Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

What have you done with a PowerPC today?

Played with a few OS X betas on my Sawtooth. Developer Preview 3 panics. The original Public Beta (1H39) gets to the point where Installer's menu bar appears and stalls there with a movable mouse pointer. So Developer Preview 4 it is.
IMG_0564.JPG


I'll be fair and admit I'm using the original 10GB clunker for this but it still strikes me how long DP4's applications take to launch. Terminal needs more than ten seconds, so does Mail.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: lepidotós, MarkC426, TheShortTimer and 3 others
I spent a reasonable amount of time looking for a scan of a HP Vectra VL400 MT (saved it from being entombed in a landfill) and its motherboard/jumper settings using a PowerMac G5. I was unsuccessful but will take a look using the way back machine when I get a chance.
 
Certificate of Excellence said:
I spent a reasonable amount of time looking for a scan of a HP Vectra VL400 MT (saved it from being entombed in a landfill) and its motherboard/jumper settings using a PowerMac G5. I was unsuccessful but will take a look using the way back machine when I get a chance.
Click to expand...
I think as I sit here watching MacPorts compile my way out of obsolescence via Screen Sharing in my 2012 mini running 10.14, I keep thinking about how much I would love to have more obsolite software to avoid office 365, photoshop, and other license subscriptions so I can actually own my software license instead of freaking renting it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mortlocli, B S Magnet and Certificate of Excellence
I just found out Lynx www browser is on macports for 10.4! I’m going to install and find out how www browsing is like from the command line! Omg a real current browser, not gui but also not half obsolete
 
wicknix said:
At the yaboot boot prompt you would type: Linux single (and hit enter)
Click to expand...
..not sure wot i was doing wrong - missing the uppercase L, maybe. yeah - I know ..Linux 101 ..but sometimes I need someone to say,"step away from the computer - And go to bed!!
But finally got it working but the lag on an iBook is rather off putting.
Obviously as is, not intended for an iBook.

I added the PPC Sid repository, that McLin provided, and my plan was to go for a light weight DE (JWM) and browser (Dillo)
But everything I tried to install (apart from Dillo) failed due to incomplete files or time outs. I might try adding an additional repository to the one based in NZ. Wait..just thought - in adding, a warning popped up stating to leave the intended file location alone and to use a sub- directory. I better check that is set up correctly too.

I hit a snag setting up B43 for wifi too with downloads, but will re-visit that. Been a fascinating learning experience but today I'm gonna tinker with setting up an electric power system for my boat..and catch up with housework.

Oh..one surprise that worked right off with Fienix was clicking with a finger tap on the iBook pad...some other systems fail to allow that.
 
PC mcLinMorph said:
Yeah, and the funny thing is that by installing xfce, i got Mate to work. Now i don't even have to add any kind of parameters to yaboot!
Click to expand...
Was that xfce4, McLin?
My install (using apt) failed but oddly enough Mate worked after that...so could use the inbuilt package manager. Mate was painfully slow. I thought the system had froze.
 
Amethyst1 said:
Someone should tell ChatGPT that clock speeds don’t add up like that :p
Click to expand...
Awwww, so I don't have 20,76 ghz Mac Pro? :)

In my opinion, a real "intelligence" would answer something like "You humans leave me alone with your stupid requests, I already answered more than a billion of them today. I'm gonna relax and anal-yze me some 18+ content now, sucker".
 
  • Haha
Reactions: TheShortTimer and Amethyst1
  • Like
Reactions: Streakmachine, chaosbunny and Amethyst1
Amethyst1 said:
I’ve also wanted to test the limits of the GPU’s TMDS transmitter for quite some time. That is, can I get more than 1600×1024@60Hz out of the DVI port?
Click to expand...
My first round of testing has uncovered some interesting behaviour. There is an ATEN VC060 between the Rage 128 Pro and the display (Bertha, what else?). This box allows flashing custom EDIDs containing custom resolutions onto it. This works with any OS/GPU, unlike EDID overrides installed in OS X 10.2+.

At any of the following modes, the image is perfectly fine in the boot picker or on the grey boot-up screen but as soon as the graphics driver kicks in (quite early for OS X Server 1.2v3; when WindowServer loads for OS X 10.x), the image disappears. Thus, the Rage 128 Pro is capable of outputting these modes, there's just something in the graphics driver that says "No way, honey". Can this be patched? :)

1600×1024@41Hz 75.25MHz CVT-RB
1600×1040@60Hz 112.75MHz CVT-RB
1600×1056@60Hz 114.50MHz CVT-RB
1600×1200@41Hz 88.25MHz CVT-RB
1680×1050@41Hz 80.75MHz CVT-RB (Bertha reports 1680×1052)
1920×1200@41Hz 104.25MHz CVT-RB

The highest mode that works is...*drumroll*... 1600×1024@60Hz (111.25MHz CVT-RB). On the positive side, Bertha pixel-doubles it to 3200×2048; there's no interpolation that would introduce blurriness. In other words, it looks amazing.

IMG_0569.jpeg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: TheShortTimer, LightBulbFun and galgot
Today, I posted this... Ahem... I fired up a Ti 1Ghz and powered a CHIP microcomputer from it via one of the Ti USB port, then SSHed and VNCed to it, and made these screenshot and pict :

Pike-Bishop-15052302.jpg
The CHIP is that small thing with LED on the palm rest .

