Re: PowerMac G5 can't startx (nouveau issue?)

Hello Cedar,

On 8/12/25 6:57 PM, Cedar Maxwell wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I can no longer startx on my PowerMac G5 after recent updates.  The
> login screen will load, but upon entering my credentials the system
> hangs at a black screen.
> 
> It doesn't seem to matter which display manager (sddm or lightdm are
> the only which would install) or desktop environment I choose, the
> results are the same.
> 
> Attached is my Xorg log.  It appears the nouveau driver is having an
> issue modesetting.  Despite "(WW) Warning, couldn't open module nv", I
> can confirm xserver-xorg-video-nouveau is installed.
> 
> I am aware of the idea of adding "nouveau.noaccel=1" to my GRUB config,
> but I want hardware acceleration.
> 
> Any advice would be appreciated.
> 
> Cedar
> 

I just updated my PowerMac G5 to the latest Debian SID, and graphics
didn't work.

I noticed that Debian's config file for vmlinux-6.12.38+deb13-powerpc64
doesn't include entries that I have had to add for a while now to enable
my NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video card on my PowerMac G5:

CONFIG_FB_NVIDIA=y
CONFIG_FB_NVIDIA_I2C=y
CONFIG_FB_NVIDIA_BACKLIGHT=y

The NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 card was an entry-level graphics card for ADC
displays on PowerMac G5 (and G4?) systems. After reverting to a custom
kernel (vmlinux-6.13.6) that was compiled a few months ago with the
above options, graphics works. I haven't checked whether the FX 5200
card works using the above CONFIG_FB_NVIDIA options with the latest
kernel, but it should.

Hope that helps.

-Stan