insights get wheezy distro on iMac G4?[generally solved]

[mr-bisquit]

What was your basic setup from the beginning?
It's best to start off with a graphic-less system and work to a desktop.
You also need to run

Code: Select all

Xorg -configure

to have the proper driver loaded and the right resolution. The standard is grainy.

I'm running an iMac G4 800MHz and have FreeBSD and Debian on it.

It may be best to reinstall and let us guide you through it. Nadir and myself have the most experience with Debian on PowerPC.

After you have it setup, we can also guide you- if necessary- on compiling a kernel. The standard kernel hertz setting causes too much lag for PowerPC.

[este_el_paz]

nadir posted: Mac (or rather ppc) is not easy.
Have a look here, perhaps you will find info:
http://oswaldkelso.blogspot.de/2009/11/ ... sions.html
If it was me i would use stable for now. If that works you can still upgrade. No reason not to try testing or whatever.

What was your basic setup from the beginning?
It's best to start off with a graphic-less system and work to a desktop.
You also need to run

Code: Select all

Xorg -configure

to have the proper driver loaded and the right resolution. The standard is grainy. I'm running an iMac G4 800MHz and have FreeBSD and Debian on it.

It may be best to reinstall and let us guide you through it. Nadir and myself have the most experience with Debian on PowerPC.
After you have it setup, we can also guide you- if necessary- on compiling a kernel. The standard kernel hertz setting causes too much lag for PowerPC.

@mr-bisquit: Thanks for your post, it looks like you are running the same or similar iMac. In the meanwhile I started reading the oswaldkelso thread from '08 or '09 and it looks like he might have boiled the problem down to "HorzSync" should be "58-62" and "VertRefresh" should be "75-117" in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf directory (or file??) but I haven't had time to boot into the Deb TTY and try anything yet as I wanted to read through all of the suggestions from each of the posts to have a larger idea of what I might need. "Basic system?" I'm running a 10.4.11 partition and I have Deb testing for ppc installed with the default kernel . . . and it looks like GNOME3 was installed but it won't launch so it must be GNOME2??? But, just like in the MIntPPC installations it seems like the kernel degrades for some reason and I not only lose X fairly quickly but then over time the TTY . . . so it's interesting about "the standard kernel hertz setting causes too much lag" . . . not knowing what that means except perhaps . . . "issues" with PPC????
Also while I was searching spotlight in OSX for something that might show me what OSX has set for Horz & Vert refresh rates . . . and spotlight not finding too much, I looked at the "system.log" in Console and saw repeated mention of "mDNSResponder: NOTE: Wide-Area Service Discovery disabled to avoid crashing defective DNS relay 192.168.1.1." . . . which may explain possibly why Debian loses the ethernet connection at times making it hard to update/upgrade or retrieve the xorg stuff??? I don't know; I just saw this yesterday and it doesn't seem to cause any problem in OSX that I as a GUI driver can notice, but might be another problem in the huge conspiracy that is preventing me from a happy life with Debian????? Anyway, appreciate any insights you can offer, I did log into a TTY shell on Tuesday or so to check something, but what do you suggest, try to cp or mv the present xorg and try to get a GUI or erase and install again? If it could be as simple as re-setting the Horz/vert numbers that might be a time saver . . . or it might be a walk down the garden path . . . .

e.e.p.

[lester]]

"my eyes are already bleeding from the conspiracy"

What is this "10.4.11 partition you speek of above,
in a three sentence post below, if you can?

[este_el_paz]

What is this "10.4.11 partition you speek of above,
in a three sentence post below, if you can?

@lester]: It's pretty basic, so I could answer it in one sentence. The internal HD is partitioned into two unequal parts, w/OSX 10.4.11 loaded into one, and Linux attempting to be loaded into the other--Yaboot lets me select which OS to boot up into. I have this setup in my iBook and my MBPro, but the LMDE version I needed rEFIt to select the OS . . . .

e.e.p.

