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Can't Install Linux on Quicksilver G4
- Thread starter CC_333
- Start date
Update:
I think I got it (almost). Apparently the video card (Nvidia Geforce 2 MX) is supported, yet it doesn't work right (it shows a picture with highly distorted colors). However, the machine seems otherwise operational, or at least it did until I decided to mess with xorg.conf. Now it doesn't want to go to graphical mode. It's usable from the command line, but I want X.org to run so it'll be graphical.
Anyway, aside from the video issues, it would seem that I've ironed out all the major hardware bugs (CPU, RAM, etc.), so now I just have to learn my way around the software.
733 MHz is kind of slow, however, so I'll probably upgrade later on. But at least it's working (mostly)!
Thank you!
c
I think I got it (almost). Apparently the video card (Nvidia Geforce 2 MX) is supported, yet it doesn't work right (it shows a picture with highly distorted colors). However, the machine seems otherwise operational, or at least it did until I decided to mess with xorg.conf. Now it doesn't want to go to graphical mode. It's usable from the command line, but I want X.org to run so it'll be graphical.
Anyway, aside from the video issues, it would seem that I've ironed out all the major hardware bugs (CPU, RAM, etc.), so now I just have to learn my way around the software.
733 MHz is kind of slow, however, so I'll probably upgrade later on. But at least it's working (mostly)!
Thank you!
c
I have had trouble with Xorg generating a working config with these older card. The best luck I've had with my Sawtooth's original ATI card was the Ubuntu 6.06 PPC Live CD. Whatever version of Xorg it used seemed to do a better job of making working configs. Since you've got your machine booting Linux now maybe would can give the Live CD a shot. 
PowerPup:
Live CDs don't work (at least not the newer versions), but they will work in text mode as install CDs (well, the regular Ubuntu CD won't work, but the alternate CD does).
It's probably a video card issue, as I tried both Ubuntu 10.10 and Fedora 12 on a PowerBook Pismo, and after a little bit of fighting there, it works OK (there is no 3D acceleration for ATI Rage 128, which is making it rather slow).
This seems to be a common problem with Xorg not detecting older hardware properly. I guess the latest versions are optimized for more modern hardware, therefore dropping/deprecating support for older H/W out of necessity.
Well, it makes for a good learning experience, anyway!
I can see if an older version of Ubuntu would work (I hate to run such an old version, as the point of all this is to get the machine running a more up to date OS than Apple will allow).
Such is life...
c
Live CDs don't work (at least not the newer versions), but they will work in text mode as install CDs (well, the regular Ubuntu CD won't work, but the alternate CD does).
It's probably a video card issue, as I tried both Ubuntu 10.10 and Fedora 12 on a PowerBook Pismo, and after a little bit of fighting there, it works OK (there is no 3D acceleration for ATI Rage 128, which is making it rather slow).
This seems to be a common problem with Xorg not detecting older hardware properly. I guess the latest versions are optimized for more modern hardware, therefore dropping/deprecating support for older H/W out of necessity.
Well, it makes for a good learning experience, anyway!
I can see if an older version of Ubuntu would work (I hate to run such an old version, as the point of all this is to get the machine running a more up to date OS than Apple will allow).
Such is life...
c
Well what I did for my Sawtooth was boot the Live CD, copy the config file it generated in RAM onto a flash drive. Then copied it in place on my Frugalware 1.3 partition. The Frugalware bootscreen looked like it was in 16 colors but other than that the desktop worked fine. (A little slow, because of the old ATI Rage Pro/whatever is in it.)
It tends to be frustrating sometimes, Xorg isn't necessarily dropping/depreciating hardware support, but their config generator isn't working properly for older cards. As I mentioned, all I had to do was swap config files and everything was fine. Didn't have to go install an older version of Xorg or anything.
Did a little researching on the Ubuntu forums:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1488649#6
Do let us know if you try this route and your results. (Although I just looked at the next page, and someone mentioned they didn't have the option to upgrade. :?: )
Edit: Here's an interesting topic: Ubuntu 11.04 and 10.04 on iLamp iMac freezes on boot.
Maybe one of these config files will help you.
It tends to be frustrating sometimes, Xorg isn't necessarily dropping/depreciating hardware support, but their config generator isn't working properly for older cards. As I mentioned, all I had to do was swap config files and everything was fine. Didn't have to go install an older version of Xorg or anything.
Did a little researching on the Ubuntu forums:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1488649#6
This is for Ubuntu 10.04, post #9 in the topic mentions you can install Ubuntu using the 8.04 alternate CD, then upgrade to 10.04 using the update manager.
Do let us know if you try this route and your results. (Although I just looked at the next page, and someone mentioned they didn't have the option to upgrade. :?: )Edit: Here's an interesting topic: Ubuntu 11.04 and 10.04 on iLamp iMac freezes on boot.
Maybe one of these config files will help you.
Thank you! I took a peek, and they actually have a file that pretty closely matches the setup I have (with a 17" Studio display). I will give that a try in the next day or two. It sure beats fiddling with all the various parameters manually!
I think there must be some sort of bug in the configurator thing that was introduced in current versions of Xorg. Being open source, it should in theory be possible for anyone with the right knowledge to fix it. Any volunteers?
I appreciate your research. I've been doing some myself, and found out about Nouveau, a newer reverse engineered nvidia driver for Linux (a replacement for the older nv driver). Maybe you know of it?
I did that with the Pismo, which for some reason would only display at 800x600 starting at the upper left corner of the screen with an ugly bar of distorted/random stuff, and immediately below that a partial repeat of the image (like an old television whose vertical hold is off a bit). I found an xorg.conf file for it, and I was able to get 1024x768, but the problem still remains if I decide to go back to 800x600 (and, of course, it's slower than I feel it should be).
I will try to download a copy of Ubuntu 8.xx and see if that works any better. I will also see if an upgrade to 10.xx/11.xx is possible (at minimum I will copy the xorg.conf file and put it in a fresh 10.xx/11.xx installation).
Thank you again!
c
Another Update:
I can confirm that Fedora Core 5 works flawlessly, so it is not a hardware problem. Yay!!
I will try next to see if upgrading FC 5 to F12 or newer will preserve this "flawlessness".
I actually like FC5, except it's so old that it defeats the purpose of having it (Mac OS X Leopard is actually newer!).
c
I can confirm that Fedora Core 5 works flawlessly, so it is not a hardware problem. Yay!!
I will try next to see if upgrading FC 5 to F12 or newer will preserve this "flawlessness".
I actually like FC5, except it's so old that it defeats the purpose of having it (Mac OS X Leopard is actually newer!).
c
I decided to stick with Fedora Core 5 (old as it is) for now, until I get a new video card (I have determined that there is some really weird incompatibility between this Quicksilver's standard video (Nvidia GeForce 2MX) and recent versions of X11).
I wish to thank those who have helped me out on this.
Now on to another project...
c
I wish to thank those who have helped me out on this.
Now on to another project...
c
