Mac mini, Ubuntu splash screen halts video output until X is started (Re: Video output is stopped on Ubuntu 5.10 (breezy) ...)

[Eric Dunbar]

Hmm. I just switched to vt1 and noticed a bunch of error lines, the
last few read (I just booted without video=ofonly (openfirmware only
option)):

(the earlier errors are off the screen b/c I logged in on vt1)
A bunch of kernel driver related stuff:
insmod: can't read:
'/lib/modules/2.6.12-9-powerpc/kernel/drivers/video/vgastate.ko' :  No
such file or directory
insmod: can't read:
'/lib/modules/2.6.12-9-powerpc/kernel/drivers/video/vga16fb.ko' :  No
such file or directory
usplash: bogl-pcfb.c:194: bogl_pcfb_put: Assertion `yy >= 0 && yy < bogl_yres'

So, what does this mean? My kernel hasn't been installed properly?
Should I try re-installiing Ubuntu, again? Have I perhaps set up my
partitions & mount points improperly?

Mount:
/dev/hda3 on / type ext3 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
usbfs on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw)
tmpfs on /lib/modules/2.6.12-9-powerpc/volatile type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
tmpfs on /dev type tmpfs (rw,size=10M,mode=0755)

Hmm. Mount seems to suggest a few problems too? What's going on?

 sudo /sbin/fdisk -l
/dev/hda
        #                    type name                 length   base  
  ( size )  system
/dev/hda1     Apple_partition_map Apple                    63 @ 1     
  ( 31.5k)  Partition map
/dev/hda2         Apple_Bootstrap untitled               1954 @ 64    
  (977.0k)  NewWorld bootblock
/dev/hda3         Apple_UNIX_SVR2 untitled           10228516 @ 2018  
  (  4.9G)  Linux native
/dev/hda4         Apple_UNIX_SVR2 swap                 517434 @
10230534 (252.7M)  Linux swap
/dev/hda5               Apple_HFS Apple_HFS_Untitled_2 67392176 @
10747968 ( 32.1G)  HFS
/dev/hda6              Apple_Free Extra                    16 @
78140144 (  8.0k)  Free space

Block size=512, Number of Blocks=78140160
DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0

Hmm. No time to trouble shoot right now. Perhaps I should try
re-installing once more and boot with Linux video=ofonly the first
time around and see if I can get things working properly, at least to
a limited extent.

Eric.

On 12/13/05, Eric Dunbar <eric.dunbar at gmail.com> wrote:
> All right, I got somewhere with Linux video=ofonly (on my STOCK Mac mini)!
>
> I can now see what happens at boot time if I use "Linux video=ofonly".
>
> It seems that the Ubuntu splash screen* uses a video mode that's not
> supported by my _graphics card_ (32 MB ATi Radeon 9200) and the video
> signal goes dead. The monitor then goes to sleep until X starts (FYI:
> monitor = 17" KDS Avitron AV-7TF... supports 1280x1024 at 60Hz,
> 1152*864 at 75Hz and 1024*768 at many rates)!
>
> *splash screen = that fancy, graphical thing that's supposed to
> "alleviate" users' fears, not make them think their computer died
> ;-PPPP
>
> PS I'm fairly sure that the computer is not outputting a video signal
> b/c the monitor will tell me if it's getting a signal that's outside
> of its normal frequency & resolution range.
>
> PSS hardware: Mac mini 1.25 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB drive (5.2 GB for
> Linux), no extra hardware.
>
> PS^3 I reinstalled the OS and STILL had the same problem.
>
> So, what's the solution to this? If I boot without video=ofonly I will
> eventually get the gdm but only after a significant wait. What
> determines what video mode the splash screen will use?
>
> Eric.