Gentoo Linux/PowerPC Frequently Asked Questions

Can I dual-boot Gentoo Linux and Mac OS X? @@ -110,7 +308,7 @@

I have an early NewWorld Mac such as the Blue and White G3. It should be compatible with the LiveCD, but on boot it returns an "Unknown or corrupt @@ -133,7 +331,7 @@ </body> </section> -<section> +<section id="bootxarchive"> <title> I have an OldWorld Macintosh and need to use BootX. However, I am having trouble opening the BootX installer archive. What can I do? @@ -148,7 +346,7 @@ </body> </section> -<section> +<section id="beigehd"> <title> I have a Beige G3 machine. Can I install Gentoo Linux/PPC on a second IDE hard drive? @@ -166,22 +364,7 @@ </body> </section> -<section> -<title> -When I try and install Gentoo on my PowerBook or iBook the internal hard drive -does not show up. What should I do? - - - -

-For a PowerBook, pass hda=1,1,1 to the kernel at boot time. That should -solve your problems. You can do this at yaboot prompt by typing boot -hda=1,1,1. Some iBooks need hda=16383,16,64. -

- - -

I have a revision A or B iMac. I've replaced the hard drive with a larger one and now I can't boot into anything! @@ -196,7 +379,7 @@ </body> </section> -<section> +<section id="fstabboot"> <title> My /etc/fstab file has /dev/BOOT in it. Do I need to setup this line for my bootstrap partition? @@ -214,7 +397,7 @@ </body> </section> -<section> +<section id="fixit"> <title> When I rebooted, yaboot didn't work! Now, I'm stuck. How can I fix this? @@ -236,54 +419,77 @@

+ + + +Hardware Support +

-Installation is now complete. However after rebooting, I am getting different -characters than the keys I press on my machine's keyboard. What should I do? +I'm running Gentoo on a PowerPC laptop. What packages should I install to +enable laptop-specific functionality?

-If this is an English keymap, you likely have a kernel config issue. You will -need to rebuild your kernel with the following options: +There are four main packages you will need to install.

-(these are the defaults, but check them)
-<*> Input core support
-<*>   Keyboard support
-<*>   Mouse support
-(1024)   Horizontal screen resolution
-(768)    Vertical screen resolution
-< >   Joystick support
-<*>   Event interface support
-

- -

-[*] Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) support
-[*]    Use input layer for ADB devices
-[*]      Support for mouse button 2+3 emulation
-

+ pbbuttonsd is a tool that enables the brightness and volume keys on + most ppc laptops. The current versions also work as a powermanager. +
+ gtkpbbuttons gives you a gtk front end for pbbuttonsd (visual + feedback on button presses in X). gtkpbbuttons requires gtk and + should be added to your X session file (~/.Xsession) for best + results (so that it is always running while in X). +
+ powerprefs ties together with pbbuttonsd, and gives you the ability + to edit settings such as power-management, trackpad options and various + other preferences. +
+ powernowd allows cpu speed scaling for longer battery life. Other + packages also provide the same functionality, such as cpudyn, + cpufreqd and speedfreq. +

-This way, you will still be able to use /proc/sys/dev/mac_hid to -emulate buttons 2 and 3 (see next question). +These packages can be installed by running the appropriate commands from the +list below:

-If, for some reason you do not want to recompile your kernel, append -keyboard_sends_linux_keycodes=1 to the kernel arguments in -yaboot.conf. This will also correct the problem, but might -possibly introduce other problems. -

+# emerge pbbuttonsd; rc-update add pbbuttonsd default
+# emerge gtkpbbuttons
+# emerge powerprefs
+# emerge powernowd
+

+ + +You should edit /etc/pbbuttonsd.conf to better suit your needs. +The behaviour of the Fx-keys can be controlled here as well as many sleep +options. To switch the Fx-keys to the OSX behaviour, set KBDMode to fkeyslast. +You can turn off touchpad tapping by setting TPMode to notap. Many other +options are available, see man pbbuttonsd.conf for details. +

-Thanks to Joe McMahon for help with this answer. +It is useful to add pbbuttonsd and powernowd to your boot runlevel so that they're +started when your computer starts. To do this:

