Adelie help: rage 128 + Xorg = display initialization failed

Nixontheknight

Tinkerer
Nov 3, 2021
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I have a Power Mac G4 MDD, which I’m trying to install Adelie on, I’ve asked this all over and haven’t gotten a response yet, but when I boot up the install USB (my MDD has no CD drive and I have no CDs, it boots from a USB 2.0 drive with relative ease (shows up in boot picker) unlike other G4 Macs), it stays on the command line after I boot it through GNU GRUB, and when I type startx, it starts to start it, but fails to initialize the display and exits with code 1. Is there a way to fix this or install a driver without going through QEMU? Or has someone already made an install ISO with the rage 128 driver that works?
 

Kai Robinson

TinkerDifferent Board President 2023
Staff member
Founder
Sep 2, 2021
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Worthing, UK
You can disable it in the xorg.conf file - there should be a line for HW Accel that you can comment out.
 

Nixontheknight

Tinkerer
Nov 3, 2021
124
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Just saw this! Rage 128 is very finicky with the current kernel drivers. In fact, I've gotten it working in BSD with a trial-and-error Xorg.conf file, but I haven't yet in Adelie.

You can try my Xorg.conf though - it might work! http://frogfind.com/files/bsd/xorg.conf
One, huge fan of your videos, two, that’s another problem. I haven’t got a single Unix/Linux machine in my house, so I can’t get that xorg.conf file onto my install ISO, but I can try my Mac Mini servers because they at least mount the Mac OS Extended partition. I’ll keep you posted if I can move this file to where it needs to go.

EDIT: there’s no room on the Mac OS Extended partition, so I can’t get the file onto the main Adelie partition, period, because I have no free machines and I don’t intend to dual boot any machines I use daily, so for now I’m SOL unless I can type out the xorg.conf file word for word, which only a madman would do. And I’m no sane man, so I’m gonna do it

EDIT 2: 2 steps forward, one step back. Now it’s giving me a “no screens found” error

EDIT 3: another problem rears its ugly head. The install USB never saved my config file
 
Last edited:

wottle

Active Tinkerer
Oct 30, 2021
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Fort Mill, SC
Wouldn't you be able to use a MSATA IDE enclosure (I've had good luck with this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GRMUQRG?psc=1&smid=A3TUR5JBYCEPNE&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp) attached via a IDE 2.5 to 3.5 adapter (I've used this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010MKARA?psc=1&smid=A3BYZP0GYB998Y&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp)?

Or you could use the even smaller adapter @ActionRetro used: https://www.amazon.com/Kinamax-ADP-...=sabrent+2.5+to+3.5+ide,electronics,75&sr=1-4


A little long in length, but it doesn't have the height issues of the SATA to IDE adapter, but still gives a cheap way to get a decent sized IDE SSD in your old Macs.
 

Nixontheknight

Tinkerer
Nov 3, 2021
124
19
18
Wouldn't you be able to use a MSATA IDE enclosure (I've had good luck with this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GRMUQRG?psc=1&smid=A3TUR5JBYCEPNE&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp) attached via a IDE 2.5 to 3.5 adapter (I've used this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010MKARA?psc=1&smid=A3BYZP0GYB998Y&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp)?

A little long in length, but it doesn't have the height issues of the SATA to IDE adapter, but still gives a cheap way to get a decent sized IDE SSD in your old Macs.
It’s not the hard drive that’s the problem. I haven’t even gotten to the installer, I’m still trying to run the installer on the flash drive that I flashed the install iso onto.