Bug#795208: No GUI boot under nouveau, unresponsive Jessie on PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 with Apple-branded GeForce 6800 Ultra
Package: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
Version: 1:1.0.11-1
This is a stubborn bug across both Wheezy and now into Jessie. I run a PowerMac G5, dual 2.0 GHz (PowerMac 7,2) with an Apple-branded Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra card with 256 MB memory.
In Wheezy, I was lucky enough to have Wheezy generate a workable xorg.conf upon issuing “X -configure” at a command line after working to avoid a GUI boot. It is “workable” in that at the heart of it the driver selected does not produce the GUI but does when it is switched to “nv” or either “nv” or “nouveaufb” (The driver chosen by default during “X -configure” is “nouveau”).
To be clear, this is an issue of Wheezy and Jessie claiming possible graphics hardware acceleration with “nouveau” and having games on PowerPC which even require it (Tux Racer, for instance) and not even being able to produce a GUI upon booting after installation from DVD 1. In addition, the issue is compounded with a windowing issue in KDE in the new Jessie.
My functional xorg.conf lasted on into Jessie, and I have attached it for convenience. For some reason, a GUI only appears if there are two screens declared (and thus Monitor0 and Monitor1 along with “nv” and “fbdev” as drivers for each, respectively need be declared).
Further, as of Jessie, with both “nv” and “nouveaufb”, it was noticeable that windows in KDE took an atypical length of time to close compared with my general experience across the progressive instalments of Wheezy. The cursor also slows to update during the closing of windows.
I thank you in advance for follow-up.
Reply to: