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Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,369
11,512
The power light on the ACD is on solid,
...which would seem to suggest it's receiving a valid input signal. It's a shame there's no on-screen menu to tell us what exactly it's receiving.

What would be telling the Debian OS to drive the ACD with a VGA signal?
Can you post the contents of the Xorg log files when both displays are connected here? They should be /var/log/Xorg.n.log for the root user or /home/yourusername/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.n.log for your user where n is a number starting with 0.

I realize it's kind of a long shot, and the only other way to test the port under Linux would be get an old 17" Studio Display CRT that seems to have used the VGA passthrough, and there's very little documentation about this aspect of the port in general.
Or just get a passive ADC-to-DVI and/or ADC-to-VGA adapter and test using any other monitor ;)
 
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MacMaverick855

macrumors regular
Feb 6, 2021
240
60
Marion, IA
...which would seem to suggest it's receiving a valid input signal. It's a shame there's no on-screen menu to tell us what exactly it's receiving.


Can you post the contents of the Xorg log files when both displays are connected here? They should be /var/log/Xorg.n.log for the root user or /home/yourusername/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.n.log for your user where n is a number starting with 0.


Or just get a passive ADC-to-DVI and/or ADC-to-VGA adapter and test using any other monitor ;)
I will research and capture what’s in the Xorg.0.log, if there is one. I have found that an xorg.conf file doesn’t exist in a form I recognize. I have in the past dealt with modifying xorg.conf files to try and force monitors to work, never with any success but it was an path I was directed and guided to pursue. So I’m familiar with that option. I was shown a command line option (Xorg -configure) which generates an xorg.conf based on the information it gathers about your computer. That particular action only generated errors. I will capture that info too and share it.

My thought is this: If I can find the file containing the Monitor, Screen, Device info and the settings for each, I would expect to find Monitor 2 (the ACD) and an entry showing VGA-0. Simplistically, I would think changing VGA-0 or perhaps the driver for the ACD monitor and changing it to something that would make it work would be a path to success. As it stands right now, I haven’t found the xorg.conf file nor have I tried to create it, mostly because I haven’t sat down to do it nor do I know whether the OS would use it if created.

Lot’s of food for thought, I will see what the logs and files reveal.
You’ve been a lot of help and I thank you!
MacMav855
 
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Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,369
11,512
I will research and capture what’s in the Xorg.0.log,
My hope is that the log(s) will reveal what signal/mode is currently being sent to the ADC display: if it's not a compatible one, that's likely to be the reason it stays black. We would then have to specify the correct signal/mode manually.

But right now, we don't really know what's going on.
 
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MacMaverick855

macrumors regular
Feb 6, 2021
240
60
Marion, IA
My hope is that the log(s) will reveal what signal/mode is currently being sent to the ADC display: if it's not a compatible one, that's likely to be the reason it stays black. We would then have to specify the correct signal/mode manually.

But right now, we don't really know what's going on.
Just a quick update: found Xorg.0.log while logged in as root. Saw some great info I need to study more to understand what it’s telling me. Went down a rabbit hole looking for xorg.conf.d, it held a few files notably, 10-Radeon.conf. Further searching revealed a file xorg.conf.new on the root level of the root Home folder. It contained the Sections I’ve been looking for and also requires further review to see what I might be able to change in order to get a desktop on the ACD. Logged out as root and back in under my user account and did not see the xorg.conf.new folder in my Home folder. Not sure where that file came from.

I’m getting closer!
MacMav855
 

MacMaverick855

macrumors regular
Feb 6, 2021
240
60
Marion, IA
I’ll give it a shot. I took photo’s of it with my phone for further study, but the files are huge so I’ll try it your way, probably better.
 

Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,369
11,512
I’ll give it a shot. I took photo’s of it with my phone for further study, but the files are huge so I’ll try it your way, probably better.
Yes, there'll be lots of info in it. Best to attach the complete file. :)
 
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MacMaverick855

macrumors regular
Feb 6, 2021
240
60
Marion, IA
I hope this worked, I'll be reviewing them to gain a better understanding of what might be going on. Thanks for looking at them!

MacMav855
 

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pc297

macrumors 6502
Sep 26, 2015
333
206
Awww I forgot about that one... I think the xnu loader was never implemented for grub under ppc :/ Which is why you see 32- and 64-bit options, made for intel. If you really want the OSes to be displayed at boot (rather than at the boot picker) then you're probably better off with Yaboot, with which I confirm booting foreign OSes works properly, e.g. with macosx=/dev/sda10 in /etc/yaboot.conf and I think macos=/dev/sda11 there too if you have OS9 there. You will need an ext2-formatted boot partition though, e.g. 1Gb to accomodate various initrd and kernel variations and updates, but your root partition can be ext4. Make sure that your ext2-formatted boot partition is mounted at /boot. Worked for me with debian, but grub is easier, allows 1 large partition. Strangely enough with Ubuntu 16.04 yaboot could still use ext4 partitions formatted under 16.04, but this stopped there. You could also format your partition with Ubuntu 16.04 (but nothing later than that) and then install debian and then yaboot, I think this also worked for me.
It suddenly dawned on me that if this could somehow be made to work, this would open up avenues to get ppc osx to at least attempt booting on completely unsupported hardware via grub or yaboot, e.g Talos II, POWER4-9, and potentially Xbox 360/PS3/GameCube/Wii/WiiU, but very likely people already thought about this over and over and we would definitely know about it. Or... have they? Anyone ever tried to slap an osx partition on on any of those already running Linux and either tell yaboot about it in yaboot.conf or compiling xnu_kernel and xnu_mkext for ppc for grub? Or tried any ppc equivalent to osx86 chainloading via chain0 in grub? Tantalising thought even if 15 years late ;)

