Testers needed for PowerPC 12.04

[EuroCity]

I can confirm the false colours problem for the "full" boot splash screen (and also a freeze problem at login: but I'll have to try the settings above first); and I, too, tried Kubuntu on my iBook G4, but had those blueish colours which make it almost unusable.

The optional Cairo/GLX Dock also has problems, with effects turned on...

[EuroCity]

Another, completely different problem: the Wi-Fi indicator icon in the upper menu/status bar doesn't show the network strength; and, thus, none of the four (IIRC) concentric sectors in the AirPort-like icon ever lighten up: even if the Wi-Fi indeed works flawlessly (and also seems to be quite stable)...

[rsavage]

gwjvan, thanks for testing unity-3d. Seems there are some issues there for both nouveau and radeon. I can't get into it so there is no way I can do testing/bug reporting on it.

If you have some time you can try adjusting the settings in your xorg.conf file. Have a look at the EXA manual http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/...an4/exa.4.html and radeon manual http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/.../radeon.4.html .

I've downgraded my mesa packages so I can still use UMS. With a tweaked xorg.conf file I've eliminated all the graphics glitches I was having.

[EuroCity]

That enables KMS. Just a warning - it can be quite crash-tastic!!

You'll get a better spash screen (like EuroCity wants). If the colours are badly messed up on shutdown use the yaboot parameter:

video=1024x768-24

If you can get KMS to work fully then could you try unity-3d? It would be good to see if the problems the nouveau people report are just nouveau specific or if there is an endian problem somewhere.

Btw, I think Xubuntu is the best fit for most computers, although I plan to play around with a highly customized kubuntu.

EDIT: just to expand on the above, I used video=offb:off video=radeonfb:off video=1024x768-24

On my iBook G4 (with a 32 MB Mobility Radeon 9550 graphics card), video=ofonly gives the graphical boot screen (but with messed up colours: blueish background, with neon-like contour on "Ubuntu"), but the machine freezes shortly after login; while video=offb:off video=radeonfb:off video=1024x768-24 freezes the machine at the login screen.

So, quite unstable, sofar...

[EuroCity]

Well, one could say that the bootsplash screen colours are almost "psychedelic" (on the blueish front), as someone said in another post: and with a strange halo around "Ubuntu" and the dots.

It would be great if all this could be fixed, eventually...

P.S.: The Edubuntu boot screen was displaying as default (and this looked much better, even if the colours didn't seem to be quite right; but no neon-like halos, for example); so, in order to get the Ubuntu bootsplash, I did this command:

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

... and then:

sudo update-initramfs -u

... of course choosing the Ubuntu boot screen at the first step.

[rsavage]

About adjusting fan limits:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCFAQ#H..._fan_limits.3F

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCFAQ#H...ncy_scaling.3F

But also with frequency scaling, the fan seems to run a little too often (at least compared to Mac OS X).

Not sure if this hint (see above) is really safe:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1358034

...?

I have to say I don't have this problem now with my iBook. With my usage at the moment the temperature seems to stick around 40 degrees C. It only rises above this if I do compiling or play videos (which I never do 'cos I have a TV).

This low temperature could be because when I rebuilt my iBook (it's made out of 3 computers) I didn't put the modem back in. This was a deliberate act to reduce temperature. I also maybe screwed the heat sink tighter than it was originally.

I'm not running frequency scaling, although in the past (when it was just 1 ibook) I did find this helped. I think one of the best things you can do is to remove the apt-xapian-index package.

Since the noise of the fan seems to be a problem for a lot of people I've looked into it a bit today. I've added some more to the FAQ about it. The safest thing is to probably reduce the fan starting speed. You can do this via the yaboot prompt. For example:

therm_adt746x.fan_speed=38

The default fan_speed is 64 so a value below this will make it start quieter and it will only get louder if the temperatue keeps climbing. If you want the fan to kick in at a higher temperature then use the limit_adjust parameter. For example:

therm_adt746x.limit_adjust=5

will start the fan at 55 degrees C (= 50 + 5).

I have xubuntu installed at the moment and to get a temperature applet on the panel I installed the sensors-applet and xfce4-xfapplet-plugin from the natty repositories. I don't know if there is a better way, but it seems to work okay. It's probably a good idea if you are going to mess with the default fan settings.

[Farinet]

In addition to what i wrote in my previous post: The vmlinux-3.2.0-17-powerpc which was installed by the upgrade had the wrong rights:

Owner: root (correct)
Group: root
Rights
Owner: read & write (correct)
Group: nothing (wrong: should be read only)
Others: nothing (wrong: should be read only) After correcting that (as root, obviously) boot into 3.2.0-17 works.

But, since this error happened the second time i presume there is something wrong with the install/update script for the kernel update.

Today i upgraded Powerbook G4 17" from lubuntu 11.10 to lubuntu 12.04 and i noticed, that the previously described errors of the placement of the symbolic links (the went to "/" (root) not into /boot (where they are expected to be) as well as the wrong rights for the most recent linux image persist.

Especially for an LTS version that kind of error are not so nice.

Other things, like the ugly fan speed problem are still to try out. I' m under the impression, in lubuntu the fan is working a lot more than in mintppc, even in this new version . . . (?)

Moreover, i see that the most recent kernel is a -smp flavour. I read somewhere that the maintainers of the powerpc distributions decided to drop the non -smp flavour. Now, just out of curiousity i'd like to understand what are the differences between non -smp and -smp kernel (it's theoretical, since the new -smp kernel seems to work).

And: Is that drop an ubuntu specific decision or is it also done by debian?

TIA.

[Farinet]

. . . .Since the noise of the fan seems to be a problem for a lot of people I've looked into it a bit today. I've added some more to the FAQ about it. The safest thing is to probably reduce the fan starting speed. You can do this via the yaboot prompt. For example:

therm_adt746x.fan_speed=38

The default fan_speed is 64 so a value below this will make it start quieter and it will only get louder if the temperatue keeps climbing. If you want the fan to kick in at a higher temperature then use the limit_adjust parameter. For example:

therm_adt746x.limit_adjust=5

will start the fan at 55 degrees C (= 50 + 5)

.. . ..

Can this values be set in some config file somewhere? I'm pretty sure i did this once (at least the "adjust=5" thing) some time ago in a mintppc setup, but i don't remember where exactly.

Btw, when i follow the instructions to install powernowd (useful imho) i get an older version than the newest one available among the debian packages (the last one there is 1.00-2). Moreover, at least in the lubuntu installation there was missing the package laptop-detect on which apparantely powernowd relies (?) . . .

Thanks in advance!

[Asenath83]

Hello,

I have two old Macs I want to try Ubuntu on and wonder whether you still need any testers? I have worked with Ububtu on both PCs and netbooks quite a bit before.

Machine 1 is a PowerBook G4 1.33 12" (Al) http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...4_1.33_12.html (RAM maxed out, otherwise unaltered)

Machine 2 is a Power Macintosh G4 800 (QS 2002), GeForce4 MX (64MB)
http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...g4_800_qs.html
Once again RAM maxed out and I installed a Pluscom WP-RT2561T wireless and Belkin F5U220VEA1 USB PCI card, as well as a new hard drive.

Regards,

Asenath

[rsavage]

Asenath83, thanks for the offer. Testing has now finished for 12.04. The ISOs have been released, but it has now started again for 12.10!!!

For 12.04 make sure you report any bugs you find through normal use. As I understand it, it is much easier to get things fixed in the first 3 months of a release. Also, please update the Known Issues pages or PowerPC FAQ wiki pages with any workarounds you find necessary.