+# rc-update add pbbuttonsd boot
+# rc-update add powernowd boot
+

I only have one mouse-button. How can I make use of the second and third one, since ctrl-button does not work? @@ -295,9 +501,19 @@ any key or combination of keys to emulate the second and third mouse-button. The values can be obtained with the command line utility <c>showkey</c> from the console. Note that this program does not work as expected from X and should -only be run from the console. In addition to having the kernel configuration -settings from the previous section, you will also need to set the mouse button -values in <path>/etc/sysctl.conf</path>. Here is an example using F11 and F12: +only be run from the console. To use this feature, enable the following options +in your kernel: +</p> + +<pre caption="Macintosh Device Drivers"> +[*] Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) support +[*] Use input layer for ADB devices +[*] Support for mouse button 2+3 emulation +</pre> + +<p> +You will also need to set the keyboard to mouse button mapping values in +<path>/etc/sysctl.conf</path>. Here is an example using F11 and F12: </p> <pre caption="Mouse button emulation with F11 and F12"> @@ -309,227 +525,226 @@ dev.mac_hid.mouse_button3_keycode = 88 </pre> -<p> +<note> Other commonly used keycodes are 125 (The Apple key) and 96 (The Keypad Enter). +</note> + +<p> +To activate these settings: </p> -<note> -The easiest way to activate these settings it to reboot after changing them. -</note> +<pre caption="Applying the sysctl changes"> +# <i>sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.conf</i> +</pre> </body> </section> -<section> -<title> -Installation is now complete. However, after my machine boots into Gentoo and I -try to emerge anything, I see errors saying it cannot 'stat' a file. What is -wrong? - +

+How can I configure my Airport card?

-Check to see that your time is set correctly. Setting your time and linking -/etc/localtime to your proper timezone (in -/usr/share/zoneinfo) will solve your problems. Also make sure that -you have not enabled the Enhanced RTC option in the Character -devices section of the kernel configuration (as stated in install guide). +The Airport card is based on the Lucent Orinoco chipset. To use this card in +Linux, enable these kernel options:

- -

- - - -Laptop Support -

- -How do I enable the full processor speed on my PowerBook while running Linux? - - - - -Most (if not all) processors should now work at the correct speed with modern -kernels. If you still have this problem, you should upgrade to the latest -kernel and try again, only use this as a backup solution. - +

+[*] Wirless LAN Drivers & Wireless Extensions
+<*> Hermes chipset 802.11b support (Orinoco/Prism2/Symbol)
+<*>   Apple Airport support (build-in)
+

-Some processors in PowerBooks start up at slower speed than they are designed -to run. Running at this slower speed conserves battery life with the tradeoff -of performance. The operating system on the machine must instruct the hardware -to run at its full speed. In Mac OS X this is called "Reduced processor -performance" or "CPU Scaling" in Linux. To check the current speed of your -processor while running in Linux, type cat /proc/cpuinfo. In Mac OS X, -you first have to turn off "Reduce processor performance" in the "Options" tab -of the Energy Saver system preference panel. Then run Apple System -Profiler (in Applications:Utilities). -

- - -Do not use this method to overclock your machine. Results are unpredictable if -you use an improper value. We are not responsible if you fry your machine! - - -

-If Apple System Profiler reports a higher speed than what you get when -running in Linux, you can enable the full speed of the processor with a simple -command. First, your machine needs to be running kernel 2.4.20-pre9-ben0 -or later. Earlier kernels do not have the code necessary to change the -processor speed. Second, you will need to compile the kernel with CPU -Frequency scaling disabled. Finally, run an appropriate command as -shown in the examples below. -

- -

-(These are examples only. Use values appropriate for your machine.) - -(For a 1GHz PowerBook G4) -echo "0:667000:1000000:performance" > /proc/cpufreq +Once the kernel is configured, you'll also need some userland tools to +configure the wireless settings. Emerge the wireless-tools +for iwconfig and other wireless tools. +

-(For an 800MHz PowerBook G4) -echo "0:667000:800000:performance" > /proc/cpufreq +

+As an example of using iwconfig, to set your ESSID to home_essid: +

-(For 2.6.x kernels, use this path instead of /proc/cpufreq) -echo "0:667000:1000000:performance" > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_setspeed +

+# iwconfig eth1 essid home_essid

-Many users will want to add this command to the end of -/etc/conf.d/local.start. This file is sourced every time your -machine starts. +For more details on iwconfig, refer to its man page.