Edit: obviously for full booting it would have to be close hardware for which there are available kexts, which will be a major problem especially for the platform kexts, but afaik no one ever got osx to even attempt direct booting (qemu aside which doesn't count) on non-apple ppc hardware due to openfirmware restrictions (and lack thereof on some ppc platforms eg consoles). I guess the platform will have to be faked which would take porting e.g Chameleon to ppc which, given the humongous architecture and bootloader differences, would be a massive undertaking
 
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Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,369
11,512
I hope this worked, I'll be reviewing them to gain a better understanding of what might be going on. Thanks for looking at them!
I've just had a look at the log (didn't see it earlier, sorry!). It looks like you only had the Hanns.G HH193 monitor connected when this was created. Is that correct? There's nothing in the log pertaining to the Apple monitor AFAICS.
 

pc297

macrumors 6502
Sep 26, 2015
333
206
@pc297
From my own experience with macBook A1342 - GRUB can't boot mac OS at intel hardware, not to mention PPC. It seems - no grub developer need it working (hardware-independently).
I had grub booting ubuntu, windows and osx on intel hardware, albeit hackintosh. I will check whether I can get my MP 2,1 with Focal to show el capitan and SL in grub (I normally use the boot picker to choose)
 

pc297

macrumors 6502
Sep 26, 2015
333
206
It might work on the DTK or an older Hackintosh which boot using the Darwin/x86 boot loader by chainloading the PBR.
It definitely did work in my hands under Ubuntu using chain0 under Hackintosh, I had followed the guide below:


works from windows too.

And it does work with apple hardware, linking to boot.efi:


On ppc machines, adding e.g. macosx=/dev/sda2 to yaboot.conf definitely works with yaboot in my hands, the issue seems to be with grub
 
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MacMaverick855

macrumors regular
Feb 6, 2021
240
60
Marion, IA
I've just had a look at the log (didn't see it earlier, sorry!). It looks like you only had the Hanns.G HH193 monitor connected when this was created. Is that correct? There's nothing in the log pertaining to the Apple monitor AFAICS.
Sorry, but just read this. been busy. So, I currently have both the Apple STUDIO display (have been calling it a cinema display and was wrong) and the DVI Monitor connected. I started up in recovery mode and signed in as root. I get a hard to read screen on the Hanns DVI Monitor but the ASD is black, blank. The system recognizes it is there as I can run the cursor off the Left DVI monitor onto the Right ASD monitor. Also when I run xrandr, it shows both the DVI-0 (primary) monitor with all of it's display options and the VGA-0 with just the native 1280x1024@60,62 Hz. The VGA-0 monitor is the Apple monitor. xrandr says it's "connected"

I am able to get a a terminal screen on the DVI monitor, not a ttyl but an actual Terminal as the X server is running, just not driving a picture to the Apple display.

At first all I had was a blue screen on the DVI monitor, I activated a Terminal window trying some keyboard commands. I did try to see if I could access some ttly screens but Control-option-F2-F12 only showed a screen with a white flashing cursor. Control-option F1 brought me to the blue screen where I opened a Terminal window.

So I decided to startup normally, no kernel command line changes, no rescue mode. I get a desktop but no menu bar or task bar so I can't access any apps. I will try to get the Xorg.0.log with both monitors connected and submit it here.
 
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fluidhd

macrumors member
May 29, 2022
37
1
Apologies if this has been asked before, using a phone right now so isn't so easy to search

Is there a way to set the fans to spin at 100% all the time in a G5 quad
 

dr.zeissler

macrumors member
Oct 1, 2018
91
16
Because YDL3 is driving me nut's with many different errors no 3D-acc and nautilus error, I will try to install debian sarge 3.1 on my cube. hopefully it will work with my existing OS9.0.4 and OSX 10.2.x installation. Currently I have multiboot in YDL3 with yaboot, but I think I have to switch to grub. Can grub start OS9/OSX as well as yaboot does?

Thx!
 

danielktdoranie

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2021
42
24
Because YDL3 is driving me nut's with many different errors no 3D-acc and nautilus error, I will try to install debian sarge 3.1 on my cube. hopefully it will work with my existing OS9.0.4 and OSX 10.2.x installation. Currently I have multiboot in YDL3 with yaboot, but I think I have to switch to grub. Can grub start OS9/OSX as well as yaboot does?

Thx!
Hey man, why would you install a super old version of Debian?

You can install the latest Debian using the Sid branch.
 

dr.zeissler

macrumors member
Oct 1, 2018
91
16
I like it fast and slim...newer linux tend to suckup the performance and the kernel will most likely not support R128pro and USB-Audio anymore...or am I wrong here?
 

dr.zeissler

macrumors member
Oct 1, 2018
91
16
IMG_1040.jpeg
 

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