iMac G4 minimal install cli 11.04 leads to white screen

[rsavage]

I've done a few minor changes to the xorg.conf instructions to try and make them clearer. See what you think....

[jimwg]

I've done a few minor changes to the xorg.conf instructions to try and make them clearer. See what you think....

It's going to be interesting to see how one loads them with this situation!!


My home school and I thank you!

JimWG

[BrianWeinberg]

@rsavage

I have tried your instructions in post #19

Using the cvt command, I have come up with the following xorg.conf file:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen "Screen0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"

Modeline "800x600_60.00" 38.25 800 832 912 1024 600 603 607 624 -hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "nv"
VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
BusID "PCI:0:16:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
EndSection


This resulted in the following error in the Xorg.0.log file:
(EE) module ABI major version (8) doesn't match ther server's version (10)
(II) UnloadModule: "nv"
(II) Unloading nv
(EE) Failed to load module "nv" (module requirement mismatch, 0)
(EE) No drivers available
Fatal server error:
no screens found

I did install the nv driver as you outlined in that post. Any ideas? I am afraid I don't know anything about xorg.conf.

Thanks.

[rsavage]

Well that is annoying! From googling that error it seems it doesn't like the older nv package with the newer xorg packages. I'm afraid this is new territory for both of us!

The suggested thing seems to be that you need to compile the nv driver against the newer xorg packages. https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu...uestion/177231 There are compile instructions in the 'General Workarounds' section of my instructions.

Before you do that you really should try it with the nouveau driver. You haven't said whether you've tried it without nouveau.modeset=0 in 11.10. I can give you more help with compiling when you have answered this.

[rsavage]

I've just realised that the modeline in your xorg.conf file is exactly the same as the one I gave in my instructions. That is a BIG fail for my instructions! (EDIT: I'm assuming the iMac and the 12" iBook wouldn't produce the same output, I apologise if they do!!) The modelines are monitor specific and you need to run the cvt command for YOUR computer/monitor. Otherwise you run the risk of damaging your monitor (especially if it is an old big chuncky one).

[BrianWeinberg]

I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear. Yes, I have tried it without nouveau.modeset=0 . I end up with a white screen in each of those instances. I always tried booting with and without that parameter.

The output from my cvt command was identical, so I ended up with the same line entry. This iMac has a 15" monitor and an nVidia GeForce2 MX video adaptor, and that line is the result from the cvt command.

Before I compile the nv driver against the newer xorg packages, I would like to take a step back and review against pauljwells method. When I did my install, I did 11.04 command line, then upgraded to 11.04, then installed the GUI through the methods outlined earlier in this thread. Is it possible that he installed 11.04, installed the GUI, then upgraded to 11.10? And if so, might that account for some potential differences in his experiences and mine (such as having to install unity-common manually, and the like)? Finally, if that was the case, might that also account for the different results he experienced? Just a shot in the dark, but I thought I should ask.

[rsavage]

Well pauljwells certainly knows more about unity than me! He was responsible for unity-2d being fixed for powerpc. However, I think his install was roughly the same as yours although you are you using a newer version of unity I think. The main difference is he is using the nouveau driver.

It's wierd that a 15 inch monitor produces the same output as a 12 inch!

Compile instructions....

First remove the version of xserver-xorg-video-nv you have installed

sudo apt-get purge xserver-xorg-video-nv

then

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Add temporarily the lines

deb http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports/ natty universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty universe

Save (ctrl+o) and close (ctrl+x).

Then execute the commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential fakeroot dpkg-dev
mkdir nv-build
cd nv-build 
apt-get source xserver-xorg-video-nv
cd xserver-xorg-video-nv-2.1.17                        
sudo apt-get build-dep xserver-xorg-video-nv
dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -b
cd ..
sudo dpkg -i ./*.deb

Open the sources.list again and remove the lines you added. Then "sudo apt-get update".

Good luck!

[BrianWeinberg]

I don't know enough about the cvt command, but perhaps the results were the same for 'cvt 800 600' because we specified a given resolution, and at that resolution, they might be the same for even different size monitors (stab in the dark, I really don't know anything about the cvt command).

I have tried your instructions, but am unable to proceed beyond the 'apt-get source xserver-xorg-video-nv' line. That fails with 'E: Unable to find a source package for xserver-xorg-video-nv' .
I have modified the sources list to add universe restricted multiverse in addition to main. That seemed to allow me to download xserver-xorg-video-nv' . The resulting directory was '/nv-build/xserver-xorg-video-nv-2.1.17', in case you needed to know the version number. From that point on, your instructions worked smoothly. After doing "Sudo apt-get update", I wasn't sure if you wanted me to run "sudo apt-get upgrade". I checked what would be available to upgrade, and all that came up was "libv41-0". I did not run upgrade yet. After rebooting, I get a whitescreen without the "Linux nouveau.modeset=0". With the command, success! I have both the Xubuntu desktop and Ubuntu desktop installed. Xubuntu works well, and is quite responsive. Ubuntu seems to work, but is much slower. Ubuntu 2d seems a little faster than Ubuntu.

I have attempted to modify my yaboot.conf file to permanently disable the nouveau driver. I did this by modifying the append line as follows:

append="quiet splash video=ofonly nosplash nouveau.modeset=0"

Obviously, this is incorrect, as it does not disable the driver upon reboot. Any advice you might have on this would be greatly appreciated.

[linuxopjemac]

good work rsavage! I came across the same problem.

ybin -v

is the answer to yaboot, it has to be written in the Apple bootstrap page

[rsavage]

Hi Brian, sorry about the mistakes I made in the instructions. I should of tested them, but as you may appreciate not having a ppc machine it makes it a bit difficult! Nevertheless, I should of been more thorough. I see the mistake I made now - the nv driver is in the 'main' repository for lucid and maverick, but in the 'universe' one for natty. It is always catching me out that sort of thing! Note to self to remember to double check version numbers of packages!

I'm very pleased it worked though. If not delighted!

You shouldn't have to run upgrade. Just keep the system updated via the Update Manager. If you are concerned about the libv41-0 package then use sysnaptic package manager to research it a bit more (I know nothing about it). Do you know if it was installed when you insalled the nv driver?

I really like xubuntu, although unity in 11.10 is better than it was in 11.04. I may end up creating a hybrid version for myself with global menus in xubuntu.

append="quiet splash video=ofonly nosplash nouveau.modeset=0"

It is interesting you have video=ofonly in there. Did you put this in? I would try removing that and see if it makes a difference to the nouveau driver?

Other than that your append line looks fine. There are two append lines in the yaboot.conf. Have you made the changes to both? This could be the problem? EDIT: or as linuxopjemac has pointed out you have to always run "sudo ybin -v" to copy the changes across. Thank you. Things quiet in the Mint world linuxopjemac? I thought it was busy over there with MintPPC11? I see jimwg has returned to you! EDIT2: I see your thread now http://www.mintppc.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=587 . It seems we are mirroring each others problems!

I'll update the compile instructions with your feedback for any future people. Cheers.