I have a late 2005 power mac g5 duel 2.0 cpu with 8gb of memory. I installed Debian 12 sid 64bit. I used the mate desktop. My problem is my desktop graphic flicker and the lettering and numbers with turn to blocks. I not using a Nvidia driver. I have a GeForce 6600. It is using some kind of default basic driver for the video card. I did sign in the terminal as root and tried to install a old driver for my video card but it won't install it. I keep getting a error message the it can't find the driver. I followed the debian web page how to install it. when i use vlc player everything will lockup on the screen when i open the menu on it for more then 5 seconds. I can't click on anything. I have to use the arrow keys to move things on the menu to close it then everything will work again. But everything else does work. i can't even add new mirrors to the source list. It won't let me not even in root. so i am lost here. I am new to linux and just learning how to do things. So thanks for the help i get.
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Resolved power mac g5 debian sid 12
- Thread starter gwb21471
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Hey there,
I would not use a sid version of debian in a PPC due to possible incompatibility nuts .. maybe you can try with Debian 11 stable: https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/11.0.0/ppc64el/iso-dvd/
Last time I installed Debian 7 in a powerbook G4 with 1GB of RAM and it went fine...
I would not use a sid version of debian in a PPC due to possible incompatibility nuts .. maybe you can try with Debian 11 stable: https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/11.0.0/ppc64el/iso-dvd/
Last time I installed Debian 7 in a powerbook G4 with 1GB of RAM and it went fine...
There is a video from Action Retro on the topic:
Maybe that will help you?
I have no experience with Debian on PPC but I did use it a lot on x86.
If there is a nvidia driver you probably have to edit your sources.list and add non-free sources to see it.
You could open the terminal and type this to show if nvidia driver is loaded:
lsmod | grep *nv*
I have no experience with Debian on PPC but I did use it a lot on x86.
If there is a nvidia driver you probably have to edit your sources.list and add non-free sources to see it.
You could open the terminal and type this to show if nvidia driver is loaded:
lsmod | grep *nv*
I seen that video. That is how i found this version of linux. I am using a driver called Nouveau. The driver for nvidia for my card won't work since it's not 64 bit. I got to find a video card that will work with my power mac but it is little newer. I do think it's my old video card. So far the Nouveau driver seems to be working. My video is working. No more flickering and stuff with it. Thank you for the help.
I am using freshly installed debian Sid on Powermac G5 Quad this snapshot I used for installation and it works fine OOTB.
But I suppose, your problems is with NVidia card. Now I am using Radeon X1900, but some years before I used Quadro FX 4500 and have problems with nouveau drivers. HW acceleration not worked normally, custom kernel with 4 KB pagesize was needed.
Look here:
gfx compatibility for void linux, but the data are current and is the same for Debian Sid.
old article about NVidia on Powermac G5. There are two next articles about nvidia modesetting and hw accel.
I think that problems with nouveau + powerpc are the same today as was in time of Debian Jessie.
But I suppose, your problems is with NVidia card. Now I am using Radeon X1900, but some years before I used Quadro FX 4500 and have problems with nouveau drivers. HW acceleration not worked normally, custom kernel with 4 KB pagesize was needed.
Look here:
gfx compatibility for void linux, but the data are current and is the same for Debian Sid.
old article about NVidia on Powermac G5. There are two next articles about nvidia modesetting and hw accel.
I think that problems with nouveau + powerpc are the same today as was in time of Debian Jessie.
I installed the new version of nouveau from the sid package manger. So far the video card seems to be working great. I going to find a better video card for it. I may get a old radeon card for it. I have read online that people having problem with the nvidia video cards. Thanks i take a look at the stuff you have here.
If you will search for other card, original Radeon X1900 G5 Mac Edition not works with linux also ( no hw accel, only framebuffer ).
Just now I have this config:
x16 slot: Radeon X1900 G5 Mac Edition for OF, OSX and MorphOS
x8 slot: HD6670 for linux
Will a video card out of a mac pro work. My cousin has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 out of a 2008 mac pro. If it works he going to mail it to me. It is pcie. I have to look into it. Does the HD6670 have to be for apple computers? I was looking at them on Ebay. Thanks again.
The graphics cards will need a special firmware/bios in order to run with the G5 flawlessly.
I've seen that you can flash a lot of graphics cards yourself but it's tricky I guess.
Look here for a list of graphics cards for the G5:
everymac.com
I've seen that you can flash a lot of graphics cards yourself but it's tricky I guess.
Look here for a list of graphics cards for the G5:
What graphics cards are provided by the Power Mac G5? Which have ADC ports and which have DVI ports? What is the maximum supported resolution on a primary and secondary display?: EveryMac.com
Chart of Power Mac G5 graphics cards, supported resolutions, ADC ports, DVI ports, dual link DVI ports, and more.
Sorry, I have no info about NVidia except the mentioned above.
For Powerpc big-endian linux, i.e. for powermac pcie ( and also AGP ) fully supported cards are Radeons upto Terascale 3 Architecture - i.e. with full hw 2D, 3D support.
It is due to this cards is driven by Radeon kernel module, and newer ( CGN1 architecture +) are driven with amdgpu. Unfortunatelly currently there are not support for amdgpu for big endian powerpc.
It means fastest is 2-slot HD6970, Cayman (tested)
Fastest 1-slot cards:
AMD FirePro V7900: Cayman, DisplayPort, DVI, 150W
ATI FirePro V7800: Cypress, DisplayPort, DVI, 150 W.
ATI FirePro V5800: Juniper, DisplayPort, DVI, 74 W.
AMD FirePro V5900: Cayman, DisplayPort, DVI, 75 W.
HD 6670: Turks, DVI, HDMI, VGA, 66 W (tested)
FirePros I not tested.
All these cards have one issue: not works with OpenFirmware and with OSX.
I.e. you need use them as secondary card ( like me ), or have installed Debian and all time blindly boot into it. In this case you cannot use other systems.
Like I said, unfortunatelly for some reasons original Powermac G5 edition X1900 not works fully in linux. And x86 verison of X1900 works.
You can ask there around, if someabody tested x86 PC Radeon X1900 GT flashed with PPC bios. - if it works with linux, it is ideal card for all operation systems.
In other case, you should do some compromise
- or linux with framebuffer only. In real it is for terminal use, not full desktop
- or use two cards
- or have only one system on Powermac ;-)
good luck and please let us know the result
I have this card (Sapphire, if I remember correctly). Worked fine with OSX but troublesome in linux - AFAIK, no X11 driver for it. (I wish we could have working amdgpu for PPCs...)