[ydl-gen] Re: X on ancient iBook

[Eric Dunbar]

On 08/06/06, Andrew Ball <xless at earthlink.net> wrote:
> On 07/06/06, Andrew Ball <xless at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > > I have a 300 MHz clamshell iBook that I was hoping to use as
> > > a VNC terminal and perhaps for some light duty Web browsing.
> > > This morning I installed Yellow Dog Linux and found that the
> > > supplied X server does not work on my iBook. I couldn't find
> > > an X configuration program, so I'm stuck at the command
> > > line.  The Terra Soft Web site suggests that the machine has
> > > an ATI Rage Mobility, 2x AGP with 4 Mb VRAM and 2D hardware
> > > acceleration.  I may try building a fresh X from source, but
> > > if anyone out there has any tips or alternative suggestions
> > > they would be most welcome.
> Hello Eric,
>
>    > Well, a bit more googling and I've found the answer:
>    > Boot into command line (e.g. linux 2 at the boot prompt)
>    > cd /usr/X11/bin
>    > ./Xautoconfig
>    > init 5
>
> That seems to have had no effect.  The display switches into
> a graphics mode, but it looks as though either the frame
> buffer memory is laid out differently than the X server
> thinks, or the display is unable to cope with the signal
> being fed to it by the CRTC. Both of these are guesses based
> on what I'm seeing on the screen: if I squint it looks like
> a graphical logon screen has been stretched off the right-
> hand edge of the LCD and back on the other side. It's almost
> as though a blank column of pixels has been inserted between
> each column of pixels that /would/ be normal if the colours
> weren't way off. If it helps, I can take a photograph of the
> LCD and post it on the Web somewhere.
>
> - Andy Ball.

#1. Did you try running Xautoconfig?

#2. Have you looked at your /etc/X11/XF86Config file? It seems like
your screen size might be off.

#3. Subscribe to yellowdog-general
(<http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/mailman/listinfo/yellowdog-general>).
I'm going to CC: your message there b/c I suspect more people capable
of answering your question are subscribed to YDL-gen.

Unrelated note to YDL/Terrasoft people:

Would it be worth rolling YDL-gen and YDL-newbie into one list? The
traffic volume on both lists has dropped significantly over the past
year.

Eric.