Yellow Dog Linux

Having problems with X while installing YDL on B&W G3. The installer would not work in graphical mode, had to use install-safe to install.

X will not start. the Xorg.0.log indicates "Caught Signal 11 - server aborting"

I have tried Xautoconfig, same problem. Video card is stock ATI Rage 128, display is Apple Studio Display 17 (CRT).

Can someone help, or post their Xconfig file for a similar h/w setup ?

thanks, Randy

I have a similar setup:

Apple Macintosh G4/400
Apple Studio Display 17" CRT
ATI Rage 128 Pro

I tried installing YDL 4 a while ago. Had to use "install-safe" since both "install" and "install text" would present me with a blank screen. After a successful install the computer rebooted and I was presented with a login prompt. It flickered a few times as it tried to start the X server and then displayed a similar error message.
I logged in as root and changed the settings in my XConfig to 640x480 and 8-bit colour using "fbdev". The X Server stared but displayed only garbage. After a while I heard strange sounds from the built in speaker at which point I chose to press the reset-button on the computer.

I have previously tried YDL 3 which did slightly better. That is, I could start the X server using the above settings. Any changes however would result in an error. Neither the "r128" nor the "ati" driver would recognise the graphics card. Once in a while I've searched around with Google, but I've never found any solution that would let me run the X server at anything but 8-bit, 640x480.

So, sorry, no help from me...

Edit: Got X working. All it took was a reboot. So now I'm back in the same situation as with YDL 3.

Two more things:

In the X error log there seems to be a list of supported cards by each driver. The r128 driver lists about two dozen cards of the type "ATI Rage 128 Pro X Y (Z)" where X and Y are two letter combinations and Z is either "PCI" or "AGP?". Should i assume thet the problem with the ATI Rage 128 Pro cards is that the driver can't figure out which one it is? How do I find out? Because Apple System Information won't tell.

I did a few changes to my yaboot.conf. I tried "video=aty128fb", "video=aty128fb:1024x768@99" as well as "video=aty128fb:vmode:17,cmode:24". All of them resulted in a black screen after reboot. I couldn't figure out how to change these settings from anywhere except the command line. So I reinstalled YDL after each try. There aught to be a better way.

The ATI Rage 128 Pro does seem to be a common source of frustration so why can't I find a solution anywhere? If none exist then please tell me, so that I can stop wasting my time trying!

honestly Ive never been able to get the rage128 chipsets to work in my clamshells for 3d accel, just used them as a reg. FB as for the blank screen just pop in the install disk and type rescue and mount the hdd and reedit the config file thatll save some time

I gave up on YellowDog and tried Xubuntu instead. It managed to identify my card as an "ATI Rage 128 Pro GL PF (AGP)". On the other hand, it didn't identify my monitor. So if there's anyone with a Studio Display who wants to give *Ubuntu a try they'll need to edit the following settings in their xorg.conf (and possibly set "UseFBDev" to "false").

Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 80
VertRefresh 60-160

This thread was started over a year ago and over 2000 views.. and no one .. from Terrasoft etc.. has any contribution to help?

Does Terrasoft have anyone that helps out on this forum or is it pure user support only?

I have Radian 7000 and I am in the same boat.