MOL 0.9.64 on an oldworld mac clone

[Allan Fields]

Hi,

I just wanted to share my experiences with running version 0.9.64 on a mac 
clone running the linuxppc-2.4.19-rc3-benH kernel.  This machine is an 
oldworld Genesis MP PCI (6 slot model) clone with a G3 XLR8 upgrade card and 
OF 1.0.5.  It has two onboard SCSI chains.  Mac OS is rock solid running on 
this machine natively.  LinuxPPC is also rock solid on the above kernel.

I've had some amount of luck with MOL after I grabbed a ROM image using the 
handy (and surprisingly simple) ROM Grabber tool.  I first attempted to use 
the TomeViewer approach, but that ROM didn't work.  Also, running w/o a ROM 
image didn't work on this machine.  This machine won't boot using any of the 
Open Firmware booters and I'm wondering if the ROMs aren't of a special 
design versus an Apple 9500 ROM set.  (MOL bootstrapping/initialization takes 
about 10-20 seconds on this machine.)

MOL works (and on a couple of tries was very usable [see screenshots]) 
although there are stability problems and at some points there are SCSI 
errors (scsi-bus: Going busfree...; Could not register MESH...) and invalid 
system calls (Unsupported csop XX...).  Also the Finder sometimes freezes 
totally and/or quits and restarts in a tight loop.  I've booted both Mac OS 8 
and Mac OS 9 and off the install CD.  I've also tried a variety of 
combinations of extensions and disabling all extensions.  One thing that has 
helped is getting rid of Quickdraw GX and other graphics acceleration inits.

Other problems include mouse errors with window focus and shading, controls 
not being clickable (interfaced as USB mouse), total mouse button lockups, 
network applications that tend to freeze up but can sometimes still be 
force-quit, clock stalls, sound output freezing Mac OS, and general stability 
issues with some mac applications.

One very, very messed up application is Internet Explorer 5.1.5.  Internet 
Explorer is very stable under native MacOS 9 with a small footprint and never 
leaks on me like Netscape, Mozilla and Opera do.  It seems to torch the whole 
setup whenever its downloading pages under MOL.  There are sometimes some 
network buffer errors associated with these problems.

Other times the resolution (desktop size) switches sporadically in X 
window/xvideo setup and displays an error (Bad Expose event, 0 0...), but 
seems to continue along fine.  I can switch between X windowing mode and full 
screen w/o issue given I satisfy my framebuffer dilemma (unsupported 
IMS,tt3di card always runs at fixed frequency).  I'm very happy running the 
Mac desktop at a full 1792x1434 with almost no delays except an initial sweep 
at startup and console switching.  Any other video problems are probably to 
blame on the framebuffer mode vs. accelerated situation.

I can help out where you need me to on testing/debugging.

Thanks,
	Allan


Screenshots:
- http://webhome.idirect.com/~afields/snapshot1.png
- (http://webhome.idirect.com/~afields/snapshot2.png MOL with website in 
Konqueror overlain)