On Thu, 01 Jun 2006 16:07:50 -0400, Rick Thomas wrote:
>
> I've been trying to test install the "etch" daily netinst CD on an
> oldworld Mac (beige G3) and I can't get off first base because I
> can't get the video to co-operate.
The beige G3 machines came in two generations that were externally
indistinguishable: the Gossamer and the Silk. You have the Gossamer, known
for its flaky ATA and an Open Firmware even worse than that in the Silk.
> I'm using the BootX bootloader under MacOS-9.2.2
Make sure you don't use a version prior to 1.2.2, and copy the kernel args
for installation from the yaboot.conf on the CD, but increase the initrd
size to at least 20480.
> Before I begin describing my problems, let me state that I was able
> to install "sarge" using just about any of the available combinations
> of video setting in BootX ("Force video settings" checkbox on or off,
> "No video driver" checkbox on or off, and any one of three settings
> for "More kernel arguments:" -- "video=ofonly", "", and
> "video=atyfb:vmode:17,cmode:8") (Does anybody know what the two video
> checkboxes translate into in terms of kernel arguments???)
"No video driver" simply appends "video=ofonly" to the end of the kernel
args. "Force video settings" does not affect kernel args, but it affects
the state of the video chip before control is passed to the kernel.
> The problem is that, no matter what I set for video options in BootX,
> using the "debian-testing-powerpc-netinst.iso" CD image from
>
> http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/etch_d-i/arch-latest/
> powerpc/iso-cd/
>
> I get unreadable stuff on the screen during the part that should be
> kernel messages and evenutally it hangs. I never get to the language
> chooser screen at all.
I have not examined the .config of the installation kernel used on that
iso, but it's possible that the driver may be there and be broken. But if
the ofonly option does not help, that may not be the problem.
> In some cases I get tiny unreadable green text which is duplicated
> between the left and right halves of the screen, followed by readable
> characters in white saying:
>
> Preparing boot params...
> Preparing BAT...
> pmac_init(): exit
> id mach(): done
> MMU: enter
> MMU: hw init
> hash: enter
> hash: find piece
> hash: done
> MMU: mapin
> MMU: setio
> MMU: exit
>
> then it hangs.
The solution to this portion of the problem is fairly standard: Pull all
the PCI cards until after installation. Of course, if you're installing to
a SCSI disk, leave the SCSI card.
> In other cases (in particular with none of the BootX video checkboxes
> set and with kernel args set to "video=ofonly") I get a seemingly
> random collection of white dots on a black screen (nothing
> recognizable as potential kernel messages) and it hangs.
>
>
> Is the ATI video driver compiled into the kernel on this CD?
>
> Any help will be appreciated...
>
> Thanks!
>
> Rick
>
>
> PS: Below is the output of lspci from this machine with sarge on it...
>
> rick@debian:~$ ( lspci ; lspci -n ) | sort
> 0000:00:00.0 0600: 1057:0002 (rev 40)
> 0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Motorola MPC106 [Grackle] (rev 40)
> 0000:00:0d.0 0200: 1186:1300 (rev 10)
> 0000:00:0d.0 Ethernet controller: D-Link System Inc RTL8139 Ethernet
> (rev 10)
> 0000:00:0e.0 0100: 1191:0009 (rev 06)
> 0000:00:0e.0 SCSI storage controller: Artop Electronic Corp ATP865
> (rev 06)
> 0000:00:0f.0 0604: 3388:0021 (rev 13)
> 0000:00:0f.0 PCI bridge: Hint Corp HB6 Universal PCI-PCI bridge (non-
> transparent mode) (rev 13)
> 0000:00:10.0 ff00: 106b:0010 (rev 01)
> 0000:00:10.0 ff00: Apple Computer Inc. Heathrow Mac I/O (rev 01)
> 0000:00:12.0 0300: 1002:4754 (rev 9a)
> 0000:00:12.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc 3D Rage
> I/II 215GT [Mach64 GT] (rev 9a)
> 0000:01:08.0 0c03: 1033:0035 (rev 41)
> 0000:01:08.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 41)
> 0000:01:08.1 0c03: 1033:0035 (rev 41)
> 0000:01:08.1 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 41)
> 0000:01:08.2 0c03: 1033:00e0 (rev 02)
> 0000:01:08.2 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB 2.0 (rev 02)
> 0000:01:0b.0 0c00: 104c:8020
> 0000:01:0b.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB12LV26
> IEEE-1394 Controller (Link)
> rick@debian:~$