Try nv driver on jessie

[Raphaël Rignier]

Hello, I tried to install a debian distribution to revive an old aluminium
bi G5 7.3
essentially because I have a very nice Full HD 23 cinema screen to plug with
(dvi like apple property)

I started with the debian 8 powerpc 32bits, last officially supported.
Install from CD works good.
But startx icewm gave me black screen and cursor only.

On a second hrd drive I tempted with de ppc64 port unstable, surprisingly
it installs OK from CD, default graphical grub is somewhat strange colors
but OK.
LXDE has some glitches, task bar is half the size of the screen but its
usable. Problem is with firefox wich segfault.
I need some decent (not really up to date) browser to do some admin tasks.

I then revert back to jessie with the noaccel boot argument and startx
launch correctly. Some glitches on the taskbar.
Firefox from jessie works too but many display related errors slows it down.

I wanted to try with the nv driver which seems more stable from what I have
read but not present on jessie.
I'm quite familiar with sources packages and tried the dpkg-buildpackage
from release found in repository but build failed because of missing
librairies not present in xorg from jessie.

I have stopped here I use now the Firefox for jessie which have although
not always working slide bar.

Does someone know what I could do to get this better ?
Thanks !

[Raphaël Rignier]

Post by Raphaël Rignier
Hello, I tried to install a debian distribution to revive an old aluminium
bi G5 7.3
essentially because I have a very nice Full HD 23 cinema screen to plug with
(dvi like apple property)
I started with the debian 8 powerpc 32bits, last officially supported.
Install from CD works good.
But startx icewm gave me black screen and cursor only.
On a second hrd drive I tempted with de ppc64 port unstable, surprisingly
it installs OK from CD, default graphical grub is somewhat strange colors
but OK.
LXDE has some glitches, task bar is half the size of the screen but its
usable. Problem is with firefox wich segfault.
I need some decent (not really up to date) browser to do some admin tasks.
I then revert back to jessie with the noaccel boot argument and startx
launch correctly. Some glitches on the taskbar.
Firefox from jessie works too but many display related errors slows it down.
I wanted to try with the nv driver which seems more stable from what I
have read but not present on jessie.
I'm quite familiar with sources packages and tried the dpkg-buildpackage
from release found in repository but build failed because of missing
librairies not present in xorg from jessie.
I have stopped here I use now the Firefox for jessie which have although
not always working slide bar.
Does someone know what I could do to get this better ?
Thanks !

Hello, I go back with further tests on my installation : Firefox from
jessie is unstable and crash too often so not a solution.
By reading archives I saw many threads are around the same subject : get a
decent web browser working on ppc64.

I've read about arcticfox : A firefox with improved ppc64 big endian
compatibility, which seems best solution for now.
So booted to sid, add repository from powerprogress.org. Quite odd to get
it working with gpg keys but finaly succeeded.
Arctifox is release 40 and works great on my G5. Even if old (version 40)
it suits my needs for admin interfaces. I can now enjoy the apple cinema
display.

I've got now a strange network problem. My interfaces file set static IP,
but 1 minute or so after ifup I get another apipa IP address which breaks
my network connection.
After many tries, I'm still getting this supplementary IP which make it
quite frustrating.
If I boot in single user mode (recvovery) no network problem. My guess is
the graphical layer which adds some automation.
I'll continue investigate and get back with a new trhead if needed.

Thanks !

[Raphaël Rignier]

Post by Raphaël Rignier

Post by Raphaël Rignier
Hello, I tried to install a debian distribution to revive an old
aluminium bi G5 7.3
essentially because I have a very nice Full HD 23 cinema screen to plug with
(dvi like apple property)
I started with the debian 8 powerpc 32bits, last officially supported.
Install from CD works good.
But startx icewm gave me black screen and cursor only.
On a second hrd drive I tempted with de ppc64 port unstable, surprisingly
it installs OK from CD, default graphical grub is somewhat strange colors
but OK.
LXDE has some glitches, task bar is half the size of the screen but its
usable. Problem is with firefox wich segfault.
I need some decent (not really up to date) browser to do some admin tasks.
I then revert back to jessie with the noaccel boot argument and startx
launch correctly. Some glitches on the taskbar.
Firefox from jessie works too but many display related errors slows it down.
I wanted to try with the nv driver which seems more stable from what I
have read but not present on jessie.
I'm quite familiar with sources packages and tried the dpkg-buildpackage
from release found in repository but build failed because of missing
librairies not present in xorg from jessie.
I have stopped here I use now the Firefox for jessie which have although
not always working slide bar.
Does someone know what I could do to get this better ?
Thanks !

