Hi everyone, I've posted this on debian-powerpc but am feeling desperate -- apologies for the cross-post. I've just had something rather strange happen -- after functioning perfectly well on several bootups, suddenly 2.6.5 kernels are unable to run X. I don't believe I did *anything* to the X settings, and X still runs fine under 2.4.25. A quick look at the XFree86 logs indicates the problem is with the framebuffer support. Attempts to set 'UseFBDev' to 'false' in XF86Config-4 result in complete failure in both kernels ("R128(0): Cannot read V_BIOS (5)").
This is wierd! X ran just fine under these same 2.6.5 kernels several times -- I'd say over 10 times, as I was testing a bunch of new kernels; it only suddenly stopped working last night. Why would it work for a while and then suddenly not work? This is all on a "blue and white" Apple Powermac g3 with the stock ATIRage128 card that came with it. I'm bummed since I noticed several marked improvements under 2.6, e.g. much better support for my Palm, and the sudden disappaerance of a serious printing problem that's been bugging me for 2 years. So if anyone can help me I'd be MUCH obliged. Here is part of the XFree86 log, followed by parts of my XF86Config-4 file & parts of the kernel config: .... XFree86 Version 4.2.1.1 (Debian 4.2.1-10 20030820055107 [EMAIL PROTECTED]) / X Window System (protocol Version 11, revision 0, vendor release 6600) Release Date: 18 October 2002 If the server is older than 6-12 months, or if your card is newer than the above date, look for a newer version before reporting problems. (See http://www.XFree86.Org/) Build Operating System: Linux 2.4.19-powerpc ppc [ELF] .... (WW) Open APM failed (/dev/apm_bios) (No such file or directory) [this warning shows up under 2.4.25 also, so I assume it's not relevant to my problem] ... [just about everything gets loaded now] ... [now things start to go wrong] (II) Setting vga for screen 0. (II) Loading sub module "vgahw" (II) LoadModule: "vgahw" (II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/libvgahw.a (II) Module vgahw: vendor="The XFree86 Project" compiled for 4.2.1.1, module version = 0.1.0 ABI class: XFree86 Video Driver, version 0.5 (II) R128(0): PCI bus 0 card 16 func 0 (**) R128(0): Depth 16, (--) framebuffer bpp 16 (II) R128(0): Pixel depth = 16 bits stored in 2 bytes (16 bpp pixmaps) (==) R128(0): Default visual is TrueColor (**) R128(0): Option "UseFBDev" "true" (==) R128(0): RGB weight 565 (II) R128(0): Using 6 bits per RGB (8 bit DAC) (**) R128(0): Using framebuffer device (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw" (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw" (II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/linux/libfbdevhw.a (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="The XFree86 Project" compiled for 4.2.1.1, module version = 0.0.2 ABI class: XFree86 Video Driver, version 0.5 (EE) Unable to find a valid framebuffer device (II) UnloadModule: "ati" (II) UnloadModule: "fbdevhw" (II) Unloading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/linux/libfbdevhw.a (II) UnloadModule: "vgahw" (II) Unloading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/libvgahw.a (II) UnloadModule: "r128" (II) Unloading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/r128_drv.o (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration. Fatal server error: no screens found ---------------------------------------- note the second to last error -- "unable to find a valid framebuffer device. But why? now here's some of XF86Config-4: Section "Device" Identifier "ATI Rage something" Driver "ati" BusID "PCI:0:16:0" Option "UseFBDev" "true" EndSection ..... Section "Screen" Identifier "Default Screen" Device "ATI Rage something" Monitor "ADI Micro Scan" DefaultDepth 16 SubSection "Display" Depth 1 Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection [several more Display subsections follow] EndSection --------------------------------------- And from the kernel config file: # Graphics support # CONFIG_FB=y # CONFIG_FB_PM2 is not set # CONFIG_FB_CYBER2000 is not set # CONFIG_FB_OF is not set # CONFIG_FB_CONTROL is not set # CONFIG_FB_PLATINUM is not set # CONFIG_FB_VALKYRIE is not set # CONFIG_FB_CT65550 is not set # CONFIG_FB_IMSTT is not set # CONFIG_FB_S3TRIO is not set # CONFIG_FB_VGA16 is not set # CONFIG_FB_RIVA is not set # CONFIG_FB_MATROX is not set # CONFIG_FB_RADEON_OLD is not set CONFIG_FB_RADEON=y CONFIG_FB_RADEON_I2C=y # CONFIG_FB_RADEON_DEBUG is not set CONFIG_FB_ATY128=y # CONFIG_FB_ATY is not set # CONFIG_FB_SIS is not set # CONFIG_FB_NEOMAGIC is not set # CONFIG_FB_KYRO is not set CONFIG_FB_3DFX=y # CONFIG_FB_VOODOO1 is not set # CONFIG_FB_TRIDENT is not set # CONFIG_FB_VIRTUAL is not set # # Console display driver support # # CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE is not set # CONFIG_MDA_CONSOLE is not set CONFIG_DUMMY_CONSOLE=y CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE=y CONFIG_PCI_CONSOLE=y # CONFIG_FONTS is not set CONFIG_FONT_8x8=y CONFIG_FONT_8x16=y ------------------------ Thanks as always for your help! This is sooooo frustrating! matt -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]