[mr-bisquit]

Code: Select all

Section "ServerLayout"
   Identifier     "X.org Configured"
   Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
   InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
   InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
   ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
   FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
   FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
   FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
   FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
   FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
   FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
   FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
   FontPath     "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
   FontPath     "built-ins"
EndSection

Section "Module"
   Load  "extmod"
   Load  "dri"
   Load  "glx"
   Load  "record"
   Load  "dbe"
   Load  "dri2"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
   Identifier  "Keyboard0"
   Driver      "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
   Identifier  "Mouse0"
   Driver      "mouse"
   Option       "Protocol" "auto"
   Option       "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
   Option       "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
   Identifier   "Monitor0"
   VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
   ModelName    "Monitor Model"
        HorizSync    59-63
        VertRefresh  50-160
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "SWcursor"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "HWcursor"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoAccel"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ShadowFB"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "UseFBDev"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "Rotate"                # [<str>]
        #Option     "VideoKey"              # <i>
        #Option     "FlatPanel"             # [<bool>]
        #Option     "FPDither"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "CrtcNumber"            # <i>
        #Option     "FPScale"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "FPTweak"               # <i>
        #Option     "DualHead"              # [<bool>]
   Identifier  "Card0"
   Driver      "nv"
   VendorName  "nVidia Corporation"
   BoardName   "NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400]"
   BusID       "PCI:0:16:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
   Identifier "Screen0"
   Device     "Card0"
   Monitor    "Monitor0"
   SubSection "Display"
      Viewport   0 0
      Depth     1
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Viewport   0 0
      Depth     4
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Viewport   0 0
      Depth     8
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Viewport   0 0
      Depth     15
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Viewport   0 0
      Depth     16
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Viewport   0 0
      Depth     24
   EndSubSection
EndSection



There
xorg.conf

[este_el_paz]

mr-bisquit: much appreciated . . . so I should just run code "nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf" and then make it look like what you've posted here? After only a few times of "nano"-ing files I'm not sure what the right way to do that is to start the editing properly and then to save it, it's CTRL-D--right? I've got the iBook set up next to the iMac now so I can check stuff like this post online and then fiddle with the iMac in the TTY . . . . Hopefully I'll get the chance to play tomorrow . . . but, it's a holiday day . . .

e.e.p.

[jheaton5]

mr-bisquit: much appreciated . . . so I should just run code "nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf" and then make it look like what you've posted here? After only a few times of "nano"-ing files I'm not sure what the right way to do that is to start the editing properly and then to save it, it's CTRL-D--right? I've got the iBook set up next to the iMac now so I can check stuff like this post online and then fiddle with the iMac in the TTY . . . . Hopefully I'll get the chance to play tomorrow . . . but, it's a holiday day . . .

e.e.p.

<ctrl>-o saves file and does not exit. <ctrl>-x closes the file and promps you to save if you have made any edits since the last save.

[este_el_paz]

<ctrl>-o saves file and does not exit. <ctrl>-x closes the file and promps you to save if you have made any edits since the last save.

@jheaton5: Many thanks for the tips . . . so it must be <ctrl> + ?? to start editing? I'm just away from that computer now and can't check it, but I just recall looking at the nano file and not understanding how to get it edited . . . and I just start punching keys until something happens . . . and Terminal tells me whether what I'm doing is "not understood" or "not found" and I just keep trying stuff until Terminal doesn't reply and then I figure it must be right . . . . : -))) And sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't . . . .

e.e.p.

[jheaton5]

<ctrl>-o saves file and does not exit. <ctrl>-x closes the file and promps you to save if you have made any edits since the last save.

@jheaton5: Many thanks for the tips . . . so it must be <ctrl> + ?? to start editing? I'm just away from that computer now and can't check it, but I just recall looking at the nano file and not understanding how to get it edited . . . and I just start punching keys until something happens . . . and Terminal tells me whether what I'm doing is "not understood" or "not found" and I just keep trying stuff until Terminal doesn't reply and then I figure it must be right . . . . : -))) And sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't . . . .

e.e.p.

When you open a file in nano, all you have to do is begin editing.

[este_el_paz]

When you open a file in nano, all you have to do is begin editing.

@jheaton5: OK, thanks . . . I guess that's why it has worked for me . . . . But getting back to the xorg.conf file posted by mr-bisquit . . . is my assumption correct about that info would be checked and/or edited in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf by using the "nano" app to do that? Or is there somewhere else where that data that he supplied is to go? On the MintPPC forum the various xorg.conf files can be "wget" -ed by using the website address, and "mv"-ing it--so this approach is new for me . . . . Haven't heard any comment on the question about "nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf" . . . before I start into it . . . .

e.e.p.