yellowdog 2.3 question

[everchangingone]

i'm new to linx and new to mac. i just installed ydl 2.3 in dual boot with os8.

my problem is that i'm stuck in text mode. i want to go to graphic mode, but i dont know the commands or anything.

here is my setup:

1998 powerbook g3 wallstreet
233mhz
96mb ram
4mb ati rage (i beleive its a rage)
2gb drive, setup with 500 for os8, 15mb for bootload, 264 for swap and the rest for the the root or whatever it is.

i am using bootx v1.2.3
i am given 3 buttons, mac os, linux, MkLinux. MkLinux is grayed out.
in my case i have to type /dev/hda10 to load linux.

it loads in command line mode, with no option that i can find for graphical.

how do i switch to the graphical interface.

is there something i can type in the additional kernal arguments section?

[Davy]

i'm new to linx and new to mac. i just installed ydl 2.3 in dual boot with os8.

my problem is that i'm stuck in text mode. i want to go to graphic mode, but i dont know the commands or anything. ...

i'm not sure what you mean here. are you stuck trying to INSTALL yellowdog in text mode or are you able to install it, but then you can't get to a desktop?

first off, you may want to go with a newer version of a linux distro. if you want to stay with yellow dog, everything up to version 4.0 supports old world mac (which is what you have). you could try version 3.0.1; but it is very old. in your position i would go with mandriva Community 10.1. it is a little more reasonably up to date and it can old world mac systems. the best part is that it still has the support of the penguin liberation front (a place where you can get more software like video codecs)

if you want to know how to install it without using text mode: it's a good idea to stay with text mode because of the low system resources that your machine has. there might be a way to work around it, but i'm not sure. i will have to refer you to the yellow dog website at: terrasoftsolutions.com

if your problem is that you can't get to a desktop (a place where you can point-and-click to access web browsers, or word processors, or games), then you must explain what it is that you're seeing on your screen.

is it black/blank?

is it waiting for you to log in?

is it waiting for you to type something in?

most likely your problem is that your xwindows configuration file isn't set up correctly; but we won't know until you give us more info

if it is the xwindows configuration file: the file is called called xorg.conf and it is located in the /etc/X11/ directory. you can either try recreate what the xorg.conf file says and show it to us or you can just do what i did and run a google search for other xorg.conf and recreate it in your own xorg.conf file.

if you want to show us: go to your mac and type in: cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | less (use the arrow keys on your keyboard to go up and down on the file) and then type in exactly what you see on this forum.

if you want to try to try to recreate what other people's xorg.conf files look like, that gets tricky and it's going to involve you meeting me/us halfway on the tech side of things.

either way, let us know and good luck :D

EDIT: it looks like ubuntu has a nice page on how to install on old world macs here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/OldWorldMacs

[everchangingone]

well, i did manage to get around my problem. i tried to reinstall it, and then noticed it was having a problem installing some packages, and i when i went through with manual package selection, it looks like it might have been hanging up on gnome. but i ended up downloading 3.0 before my trip (i'm using the local library computer right now) and i was able to install that. at first i had a problem with not being able to use the bootx off of the 3.0 cd, a corrupted archive or something according to os8, oh well, so i installed bootx from the ydl 2.3 disc, and then copied the ramdisk file from the 3.0 disc and it went smoothly after that. now i am running ydl 3.0, it take a little over 2 minutes from power button to login screen, but so far i like it and and having little difficulty in using it. i had a couple issues, but i figured those out, it had to do with my screen splitting into four, but i figured out that selecting "no video driver" in bootx took care of that.

now i have only a couple of issues left, i need to install a new soundcard driver into linux, cause it doesn't like the soundcard, sadly.
and, although it knows i have a pcmcia usb card installed, it doesnt know when there is a usb flash drive attached.
right now i am more concerned about the sound driver, so that i can listen to music and watch videos.

my mac is a powerbook g3 wallstreet,
233mhz proc
96mb ram
4b ati rage lt pro
and i really dont know the sound.

its an older model, but i do plan on upgrading, i have seen 300 and 400 mhz processors for these on ebay, and also wanna upgrade to 256mb ram.
eventually i will install a larger harddrive or try converting to using that compact flash i keep hearing about.

but for now, does anyone know how i can either make my existing sounddriver work, or does anyone know of another sound driver i can install?

i am happy as hell to have made this much prgress, and i hate to be hindered now lol

[Davy]

good, i'm glad you got it working.

if you run:
lspci
it'll give you information on all the things installed on the pci bus on your computer. find the one that looks like your card and google it to see how it connects.

from experience: i bet if you do this:
modprobe snd-pcm-oss
i bet your sound will start to work.

you can also use:
lsusb
to show you what usb devices are attached. find the listing for your usbdrive and mount it to a directory that you create. it'll work kind of like this:
mount /dev/USBDRIVE /YOURFOLDER

btw: welcome to linux!!!

[everchangingone]

where do i input that code that?

[everchangingone]

ok, so i put the lspci into the command line, and i get some devices,

host, motorola
a couple heathrow
the vid
and two cardbus.
the host obviously the processor, the heathrow came up in bootup as the hdd controller, and the cardbus and vid are obvious lol
i'm curious though, why would this not show my sound card?

i typed in the modprobe command, and got something about a module not there.

i am wondering, i did have sound for one bootup, but not before and not after that one.

how do i make this see the sound card, short of a usb soundcard via the cardbus and some creative code?

[Davy]

i can take a few guess; but it would be a whole heck of a lot easier if you copied & pasted what lspci gave you.

it would also be nice if you could cut and paste what modprobe snd-pcm-oss gave you too. ;)

you can do both by typing in the command again, using the mouse to select it all, choose the "edit" menu on top of the gnome-terminal and pasting it as a response.

[everchangingone]

well, i ended up swapping in a bigger hardrive, mac os9 now has 1gb and linux has the rest lol.

i have a fresh install of ydl 3.0 now, and i think i realized part of my problem. after the install, i was still using the 8dboot kernel instead of the regular 8d. i do have sound now, and have went through a few cds consistently.

but

i now have a couple other issues, that are more generic.

1). i have the codeweavers crossover program here, but it doesnt seem to install that i know of. the file is named install-crossover-pro-6.1.0.sh
i double click it and it doesnt do anything. i wanna run a couple of my windows compatible programs so i can watch movies.
i do have vmware station, but i dont have a rar or zip program in ydl to open it with.

2). ydl doesnt seem to recognize my pc card. i have a belkin busport mobile, for adding usb through the pcmcia, and would like to make that work as well.

so....who can help me?