(Answer) (Category) Linux on PowerPC FAQ-O-Matic : (Category) X Windows :
Accelerated X!!
With help from Ty Hedrick, here is one method of getting an 
accelerated X server running on your LinuxPPC machine.  

Ty Hendrick wrote:
------------------
1) download the latest Xpmac_mga from
ftp://ppc.linux.or.jp/pub/users/oikawa/Xpmac_mga

2) as root do the following:
        A) cd /usr/X11R6/BIN
        B) mv ./Xpmac ./Xpmac.old
        C) mv <downloaded Xpmac_mga> ./Xpmac_mga
        D) chmod 4755 ./Xpmac_mga
        E) ln -s ./Xpmac_mga ./Xpmac

3) startx (or restart X)

With any luck you should have an accelerated X server
--------------

The performance result on my PowerCenter Pro was admirable.
  Be sure to tell BootX what kind of graphics card you have.
  In my case, with a PowerCenter Pro, I use: 
"video=atyfb:vmode:17,cmode:16".  This may or may not work 
with other machines.

-Ben Karas
bjk4@po.cwru.edu
With some recent Powerbook G3 series computers specifying the:
video=atyfb:vmode:14,cmode:32
line in bootx causes the screen to go psychodelic. Some people, but not everyone, have been able to fix this by using:
video=atyfb:vmode:14,cmode:32,mclk:63
There are also some kernel patches to atyfb.c that seem to help. I don't have them - check the linux-ppc user mailing list archives for march 1999.
What worked for me was to use the 'no video driver' option in bootx, but then pass the -mach64 option to Xpmac_mga. This can be done each time you start x by typing:
startx -- -mach64
or you can modify your /usr/X11R6/bin/startx to include -mach64 in the arguments for xinit - again after the '--'.
Adding this option forces the video driver to use the ATI mach64 acceleration even though the kernel doesn't know what sort of video you have. 
One extra note: if you are using xdm or KDM you need to modify

/etc/X11/xdm/Xservers

to add the '-mach64' option.  Note there is no '--' required in this file.  It
should have a line that looks like:

:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X -mach64
will@cs.cmu.edu
Things have changed for Linux on the PPC since I wrote the first note. Yellow Dog Linux has done a lot of work getting X to work better than it has previously. They have been working to get XFree86 to work well on the PPC. I highly suggest you peruse their mailing list and faqs before attempting the first solution, as it was provided when YDL was not an option.
bjk4@po.cwru.edu
NOTE! for X acceleration be careful using the steps listed above. When I tried it I wiped my '/usr/X11R6/bin/startx' file! Since I never made a copy I couldn't get back into gnome or X, only KDE. Use BootX arguments instead! They work for me on my Powerbook G3. In the arguments field add; video=atyfb:vmode:14,cmode:32 Keep 'use no video driver' checked and hit save to prefs and the NEXT time you boot into linux you will have ATIRagePro accelerated X running. Huge difference in speed I can assure you! Some have claimed if you get weird artifacts in the display to add ,mclk:71 after the above I listed. I didn't need to do this though.
nmincone@home.com
[Append to This Answer]
Previous: (Answer) How can I get an X window dump in TIFF, GIF, etc?
Next: (Answer) Problem with Trackpad on PowerBook G3 Series
This document is: http://www.jonh.net/cgi-bin/lppcfom/fom?file=549
[Search] [Appearance]
This is a Faq-O-Matic 2.717d.
Hosted by anduin.org and SourceForge Logo