- -I'm running Gentoo on a PowerPC laptop. What packages should I install to -enable laptop-specific functionality? - +

+How can I configure my Airport Extreme card?

-There are four main packages you will need to install. +With the release of the native bcm43xx +driver, using the Airport Extreme in Linux is now possible! Until the +driver is added to the kernel, please see this +forum post +for details.

- pbbuttonsd is a tool that enables the brightness and volume keys on - most ppc laptops. The current versions also work as a powermanager. -
- gtkpbbuttons gives you a gtk front end for pbbuttonsd (visual - feedback on button presses in X). gtkpbbuttons requires gtk and - should be added to your X session file (~/.Xsession) for best - results (so that it is always running while in X). -
- powerprefs ties together with pbbuttonsd, and gives you the ability - to edit settings such as power-management, trackpad options and various - other preferences. -
- cpudyn allows cpu speed scaling for longer battery life. Other - packages also provide the same functionality, such as powernowd, - cpufreqd and speedfreq. -

+You can also use MOL and OSX to give Linux access to your Airport Extreme card, +please see this +forum post for details. +

+ + +

+Will the internal modem work? +

-These packages can be installed by running the appropriate commands from the -list below: +On older Macs, the internal modem is a regular serial device. In addition to +ppp support and i2c support, enable this kernel option to use it:

-# emerge pbbuttonsd; rc-update add pbbuttonsd default -# emerge gtkpbbuttons -# emerge powerprefs -# emerge cpudyn +

+<*> PowerMac z85c30 ESCC support (CONFIG_SERIAL_PMACZILOG)

- -You should edit /etc/pbbuttonsd.conf to better suit your needs. -The behaviour of the Fx-keys can be controlled here as well as many sleep -options. To switch the Fx-keys to the OSX behaviour, set KBDMode to fkeyslast. -You can turn off touchpad tapping by setting TPMode to notap. Many other -options are available, see man pbbuttonsd.conf for details. - +

+Newer Macs use a USB device which only has a driver from Linuxant. Unless you +have purchased a key from Linuxant, this driver will only work at 14.4 and will +not support FAX. To install the driver, emerge net-dialin/hcfusbmodem +which will provide /dev/ttySHCF0. Then set up ppp like usual. +Further information about the installation can be found at +http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hcf/install.html +

+ + +

+Does sleep work on my iBook/PowerBook? +

-It is useful to add pbbuttonsd and cpudyn to your boot runlevel so that they're -started when your computer starts. To do this: +Sleep (suspend to ram) works very well on all G3 iBooks and TiBooks. Recently, +a kernel patch has been released that adds sleep support for G4 iBooks and +Radeon based AlBooks. If you have one of these laptops, use +vanilla-sources-2.6.12 or gentoo-sources 2.6.11 (or newer) for built in +support.

-# rc-update add pbbuttonsd boot
-# rc-update add cpudyn boot
-

+ +Note that the 12" PowerBook is not yet supported due to its nVidia chipset. +

-How can I configure my machine's Airport or other Wi-Fi card? +

+How do I get sound playback working?

-Make sure you have support for the airport card compiled into the kernel, or -compiled as a module and loaded. Changing the wireless settings is accomplished -using iwconfig. This is part of the wireless-tools package. +There are two approaches to sound on modern kernels: OSS or ALSA. OSS is the +older of the two options and has been depreciated, but still functions well for +many older Macs. ALSA is the newer method and will continue to be supported in +the future. We recommend that you use ALSA unless you have problems with it.

+ +If you include the OSS driver in your kernel, the ALSA driver will not load. + +

-As an example of using iwconfig, to set your SSID to home_ssid: +In addition to configuring the kernel, users who should have access to the +audio devices need to be added to the appropriate group with the command:

-# iwconfig wlan0 essid home_ssid +

+# gpasswd -a username audio

-Where wlan0 is your wifi card's device name. For Airport users, the wifi device -is often eth1. For more details on iwconfig, refer to its man page. +If the kernel is set up correctly, but you can't hear any sound, ensure that +the main mixer volume is turned up and that the device isn't muted!

-Airport Extreme cards are not yet supported on Linux, but a workaround now -exists, please see this forum post for more information: -http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-365647.html +The sound card on Macs is connected through the i2c Keywest bus, not the PCI +bus. You will not see the card listed when viewing the PCI bus. This is less +of a problem then you might imagine, because all Macs use the same driver +for sound, but you will need to insure that you have i2c Keywest support in +your kernel.

