[ydl-gen] YDL on PB17

[Warren Nagourney]

Ooops. I mean the radeon mobility 9700 gpu. I see that other people  
get 2D acceleration but not 3D. I don't seem to get any.

Thanks.

-wn


On Oct 31, 2006, at 8:19 AM, Warren Nagourney wrote:

> Thanks very much for your replies!
>
> I fixed part of the video problem using a suggestion on the YDL
> solutions site: I was able to get the video back by using some form
> of CTRL-OPTION-F2 to get a terminal and executed Xautoconfig to
> regenerate a useable configuration file.  The video now looks good,
> but it is still not accelerated. Is there any way to ensure
> accelerated video on a machine using an ATI mobility 7700 gpu?
>
> The reason for thinking that the video is not accelerated is that I
> briefly get multiple window outlines when I move one Firefox window
> over another one. They quickly collapse, but this shouldn't happen if
> the video is accelerated.
>
> Thanks.
>
> -wn
>
> On Oct 30, 2006, at 5:51 PM, Derick Centeno wrote:
>
>> Hi Warren!
>>
>> Welcome.
>>
>> If you don't mind I'll intersperse my replies with your questions.
>>
>> Warren Nagourney wrote:
>>> I have a few YDL questions -  perhaps this should have been sent to
>>> the new users list; if this list is inappropriate, my apologies.
>>>
>>> I am attempting to install YDL 4.1 on an external Firewire drive
>>> attached to a 1.5 GHz Powerbook 17" laptop. It seemed to install
>>> successfully and launched into the KDE display manager. I noticed
>>> first that the graphics were painfully slow - when running the web
>>> browser (Firefox, I believe) there were many video artifacts when  
>>> one
>>> moved the browser window indicating very very slow refresh. First
>>> question is how do I ensure that I have accelerated video?
>>>
>>>
>> Fortunately, I've done the above myself  using a 1.67 GHz PB.  I  
>> don't
>> mind going through the details of how this was done, however I would
>> like to first suggest a different approach entirely -- if you are
>> willing to consider it.  I discovered that this approach saved me  
>> time
>> and was very convenient.  Essentially what I did was partition my  
>> PB's
>> HD one for YDL and the other for OS X.  Switching between YDL 4.1
>> and OS
>> X is merely a matter pressing a button (the option key).
>>
>> Of course I have no idea how much data is on your OS X side, but if
>> you
>> back that up say with Dantz's Retrospect.  Then you can prepare to
>> split
>> the PB HD with Apple's Disk Utility (recall HFS+ for OS X and Free
>> Space
>> for the section you intend for YDL).  After that reinstall OS X to  
>> the
>> side it will reside in and if you have really a lot of data you can
>> offload it to the external firewire drive.  Meanwhile you continue to
>> complete the YDL installation process with the 1st YDL Install CD and
>> just initiate the YDL installation sequence.  You and the YDL
>> installation program should see the prepared partition dedicated
>> for YDL
>> immediately.  The nice thing about doing this is that if you move  
>> into
>> serious development with YDL you can show immediately or nearly so,
>> whatever you are working on.  And you'll have a full server package
>> (several server packages actually) available from within YDL.
>>
>> OS X then becomes an appendage, while YDL becomes the work horse.
>> And you loose carrying about an external drive.
>>
>> Now, if what I just shared doesn't interest you then, I'll submit to
>> describing doing things as you initially wished.  I just thought  
>> you'd
>> appreciate a chance to rethink the entire matter.
>>
>>> Next, when playing with the display configuration, I managed to set
>>> an excessive refresh rate so I now get gibberish on the screen. Is
>>> there a simple way to reset the graphics? (through xconfig or
>>> something like this using a terminal?).
>>>
>> Within KDE:  Click upon the K such that you see System Settings, then
>> select Display.  Doing this brings up a dialog box.  Select  
>> Resolution
>> and Color Depth under the Settings tab.  See what works for you.   
>> Next
>> select Monitor and Video under the Hardware tab.  Select Apple
>> Titanium
>> PB G4. and the video card you have installed.
>>
>> OS X and YDL don't see the same hardware the same way so if you
>> examine
>> what OS X reports from within System Profiler then when you select
>> Graphics/Displays you should see something -- on my system it is ATI
>> Mobility Radeon 9700.  YDL sees the same device differently so make
>> note
>> somewhere of all the other associated details of that card and you
>> should see or recognize something within the Display app within KDE.
>>
>> Within the Gnome environment the process is similar.
>>> Finally, can one recommend a development system for making
>>> multiwindow apps using OpenGL? I have been doing this for a  
>>> number of
>>> years using Project Builder and now Xcode in OSX and have had
>>> reasonable success. For a number of uninteresting reasons, I am in
>>> the process of abandoning the Apple platform due to the switch to
>>> Intel, an architecture I have no interest in. (Also, in my opinion,
>>> Xcode is getting worse with each new version and the vaunted Cocoa
>>> developing environment is getting less and less attractive). My
>>> ultimate goal is playing with the Cell on a PS3 (I have many
>>> scientific programs which should benefit from the extreme  
>>> parallelism
>>> - I already get a 4x increase  in speed using altivec in an optical
>>> raytracer and anticipate more from the Cell).
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any help.
>>>
>>> Warren Nagourney
>>>
>>>
>> Ok!  Warren you found the right place!  Instead of diving into 4.1  
>> why
>> not just wait for YDL 5.0?  The desktop environment known as E17  
>> makes
>> OS X look very weak.
>> Of course what is even better however is that because E17 is open
>> source
>> as is everything else in YDL, you can participate with the various
>> projects improving one or another thing according to your wishes
>> without
>> being blocked by anyone telling you -- no you may not study this!  I
>> have no advanced information regarding how this will run within a PB
>> environment but my experience with YDL 4.1 is that it is very fast  
>> and
>> allows the G4 to strut to it's best.  What is also exciting is that
>> many
>> of, if not all, of the codes for the G4 which were formally closed or
>> unavailable are becoming more open source all the time.  So accessing
>> the Altivec directly is getting easier all the time.
>>
>> This is not an area I would normally write about or discuss, but
>> you've
>> mentioned ideas which other members of this community have considered
>> and discussed.
>>
>> The G4 admittedly is not the Cell, and nothing will remove the
>> excitement of having available that kind of power for one's self to
>> test, examine and explore with.  However,
>> you could still use the G4 laptop as a kind of proof of concept  
>> device
>> where you work on an aspect of an idea or method within the G4 and
>> then
>> see how it can be expanded on the Cell.  Currently on the TSS pages
>> there are no details or specifics regarding which G4 laptops will run
>> YDL 5.  There are taunts and teases and many aficionados are looking
>> forward to discover what is finally revealed.  The good news is
>> that we
>> are all waiting for a wonderful tool which is only limited by the
>> breadth of our imaginations!
>>
>> Best wishes.... Derick.
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