Pike-Bishop-150523.jpg

I had it since 2016, just booted it once when received, then never bothered playing with it. Found it in the closet yesterday and configured it, it's a fun kit, runs on a Debian 8 Jessie.
So the Ti powers the CHIP and SSH to it :p
Now don't what to do with it... thought of make it run a https proxy for older machines, but it runs Jessie so I don't know if that would work.
There is also ways make serial connection to it, via USB port, but didn't tried that yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: B S Magnet, wicknix and Amethyst1
Amethyst1 said:
My first round of testing has uncovered some interesting behaviour. There is an ATEN VC060 between the Rage 128 Pro and the display (Bertha, what else?). This box allows flashing custom EDIDs containing custom resolutions onto it. This works with any OS/GPU, unlike EDID overrides installed in OS X 10.2+.

At any of the following modes, the image is perfectly fine in the boot picker or on the grey boot-up screen but as soon as the graphics driver kicks in (quite early for OS X Server 1.2v3; when WindowServer loads for OS X 10.x), the image disappears. Thus, the Rage 128 Pro is capable of outputting these modes, there's just something in the graphics driver that says "No way, honey". Can this be patched? :)

1600×1024@41Hz 75.25MHz CVT-RB
1600×1040@60Hz 112.75MHz CVT-RB
1600×1056@60Hz 114.50MHz CVT-RB
1600×1200@41Hz 88.25MHz CVT-RB
1680×1050@41Hz 80.75MHz CVT-RB (Bertha reports 1680×1052)
1920×1200@41Hz 104.25MHz CVT-RB

The highest mode that works is...*drumroll*... 1600×1024@60Hz (111.25MHz CVT-RB). On the positive side, Bertha pixel-doubles it to 3200×2048; there's no interpolation that would introduce blurriness. In other words, it looks amazing.

View attachment 2202354
Click to expand...

very interesting! does the OS blanking it happen with all versions of Mac OS? have you tried 9 tiger or Leopard?

the handling of the frame-buffer on PowerPC ATI cards is done by the NDRV, so its that which you will have to twiddle to try and get it to get it to behave

(notably Tiger and Leopard will use on disk NDRV's ignoring the ROM NDRV as too old, which you will see it actually say in Verbose mode, but there is a kernel argument to force Mac OS Panther/Tiger/Leopard to use the older, ROM based NDRV)

also whats the ROM revision of your ATI Rage 128 Pro? and which type is it exactly? the earlier VGA DVI type or the later VGA ADC type?

I do wonder if things improved towards the end?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Amethyst1
LightBulbFun said:
does the OS blanking it happen with all versions of Mac OS? have you tried 9 tiger or Leopard?
Click to expand...
It happens on 8.6, Server 1.2v3, 10.0 and 10.4. However, it only happens if the EDID doesn't contain any other working timings the OS can default to. If I add, say, 1280×1024, the OS uses that once the graphics driver kicks in.

I've also tried 1608×1024 and 1600×1028. No dice. (CVT-RB mandates that width is divisible by eight; height being divisible by four seems mandated by the GPU/driver as the resolution I tried was 1600×1026). I wonder if 1400×1050 1400×1048 will work but I'm not getting my hopes up.

As a sidenote, I changed the display name in my EDIDs to reflect the main mode but left vendor and product ID unchanged; the OS still reads the name as "Apple Cinema Display" and shows the icon in 8.6.

LightBulbFun said:
also whats the ROM revision of your ATI Rage 128 Pro?
Click to expand...
113-63001-110.

LightBulbFun said:
and which type is it exactly? the earlier VGA DVI type or the later VGA ADC type?
Click to expand...
VGA+DVI.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: TheShortTimer and LightBulbFun
LightBulbFun said:
the handling of the frame-buffer on PowerPC ATI cards is done by the NDRV, so its that which you will have to twiddle to try and get it to get it to behave
Click to expand...
FWIW the ATI Rage 128 Pro does in fact display the boot picker at 2048×1536.

LightBulbFun said:
(notably Tiger and Leopard will use on disk NDRV's ignoring the ROM NDRV as too old, which you will see it actually say in Verbose mode, but there is a kernel argument to force Mac OS Panther/Tiger/Leopard to use the older, ROM based NDRV)
Click to expand...
I used Cheetah and deleted all ATIRage*.* kexts to force using the ROM NDRV but the behaviour is still the same if the resolution is higher than 1600×1024. Cheetah doesn't need romndrv=1, does it? Am I missing something else?
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheShortTimer
Amethyst1 said:
FWIW the ATI Rage 128 Pro does in fact display the boot picker at 2048×1536.


I used Cheetah and deleted all ATIRage*.* kexts to force using the ROM NDRV but the behaviour is still the same if the resolution is higher than 1600×1024. Cheetah doesn't need romndrv=1, does it? Am I missing something else?
Click to expand...

I imagine Cheetah probably already uses the ROM based NDRV, but incase it does not you will find the disk based NDRV's here (again, nothing to do with the Graphics drivers here, those just hand the graphics chip, they dont handle the display controller bits)

1684350055405.png

I mean what is the OpenFirmware name of your ATI Rage 128 pro? theres whole bunch of different ones, hence the different letter right on the end depending on which Rage 128 your looking at :)

note 10.0 and 10.1 cannot load the GUI without a working NDRV (IE it cant just ride the OpenFirmware frame-buffer) so you could end up with a broken system if you dont have another card ya can put in place
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Amethyst1
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back