-Will the internal modem in an iBook2 or PowerBook work? +

+Sound setup with ALSA +

+For ALSA, we'll set up both the regular ALSA drivers and the OSS emulation +layer so that we can still use legacy OSS only programs. In make +menuconfig you'll need to select: +

+ +

+Device Drivers - Sound --->
+<*> Sound card support
+    Advanced Linux Sound Architecture --->
+    < >   PowerMac DMA sound support
+      <*> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
+      <*> Sequencer support
+      <*> Sequencer dummy client
+      <*> OSS Mixer API
+      <*> OSS PCM (digital audio) API
+      [*] OSS Sequencer API
+          ALSA PowerMac devices --->
+     <*> PowerMac (AWACS, DACA, Burgundy, Tumbler, Keywest)
+

+ +

+(or configure as modules and ensure they're loaded on boot). +

+ -Unless you have purchased a key from Linuxant, this driver will only work at -14.4 and will not support FAX. +Please make sure that PowerMac DMA sound support is turned off, +otherwise the ALSA module will not be able to load.

-Emerge net-dialin/hcfusbmodem which will provide -/dev/ttySHCF0. Then set up ppp like usual. Further information -about the installation can be found at -http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hcf/install.html +For more information on configuring ALSA, please see the +Gentoo ALSA Guide.

+ +If you are using the alsa-driver package instead of building it into your +kernel, the ALSA_CARDS variable should be set to powermac. + +

-Does sleep work on my iBook/PowerBook? +

+Sound setup with OSS +Again, only use this if you're not using ALSA. +

-Sleep (suspend to ram) works very well on all G3 iBooks and TiBooks. Recently, -a kernel patch has been released that adds sleep support for G4 iBooks and -Radeon based AlBooks. If you have one of these laptops, use -vanilla-sources-2.6.12 or gentoo-sources 2.6.11 for built in support. +In make menuconfig you'll need to select:

- -Note that the 12" PowerBook is not yet supported due to its nVidia chipset. - +

+<*> Sound card support
+  <*>   PowerMac DMA sound support
+

+ +

+r +(or configure as modules and ensure they're loaded on boot). +

+ +

+If the dmasound_pmac module does not load, you probably need to enable +i2c-core in the kernel or as a module. +

@@ -537,7 +752,7 @@ Applications -

I can't emerge a package, and get an error about it being masked. What should I do? @@ -592,7 +807,7 @@ </body> </section> -<section> +<section id="flash"> <title>Does Gentoo/PPC have support for Flash? @@ -610,19 +825,17 @@

Does Gentoo/PPC have a Java plugin?

-No, not at this time. The older java plugin is no longer compatible with the -new Mozilla plugin system and a new plugin has not yet been written. +Yes, a Java plugin is now available with IBM's Java 1.5 beta.

- -

Is there an easy way to configure X? @@ -636,7 +849,7 @@

How can I enable Direct Rendering (DRM) on rage128 or radeon cards? @@ -682,7 +895,7 @@

I recently emerged Xorg, but when using it, my international keyboard layout does not work correctly. The main keys work fine but I am unable to compose @@ -699,7 +912,7 @@ </body> </section> -<section> +<section id="glfreeze"> <title> When using OpenGL DRI or playing movies, the system sometimes freezes hard unexpectedly. What can I do? @@ -717,113 +930,13 @@ </pre> <p> -Also, there are some known issues with the composite and damage extensions -included with the newer X.org releases. Please disable these extensions if -you're having problems. +Also, there are some known issues with the composite extensions included with the +newer X.org releases. Please disable this extension if you're having problems. </p> </body> </section> -<section> -<title>How do I get sound playback working? - - -

-There are two approaches to sound on modern kernels: OSS or ALSA. OSS is the -older of the two options and has been depreciated, but still functions well for -many older Macs. ALSA is the newer method and will continue to be supported in -the future. We recommend that you use ALSA unless you have problems. -

- - -If you include the OSS driver in your kernel, the ALSA driver will not load. - - -

-In addition to configuring the kernel, users who should have access to the -audio devices need to be added to the appropriate group with the command: -