Hello, I go back with further tests on my installation : Firefox from
jessie is unstable and crash too often so not a solution.
By reading archives I saw many threads are around the same subject : get a
decent web browser working on ppc64.
I've read about arcticfox : A firefox with improved ppc64 big endian
compatibility, which seems best solution for now.
So booted to sid, add repository from powerprogress.org. Quite odd to get
it working with gpg keys but finaly succeeded.
Arctifox is release 40 and works great on my G5. Even if old (version 40)
it suits my needs for admin interfaces. I can now enjoy the apple cinema
display.
I've got now a strange network problem. My interfaces file set static IP,
but 1 minute or so after ifup I get another apipa IP address which breaks
my network connection.
After many tries, I'm still getting this supplementary IP which make it
quite frustrating.
If I boot in single user mode (recvovery) no network problem. My guess is
the graphical layer which adds some automation.
I'll continue investigate and get back with a new trhead if needed.
Thanks !

OK By digging a little more, I found the culprit : connman which was
installed by lxde. Which makes sense on a traditional desktop to get
automatic network connection.
I was aware of Network-Manager but not connman. NM knows how to avoid
interfaces statically declared in /etc/network/interfaces. Connman seems to
need additional config. So I disabled it, and rebooted.

Know I use graphical session with good old icewm by launching startx, and
arcticfox for my web needs. Slow and not always good rendering on web pages
(as expected) but at least it works.

[Ken Cunningham]

[Raphaël Rignier]

Thanks for the tip!
I gave sealion a chance.
First launch returned me libffi.so.6 not found error.
I tried a quick and dirty backward compatibility tip.

Ln -s libffi.so.6 libffi.so.8

And it worked.

Sealion is indeed better. GitHub page for example render correct.

On the other Hand seems there will be no other version for ppc64 linux. As
mainteners are missing.

Thanks again!

Le jeu. 23 janv. 2025, 16:12, Ken Cunningham <

a number of users find SeaLion quite useful on ppc linux.
github — wicknix/SeaLion
I see a new build for ppc linux happened in November.
There is a newer version since then, but it awaits a linux build.
K


Post by Raphaël Rignier

Post by Raphaël Rignier
Hello, I tried to install a debian distribution to revive an old
aluminium bi G5 7.3
essentially because I have a very nice Full HD 23 cinema screen to plug with
(dvi like apple property)
I started with the debian 8 powerpc 32bits, last officially supported.
Install from CD works good.
But startx icewm gave me black screen and cursor only.
On a second hrd drive I tempted with de ppc64 port unstable,
surprisingly it installs OK from CD, default graphical grub is somewhat
strange colors but OK.
LXDE has some glitches, task bar is half the size of the screen but its
usable. Problem is with firefox wich segfault.
I need some decent (not really up to date) browser to do some admin tasks.
I then revert back to jessie with the noaccel boot argument and startx
launch correctly. Some glitches on the taskbar.
Firefox from jessie works too but many display related errors slows it down.
I wanted to try with the nv driver which seems more stable from what I
have read but not present on jessie.
I'm quite familiar with sources packages and tried the dpkg-buildpackage
from release found in repository but build failed because of missing
librairies not present in xorg from jessie.
I have stopped here I use now the Firefox for jessie which have although
not always working slide bar.
Does someone know what I could do to get this better ?
Thanks !

Hello, I go back with further tests on my installation : Firefox from
jessie is unstable and crash too often so not a solution.
By reading archives I saw many threads are around the same subject : get
a decent web browser working on ppc64.
I've read about arcticfox : A firefox with improved ppc64 big endian
compatibility, which seems best solution for now.
So booted to sid, add repository from powerprogress.org. Quite odd to
get it working with gpg keys but finaly succeeded.
Arctifox is release 40 and works great on my G5. Even if old (version
40) it suits my needs for admin interfaces. I can now enjoy the apple
cinema display.
I've got now a strange network problem. My interfaces file set static IP,
but 1 minute or so after ifup I get another apipa IP address which breaks
my network connection.
After many tries, I'm still getting this supplementary IP which make it
quite frustrating.
If I boot in single user mode (recvovery) no network problem. My guess is
the graphical layer which adds some automation.
I'll continue investigate and get back with a new trhead if needed.
Thanks !

