Re: XFree86 4.0.1 on PowerPC status update #2
Our friendly X-developer, Branden, wrote:
(gee, how do I write that so it doesn't sound like
something from Marvel comics?)
> --rwEMma7ioTxnRzrJ
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> I've got a patch that successfully fixes the too-clever hack in libXft
> involing va_lists.
> However, unfortunately, some things in the XFree86 tree (the Wacom input
> module, at least) build differently on kernel 2.4 systems than they do on
> 2.2 systems. More to the point, building xf86Wacom.c flat out fails on 2.4
> boxen.
> Dan Jacobowitz has suggested that I force XFree86's idea of the installed
> OS version to 2.2 instead of trying to autodetect it.
I'd like to ask _what_ it sees as being different about kernel 2.4 from
kernel 2.2. Just guessing from the fact that it's an input device, and
in a generic sense the input layer has changed on 2.4 systems than on
2.2 systems... except there's a bigger catch:
Many people here on this list are using versions of the 2.2 kernel with
the relevant input sections of the 2.4 kernel's source "backported" to
it, so that they have a 2.4-like input layer. I'm one of those people.
Due to various constraints, users of newer Mac hardware will probably
be either using a 2.2 kernel with backported stuff or a 2.4 kernel.
> Can anyone see any potential hazards with doing this?
>
> CC'ing BenC because he maintains the kernel headers provided by glibc.
I didn't cc: anyone because you didn't want any cc'd replies, I thought.
If you want to forward this message to anyone, go ahead.
> In other news, the donated B&W G3 showed up, but I am having difficulty
> partitioning it. mac-fdisk is not the world's friendliest tool! I'm sure
> the folks on #debian-devel can get me going, though.
There's a really nifty tutorial for mac-fdisk (or whatever else you're
supposed to be using) at Ethan Benson's web site, at
http://www.alaska.net/~erbenson.
The long and the short of it is, you'll have to work out the size of your
combined linux partitions; don't forget the bootstrap partition! Then use
MacOS's partitioner to create a single partition that size ahead of your
planned MacOS partition(s), if any. You then boot your linux CD, go into
mac-fdisk, delete the big placeholder partition, and create a bunch of
partitions where it was, starting with the bootstrap partition (which must
be hfs, not hfs+, and about 800k. Again, see the web site for the
instructions, including details on mac-fdisk.) I've found that having MacOS
present on the hard drive can be a help if one accidentally screws up the
yaboot.conf on the bootstrap partition so that you can't boot the Linux
partition to fix the yaboot.conf there, BTW. Yes, it's inelegant, but I
think you've noticed by now there's no place to stick a rescue floppy in the
machine. You can use the CD if things get that bad...
Anyway, I have to go. I hope that helped.
(Maybe it would help if some of us pitched in and donated memory for one
of the machines, so you would have faster compile times? I think we should
discuss this before I'm broke again).
Phil
pgf@globalreach.net
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