Andrew,

I started up NetBSD using Open Firmware talking through the serial port
ttya, the default for my StarMax 5000 machine. Booting Open Firmware set up
this way, NetBSD is inheriting the redirection and using the firmware
drivers with the console coming out on the ttya.

I then made a real user, shutdown NetBSD and reconfigured the OF variables
to boot the NetBSD operating system directly. This worked, and the StarMax
keyboard and monitor came alive. The monitor isn't sync'd, just like
described in the NetBSD ppc FAQ section on the StarMax 5000.

I then pondered the unsync'd monitor problem. I could make out the gist of
what NetBSD was telling me, but only because I knew what was coming. I ran
the startx script and saw the unsync'd X display, but I don't have the
knowledge to tell the firmware or kernel to configure X for my video board
chipset.

XFree86 4.0.x provides several configuration tools, and I'm pretty sure
that once I get the video card configured OK with them, my monitor will
sync up. My earlier email was addressing my ignorance on how to get the
console to come up with a sync'd screen before I run the startx command.

What I plan to do (but work and family matters occupy my time), is to get
the XFree86 version 4.0.x and NetBSD patches, and put them on an CDROM
using MacOS and Toast. I can then use the NetBSD system with the serial
port to compile the new version of XFree86 and replace the old X server on
the file system. I am using a CDROM for this because my high bandwidth
connection is at work and sneakernet is the best way to move multimegabytes
of data.

David

P.S. - Would anyone care to post a NetBSD package version of XFree86 v4.0.x
compiled with at least a starter set of patches?

>Hi David:
>
>Thanks for the response, but I'm not quite sure I understand you.
>Are you saying that the *only* way to get X running is by patching and
>compiling the 4.0.x sources?  Is there no way to get the version included
>in the NetBSD 1.5 distribution working?
>
>*Sigh* I guess this means I have to get the modem working before I can
>even think of starting X.  To date, however, all attempts at getting the
>modem to talk have met with frosty silence...
>
>		Andrew
>
>Andrew Howard                           email: ahoward@pollux.usc.edu
>Department of Computer Science          http:  www-robotics.usc.edu/~ahoward
>University of Southern California       phone: 1 (213) 740 6416
>Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A. 90089-0781      fax:   1 (213) 740 7512
>    << Insert pithy saying here >>>
>
>
>On Mon, 29 Jan 2001, David Henderson wrote:
>
>> Hi Andrew,
>>
>> XFree86 version 4.0.x has two configuration tools that might solve your
>> difficulty... see the forwarded email from Thomas Klausner.
>>
>> I'm in the process of bringing up NetBSD/macppc on a StarMax; currently the
>> biggest problem is the video doesn't sync and the only way I can run is via
>> a serial port to another computer running zterm. I'm able to switch NetBSD
>> console to the screen OK, but un-sync'd monitor isn't very usable.
>>
>> Switching to a more modern version of XFree86 would solve part of this
>> difficulty for me. However I still need to get video drivers that sync up
>> the ATI RAGE II (ATI Mach64 chipset) card to run before executing startx.
>>
>> Does anyone know how this gets put in the startup script? Is it legit to
>> invoke XConfigure before doing startx?~
>>
>> David
>>
>> >X-From_: port-macppc-owner-david.g.henderson=technologist.com@netbsd.org
>> >Fri Jan 26 06:39 PST 2001
>> >Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 15:37:28 +0100
>> >From: Thomas Klausner <wiz@danbala.ifoer.tuwien.ac.at>
>> >To: Michael Jessop <mjessop@copyright.com>
>> >Cc: port-macppc@netbsd.org
>> >Subject: Re: I recently saw a query about xfree86 v.4 on netbsd/ppc...
>> >Mail-Followup-To: Michael Jessop <mjessop@copyright.com>,
>> >	port-macppc@netbsd.org
>> >Mime-Version: 1.0
>> >Sender: port-macppc-owner@netbsd.org
>> >Precedence: list
>> >Delivered-To: port-macppc@netbsd.org
>> >
>> >Hi!
>> >
>> >Mutt made me believe that Michael Jessop wrote:
>> >> ...but did not see any responses to the person's question.  Has there
>>been
>> >> anymore progress and is there an estimate as to when there will be a
>>solid,
>> >> working version of xf86 4.0.x for netbsd ppc?
>> >
>> >I'm currently happily running 4.0.1 on my Powerbook G3 with tsubai's
>> >patches, even >8bit.
>> >
>> >Just get a clean XFree86 4.0.1 source and apply
>> >	ftp://nandra.iri.co.jp/pub/NetBSD/macppc/XFree86/diff-2000-11-23.gz
>> >
>> >Bye,
>> > Thomas
>> >
>> >--
>> >Thomas Klausner - wiz@danbala.tuwien.ac.at
>> >To live for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain
>> >that sustain life, not the top. -- Robert M. Pirsig
>> >
>>
>>