- -

-# gpasswd -a username audio
-

- -

-If the kernel is set up correctly, but you can't hear any sound, ensure that -the main mixer volume is turned up and that the device isn't muted! -

- - -If you are using a G5 or a mac-mini, you should follow the Gentoo ALSA -configuration guide to install the latest version of the ALSA drivers instead -of the versions supplied by the kernel. - - - -

-Sound setup with ALSA - - -

-For ALSA, we'll set up both the regular ALSA drivers and the OSS emulation -layer so that we can still use legacy OSS only programs. In make -menuconfig you'll need to select: -

- -

-Device Drivers - Sound --->
-<*> Sound card support
-    Advanced Linux Sound Architecture --->
-    < >   PowerMac DMA sound support
-      <*> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
-      <*> Sequencer support
-      <*> Sequencer dummy client
-      <*> OSS Mixer API
-      <*> OSS PCM (digital audio) API
-      [*] OSS Sequencer API
-          ALSA PowerMac devices --->
-     <*> PowerMac (AWACS, DACA, Burgundy, Tumbler, Keywest)
-

- -

-(or configure as modules and ensure they're loaded on boot). -

- - -Please make sure that PowerMac DMA sound support is turned off, -otherwise the ALSA module will not be able to load. - - - -

-Sound setup with OSS - - -Again, only use this if you're not using ALSA. - -

-In make menuconfig you'll need to select: -

- -

-<*> Sound card support
-  <*>   PowerMac DMA sound support
-

- -

-(or configure as modules and ensure they're loaded on boot). -

- -

-If the dmasound_pmac module does not load, you probably need to enable -i2c-core in the kernel or as a module. -

- - -

How do I play Audio CDs? @@ -833,42 +946,10 @@ piped to the sound hardware. This is possible using xmms and the xmms-cdread plugin, that reads the audio off the CD over the ATA cable, decodes it in software and sends it to the sound card over the PCI bus as -digital data. If you want 'true' cd-playing, you have to do the following -steps: -

- -

-First, you will need to rebuild your kernel with the following options: -

- -

-(In "ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL Support")
-(In "IDE, ATA, and ATAPI Block Devices")
-< > Include IDE/ATAPI CDROM support  (turn this OFF)
-<M> SCSI emulation support           (compile this as a module)
-
-(In "SCSI Support")
-<M> SCSI support                     (compile this as a module)
-<M> SCSI CD-ROM support              (compile this as a module)
-

- -

-Then, append hdX=ide-scsi to the kernel image section(s) in -/etc/yaboot.conf where hdX is the IDE device corresponding -to your CD player. This is usually hdc. Type ybin -v to install -the new yaboot.conf settings. Edit /etc/group add any users who -should be able to play CDs to the cdrom group. You will now need to -reboot your system for the kernel changes to take effect. -

- -

-Upon reboot, su to root and change the permissions of the cd device, -then install xmms: +digital data.

-# chown root:cdrom /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/cd
-# chmod 660 /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/cd
+ # emerge xmms xmms-cdread
 
 
@@ -883,7 +964,7 @@

Can I run Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X under Gentoo Linux? @@ -892,8 +973,7 @@ link="http://www.maconlinux.org/">Mac-on-Linux which allows you to run an instance of OS 9, OS X or Linux as a process on Linux. Simply emerge mol to install this package. MOL supports Mac OS 7.5.2 to 9.2.2, as well as any -version OS X except Tiger (support is currently in progress). It can be run -from a console framebuffer or run in a window on X. +version OS X. It can be run from a console framebuffer or run in a window on X.

@@ -908,7 +988,15 @@

-For the dhcp server: +For OSX Networking: +

+ +

Universal TUN/TAP device driver support (CONFIG_TUN)

+ +

+For the DHCP server:

@@ -931,7 +1019,7 @@

Can I access my ext2/ext3 partitions from OSX? @@ -948,7 +1036,7 @@

Which Portage USE flags do not work on PowerPC machines? @@ -964,7 +1052,7 @@

How can I set up distcc with my x86 box? @@ -979,7 +1067,7 @@

Why does gcc keep segfaulting during ebuilds? @@ -1012,7 +1100,7 @@ Resources -

Can I buy a CD of Gentoo Linux/PPC? @@ -1023,7 +1111,7 @@

This FAQ hasn't answered my question. What do I do now? -- gentoo-doc-cvs@gentoo.org mailing list