Powerbook Pismo/Feisty resolution issues

[ajmctaggart]

Hey guys,

After a whole bunch of bad luck, I finally got Feisty installed on my Pismo! Here's the issue though, video and sound are not working.

Im most worried about video:
I tried the dpkg utility to rebuild xorg.conf, that rebuild didn't work either though, maybe too specific, so I reverted to the backup xorg, and Im back where I started...

I am using about 3/4 the display, the far right side stays black, and the bottom 2.5 inches of my usable screen is simply showing the top of the 7x7 (approx) screen that I do get to use. Its like a VCR with really bad tracking the bottom of the screen is simply a clip of the top... The whole screen is definitely there, as during bootup it uses the whole screen, but what needs to change in my xorg.conf to get this thing to work in full screen mode? Splash screen is all duplicated and fuzzy too. I had to use the alternate install cd as the graphical installer didn't work on my powerbook g4 ti, which is where I installed ubuntu onto my Pismo's hard drive (not by firewire, by actually taking the drive out of the Pismo and putting it into my TI).

This is gotta be xorg.conf right? anyway to keep it as simple as possible and just get the screen working in full ? At this point I just dont' know. Im a noob, but I have installed ubuntu and configured it on about 5 386 boxes at this point, but never had to get so much into the xorg before.

Sound Card isn't working, if anyone knows a quick and dirty way to get sound on a Pismo please let me know!

Thanks guys!

[joninkrakow]

To get the full screen resolution, just follow the instructions on this thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=25583&highlight=powerbook+screen+resolution That's how I got my Pismo working full-screen with Ubuntu.

-Jon

[ajmctaggart]

Jon, Do you mind posting your xorg.conf for your pismo? I have tried to configure x so many times now, I just don't think i'm selecting the right options. My monitor comes up Generic...

Any help is appreciated-
ajm

[joninkrakow]

I would if I still had it! Unfortunately, just yesterday, I put YDL onto that hard drive, wiping my Ubuntu install. :-( Worse, I did it, hoping for sound-in support for my Pismo, considering YDL is supposed to be PPC-specific. What I found was that it has less functionality (from a user standpoint), and less hardware support! Granted, it recognized my 1024x768 screen without any problem, but it has so many other problems that I'll I have to install something else ASAP. I decided that, before I go back to Ubuntu, I ought to try a couple other distro--I'm going to try OpenSUSE next, and then, maybe one other, whose name I forget at the moment. Gentoo was too much time for me (It's not the effort, but the time that killed me. Reading the instructions really quick had me excited, but the more I thought about the time, the less I liked it).

I do remember one thing, when I used the "sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg" option. I turned off _everything_ but the 1024 option. Later, I went back, and lowered the number of colors and turned DRI on using nano. I do remember those items, and I don't think I mucked with drivers at all, because at the time, I wasn't sure what video card the Pismo uses (Rage 128 I now know--and it's 8 gig of V-RAM, which I did know). So, I think this should work for you.

I also caught this on the tutorial board. Don't know if it will work on PPCyet, though:
When booting from the LiveCD, you can change this option as well, but you have to do it while still at the graphical grub menu. When the CD boots and shows the Ubuntu logo with a 30 second timeout, press the escape key. A box will come up warning you about going to the text-based grub interface. Just press enter. This will drop you to a boot: prompt. Type "live vga=791", or whatever your desired resolution is, and then the liveCD will boot its kernel at this resolution. Note that this is temporary for one boot only.


This is for during the install, I would presume. ;-)

HTH

-Jon

[talkeetnik]

Below is my working Feisty PISMO xorg.conf file
HTH

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
# path to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "i2c"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
# /dev/input/event
# for USB
Option "Type" "stylus"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
# /dev/input/event
# for USB
Option "Type" "eraser"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "cursor"
Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
# /dev/input/event
# for USB
Option "Type" "cursor"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Technologies, Inc. Rage Mobility M3 AGP 2x"
Driver "ati"
BusID "PCI:0:16:0"
Option "UseFBDev" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 28-51
VertRefresh 43-60
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Technologies, Inc. Rage Mobility M3 AGP 2x"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
# SubSection "Display"
# Depth 24
# Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
# EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection


Let us know if this works for you
BTW Sound worked "out-of-the-box" for me


WHB aka Talkeetnik

[joninkrakow]

Let us know if this works for you
BTW Sound worked "out-of-the-box" for me

Your built-in mic works? And you did nothing? Hm... Wonder why mine didn't work? BTW, did you add the graphics card? Mine showed something generic...

-Jon

P.S. Thanks for posting this. It will help more than just the original poster. :-)

[ajmctaggart]

THANK YOU!!!

The X server is now configured- I got full screen!

Also backed up this xorg, so this never happens again!

I love the forums- you guys are awesome.

Thanks Again-
ajm

Anyone wanna tackle sound now???

[ajmctaggart]

BTW- Jon

I have tried soo many distros now, and one I thought I'd get along well with was Suse by Novell, opensuse will not satisfy you if you are used to the debian way.

YAST sucks
The Desktop Manager isn't that good- out of the box anyway

The problem with Suse is the fact that there is a paid version developed by Novell, and the free OpenSuse- repositories are different for each, and I feel that Suse was developed to work well out of the box, but not to be a user-controlled distro (As I feel Ubuntu and Debian give you). But, since you've already wiped out your Ubuntu, who cares, right?

Thanks again, I'll post later re: sound issues on Pismo.

[joninkrakow]

But, since you've already wiped out your Ubuntu, who cares, rig

Actually, your post is _very_ helpful. I haven't explained everything I'm doing yet. I'm getting a nice monster hard drive here soon, and when I do, I planned to dual-install Linux and OS X. Everything I'm doing on my extra hard drive right now is just experimentation--to see which provides the best long-term use, as well as install (though that's less important). Your comments on OSuse, are _very_ helpful! ;-) Thanks. I only hope my comments have helped _you_.

To be frank, so far, Ubuntu's still in first place for what I will install in the end. One of the many is this wonderful forum.

-Jon

[ajmctaggart]

Of course, you guys really saved me, I was starting to get a little worried!

Quick question- how are you right and left clicking on a Pismo? I haven't figured that out, and Gsynaptics wont startup, says that I'm missing a SHConfig in the xorg.conf? Do I need to run a GSynaptics utiltity?

[joninkrakow]

Try this post for your mouse buttons: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=464627&highlight=right+click+powerbook

[willowdog]

P.S. Thanks for posting this. It will help more than just the original poster. :-)

It has - ME!

I tried several other fixes, but this worked straight off!

Thanks :):):):):):)