[bradoesch]

Hello,

I've recently installed Mandrake 8.2 on my iMac DV. The installation went fine, everything seemed to be OK. I set it up to automatically log me in a take me to a windowing environment (I assume KDE). It boots fine until I get logged in, then the screen just goes black. Has this happened to anyone? Did I do something wrong? I really have no idea where to go from here. BTW, here's what I've got:
Mandrake 8.2
iMac DV - 400MHz, 384MB, 20 GB internal HD.

When partitioning my internal drive, I put aside 4GB for Linux, which I then re-partitioned with the installer for Mandrake into a ~200MB partition for swap, ~3GB partion for root (/) and then another ~20MB partion for the bootloader.

Thanks for your help,

Brad

[hidozage]

Originally posted by bradoesch:
<STRONG>Hello,

I've recently installed Mandrake 8.2 on my iMac DV. The installation went fine, everything seemed to be OK. I set it up to automatically log me in a take me to a windowing environment (I assume KDE). It boots fine until I get logged in, then the screen just goes black. Has this happened to anyone? Did I do something wrong? I really have no idea where to go from here. BTW, here's what I've got:
Mandrake 8.2
iMac DV - 400MHz, 384MB, 20 GB internal HD.

When partitioning my internal drive, I put aside 4GB for Linux, which I then re-partitioned with the installer for Mandrake into a ~200MB partition for swap, ~3GB partion for root (/) and then another ~20MB partion for the bootloader.

Thanks for your help,

Brad</STRONG>

On the command line...

Type

Xconfigurator

This should help you set up X on linux.

[bradoesch]

Originally posted by hidozage:
<STRONG>


On the command line...

Type

Xconfigurator

This should help you set up X on linux.</STRONG>

OK, I'll give that a whirl. The only problem is that I can't get to the command line, since it tries to put me in X automatically. Is there a way to bypass it?

Thanks

[hidozage]

Originally posted by bradoesch:
<STRONG>

OK, I'll give that a whirl. The only problem is that I can't get to the command line, since it tries to put me in X automatically. Is there a way to bypass it?

Thanks</STRONG>

Newer Machines - iMac DV, PowerBook 2000, All G4s

Hold down the option key on boot to get a graphical boot menu, offering a choice between whatever OS's you configured in yaboot.conf.

If you don't hold down the option key on these machines, it will put up the standard yaboot prompt. This is explained in the section below.

Older Machines - iBooks, Blue G3, iMac Rev. D or Earlier

You will be prompted with the standard yaboot prompt at boot.

Within 20 seconds (or whatever timeout you put in yaboot.conf), you can enter in what OS you want to boot. After 20 seconds, you will get the default OS. Any extra kernel arguments can be typed after the OS's name.

Examples:
linux Linux
linux S Linux Single User
macos Classic Mac OS
macosx Mac OS X
macosx init=/bin/sh Mac OS X - No GUI, Single User

[plavigna]

Hi bradoesch,

I have a similar iMac. With the help of some tips from the Cooker-PPC mailing list, this is how I got the video working.

1) Reboot the iMac. At the Linux bootloader, hit "l" for linux, but then enter the following text at the boot prompt:
"linux 3" (no quotes) then hit the return key to avoid automatically booting into the GUI.

2) Login as root at the console.

3) Use the following command to change to the proper directory:
"cd /usr/X11R6/lib/modules" (no quotes)

4) Now you need to change the name of the offending module so it doesn't load when the video starts. Rename it like this:
"mv libi2c.a libi2c" (no quotes).

5) That should fix it. Now you can reboot the machine, or just type "kdm" to launch the display manager and log into your personal account.

Please let me know if these instructions are clear enough so we can add it to the errata.

Thanks,
Phil

[bradoesch]

Originally posted by plavigna:
<STRONG>Hi bradoesch,

I have a similar iMac. With the help of some tips from the Cooker-PPC mailing list, this is how I got the video working.

1) Reboot the iMac. At the Linux bootloader, hit "l" for linux, but then enter the following text at the boot prompt:
"linux 3" (no quotes) then hit the return key to avoid automatically booting into the GUI.

2) Login as root at the console.

3) Use the following command to change to the proper directory:
"cd /usr/X11R6/lib/modules" (no quotes)

4) Now you need to change the name of the offending module so it doesn't load when the video starts. Rename it like this:
"mv libi2c.a libi2c" (no quotes).

5) That should fix it. Now you can reboot the machine, or just type "kdm" to launch the display manager and log into your personal account.

Please let me know if these instructions are clear enough so we can add it to the errata.

Thanks,
Phil</STRONG>

I tried your advice, and it worked! I'm writing this while running Linux. Thanks a lot!!

Brad

[richard bl]

I have the same problem as bradoesch. I did what he did and it won't work on my G4 867 with GeF2 and Flat Panel. The screen remain blank after i login. Do you know how i could get Mandrake to work on my machine?

[Northform]

Originally posted by richard bl:
<STRONG>I have the same problem as bradoesch. I did what he did and it won't work on my G4 867 with GeF2 and Flat Panel. The screen remain blank after i login. Do you know how i could get Mandrake to work on my machine?</STRONG>

A monitary donation always greases the wheels.

[plavigna]

Originally posted by richard bl:
<STRONG>I have the same problem as bradoesch. I did what he did and it won't work on my G4 867 with GeF2 and Flat Panel. The screen remain blank after i login. Do you know how i could get Mandrake to work on my machine?</STRONG>

The fix that I mentioned is specifically for iMacs that use Rage128 video with Mandrake 8.2 PPC. Your problem has to do with the company that makes your video card -- Nvidia doesn't release the specs on their cards (trade secret) so all Linux distributions have problems with their stuff. But if you had usable video during the graphical installation, you can use the same video server for the desktop. It won't be accelerated video, but hopefully it will give you a usable display.

I don't have a Mac with a GeForce2 to test with, but I think the easiest way for you to get a workable display is to re-run the the graphical installer but choose "Update" this time: http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/dem...install12.php3

Then when you choose the video server, select "Xpmac": http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/dem...es/reco51.php3

Good luck. Please let me know if it works OK.

[richard bl]

I don't have the graphical installer (i can only use 'install-text'), so i can't select 'Xpmac' during installation because it doesn't show up. Thanks for the suggestion.