Yellow Dog Linux

My company bought a new G5 tower for a specific server application that required YDL 4, so we got YDL 4.0.1. It installed OK, but the machine sounded like a bloody vacuum cleaner. I was told that the latest release, 4.0.91, contained a fix for this, so we paid for ydl.net and I downloaded 4.0.91. I did a complete clean reinstall, but it still sounded like a bloody vacuum cleaner.

Hm.

What followed was a lot of research, cursing, drinking, recompiling, more cursing, more drinking (OK, that was the good part), and still a machine too noisy for the classroom.

Finally, I found the fix. This seems to be relevant if you have a brand new G5 dual proc tower - mine was PowerMac 7,3. There's a patch, but frankly it's probably easier to just open the file and make the edit.

The file is /usr/src/linux.../arch/ppc64/kernel/prom_init.c, which contains fixup code for 'broken' G5 hardware/firmware. Here's the complete patch as published - you can easily figure out the edit from this:

--- a/arch/ppc64/kernel/prom_init.c 2005-07-27 18:34:40.000000000 -0700
+++ b/arch/ppc64/kernel/prom_init.c 2005-08-09 16:18:04.000000000 -0700
@@ -1803,7 +1803,7 @@
if (prom_getprop(u3, "device-rev", &u3_rev, sizeof(u3_rev))
== PROM_ERROR)
return;
- if (u3_rev != 0x35)
+ if (u3_rev != 0x35 && u3_rev != 0x37)
return;
/* does it need fixup ? */
if (prom_getproplen(i2c, "interrupts") > 0)

That fixed it! After all the other to-ing and fro-ing I'd done before I found this, I did a complete reinstall from the 4.0.91 disks, then rebuilt the kernel with this one-line change - blissful quiet. My manager, whose cube is next to mine, wasn't aware the machine was even powered up.

I hope you find this helpful -- OldHippie

id see about getting something like gkrellm w/ a temp moniter (there should one if not in gkrellm that can access the hw sensors) and make sure that the temps are ok on the procs (just worry that uve disabled the fans completely)

Thanks for the concern, but they're still running - if you're right next to the machine, you can hear them. I do plan to pick up one of the packages folks have done to monitor the sensors, since this machine will see quite a bit of compute-bound duty in the classroom - but it's so nice to be able to hear myself think about that!

Sadly, I am having this same problem with YDL 6.1 & my PM G5 tower. I don't know of any other discussions relating to this issue with this version of YDL. What gives? Hasn't this been corrected yet?

[MODERATOR EDIT: Sorry - we don't allow duplicate posts in our forums. Locking this topic for further postings. -Paul]

i hate to also be a YDL buzzkill but i also struggled with this issue, spent hours on it, then installed Ubuntu and it's been great. it may not be officially supported but there is a great page dedicated to it:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCFAQ

downloaded it, installed it, works a treat. except...
Flash support is complicated so things like YouTube, Hulu, and Pandora are hard to get working. personally, i don't care - the jet engine noise is gone.

sorry YDL folks, i wanted to like it, tried it...