I burn at low speed (4x). Ubuntu 9.04 I have no problem, boots normally (live mode) and installed properly.

[linuxopjemac]

Start your own thread pls. This is about a display issue.

[DarianMac]

OK, sorry.

[svtguy88]

Alright, I changed the BusID and reran cvt. Now my modeline is fine, but I still have the same problem. I think I tracked down the problem though. It sounds like libdrm and nouveau need to be upgraded in sync with each other, and it is very likely that the versions of libdrm and nouveau that are in the repos are compatible with each other.

Anyway, I decided to switch to the nv driver, hoping it would just work. X gives me a different error when trying to start now:



SELinux: Disabled on system, not enabling in X server
(EE) XKB: Couldn't open rules file /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev
XKB: Failed to compile keymap
Keyboard initialization failed. This could be a missing or incorrect setup of xkeyboard-config

Fatal server error:
Failed to activate core devices

[linuxopjemac]

I have never seen this problem before, maybe you have to add a keyboard section in your xorg.conf file:


Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbOptions" "lv3:lwin_switch"
EndSection

[svtguy88]

I edited the keyboard section in my xorg.conf as suggested, but I still get the same error...back to google..

[linuxopjemac]

Good luck. I would just go for either Karmic Koala or Debian Linux.

You can also try this:

Do as suggested here (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-input-evdev/+bug/532114):

install xserver-xorg-input-kbd_1.4.0-1_powerpc.deb from debian sid and add Option "AllowEmptyInput" "off" to your xorg.conf. Just add the following lines at the end of xorg.conf:



Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AllowEmptyInput" "off"
EndSection

[svtguy88]

This is Debian...

[linuxopjemac]

can you paste me your xorg.conf file?

You are trying to run Debian Sid, which has KMS. I would advise to try Debian Lenny. It is so much easier.

[svtguy88]

Originally, I had been doing a Lenny install. However, in my quest to get nouveau working, I ended up with a frankenstein Lenny/Sid combination. I think tomorrow I may just try a Lenny install (using nv as the driver) with the xorg.conf that I have now.

xorg.conf attached.

[linuxopjemac]

The only thing I can think of, when you try Lenny, is downgrading the color depth to 16 bits for example or downgrading the preferred modeline to a resolution lower than 1440x900, in your case 1024x768 as that is the only modeline I see in your xorg.conf file.

Btw, I spotted an error in your xorg.conf file in the monitor section (PreferredMode), it should read:


Section "Monitor"
Identifier "W1901PD"
###Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 31-81
VertRefresh 50-75
# 1440X900 59.89 Hz (CVT 1.30MA) hsync: 55.93 kHz; pclk: 106.50 MHz
Modeline "1440x900_60" 106.50 1440 1528 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -hsync +vsync
# 1024x768 59.92 Hz (CVT 0.79M3) hsync: 47.82 kHz; pclk: 38.25 MHz
Modeline "1024x768_60" 63.50 1024 1072 1176 1328 768 771 775 798 -hsync +vsync
Option "PreferredMode" "1440x900_60"
EndSection

[svtguy88]

I just did a fresh Lenny install. X didn't start automatically, so I changed the driver to nv. This gave me an error saying something like "server caught signal 11" or something similar. I copy/pasted the xorg.conf I uploaded earlier (and fixed the preferred mode typo), and now X starts up.

It's weird though, the screen goes garbled for a few seconds, and looks like it won't work, and then I get the login window.

Anyway, it feels pretty solid. I originally didn't install the smp kernel, so everything seemed slow. With the smp kernel, it's very usable.

If only the nv driver had dri support. Oh well.

As a side note, you mentioned your distro...LinuxMint. What's it all about? I think I'm going to spend time trying different distros while nouveau support matures.

[linuxopjemac]

My Linux Mint is basically Debian Lenny with an improved Desktop (LXDE-based) with the Mint tools (easier package management). It is easy to install and it is pretty fast on old machines. Just follow the steps as outlined here (http://mac.linux.be/content/mint-lxde-debian-lenny-ppc).

http://mac.linux.be/content/linux-mint-lxde-debian-50-ppc-fact

[svtguy88]

Thanks for all of your help. I'm trying to compile a kernel that will allow nouveau to work (by getting the appropriate libdrm installed as well). I'll keep this thread updated...I'd love me some DRI...

[markosjal]

linuxopjemac

What you refer to as mint for PPC is a Kludge and nothing more. I ran it after a 2 day installation, and there is apparently no working sudo, as I was advised on the forums there so no Gui package manager and many tasks are too difficult for the average user. Dont be deceived by what they call it. I suspect however those mint add ons will also run on ubuntu if one matched the versions. I suspect the debian Lenny is an older kernel than the current Ubuntu 10.04 PPC

.........


MY ORIGINAL INTENTION TO POST.....


Here is how to get a g3 imac running; boot lo live cd and complete the installation. I will not tell you to copy and paste as in the mint PPC forum, when I recognize you have a non functioning system


Ubuntu 10.04 PPC (or lenny Mint) on g3 imac

I have a slot loading Imac g3 that I thought was "Indigo" but could be "blueberry"

I was trying to start to the live CD and always got a blank screen.

Here is how I got the Ubuntu 10.04 PPC live CD to run on it. After installing you will probably need to repeat this process.

Boot to the live CD blank screen

Type:
ctrl-option-F1 (should give you a command prompt, may take a couple of tries)

Type:
cd /etc/X11
(return)

Type:
sudo wget www.teknogeekz.com/xorg.conf.blueberry
(return)
Note: There appears to be no xorg.conf installed by default when booting to live CD
Note: I also up[loaded an xorg.conf.indigo there that did not seem to work for me, but this may be a blueberry.

Type:
sudo cp xorg.conf.blueberry xorg.conf
(return)

OPTIONAL__________________________________________ ____________________________________
Because these machines are old you may have a dead PRAM battery!

Type:
date
(return)

if you get something like (or even a date different from the current date)
Fri Jan 11 19:11:32 GMT 1970
then

Type: (change the date to the current date/time in GMT)
sudo date -s "Fri Jul 11 19:11:32 GMT 2010"
(return)

END OPTIONAL__________________________________________ ______________________________

Type:
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart
(return)

After a minute or two you will hear the ubuntu sound , then see the display appear. Enjoy

[svtguy88]

I'm not entirely sure what to make of your post. I think we should have some sort of database to upload working Xorg.conf and other useful tidbits for getting linux working on PPC Macs. However, the rest of your post is... Can we keep this thread sort of on topic or lock it?

For those too lazy to read, my machine is up and running Debian Lenny using the nv driver. Apparently the live Lucid CD is broken for (many) PPC Macs. Lenny will work with nv, and sid should with nouveau. Neither has 3D acceleration (working on that).

For those interested in the kernel I'm building, it works, but I have some modules in install/remove and fine tune some other stuff.

[linuxopjemac]

I keep record of all working xorg.conf files for PowerPC:
http://mac.linux.be/content/xorgconf-files

[markosjal]

IF I wanted to nit pick about "off topic:" your entire post is poff topic as this is an ubuntu forum and you are working with lennt.

I posted what worked for me of course you need to modify it to what works fort you. I used the same technique in Ubuntu 10.04 and in Lenny . So what is so "off topic" about my post in response to your "No Display" original post? It worked for me!