OK By digging a little more, I found the culprit : connman which was
installed by lxde. Which makes sense on a traditional desktop to get
automatic network connection.
I was aware of Network-Manager but not connman. NM knows how to avoid
interfaces statically declared in /etc/network/interfaces. Connman seems to
need additional config. So I disabled it, and rebooted.
Know I use graphical session with good old icewm by launching startx, and
arcticfox for my web needs. Slow and not always good rendering on web pages
(as expected) but at least it works.

[Ken Cunningham]

someone may come along and submit a new build -- maybe me. You never know!

It's not that hard to build -- I have built TenFourFox about 1,000 times already on MacOX Tiger. Can't be any harder than that!

Ken

Post by Raphaël Rignier
Thanks for the tip!
I gave sealion a chance.
First launch returned me libffi.so.6 not found error.
I tried a quick and dirty backward compatibility tip.
Ln -s libffi.so.6 libffi.so.8
And it worked.
Sealion is indeed better. GitHub page for example render correct.
On the other Hand seems there will be no other version for ppc64 linux. As mainteners are missing.
Thanks again!
a number of users find SeaLion quite useful on ppc linux.
github — wicknix/SeaLion
I see a new build for ppc linux happened in November.
There is a newer version since then, but it awaits a linux build.
K


Hello, I tried to install a debian distribution to revive an old aluminium bi G5 7.3
essentially because I have a very nice Full HD 23 cinema screen to plug with
(dvi like apple property)
I started with the debian 8 powerpc 32bits, last officially supported. Install from CD works good.
But startx icewm gave me black screen and cursor only.
On a second hrd drive I tempted with de ppc64 port unstable, surprisingly it installs OK from CD, default graphical grub is somewhat strange colors but OK.
LXDE has some glitches, task bar is half the size of the screen but its usable. Problem is with firefox wich segfault.
I need some decent (not really up to date) browser to do some admin tasks.
I then revert back to jessie with the noaccel boot argument and startx launch correctly. Some glitches on the taskbar.
Firefox from jessie works too but many display related errors slows it down.
I wanted to try with the nv driver which seems more stable from what I have read but not present on jessie.
I'm quite familiar with sources packages and tried the dpkg-buildpackage from release found in repository but build failed because of missing librairies not present in xorg from jessie.
I have stopped here I use now the Firefox for jessie which have although not always working slide bar.
Does someone know what I could do to get this better ?
Thanks !
Hello, I go back with further tests on my installation : Firefox from jessie is unstable and crash too often so not a solution.
By reading archives I saw many threads are around the same subject : get a decent web browser working on ppc64.
I've read about arcticfox : A firefox with improved ppc64 big endian compatibility, which seems best solution for now.
So booted to sid, add repository from powerprogress.org. Quite odd to get it working with gpg keys but finaly succeeded.
Arctifox is release 40 and works great on my G5. Even if old (version 40) it suits my needs for admin interfaces. I can now enjoy the apple cinema display.
I've got now a strange network problem. My interfaces file set static IP, but 1 minute or so after ifup I get another apipa IP address which breaks my network connection.
After many tries, I'm still getting this supplementary IP which make it quite frustrating.
If I boot in single user mode (recvovery) no network problem. My guess is the graphical layer which adds some automation.
I'll continue investigate and get back with a new trhead if needed.
Thanks !
OK By digging a little more, I found the culprit : connman which was installed by lxde. Which makes sense on a traditional desktop to get automatic network connection.
I was aware of Network-Manager but not connman. NM knows how to avoid interfaces statically declared in /etc/network/interfaces. Connman seems to need additional config. So I disabled it, and rebooted.
Know I use graphical session with good old icewm by launching startx, and arcticfox for my web needs. Slow and not always good rendering on web pages (as expected) but at least it works.