Lombard status update
It seemed a good time to again compare notes with others running
Debian on Lombard, to share solutions and find common problems.
Notable packages/services that work:
X68_FBDev in unaccelerated mode (via "No video driver" in BootX)
anacron
-- I submitted a bugfix that corrects the hang on startup; watch
servers near you for the updated version.
WindowMaker
-- patched 0.60.0 deb srcs by hand to fix crash on desktop change.
This fix was mentioned on the wmaker list, but is post 0.60.0,
thus hasn't propagated to the world at large. (This is an
endianness-related bug, and affects all big-endian systems,
not just PPC.)
xmcd -- built from most recent upstream source, .deb is hopelessly outdated.
xmms -- and mpg123, naturally)
cdparanoia
-- works fine with the G3/400's DVD
(audio apps are notable, as I do audio compression research)
hdparm
-- put script with "hdparm -p /dev/hda" and "hdparm -S 36
/dev/hda" in /etc/rc.boot. Works like a charm.
What mostly works:
XF68_FBDev in accelerated mode
-- With just video=atyfb:vmode:14,cmode:32, the accelerated fb
driver is loaded according to kernel log messages. Yet
problems abound in accelerated mode. It's the most hosed
excuse for an X server I've ever seen.
* Various line/rectangle/polygon primitive errors (unsure
precisely which of these are affected) e.g. rectangles
with a side connecting diagonally, as if the algorithm tried
to close from 1st to to the N-1st point instead of 1st to
Nth point.
* Odd problem exemplified by WindowMaker's fading
desktop name animations: the text underneath isn't properly
redrawn, only background for the obscured window remains.
This happens in other contexts, such as with Netscape IMG
tag bubble windows and the like.
* Greyed out options (presumably rendered using a GC stipple)
in various applicatons are unreadable, appearing as a few
scattered lines and dots.
sound
-- wmmixer can be used to control sound levels on the Lombard,
but as my earlier messages indicate, things are a little
wierd right now. See the following "snooze" entry, also.
snooze
-- sleeps the laptop just fine, but various things are not reset
correctly or are outright hosed on wakeup:
* sound vanishes after sleep/wakeup, and doesn't come back.
* trackpad settings (e.g. "trackpad notap") are not preserved
XEmacs 21
-- Built from upstream source. Options menu has virtually all
fonts greyed out, for no immediately obvious reason. Even the
Courier font used by default is greyed out. Does accept
direct font settings via set-font-face.
What Masticates the Mustelidae:
console video mode
-- garbled junk, all the time, unless an explicit vmode is run on
the console command line. *NO* kernel vmode settings that I
have tried (this includes everything on this list, the web, and
DejaNews) under any of Mackerras' or vger kernels give
readable output.
* The visual effects are random, from "swirling noise" (aka
"penguin in a blender") to black. This seems to indicate a
problem with fb and/or console driver initialization.
* I'd _like_ to use the SUN12x22 console font, but for some
reason, it never does work right anymore. Yes, it is
compiled into my kernels. In two early attempts, it was
working just fine, but I've never been able to recreate
those conditions since. Explicit "vmode 14 32" brings up
the standard PeeCee VGA font, never the SUN font. Oddly,
however, if the SUN12x22 was specified in the kernel video
options, 80x30 is the terminal window size after the manual
vmode.
* Once X starts, it returns the framebuffer to sanity.
Lack of Meta policy
-- There is no sensible policy whatsoever regarding option versus
Command (aka Apple key). Eterm wants "option". WindowMaker
defaults to option, but is readily configurable. XEmacs wants
command, but not option (irritatingly, it recognizes option as
the bound-to-nothing "Alt".)
* Solution 1: determine which major apps display inconsistency
in selection of the "right" Modifier key when several are
present. Lobby developers for change.
* Solution 2: lose the potential flexibility of separate mod
keys and remap option and command to identical keysyms at
the X level.
SUMMARY
Overall, I find my system quite useful. I hope that near-future
kernel revisions and/or XFree 3.3.5 fix the remaining video/sound
problems.
-- John
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